She seemed to half-smile. “Of course it’s dangerous. We’re talking about creatures that think to steal from the Elder, who are strong enough to steal from the Elder.”
I looked over to Devan. She only shook her head.
As I started to turn back around in my seat, the car crashed into something. The front end dove down, tipping the rear of the cruiser into the air. Devan grabbed for the wire screen between us and gripped it tightly. Taylor crashed forward into the wire.
Jakes spun the wheel frantically, and we came to a stop on the side of the road. Somehow he managed not to roll the car. He kicked his door open and sniffed, his nose elongating as he did. “Careful. There’s a hunter here,” he snarled. Faster than I could think, he flung the door wide and shifted out of it, streaking away.
A hunter. I suddenly remembered the way Devan’s nose had crinkled in the storage shed, and the darkness I’d seen at Tom’s. But why hadn’t I been attacked? Or Taylor?
“Guess that means we should be ready,” I said.
Devan tried her door but it wouldn’t open. She grabbed the wire screen and ripped it free, crumpling it and setting it next to her as if it were nothing more than cardboard. Taylor groaned and sat up. Blood spilled from her forehead where she’d struck the wire, leaving a patterned indentation. Devan helped her across the seat.
“Go,” she urged me. “I’ll stay with her until she’s able to move. You need to go and help Jakes.” She pressed a small oval into my hand. “Use this and follow her. She’ll lead you where you need to go. Don’t let them take the compass across the Threshold.”
“No promises,” I said.
She grabbed my hand as I started out of the car. “Stay alive.”
“All right, that one I’ll make.”
The car had stopped on the down side of a hill. I couldn’t tell what we’d hit, but it had crumpled the front of the car. There wasn’t any sign of what we’d struck, almost as if it had appeared out of nowhere.
I grabbed two charms, making certain they were the ones I intended. One was a circle charm and would provide me with a quick and dirty protective ring. The other was the Agony charm that would create enough of a blast to take down almost anything. I hoped I didn’t need it, but I wasn’t about to risk running into the woods without some way of quickly defending myself. Out there would be someone working for the Trelking—probably Devan’s brother—but also someone for the Druist Mage. And then Nik. He was sort of the unknown.
A path led away from the road and down the slope toward where I suspected the river to be. The oval stone Devan had given me pulsed softly in my palm. It took a moment to realize that it guided me along.
I made my way down the dark path as carefully as I could. I didn’t want to stumble across whoever might be out here, but a sense of urgency pushed me forward. If whoever had the compass reached the crossing, then their side had a distinct advantage. I wasn’t certain what the Trelking wanted of the compass—probably nothing more than to keep it away from the Druist Mage—but I had no doubt what the Druist Mage intended to use it for. If it could mask his efforts from the Trelking, the war on the other side of the Threshold would flourish. And it had already spread to this side of the Threshold.
Worse, now there seemed to be a battle for the shardstone. Whoever controlled it would be incredibly powerful. The balance would be unsettled, and I didn’t think I’d like whatever happened then.
Another explosion lit the night, this one down the path and not all that far from me. Power sizzled in the air from it.
I slowed and made my way along the path more carefully now. Hopefully, Jakes and the other shifters were out there. If not, then I didn’t like my chances, not if there was a hunter out here.
The stone stopped pulsing. Was that a good thing or bad?
Power built near me, and I dropped just in time. A streak of fire shot past me. I held out the Agony charm and squeezed, releasing the ink. It shot away from me and into the air. With an infusion of power, the ink exploded in a ring of power, more than what we’d followed to the river.
I waited a moment before standing carefully. Was that it? I doubted the charm would have been enough, not against one of the Trelking’s people, especially not if it was Devan’s brother. From what I remembered, he was particularly talented, much more so than most of the Te’alan. And the attack wouldn’t have stopped a hunter, either.
When nothing more came, I continued down the slope toward the river. I could hear it now, burbling softly as it whisked along. It would pass north of the city. The Parch River ran along the south side of the city. Eventually, the two would meet and mingle as they continued their steady flow.
I felt the burgeoning power as I reached the river. Whatever was building was coming quickly, and was strong enough that I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
A snarl of dark fur leapt through the trees and crashed into a shadow in front of me. The hunter. Jakes was a massive in his shifted form, and powerful, but the hunter he collided with was equally large.
“Keep them away from the doorway, Jakes!”
A snarl answered, though I didn’t know whether Jakes was answering me or just struggling with his fight. The shadow slid away from the trees, and Jakes followed. When they cleared the triangle formed by the trees, I pressed on the other charm I had, expelling a ring of black ink into a cloud that I sealed with power.
The effort of holding this circle was lessened by the fact that I’d used black ink. It was times like this when I chose black intentionally, preferring it for my predilection for the ink. I no longer questioned that I was predisposed toward black. It was the color of destruction, of death. I simply tried not to think about the why.
Something moved near me and I spun.
“Oliver.”
The man standing across from me was a little taller than Devan, but not much. He had a slight build and stood before me angled, almost as if ready to strike. A short sword hung from his waist, glowing softly. His eyes matched the glow. Unlike Devan, his skin didn’t take on the soft yellow sheen as he used his magic on this side of the Threshold.
