The Painter Mage: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  “How? I mean, how did you meet him?”

  She touched her hair, pushing it out of her face. “He was the one who taught me about modding, showed me that there was another side to my magic.” Taylor crossed her arms over her chest, grabbing her shoulders, and leaned forward. “And now I’m here.”

  I swallowed back the lump in my throat that formed thinking of Nik. “But you knew about my father’s book. You came here specifically for it. You didn’t come to ask me about arcane patterns or anything else.”

  She straightened her back and relaxed her arms. “That’s not totally true. Once I saw the park and realized this was the work of the Elder… I’m sorry, Oliver, but whatever you could teach me about arcane patterns paled next to what I could learn from a master like the Elder.”

  There was no use arguing that. “Why do you keep working through the journals?”

  “It seems everything he’s left has its uses, doesn’t it?” Taylor asked. “The bowl in his chambers had patterns Hard needed to discover the secret to the door. The book he left you gave patterns that we needed to unseal the gate. You needed the key to access the shed. These journals are another part of the mystery.”

  How did the blank sheet of parchment fit into the mystery? Maybe not at all. Or maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough. After we saved Devan, I’d have to give it more time.

  “Well, I’m going to rest. I need to have energy to face Adazi.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?” Taylor asked.

  “Then I have to hope Jakes and the shifters are powerful enough to contain him.” And if they’re not, then Devan will truly be lost.

  14

  I awoke at night, having fallen asleep in the chair. Taylor had turned the light out in the basement, leaving me alone. The orb glowed softly on the desk, practically calling to me. I felt somewhat refreshed, though stiff from the way I’d slept. I stretched, shaking off the aches in my joints. My knee bumped the desk, and the orb slipped off the base.

  I lunged for it as it started toward the ground. I wasn’t going to be fast enough.

  Without thinking, I used a surge of energy and pulled on the arcane patterns in the orb.

  Arcane patterns worked differently. I could push through them, but I could also pull. I wasn’t sure it would work, but the orb hung in place before racing into my hands.

  Fire burned through me again. I clenched my teeth against it. The strange wriggling sense came from the pocket of my duster again.

  I put the orb back onto its stand with more force than needed and released the energy I’d used. Everything gained resting had been spent in that one burst. I was weakened. Not completely spent, but weak enough that I didn’t want to face a painter like Adazi. At least I had until morning. That would be the third day, but if anything went wrong, I’d have lost time.

  I slumped in the chair, staring at the orb. It glowed more brightly now than it had when I first woke up, but that might only be my imagination.

  A loud knock came from the top of the stairs.

  I left the orb and started up, holding tightly to the railing to keep from falling. Jakes stood on the other side of the door, fixing me with a dark look. He filled the hallway, almost to the point where he had to bend his head down. “He’s there.”

  “Who and where?” My mind struggled to wake up, worse now that I’d nearly lost the orb.

  “The painter. Kacey reports he’s at the barn.”

  “He gave us until tomorrow.”

  “Devan is with him.”

  More than anything, that sent a jolt through me. I glanced down the stairs. “I’ll grab the orb.”

  “I will meet you there,” Jakes said.

  He’d already started to shift as he turned away from me.

  I heard his feet thump through the kitchen. So much for getting another night to rest. If we didn’t go now, there was a real risk that we could miss Adazi. At least this way, we knew Devan was there, but it seemed odd that Adazi would bring her to the barn before the time he’d given me was up.

  Unless he knew that we watched him. If that was the case, then I had other issues to worry about.

  I hefted the orb and the base and carried them to the top of the stairs. I’d found an old leather shoulder bag in which to carry the orb, and was able to fit the base along next to it. I’d have to be careful not to bump it against anything and damage it, but with the strap slung over my shoulder, I wouldn’t have to fear dropping it again.

  I paused at the cabinet where I kept my powdered inks. My belt had hooks for up to five satchels of ink, but I probably only had strength enough to use one. After packing red and black ink, I debated what other color to use. Brown could help if I needed an anchor, especially to the barn. Green might help, given Adazi’s ties to the Druist Mage. I grabbed both. I rarely worked in blue, not like Taylor did.

  I had charms in my pocket from earlier, including the obelisk-shaped charm that Devan had made, and patted it to make certain they were still there.

  The sun had already started to set when I stepped outside. Taylor waited near the truck. She wore her jacket and had the purse with her stores of ink. The bag with the orb seemed like it matched her purse.

  “It’s a man’s bag,” I said as I made my way to the truck.

  She arched her brow at me. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  As I settled into the truck and gripped the wheel, I left the bag around my shoulder. We might need to get out quickly, and I wanted to be ready. Taylor glanced at it after getting in.

  “You sure it’s safe in there?”

  “Nope. I damned near dropped it about five minutes ago.”

  “Is there another way for you to carry it?”

  “Hopefully, we won’t need to worry about that too much longer.”

  I put the truck in reverse, and it rumbled out of the driveway.

  We rode in relative silence as we made our way out of town. I’d driven this way now a few times in the last few days, enough that I had a sense of the road. Taylor turned silently as we passed the sign welcoming people to Conlin.

