Stone Dragon (The Painter Mage Book 5) Read online

  Nik shook his head. “I can’t… Why… No,” he went on. “You would not be summoned. None from this side other than the Elder and he’s—” He cut himself off and looked at me with a different light in his eyes. “You agreed to serve, didn’t you? That’s the only reason.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Bold, Oliver. And maybe not the best move, not considering the Zdrn would be meeting, but then you wouldn’t have known that.” He glanced over at Devan. “Clever of him, really. He baited you into agreeing to serve, then this gets thrown on you. Better you than him, he must figure.”

  “You’re implying the Trelking knew about this?” I asked.

  It was the same thing I’d begun to suspect but hadn’t wanted to believe. If the Trelking knew the Zdrn would be convening, then it might make sense for him to try to force me to sit on the Protariat, because doing so would mean I would be the one summoned.

  “You think that he didn’t?” Nik asked, the amusement clear in his voice.

  “Not really,” I answered. “When it comes to him, I’ve learned to suspect the worst and hope for the best.”

  “How is that working out for you so far?” Nik asked.

  I looked over at Devan. “Can’t complain.”

  Nik looked from Devan to me. Then he shook his head. “How many days did he give you?”

  “Three.”

  “Not enough time,” Nik said, mostly to himself. “Not nearly enough time. I could show him… no. Maybe if I… no, that won’t work either.”

  “Uh, Nik?”

  He caught himself and turned to face me. “If you’re going to survive, then you’ll have to stay here and learn. No more fucking around.”

  “Wait, why are you interested in helping?”

  He leaned forward. “Because if you survive the Zdrn, you’ll be owed a favor, and if I help you, then you’ll owe me a favor.”

  “I’m not going to release you—”

  He cut me off with a shake of his head. “Not that.” He glanced down at Taylor. “If you survive, you might be able to save her.”

  5

  The setting sun caught the upper branches of the trees around the park, filtering through. In a few moments, the lamps throughout the park would blink on with soft white light enhanced with whatever magical energy I managed to imbue into them. I sat with my back leaning against a bench, staring at the fountain spewing cool water that collected into a pool at the base of the sculpture. The sculpture, one of my father’s and his best known, stared back at me. I couldn’t shake that a part of the sculpture reminded me of the Wasdig.

  I was tired from an afternoon spent working with Nik. He’d pushed me more than I had been pushed in a long time, nearly as much as I’d been pushed when working with the Trelking. My head throbbed, and exhaustion swept through me, but I also felt a little tinge of excitement about what I’d learned. It was tempered with the knowledge that anything I learned would need to be used to keep me alive.

  The box holding Nik rested on the ground in front of me. He’d asked to come to the park, to work near the influence of the Elder, claiming I’d be inspired by my father by working here. So far, there had been no inspiration, but I couldn’t deny I’d picked up a few new tricks.

  No one else had come to the park. Devan patrolled through the park itself, and I wondered if she somehow discouraged people from making their way in. Usually, Conlin park attracted visitors each day, most interested in seeing the sculptures, or sitting in the silence under the trees, or sitting by the fountain. A few others wandered through the woods, looking at the other sculptures found throughout. Of those, the Claw was the most famous, but also the most disturbing, at least to me. It seemed like a hand trying to crawl out of the earth. Given what I knew about the magical creatures around here and on the other side of the Threshold, that was quite possibly the inspiration he’d taken from it.

  “You’re getting a little better,” Nik said.

  I tipped my head toward him, looking down into the box. “I’m too slow.”

  Nik sniffed. “When your life depends on finishing the pattern, your speed will improve.”

  He’d made a few comments like that before, each time dismissive of how well I had managed to complete some task he’d set out for me. It wasn’t that they were hard—they were all hard—but that he expected me to finish within a certain time frame. With Nik, speed seemed important.

  “That’s how it was for you?” I asked.

  “In the beginning. The Druist doesn’t offer to train many. Painters have the ability to learn magi magic, but it’s a difficult journey.”