“Brand.” I used his common name. Devan had once told me his formal name, but it wasn’t one I could easily speak. I hadn’t seen him in years, long before he went to the front. “You’re still alive. You know, Devan was pleased to hear that.”
He stepped forward and I tensed. He was inside the circle with me. Shit.
“De’avan has always chosen strangely,” he said. “But it is not mine to decide.”
“Yeah, she’s slumming it.”
His face didn’t change. He took another step. Behind him, I caught sight of two large items. One was the compass. The other made my breath catch. Agony.
“Your father didn’t need me at all, did he?”
Brand smiled. “Father? Did he send you after this, as well? Explains why you’ve been such a pest.”
I didn’t think we’d been pests at all; just a few steps too late the entire time.
But if Brand wasn’t after it for his father…
My eyes glanced to the base of the sculpture where I suspected the shardstone was stored, and then caught on the smear of dark ink on his fingers. Everything started to click into place. “You were after the shardstone for yourself. That’s why you crossed. That wasn’t another painter at the storage unit, was it?”
Brand stopped and rested one hand on his sword as he considered me. “You showed me that there is power in the work you control. I only borrowed it.”
“That kind of power isn’t really meant for you,” I said. “It will twist you—”
Brand slid toward me in the blink of an eye, faster than I could react. “Do you think I have learned so little?”
Adazi had thought the same thing, but I’d seen what happened to him. When truly magical creatures like the shifters attempted to use painter power, it twisted them. I don’t really know why; it must have something to do with their magic, that painter power is drawn to a different type of
magic, or maybe it’s like crossing the Threshold. When you use that kind of power, it twists the painter.
My hand dropped into my pocket, and I prayed to the gods that he didn’t see what I did. “I’m pretty sure that you haven’t learned nearly as much as you think.”
“Brand?”
Devan’s voice caught him as he started to move. He turned and faced his sister. “De’avan. I see you’ve changed, as well.”
“What are you doing?” she asked. Her eyes focused behind him briefly, recognizing as quickly as I did that he’d taken the compass and, somehow, Agony. Where was Taylor? “Did Father send you here?”
Brand sneered. He stepped a pace toward Devan, as if debating who he would attack first. It was a measure of just how much he’d changed that he considered attacking her at all. “Father thinks to control everything, thinks he sees everything, but he hasn’t seen this.” He smiled at her. “Oliver was quite helpful when he taught me the way painters drew their power. There are ways with this painter’s power that I can obscure myself from Father.”
Devan glanced at me. I didn’t have to ask to know what she was thinking.
“What did you need in the storage shed?” I wanted to delay him, to give Jakes a chance to appear. I started a slow circle, building the pattern as I went. I already knew why he’d gone to the shed, especially if he thought my father had stored something there that could be useful. But how had he known about it in the first place?
Brand’s mouth twitched. “There are secrets to painting I have yet to learn, and few ways to learn on the other side. The Elder left a trail, but not enough.”
A part of me wished I had been the one to find that trail. “Why now?” I asked. “Why take the compass now?”
“My father isn’t the only one who’s collected soulstones. Now that I have the shardstone, I can finally use them.”
I laughed at him. Brand froze, his sword wavering in the air. “Even with the shardstone, you really think you’ve got enough juice to go after both the Trelking and the Druist Mage? Man, you are ballsy.”
There was a snarl from one of the shifters that started our way. A low thundering sound came with it.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Brand said. “It is time that I return.”
Devan turned away and set a pair of figurines on the ground. She whispered to them, and they began shaking and growing. Taylor appeared from the trees and moved toward Devan, holding her paintbrush out from her like a wand.
A shadow appeared from around the edge of the tree, and I thought it might be one of the hunters, but something about it was different, as if it had more form to it than the invisible nightmare creatures we had faced before. It hovered, a cold darkness to it that seemed focused on Brand.
Brand flicked his eyes over to the figurines. “Oliver, it appears you’ll have to choose whether to stop me or help your love. I wonder what you’ll do?”
I raised the cylinder at him. “Both.”
With a surge of power through it, I activated the patterns. White light shot from the cylinder. Brand simply caught the light with his sword as he started to move. It bounced off and shot toward the barrier. Had it not been in place, it would have struck Devan.
He glanced at me. “Interesting. I might need to have that.”
Faster than I could react, he shot toward me and simply grabbed the cylinder out of my hand. I couldn’t do anything to stop him. He twisted it, considering the patterns briefly, and then pointed it at me.
I dove, moving toward Devan.
Brand turned slowly. Knowing what I did of Devan’s capability with patterns, I had no doubt that he’d figure out how to use the cylinder.
“Devan!” I shouted.
Brand fired the cylinder. The light looked even brighter coming at me from this direction, searingly bright, and seemed to twist in a pattern as it spiraled toward me.
I rolled, dropping the focus I poured through the barrier as I did. The light shot past me. I hoped that it struck what I intended—the hunter still hovering behind me—and not Devan.
