From the day his family joins the caravan, Rhoyd Smytheson knows something is amiss. It isn't the caravan they were supposed to be on, but his adopted father, the mercenary Conor Manahan and his healer wife Eithne thought it was better than nothing. The Caravan Master smells like a rotting turnip all the time. The Captain is an enigma, and even the cook Noreen is hiding some secret. Then there is the dark wagon that rolls along in their midst. It reeks of magic and...something else, and Rhoyd is determined to find out what the wagon is hiding.There are too many mishaps on the road for it to be coincidence; someone among the crew of the caravan has a darker purpose. It is up to the young Ard Magister to discover who and what that purpose is even if it means sacrificing the life he has come to love with his adopted parents, for the powers of darkness will stop at nothing to keep him from attaining his full potential.