  I thought about what Jakes said about my father, about how he had mastered magi magic. Would he have been able to withstand the Druist Mage?

  “Tell me about him,” I said.

  Nik glanced up at me. “You think I should share with you enough for you to kill the Druist?”

  I shrugged. “Only what you’re comfortable sharing. The Trelking seems convinced I’ll need to destroy the Druist Mage.”

  “Or that you’ll be destroyed,” Nik countered.

  The Trelking claimed I would confront the Druist Mage but supposedly hadn’t been able to see what the outcome would be. His visions could be altered, and that was one I was determined to get away from. Remaining on this side of the Threshold put me that much farther from the Druist Mage, maybe far enough I could keep myself safe. And if I managed to help Devan avoid the betrothal the Trelking promised, so much the better.

  “Sure, when you say it like that, it sounds more likely. But what if I do it?” I asked. “What if I manage to win?”

  Nik eyed me with an intense stare. “Trust me when I tell you, Oliver, there is no winning with the Druist Mage. Even learning is difficult. I’ve shown you some o the basics of what I’ve learned, patterns only, but it’s the beginning of everything else I’ve been shown. I spent years learning from the Druist Mage, years struggling to stay alive as I learned, knowing that at any time, power greater than anything I could summon and control could choose to end me.” He laughed softly. “You think it was hard for you to capture me? Had you not had your father’s device, I would have succeeded, and neither you and Devan or your shifter friends would have been able to stop me.”

  There was no real sense of boasting to what Nik said. The simple, matter-of-fact way he said it might be the most troubling.

  Nik leaned toward me, tiny, stone color fingers reaching toward the top of the metal wall. “If you had such a difficult time with me, what makes you think you can stop the Druist? I’ve learned much, but what I know is only a fraction of what the Druist knows.”

  “So you don’t think I have a chance in hell of stopping him?”

  Nik arched a brow at me. “You think you might have had a chance? Now, the Elder… he might have had a chance at stopping the Druist. I never met him, but your father was renowned on the other side of the Threshold. Fear. Respected. But you?” He shook his head. “You’re a soldier. Like me. We can learn, but we’re nothing like the real power on that side of the Threshold.” Nik sighed and looked up toward the sky. “I’m sorry, Oliver. There’s only so much I can teach you. I might be able to help you survive the Zdrn. That will have to be enough for you.”

  Nik settled down and sat. Inside the box, I’d left the metal base back at the house, so he sat on the stones of the courtyard around Agony. Part of me remained concerned he might try escaping, but the dragon Devan kept animated perched on one of the nearby lamps, looking down at Nik. Every so often, the dragon would make this sort of warbled sound, something like a sick cry, and smoke would steam from its mouth as it did. Nik no longer turned to look, but he tensed up each time, even if he didn’t make a point of turning to see what the creature might do.

  When he cried this time, it was me who stiffened. All this talk of how difficult the Druist would be to stop had me on edge. I’d been working under the sense I might be able to learn enough to keep Devan and I safe, but what if it came to a s
howdown with the Druist Mage? Would I be willing to do what it took to keep Devan from him?

  Hell, I’d been willing to sacrifice myself once before. This would be for Devan. If it came down to it, I knew what I would do. The Death Pattern would have enough power to stop even the Druist Mage.

  “What can you tell me about the Zdrn?” I asked, deciding to change topics. I’d asked Nik before, but each time he’d told me to focus on what I could learn. Which, so far, apparently wasn’t all that much. More than I knew when I started the day, but I didn’t have the time to learn even a portion of what he knew.

  Would it require the same five years of study Nik had put in or would I be able to learn some of it faster? Some of the techniques he’d been showing me required a little knowledge of arcane patterns, and I had a better handle on them than Nik ever had.

  “You’ve met the escort,” Nik said.

  “Yeah. Called himself the Wasdig. Does that ring any bells?”

