{"id":5244,"date":"2026-01-04T01:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-painter-mage-05-stone-dragon-holmberg-d-k\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:14:17","slug":"the-painter-mage-05-stone-dragon-holmberg-d-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-painter-mage-05-stone-dragon-holmberg-d-k\/","title":{"rendered":"The Painter Mage 05 – Stone Dragon – Holmberg, D K"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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T<\/span>he tiny figurine<\/span> moved across the lawn, stepping through the grass, the dew making parts of him darker, as he began what looked like a little dance. I grinned and waited while little Nik made his way around the barrier that Devan had put up so that we could practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you about done?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

He paused and peered up at me, the tiny snarl on his face hard to make out. \u201cMust you continue to do this on the lawn? What if some animal peed here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal? Hell, you\u2019re lucky if I <\/i>haven\u2019t peed there,\u201d I said. I\u2019d been through enough with Nik to know that he deserved it. \u201cDevan has sealed this pretty tightly, so if you think you\u2019re going to make it out, then we\u2019re bound to have a disagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least put me on something solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

I waved a red-stained finger at him. I knew better than to leave inks coating my finger but since I was only working in red this morning, it shouldn\u2019t matter. \u201cDon\u2019t think so. Anything more solid and you\u2019re likely to use it against me again.\u201d The time I\u2019d made the mistake of setting him on the slab of cement in the garage, he\u2019d nearly completed a faint pattern on the ground before I caught him. Working on the lawn wouldn\u2019t eliminate it, but at least it made it harder for him. And besides, I kind of enjoyed torturing him, if only a little.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been working with Nik the last three weeks. Three weeks since we\u2019d lost Taylor, the hunter draining her of her magic and leaving her dead. She rested in my father\u2019s shed, left as something like Nik, frozen as a tiny figurine on the off chance that I might someday learn a way to revive her. It was possible that my father knew of some way to help, but that required finding him first, and the Elder had been lost for the last ten years. Now I\u2019d made the mistake of agreeing to serve as protector of Conlin, whatever that meant.<\/p>\n

Nik leaned against one of the smooth walls of the octagonal metal frame I\u2019d set him in. He couldn\u2019t see the circle of red ink on the other side of the walls, but likely he felt it. \u201cAt least let me see her,\u201d he said, almost as if sensing my thoughts.<\/p>\n

I knew Nik and Taylor had been close. He\u2019d been the reason she managed to successfully mod herself, staining her hair with permanent streaks of blue that gave her enhanced abilities that were much like what Devan possessed. Only, Devan is one of the Te\u2019alan, gifted with a different sort of magic than anything any painter could draw. What I hadn\u2019t known was how close they were. Taylor had been hurt when Nik betrayed her, when he used her to reach for items of my father\u2019s, risking bringing the attention of the Nizashi to Conlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill it matter?\u201d I asked. I\u2019d already let Nik see her once. There wasn\u2019t anything he could do. He\u2019d stared at her, tiny eyes unreadable. When the hunters attacked a painter like Taylor or myself, there wasn\u2019t much that could be done for them. Life left them as much as the magic did.<\/p>\n

Nik sucked in a sharp breath. \u201cFine,\u201d he said, shaking off the hint of emotion he\u2019d nearly shown. \u201cLet\u2019s begin where we left off the last time. We\u2019re working with basic patterns. From these, it will only become more complicated. It\u2019s good that you\u2019ve shown skill with arcane patterns\u2014that will help with what we must do\u2014but these are different.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shifted the glass overtop the box, increasing the magnification so I could watch him more closely. Another of Devan\u2019s creations. Without it, I\u2019d have to risk increasing his size. For every slight increase in his size, I chanced the possibility that he\u2019d gain enough control to escape. I didn\u2019t dare loose someone with magi abilities on the city again, even if Nik claimed he wasn\u2019t a mage. Not after how much we\u2019d sacrificed to capture him in the first place. With the glass, I could see the small movements of his hands. They worked in an exaggerated pattern, made clearer by the glass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s basic?\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n