  “See the patterns?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the road.

  “I see them.”

  “Know what they do?”

  “A warning, I think. Not much more than that.”

  That had been pretty much what she thought when I’d drawn them before, but a warning for what? We continued on the road as it led away from Conlin. In the distance, I saw the barn and turned off the road toward it. The sun reached the horizon as we pulled up to the barn.

  I got out of the truck and looked around for the shifters but saw no sign of them.

  “Think they’re here already?” Taylor whispered.

  “I hope so.”

  “But no way of knowing.”

  “Nope.”

  I wished there had been more time to prepare. I wouldn’t have needed much, but anything would have been better than rushing out to the barn, holding this orb and hoping that the switcheroo worked long enough to convince Adazi. Even if I’d had the chance to make a protective circle, I might feel better. At least one of the charms I carried would let me shoot a circle into the air. I could use that if needed.

  We stepped into the barn. Even though the sun had just set, it was dark and the air was still and musty. An ominous chill worked along my back.

  “Light?” I asked Taylor.

  She held out the ring she’d taken from Devan. If this worked, I might need to use my power more than she would use hers. Of course, if it didn’t work, both of us might end up unconscious or worse.

  The ring glowed with a steady white light. Taylor swung it around the barn. Nothing moved. “Are you sure they’re here?”

  I scratched a tiny Adazi mark into the dust of the floor and placed a summoning pattern around it. With the barest infusion of power, I felt the draw. He was here.

  “The loft,” I whispered.

  We started toward the back of the barn. Taylor stayed close, pressing against me
as we moved so that I could sense the tension within her.

  As we neared the back of the barn, the loft exploded with light.

  I cupped a hand over my head, straining against the sudden change, trying to force my eyes to adjust.

  “Adazi?” I said.

  He laughed darkly from above us. Power built in the air, leaving my mouth dry. I resisted the urge to form a circle, but Taylor did not, quickly placing one around us. When it closed, I felt the protections press out against Adazi’s magic.

  “Like I said, she’ll be powerful,” he said.

  He appeared out of the shadows at the back of the barn, rather than from the loft. He dragged something—someone, I realized—with him. Devan was limp and unmoving. Her dark hair hung straight. The ends were singed. A deep purplish bruise worked across her cheekbone.

  The anger that raced through me nearly led me to jump across the circle. Doing so would have been a mistake and probably exactly what Adazi wanted.

  “You have it?” he asked.

  I nodded. “You’re early.”

  He smiled darkly. “Seeing how you’ve recruited the pests of this town to aid you, I thought it best to be prepared.”

  “What would have happened had I not come tonight?”

  “I think we both know that you weren’t about to wait another day, not when you knew I was here.”

  So he knew we were watching. And he knew that we had the orb. Only I still didn’t know how. “Now that you’ve got me here, how do you want to do this?”

  Adazi released Devan. She dropped to the ground and didn’t move.

  “Now? I think I’ll simply take the orb from you.”

  15

  The attack happened faster than I could react. Taylor held the barrier in place, but when he threw fire at us, it came from all directions. Taylor screamed. The pain she must have been feeling from the pressure of holding the barrier was immense. I couldn’t imagine the torment, especially with the way fire pressed all around us.

  Then it stopped.

  Taylor looked at me. Her eyes had gone wide and her face ashen. “I can’t—”

  She didn’t have the chance to finish. Another attack hit, this time like the pounding of fists on a wall. Taylor buckled and dropped to her knees. She worked to trace a pattern across the ground, but she didn’t have the strength needed to finish. She sprawled forward. In a moment, her barrier would fall.

  I grabbed the charm from my pocket and thrust it overhead at the same time as I sprayed out ink in a pattern, adding a complex flourish that I thought I’d remembered in the book of patterns from my father. With a quick click, the charm dispensed black ink into the air. I infused it with as much power as I could. It shimmered, already threatening not to hold up against the power of Adazi’s attack, but then it took.

  Adazi stood across from me. His eyes mocked me. “Even you can’t last against this indefinitely,” he said.

  “I don’t have to,” I managed to get out. “You made a bargain with me. A mark of promise.”

  Adazi gave me a darkened expression. Sallow cheeks sagged. “So I did. Refusing to honor the promise will be painful, I admit, but you see, I have made other promises that would be even more painful.” He raised his shirt and showed me a series of marks across his abdomen. Each a mark of promise. “The Druist would be most displeased if I did not honor his promise first. And once I take you, I can satisfy this one without suffering for too long.”

  “I think you’re going to have a harder time taking me than you realize. I’ve served the Trelking. I’ve walked the Crystal Steps. I’ve studied the arcane under F’lian. And you have taken my friend.”

  I triggered the charm on my belt.

  I’d never had the opportunity to use it, but now seemed the time.

  With a shift of the energy around me, I held tightly to the protective barrier, this time drawing it down and surrounding Taylor with it. Doing so left me exposed, but that was a risk I needed to take for this to work.