  “Not for me. I’ve never met the escorts, but have heard stories of them. Even the Druist respected them.”

  I snorted, thinking of the Wasdig. I’d hit him with a hammering of magi power, at least as much as I’d been able to draw at the time—which wasn’t much, though now I thought I’d be able to pull a little more—and he’d only been knocked down, but not phased. I could understand why the Druist would be impressed.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Nik shook his head. “I don’t know. Ancient magic. The kind you don’t see any more. And they’re older than the Threshold.”

  I whistled softly. The Threshold is a relatively new construct, but by new, I meant it had only been around for thousands of years. There were creatures of magic which had been around for much longer than that. The Trelking, I suspect, had been around since the beginning of the Threshold. Not the Druist, though. The Druist Mage was a new power, one who had not been around when the Threshold first formed, so it made sense the Druist Mage—even as powerful as he clearly was—would be impressed by the Wasdig and other creatures like it.

  “Anyway, the escort is meant to take you to the Zdrn. It’s different than trying to cross the Threshold, mostly because the Zdrn takes place outside of the Threshold, in a place before the Threshold. There’s a different power required, which is why you need an escort. They can reach the meeting when others can’t.”

  “Who will be there?”

  “Representatives from the Protariat. That’s you, apparently. Other creatures. Things like the trolls, the elves, the magi. You know, the usual collection of power.”

  “Jakes said the Zdrn is meant to serve as an accord. How?”

  “Well, that’s part of the mystery. None know unless they’ve been invited. There aren’t all that many who even know about it. I’ve certainly never been invited. The Druist has, but only when first in power. The Zdrn only meets rarely, a way to sort out the power of the time. The way I’ve heard it described, it’s more like a pissing contest.”

  “Then why will the Protariat send me?”

  Nik paused and looked up at me. “That’s the million dollar question, now isn’t it? The Elder, the Trelking, and even the Alpha, sat among the Protariat. That’s a lot of power, isn’t it? Pretty much anyone they send would have been bound to come out on the right end of the Zdrn. Now the Elder is gone, the Alpha has changed, and the Trelking might be more worried about preserving power than gaining new influence. It could be he’s willing to sit through this generation with someone else leading the pack.” He flashed a smile. “Or maybe there’s another reason. He might want you out of the way. Maybe he’s upset you stole away his daughter and heir. Can’t see that I blame him. Devan really is—”

  He cut off as Devan appeared out from between a pair of pine trees. His smile widened again.

  “Don’t stop because of me. Tell me, Nik, what is Devan?” she asked.

  Nik shrugged. “I was going to say pretty powerful in her own right, but then I’m sure you’d only find some way to be offended by that, so let’s just leave it at no comment.”

  She said something softly, and the dragon swooped down from the lamp and landed on her shoulder. Devan peered into its eyes, maintaining contact until the dragon broke it off, making the warbly sort of cry again.

  “Who else do you think attends the Zdrn?” Devan asked.

  Nik eyed the dragon a long moment before looking over at me. “It’s meant to coordinate power, and most use it as a way to keep from anything more than minor scuffles.”

  I snorted. “Doesn’t seem to have worked too well considering what your boss and her father have been up to for the last few decades. And you know the kind of things the Trelking has had me do. They’re some of the same things you were asked to do for all those years.”

  Nik’s face darkened at the mention of what he’d done while in service to the Trelking. I’d misspoken mentioning it. It wasn’t a good idea to remind him of how I’d replaced him. But then, if I hadn’t, he never would have learned what he had from the Druist Mage.

  “What you’ve lived through are minor skirmishes. Nothing more than pressure on the borders. But if the Zdrn didn’t meet, or if one of the darker powers managed to gain traction, then there would be a different kind of battle, one that would spill over the Threshold. Why do you think the Protariat worked so hard to keep it safe? Why else would they have sent their strongest each time?”

  “Then why me this time?” I asked.