Nik paused and stared at me. His hard eyes were so different from the painter I had once known, the friend I once had. His time working with the Druist Mage had changed him, turned him into something he should never have been, much like my time working with the Trelking had changed me. Maybe I wasn\u2019t so different.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe thankful you don\u2019t have the threat of death hanging over you as you practice, the fear that any misstep will lead to your master choosing to discard you.\u201d He snorted. \u201cAnd yes, this is basic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He repeated the motion with his hands again, twisting his fingers in a steady swirling, repeating the pattern over and over. Power built from him as he worked, but Devan\u2019s construct kept him confined, at least for now. Finally, I thought I saw what he did. The damn thing was <\/i>a pattern, only one that moved in multiple dimensions. As I realized that, I understood the key to copying it. Patterns I could do, arcane patterns where they were meant to trick the eye. This hand waving Nik did was much like an arcane pattern.<\/p>\n

I moved my hands in the pattern like Nik used, going through the steady motion. As it completed, the power built faster than I could control and slammed into the metal box surrounding Nik.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been waiting for it. Power struck, and he jumped, scurrying over the metal and racing across the grass faster than a tiny figurine like him should have any right to move. The wide grin on his face told me this was what he\u2019d been hoping for.<\/p>\n

When he slammed into my barrier, he bounced back. He grabbed his nose and then jerked his hands back and around, twisting in another complex pattern.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t let him finish. Using the cylinder of my father\u2019s resting on my lap, I triggered the patterns along the side, freezing him into place once more. He remained with hands outstretched, almost like he intended to finish his pattern.<\/p>\n

Would he be able to complete it when I animated him again? I\u2019d have to be careful the next time in case he could. I didn\u2019t want to risk Nik attacking me as soon as he was freed.<\/p>\n

Then I sat back, stretching my legs in front of me, pushing the metal box off to the side. A smile crossed my face. Nik might have nearly managed to escape, but I\u2019d worked a mage pattern. I played it over in my head, memorizing it, then I leaned forward and performed it again. This time, I was ready for the power as it surged from me and slammed into the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally figure something out?\u201d Devan called from the garage.<\/p>\n

I twisted to look at her. She was short, and her shoulder length black hair hung in her face as she leaned over the propane tank burning with a soft hiss from inside the garage. \u201cCould you feel that?\u201d Devan could sense magic being used around her\u2014well, most of the time\u2014it was one of the gifts of her people.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. And the first time, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for helping,\u201d I grunted, sweeping the sculpture of Nik off the ground and stuffing him into my pocket. Then I grabbed the metal box and carried it over to Devan, holding it out to her.<\/p>\n

She nodded to the metal figurine she heated over the fire, this in the shape of some massive winged creature. \u201cGonna have to wait a minute, Ollie. I\u2019m a bit busy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

I studied the creature, noting the detail in the wings and the massive forelegs. It looked something like a bird, but no bird I\u2019d ever seen had claws that sharp. I had particular interest in what the figurine could do, especially knowing how Devan\u2019s little carvings had the potential to be so much more than sculptures. They\u2019d saved us more than once.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She glanced at me over the flame and blew the strands of hair out of her face. Sweat dripped down her forehead. The top of her t-shirt hung loose around her neck. I took a quick peak, noting the sweat rolling down her chest too.<\/p>\n

\u201cOllie!\u201d she snapped.<\/p>\n

I smirked and met her eyes. \u201cHey, if you don\u2019t want me looking, don\u2019t go being so damn sexy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pulled the figurine away from the fire and carried it to the bench where she started stroking it with a long, pointed rod in steady strokes, working the shape of the face into the figurine. Not so much a bird, I decided, but more like some sort of dragon.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally,\u201d she said as she worked, \u201cyou\u2019d think I deprived you or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there is this little part about the last ten years,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Her hand paused, and she twisted so that one eye looked at me. \u201cThat was your choice, not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stood behind her and leaned against her as she continued to work. \u201cWhat can I say? I\u2019m an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed and shook her head, not missing a beat as she managed to pull shape out of the figurine. Now it seemed to have deep set eyes that almost saw through me. The powerful jaw was filled with a row of sharp teeth. What the hell was she making?<\/p>\n

I pushed against her again, and she slapped the rod down on the bench, lowering her still cooling dragon figure next to it. \u201cWhy that shape?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know whether it will work, but if it does\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDragons are immune to magical energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I eyed the figurine. Something like that might be helpful.<\/p>\n

She turned to me, her head barely up to my chin, and looked up at me with her deep green eyes. \u201cYou manage to ruin another of my perfectly good cages?\u201d<\/p>\n