  The blast shook free from my belt, surging toward Adazi. With a push of power into the black ink, I fueled the explosion at the same time I dropped and raced toward Devan. The blast from my belt charm threw Adazi back.

  Hopefully, the protection covering Taylor would keep her safe. And even better, maybe she’d recover quickly enough to help. The last time we’d faced Adazi, he’d handled the both of us easily.

  “Devan,” I said, cradling her in my lap.

  She didn’t move. At least her chest rose, telling me she still breathed.

  “Nice trick,” Adazi said.

  His voice came from the back of the barn. I wouldn’t have much time, not if I wanted to keep us safe. I made a hasty circle of black ink around Devan and me and infused it with the remainder of my power. It was all I had left.

  Jakes had better get here soon, or we wouldn’t make it out of here.

  “I’ve got Devan,” I said to Adazi. “Let me give you the orb, and we can both walk out of here.”

  Adazi laughed. “You think you’re walking out of here?”

  “That was the bargain.”

  “That was what you wanted, but that was not the bargain. The Druist will have his bride.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  Adazi laughed.

  Power struck the barrier around us, stronger than anything I’d ever experienced. I felt it as a physical attack that hammered me into the ground with each blow.

  “You’ll destroy the orb with me.”

  Adazi laughed again. I managed to hear him over the sound of the violence striking me. “You think that was my attack? Maybe I was mistaken to fear your power.”

  Not Adazi?

  Then what had I missed? If Adazi hadn’t done it, then it was someone else, but someone with enormous magical power.

  A shifter.

  Shit.

  Not Jakes. He and I had come to an agreement so I doubted he’d betray me. Kacey? I didn’t know her well at all, but she seemed close to Jakes, close enough that I suspected they might even be together. Who then?

  There was only one other shifter who knew where we were: Chase. He and Jakes were like brothers, but what if the disagreement between them led to Chase wanting to attack me? Would he do that to Jakes?

  If there was a shifter strong enough to keep Jakes back, it would be the massive Chase.

  The bludgeoning of my barrier continued. Each blow pushing me to the ground. I wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer, even using my attuned ink. I’d spent too much simply trying to get to Devan.

  Taylor moaned and made a movement across the ground.

  But maybe I didn’t have to hold the protection for much longer. I just needed to stop the shifter. Was there anything I could do that would get Jakes’s attention?

  “Taylor!” I yelled. “Don’t move.”

  “Oliver?”

  “The ring. Can you push everything you have into the ring?”

  I saw her staring at me from across the distance. Her eyes were wide, scared. “You said that doing that will—”

  “I know.”

  She clenched her jaw and pulled the ring off her finger, tossing it into the air. Power built in it, quickly and powerfully. The ring glowed and then exploded with light and fire, blooming into the darkness.

  The attack on me eased.

  I pulled Devan against me and began crawling toward the back of the barn. A loud snarl echoed through the barn, followed by another.

  Jakes had arrived.

  “Taylor, you need to move out of the way,” I shouted.

  I kept moving, pushing back until I reached the back of the barn. It wasn’t until then that I realized I’d lost the bag holding the orb.

  Diffuse light still lingered over the barn, the remnants of Taylor’s blast and whatever Adazi had done when we first arrived, giving enough light for me to see the bag lying on the ground near where I’d rescued Devan. The strap had broken free and the flap lay open, with the crystal inside reflecting the light.

/>   I scrambled toward it, but too late. Adazi reached it first.

  He held it out toward me, a triumphant sneer on his face. “And here I thought I might have to kill you to claim this,” he said, looking directly at me.

  I froze in place, unable to move or say anything that might change what he would do. Adazi was a powerful painter and had barely used his strength against me. I was an exhausted painter, drained from everything we’d done to simply find and replicate the orb. If he attacked, I would be essentially defenseless.

  “The Druist claims the orb is useless to one like me,” he said. “But then he thought I should be able to obtain it on my own, and he was wrong about that. Fortunate that you returned, Escher.”

  “It’s Oliver,” I spat.

  He smiled at me and spun the orb in his hand. He held it easily, unlike me who’d nearly dropped it more than once. “Call yourself what you will. Before I finish you, there’s one thing I must do.”

  His power built. Light suffused the orb as he did. Hope that he wouldn’t know how to split his focus or wouldn’t have practice doing it was dashed when the series of patterns along the top and bottom of the orb began to glow. He followed with the basic pattern, filling it, as well. That left only the arcane pattern.

  If I’d done my part, the orb wouldn’t work.

  Adazi did something unexpected. He pulled a shape from his pocket and set it on the ground. It took my mind a moment to register the fact that it was a tiny figurine, much like the ones Devan carved or the ones hidden in Jakes’s shed.

  Then he powered the arcane pattern.

  Light exploded from the orb, but that wasn’t what drew my attention. The figurine wobbled, shifting as if something alive.

  Adazi laughed. “I guess the Druist was wrong about that, too.”

  Horror filled me. Had I made it so the orb actually worked for Adazi by placing aspects of his mark on it? I thought it an arrogant touch, something to distract him, but what if the real orb wouldn’t have worked for him without his mark?

  What had I done?