The pack was too large to be natural.

  Most packs were under ten, and while I’d heard of wolf packs of up to thirty, there was almost double that coming out of the trees. Thankfully, we were on the road with short grass around us, so we didn’t have to worry about being ambushed.

  The wolves were also all behind the caravan, which was too odd that predators would rush at the defenders first instead of going for the unprotected horses seven wagons ahead of us.

  I pulled my sword off the scabbard on my back and pointed at the wave of teeth and claws rushing towards us.

  “Vin, Starna! Hold them off the best you can. I’m going to the fro- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” I ran up to the Human driver of the wagon Starna had just hopped out of.

  The old man shook his head as he looked down at me. “I know you’re a sea boy, but when something attacks a wagon train on land, you circle up.”

  I looked around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary other than the wolves had slowed down. What he said made sense, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that circling the wagons was exactly what whoever was behind the wolf pack wanted us to do.

  “We’ve got to keep going.” I pointed up the road.

  “That’s the Wagon Boss’ call, not mine.” The old man shrugged, then slapped the reins.. “Yah!”

  “No, no, no!” I ran to the front of the caravan, but by the time I reached the pig-faced Ogra in charge, the wagons were already in a circle.

  “You’ve got to keep going!” I pointed at the wolves, which had stopped shy of the reach of Starna’s spells. “It’s a trap!”

  The green Ogre shook his head, his tusk swaying. “You might be a prince, but this is a land fight.” He started to pat my shoulder, but froze before he made contact and pulled his hand back.

  As a Sineater, I could take wounds, pain, and other ailments from people. Something that was starting to get around was that I was also a Singiver, so I could drain someone’s life force, or give them any wounds I had with just a touch.

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  I’d had to use my singiving to defeat my uncle, who had gone mad from sineating the lifefore out of rodents and bugs for almost fifteen years. The battle had been witnessed by too many Elves, so it was inevitable that I’d be able to keep my powers a secret for long.

  “Someone is controlling those wolves!” I pointed at where the whole pack was pacing in a semicircle behind the wagon circle. “You need to keep moving!”

  “Anyone who can control that many monsters is strong enough to rob much better trains.” A Goblin sneezed as he loaded a second crossbow. The smaller yellow man with slick black hair smiled. “Plus, isn’t that why you’re here?”

  For a brief moment I thought about how if I drained one of them, it might motivate the rest to follow my orders, but intimidation only works to a point and I’d rather not have to watch my back the rest of the trip because I strong-armed a driver.

  There were three Humans, two Orcs, a Goblin, an Ogre, and a Sively in our little train. There was little love between Humans and most of the other races and the Orcs were just as likely to cheer if I tried to intimidate the Ogre than they were to fall in line. The hairless, orange-skinned humanoid with black, leathery wings were some of our main competition in the smuggling business, with most of their contracts coming from Goblin sources. They also enjoyed a good fight, so he’d be more likely to attack me for entertainment than be intimidated.

  “Fine.” I shook my head and walked back to my companions.

  “They’re not attacking.” Vin pointed at the treeline almost 300 feet away. “I saw someone over there. They had pointy ears.”

  “That’s not too helpful.” I mused. Tefira was a prison planet where the High Elf Alliance sent all of its undesirables. Since the EMF of the planet killed anything electronic and an Anti-projection field kept a mage that was Master rank or lower from teleporting off-world, anyone who ended up here, stayed here. There were colonies of every race in the Universe on a planet that housed twelve native races itself. The list of the races that had Elf-like features was too long to list.

  “I guess we should go introduce ourselves.” I turned to Starna. “As soon as Vin is far enough away, cast a barrier over the caravan. I don’t want someone sneaking up on you while we’re chasing down the handler.”

  “But—”

  I held up my hand. “We need to go after the handler and they need a bubble.” I pointed at the circle behind us. “Vin will destroy the barrier just by being here, so he has to go. You have to stay to maintain the barrier if it comes under attack.” I looked between the two of them. “The only question is where am I going and I’ll be more useful with Vin.” I grabbed Starna’s hand and pulled her close. There was enough anxiety in her blue and gold eyes that I only kissed her on the forehead.

  I pulled back and grinned. “For luck.”

  The innocent woman was breathing as hard as if I’d kissed her on the lips. She leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “For luck.”

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