  Nik snorted. “You’re going in circles, and I don’t have any answers for you. Had I still served the Druist, I might have been allowed to make the journey too.”

  “I thought you said only the one chosen would be escorted?”

  “There’s a little bit of leeway there. Everyone brings a second, one they can have stand in for them.”

  He said it so flippantly, I wondered if he’d been hiding that from me the entire time. Did Nik expect me to bring him along? That would mean leaving Devan while I went on some crazy journey. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t let that happen, even were I to want to.

  Devan sat down next to me and took my hand. I suspected she’d been having the same questions. “What have you been teaching Ollie?” she asked Nik.

  He tipped his head. “What he asked to learn. I told you I would teach him—”

  She leaned forward and pressed her nose close to him. “I know what you promised, but I’ve seen how you’ve gone about it. We only have a few days so you need to show him what he might be able to do easily.”

  “None of this is easy, De’avan.”

  “Ollie spent a decade learning from my father. The arcane patterns are easy for him.”

  “I don’t know if I’d say there were ‘easy’, Devan. I can manipulate them and recreate them—”

  She squeezed my hand, cutting me off as she turned to face me. “You need to stop thinking that you’re not the same painter as your father. There aren’t many on the other side of the Threshold who approach your level of skill with those patterns. You think my father kept you around because you were stupid? No,” she said, shaking her head, her dark hair shifting from side-to-side as she did, “he recognized your potential. It was why he took to your training himself.”

  Nik whistled softly. “Wait. The Trelking worked with you himself?”

  I nodded. Once I’d reached beyond the level of patterns the F’lian could teach, he’d assumed that part of my training. That was about the same time he began asking more of me, demanding specific tasks he’d never asked of Nik.

  Nik scratched his chin, his eyes focusing on the dragon sitting on Devan’s shoulder. “The arcane patterns were never my strong suit. I think the Druist recognized that and taught me in ways I could understand. But Devan is right. If that’s where your strengths lie, then I need to focus on what you can learn quickly. We can work on the other stuff later if you survive to return from the Zdrn.” He winked at Devan as he said the last. “So. Ready to begin again, Oliver?”

  I met Devan’s eyes and saw th
e concern written there. For her, I needed to push myself, to learn whatever I could as quickly as I could so I had a chance of surviving the Zdrn. “Yeah, let’s get going,” I answered.

  The basement light hummed. Maybe it didn’t really hum, but it seemed I felt the electricity zipping through the lines running through the metal conduits overhead, leading to the pale yellow bulb. My eyes throbbed and I rubbed at them, knowing I should go to sleep, that my body was exhausted, but there seemed a hundred things for me to do, and sleep didn’t fit anywhere in it.

  I’d tucked Nik away, again frozen into the shape of his statue. He’d argued and complained, telling me he was honoring his side of the bargain and that I should leave him out, but I didn’t have the energy to spare worrying about whether he would try escaping. As tired as I was, he’d probably get away from me anyway. Now the statue of him sat on the top of one of the oak bookcases pushed up against the wall, the stain of the wood long since faded. I’d left Taylor next to him.

  I stared at the shelves while sitting at the chair and dragged my eyes back to the page lying in front of me. My head rested on my hands as I tried working through the pattern on the page, but it seemed to swim as I stared at it, almost as if I wasn’t meant to be able to see the pattern anymore. I rubbed my eyes again and reached for the pencil lying next to the notebook when Devan grabbed my hand.

  “You need sleep, Ollie. You’re not going to figure this out if you don’t get rest.”

  “I’m not sure I’m going to figure this out at all,” I admitted. “I don’t know enough about what I’ve been summoned to do other than it seems I’m the least qualified to go. Your father could have chosen to go himself, but now he’s called on me?”

  “We don’t know that,” she said.

  “He hasn’t exactly come out saying he wants to help, has he? And if what Nik tells us is true, then the Zdrn is sort of important. I just wish there was a way to learn more about what’s expected of me.”