There were four left.

Not counting the captain. Only four more sailors out of the… I hadn’t been counting. Vin was going to be bragging about how many pirates he killed and if I didn’t know my number, he’d taunt me about how I hadn’t killed any.

At the moment most of the dead bodies on the ship were because of me, so that would make it a little easier to count afterwards.

“You’re going to make me kill you.” I started walking down the stairs to the main dack. It was partly a question. I was kind of hoping that he’d surrender and the whole thing would be over. Plus it was going to be hard to get information out of a deadman.

“I’ve killed your kind before.” The blue Elf pointed his sword at me. Four discarded swords rose up and each pointed their tip at me. “The crown pays well for your kind.” He licked his lips.

Because the royal family had all been Sineaters and the royal guard had all been Sineaters, the Golden Senate had decreed that all other Sineaters were to be arrested to keep them from trying to make a claim to the throne and usurp the young princess’ rightful place. And just because you weren’t in the Golden Kingdom didn’t mean you were safe. Bounty hunters, pirates, or just a commoner who saw an opportunity would all be happy to drag a Sineater into the Golden Kingdom and turn them over to the regent for ‘safe-keeping’.

Most people assumed that they were killed, but over a hundred years ago, before the current royal bloodline, the Elves of the Golden Senate had used Sineaters to take ailments away from them, as well as giving them vitality to live longer at the expense of the Sineater’s life Because of how long Elves lived, there were still plenty of Elves that could remember those days, so I doubted they’d kill a Sineater.

I shook my head. “Telepathy and ice? You dual specialized?”

“Be grateful you got to see my magic before you…”

I threw a pair of darts at him, silencing his bragging. His eyes got wide as the swords fell to the ground.

The remaining four pirates hit their knees before I could finish my first step.

I took off his swordhand and kicked him onto his back, then took a cord out of my pocket and wrapped it around his neck.

“Disorienting, isn’t it?” I grinned as I picked up the darts and poked the tip with my fingers. “If you’d done your research, then you’d have known that my brother is a Camadt.” I couldn’t hide my smile as he started shaking. I tapped the tip. “He has to trim his nails, so I keep them and make little trinkets like this.” I patted his neck. “I also use his hair when he shaves. Mages hate this stuff…” I poked my finger. “I wouldn’t know why.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“You…” He was trying to back up, but I sat on his knees. “I need answers and you need…” I looked at the stump on his right arm. “A doctor.” I turned back to him. “I just so happen to be one, so how about this? You tell me who sent you and what they sent you after and I’ll patch you up.”

“Feed the fish!” The Elf tried to spit at me, but it just dripped out of his mouth and down his cheek.

“Wrong choice.” I put the darts away and hoisted him to his feet. “Maybe a few minutes with my brother will loosen your tongue.”

He tried to take off the cord, but couldn’t pull it off with his off hand. Since that failed, he ripped his shirt to get away from me and flipped himself over the edge of the boat.

I ran over and looked over the railing to see a pool of blue blood rising to the top of the water.

Minx’s reptilian head popped out of the middle of the pool and held up the black cord.

“This yours?”

I nodded at the small blue creature. “Give it back to me once we’re done.”

He waved and went back underwater.

Storbek vaulted onto the deck. “Sectum! The princess is hurt!”

I pointed at the four on the deck as I ran towards him. “Prisoners. Captain killed himself.”

I vault over the railing and landed on our deck. Starna had the princess’ head in her lap. Garm was kneeling next to her, while the others were busy clearing the deck of the dead bodies.

I felt my power start to tingle in my hand as I walked towards her. It looked like she had been stabbed in the chest. It was on her right side, so not life threatening once we treated her. I didn’t bother trying to calculate how long I’d have that wound. As soon as I touched her, she’d be fine and I’d be the one who’d have to recuperate.

A rough hand gently grabbed my arm.

“Sectum.” My father shook his head.

“Why not?” I pulled against his grip. I could use my ability to weaken him and break free, but I’d have to switch my focus from healing to taking, which took only a few seconds, but that was more time than I wanted to spend on it.

“It’s the scar.”

I froze and swallowed. Whenever a Sineater took a wound, the original wound rapidly healed on the other person. Our own self healing was fast, so we could recover from most wounds and our healing was always accelerated after we used our abilities, so there was very little that a Sineater couldn’t take and recover from.

The scar was one of those things. If it was healed rapidly, it left behind so much scar tissue inside both the victim and the Sineater’s body that even if they did survive, they would be a shadow of their former self with what they would be physically capable of doing.

If left to heal naturally, there wasn’t much damage done and there were antidotes that could cleanse it, but those were expensive and required a mage to make.

I slowly backed up and punched the broken mast. “I should have been here.” I couldn’t face her, so I started walking towards the other side of the ship.

“I should have been there.”