I kissed her forehead, not wanting to move, not wanting her <\/i>to move. \u201cYeah, you know how Nik can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan tossed her dark hair and twisted to stare at the metal box sitting on her bench. \u201cYou did that?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this pattern he was showing me,\u201d I said. I stepped away from her and waved my hands in the pattern, stopping as I felt the power surging through it. It was different than any sort of painting I\u2019d ever done, but it pulled energy and strength, almost like a painter pattern. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you just copied him?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are <\/i>an idiot, Ollie.\u201d She pushed on my chest and shook her head. \u201cAt least I can fix this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe still wants to see her,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

The slight smile on Devan\u2019s face faded slightly. \u201cWhy won\u2019t you show him? It\u2019s not like there\u2019s much he\u2019s going to be able to do. If he releases her from the pattern, then she\u2019s dead. If he knows some way of helping her, then she\u2019s not.\u201d Devan shot me a glare at my frown. \u201cDon\u2019t look at me like that, Ollie. She knew the risks. She nearly released the same thing before. The way I see it, she was living on borrowed time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was harsh, but not completely untrue. \u201cWell, maybe I can use her as some sort of reward if he continues to show me the mage patterns,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s sick. Using a dead statue as a reward?\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared at her, incredulous. \u201cWait, weren\u2019t you just telling me to do the same thing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot as a reward. Just let the guy see his girl. Maybe he\u2019ll help you if you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shook my head and turned away, my eyes catching on Big Red, the old faded red Ford F150 parked in the garage. The hood was up telling me Devan was tinkering again. \u201cI don\u2019t know that I\u2019ll ever understand you, De\u2019avan,\u201d I said, choosing to use her formal name.<\/p>\n

She snorted and turned back to her newest creation. \u201cBecause I\u2019m mysterious. That\u2019s why you love me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was for so many more reasons than that, but neither of us needed to say them. After what we\u2019d been through together over the last ten years, we shared something deeper than friendship, deep enough I hadn\u2019t wanted to risk it with romance before recently. But after nearly losing her, I couldn\u2019t stand the thought of something happening to her without her knowing how I felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMystery only carries a girl so far,\u201d I said, peering into the hood of the truck. Devan carried her figurine over to me and made a point of punching me in the side. \u201cOw!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you get back to your practicing and leave me so I can work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kinda hoping to not <\/i>leave you alone if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head at my smirk. \u201cI always know what you mean, Ollie, but I\u2019ve got to finish this before it hardens\u2014\u201d she punched me again as my grin widened \u201c\u2014and you said you wanted to see if the compass was set back into place the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The compass Devan\u2019s brother had attempted to steal, the one that obscured Conlin from the Trelking, had been set back into place after the attacks, but I was still working on how to make certain it couldn\u2019t be hijacked again. There had to be some patterns I could place around it would keep it safer than what it was. Unlike most of the magical items in town, the compass wasn\u2019t even a creation of my father\u2019s, so I didn\u2019t have to compete with his patterns to keep it safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, fine,\u201d I grumbled. \u201cPut me to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shot me a look and pointed at me with the long metal tongs she used to hold her carvings. \u201cIf I\u2019ve got to work, then you should too. And since you\u2019re now the protector of Conlin, you might want to do a little protecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither of us knew what me agreeing to serve as the protector of Conlin would mean. It was how I\u2019d managed to shake the Trelking from the city, though I\u2019m not certain he had any interest in Conlin. His interest had been more about his son and Devan. Jakes made a point of asking if I\u2019d serve as the city\u2019s protector, but I think was only because my father had served in that role. I wasn\u2019t anything like my father. I might be a painter, but I wasn\u2019t an artist like him. Hell, if Jakes was right, my father might have been something more than a painter.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, since shutting the Trelking out of Conlin, there hadn\u2019t been much for me to do. I wasn\u2019t so sure I was all that ready to do anything anyway. It had taken a while to come to grips with the fact that Taylor had died because she\u2019d been trying to help us. She\u2019d come looking for help, hoping to find her <\/i>father. When it became clear there wasn\u2019t much that could be done for him, she\u2019d stayed, thinking to learn from the Elder, from everything of his that remained throughout the city. Instead, she\u2019d ended up dead. Not much of a protector.<\/p>\n