Lunging toward Brand with another charm in hand, I squeezed, firing the shot of ink and infusing it with power at the same time. Brand used the sword and swiped away the power as if it were nothing.
Damn.
He pointed the cylinder at me. I was sprawled out in front of him. I could roll, but there wasn’t much else I could do to get away from him.
“Don’t,” I begged.
He tipped his head. Light started to form in the cylinder. I ducked my head, not wanting to watch as it struck me. There was a strange sucking sound, and I wondered if I was shrinking.
Nothing came.
I twisted my head and looked up. Devan’s fox creature stood on top of Brand, pinning him to the ground. His mouth clenched tightly to the arm holding the sword, keeping him from swinging it.
Scrambling forward, I grabbed the cylinder from Brand’s other hand. The fox bit down, and Brand dropped the sword, unable to do anything else. I quickly triggered the cylinder, not giving Brand a chance to move.
Light flashed from it, striking Brand in the arm. He immediately started to shrink, slowly contracting into a miniature, much like Nik had. The fox started away.
I grabbed the sword, scooped up baby Brand, and dropped him into my pocket as I spun to see what would happen with the shadow from the tree. Devan stood over a body. Her twin trolls stood on either side of her, looking like bouncers providing protection. The shadow I had seen before slithered away from the tree, moving toward Devan. Clearly my earlier maneuver had been unsuccessful. There was no doubting that it was a hunter, only one like I’d never seen before.
Without waiting, I pointed the cylinder. I was tired from the energy I’d used tonight, but hoped I still had enough to push through the cylinder one more time. Aiming at the shadow, I pressed all the power I could muster. White light shot from the cylinder, catching the shadow. Like with Brand, it started to shrivel and shrink, twisting into something that was all condensed angles.
“Devan?” I asked.
“Ollie—”
I staggered toward her. The troll bouncers let me pass. Devan caught me and gave me a tight hug. “What happened? Who is…” I trailed off as I saw who it was. Taylor lay on the ground, not moving. “What happened?” I asked again.
Devan motioned toward a new figurine on the ground. It vaguely resembled the miniature Agony charm I had. “The hunter.” Well, at least I had hit my target this time. “How did it cross?” I asked, but even as I did, I was starting to have an idea; only what came to mind made me incredibly uncomfortable.
I crouched next to Taylor and rested my hand on her neck. There was no pulse, nothing that told me she was alive. The hunter had gotten to her.
It was strange that she looked otherwise fine. There were no injuries, nothing that I could see that would explain her death. Only she no longer breathed. Her heart had stopped. I knew hunters fed off painters’ magic, and it was as if sucking the magic from her had killed her.
There was a flurry of motion.
I spun, raising the sword in front of me, but I didn’t see anyone. Then I looked down.
There was little Nik. He stood next to Taylor, his grayish hand grabbing her shirt. “The Druist did this?” he said.
Devan’s bouncers turned toward Nik, readied to attack. I held up a hand, restraining her.
“I don’t know,” I lied.
Nik turned and looked up at me. His eyes drifted to the sword and widened slightly. He recognized it. “Sorry about the car. I had to slow you down if I wanted to reach the shardstone first.” He looked to Agony, staring at it like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
“That was you?” Shit, and I’d thought little Nik wouldn’t have much power remaining. How wrong was I? He had enough to stop a car moving along at a pretty good clip.
He forced a smile. “Now you’ve taken away any chance of me crossing.” He glanced back at Taylor. “And the Druist has taken away the only person
I’ve managed to care about,” he said softly. He seemed to take a deep breath, as deep as his little body would allow. “I will teach you what you need to stop him.”
I pointed the cylinder at him.
“Hey, I said I’d teach!”
“That’s fine,” I said. “But after what happened, I’m going to keep you in storage for a little while until we sort things out.”
I fired.
With him already small, I wasn’t sure what would happen, but he only shrank back to his previous size, freezing into place. I plucked him from the ground and dropped him into my pocket next to Brand. Let the two painters duel it out in there.
I reached for the hunter figurine as Jakes appeared out of the darkness. He was bloodied, a gash in his arm bleeding. He managed to wear pants, but no shirt. I didn’t have to look over to know that Devan was checking him out.
“Don’t,” he said.
I paused and pulled my hand away from the figurine. “What?”
He shook his head. “I’m not certain how safe it would be for you even in that form.”
Jakes grabbed the mini hunter and then crushed it between his hands with a grunt. Dust burst from his palms, catching the wind and disappearing.
“What now?” Devan asked.
I looked over at the compass, and at Agony. Somehow we would put them back where they belonged, but first, there was something else I needed to do.
“Now we summon your father,” I said.
18
We stood in woods much like those where we’d lost Taylor. I waited, staring at the trees, my painted pattern circled around to provide as much protection as I could. Which at this point, wasn’t much. Devan stood outside the circle of protection, three shifters standing near her. I wasn’t sure if the Trelking would try to take her, and right now I didn’t want to take the risk. Not if what I suspected was right.
Stolen Compass (The Painter Mage Book 4) Page 17