In the time since we survived what the Trelking intended, I\u2019d been working to learn as much as I could. Not just with Nik, though that was a part\u2014and maybe the biggest part of it\u2014but also with the book of patterns my father had left me. Taylor had taught me how to work through it, how to use it to practice the patterns my father seemingly had intended for me to learn. I\u2019d even surprised myself, managing to nearly finish the entire damn book in the last few weeks.<\/p>\n

Not like Taylor. She whipped through those patterns in days, quicker than anything I had managed, but then again, I wasn\u2019t an artist like her. These days, I didn\u2019t know what I was anymore. Not just a tagger, someone with minimal painting ability, but still not at artist level. Maybe I was somewhere in between. I\u2019d never reach Taylor\u2019s level, but then, I wasn\u2019t dead like she was either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what you\u2019re thinking, Ollie,\u201d Devan started. She turned to me and planted her hands on her hips. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t much you could\u2019ve done. She came here willingly, and she fought alongside us willingly. Besides, she might have been a better painter than you, so do you think there was anything you could\u2019ve done that would have stopped her from trying to help?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean she might have been a better painter than me? There\u2019s no question she was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan arched a brow at me. \u201cOnly for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I inhaled deeply and climbed into Big Red. Old tears in the cloth seats were sewn together, and even the new seams Devan sewed in place created a repeating pattern. I slapped the steering wheel, running my hands around the massive wheel, and twisted the keys still stuck in the ignition. The truck roared to life, the throaty rumble a little steadier than it had been even the day before. Every day, it seemed Devan managed to do something new to the truck. Eventually, I figure she had to be done. Otherwise, if she was going to continue tinkering, then we might as well just buy a new truck.<\/p>\n

Devan dropped the hood of the truck and shook her head at me. \u201cSee you at lunch?\u201d she called over the rumble.<\/p>\n

I nodded and backed out of the garage, making my way up the driveway and out onto the street. The truck had a new rumbled to it that hadn\u2019t been there before, a throaty sound I attributed to whatever Devan had done to tune the engine.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before I made my way up Washington Street and to the top of Settler Hill.<\/p>\n

The compass rested in place where it had always been. It was a large metal sculpture, one of the few in the city that preceded anything my father had placed here and one that apparently created a certain magical shroud over the city, a way to mask it from the eyes of those like the Trelking. His reach would otherwise extend beyond the Threshold, but with the compass, it restricted his prescience.<\/p>\n

After it had nearly been stolen, it had taken time to return it to its rightful place. I still didn\u2019t understand what it did or why Brand had wanted it, other than to hide from his father, but there was something to learn from it, from the power extended through it.<\/p>\n

Standing atop the hill, I could see the city splayed out in front of me. The pattern made into the trees was visible now that I knew what to look for. Taylor had been the first one to identify it, though I should have known my father would be crafty enough to figure out a way to work even the trees into his projects. Hell, Taylor had used the trees when she was trying to distract the shifters, so it made sense my father would find a way to do something both similar, and way more impressive.<\/p>\n

I ran my hand over the compass. Power hummed within it. This close, I could feel <\/i>the energy of the sculpture, the way it drew power as if from the city itself. Had it always done that? I didn\u2019t think so, but then again, the compass had only been back in place for a short while. Thankfully Jakes had managed to get help with replacing it back where it belonged. The shifters had used their magic, though I still didn\u2019t understand everything about their magic, but they had fused the sculpture to the stone beneath. It would take a little more than a mild magical attack to separate it again.<\/p>\n

The sense of power from the compass increased, becoming stronger. As it did, it surged away from Settler Hill, spreading down and into the city below.<\/p>\n

How was it I felt it?<\/p>\n

There was something off, though. I don\u2019t know how I knew, but it was there.<\/p>\n

I turned to the north end of town. There was nothing there but industrial buildings. A few were abandoned, but most were large warehouses or plants that provided much of the industry in Conlin. There seemed to be a gap in the compass\u2019s power, a void that shouldn\u2019t be there.<\/p>\n

I grunted. Now that I had claimed the title of protector of Conlin, it was time for me to get to work. I only wished I knew what it meant, and what I\u2019d committed myself to.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Book Preview 1 The tiny figurine moved across the lawn, stepping through the grass, the dew making parts of him darker, as he began what looked like a little dance. I grinned and waited while little Nik made his way around the barrier that Devan had put up so that we could practice. \u201cAre you … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342],"class_list":["post-5244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-d-k-holmberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}