Lin says "Of course not, but that's all I'm telling you."

"Wait, just who's side are you on?"

Lin says "My own side of course. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything that will harm you. Brightfire has agreed to help convince everyone that you and I are lovers, so you have your shield now."

"You know, I never actually agreed to you acting as my shield."

Lin says "I know, and you probably wouldn't have. You don't want anyone getting hurt or suffering for your sake. That's why I took things into my own hands."

"Why would you do that? This isn't a joke, you could get hurt."

Lin says "Because you are teaching me things and because I like you."

"That is still no reason to risk yourself. No one on this ship would actually hurt me, but you are a different story."

Lin says "You are worried about me? That makes me so happy!"

"Uh, yes I guess I am. Why would that make you so happy?"

Lin says "That's because it means you are starting to care for me. Even if you decide to run away from this decision, I still want you to like me."

"If I didn't have a good opinion of you, I never would have brought you here."

Lin says "That isn't what I am talking about and you know it. Why do you always try to avoid everything?"

"Probably because it makes it easier to avoid drama. My old life left me with a hatred of drama."

Lin says "How is saying you like me going to lead to drama? No one else is around. I just think you avoid anything that makes you uncomfortable."

"You don't know me well enough to call me out like that."

Lin says "Maybe not, but you are pretty easy to read, Ash."

Just as I am trying to think of what to say in answer to Lin, the ship's alarm goes off. As I get up and head outside to see what is going on all I can think is 'saved by the bell'. When I reach the bridge I find Stillwater, Silverstream, and Silverleaf all staring behind the ship.

When I move up behind them and look towards our wake I see what they are staring at. There are two small dots just barely visible on the horizon behind us. As I watch, the tiny dots get just a little bigger over the next few minutes.

"Human ships."

Stillwater says "That is what I am guessing."

Silverstream says "They are gaining on us."

"Not very fast though, it will take hours to catch up to us."

Stillwater says "True, but they will eventually catch us. The question is, what do we do about it?"

"Running is out of the question. That leaves either fighting or hiding."

Silverstream says "How would we hide a ship this big?"

"Did you forget the horn I made to summon fog?"

Silverstream says "Oh, yeah I did."

Stillwater says "I doubt hiding will work if they are specifically hunting us."

"Want me to fly back and see who they are?"

Stillwater says "Yes please. We can make a better decision once we know more."

So, I take off and start flying south towards the two ships to see who they are. I am already pretty sure they are two of the smaller warships from the kingdom that invaded the island. They have the most reasons to try and hunt us down and are the closest to us currently.

Of course, I could be wrong, they could be just two merchant ships heading north. However, merchants normally move alone or in convoys, at least from what we have seen. Then again, just two ships isn't really enough to tackle us, so maybe I am wrong.

Even flying it will take a while to reach the ships, so once I reach a decent altitude my mind begins to wander. I am glad the alarm rang when it did because Lin was absolutely right about me. I was raised to believe that real men do not cry or show their emotions.

Later in life I realized that was a load of crap, but it still stuck with me up till now. That is why I always avoid anything having to do with feelings as much as I can. It is a hindrance when dealing with women, but it has also helped me survive until this point.

It served me well when I first was summoned to this world and thrown into the pit. Now however, it is causing me problems and worse, Lin saw right through it. She is far too intelligent, I am not going to be able to pull a fast one with her.

Part of me regrets bringing her here, but her intelligence also makes me more attracted to her. She is not going to let this go, she is going to make me face my issues. While I admit that I actually need that, it is also something I would prefer to avoid.

However, Lin isn't about to let me get away with that, she is far too tenacious. This whole thing with the ships hasn't actually saved me, it has only delayed things. I should just admit that I like her instead of making such a big deal out of this.

Before I even realize it I am already above the two ships and it looks like I was right. They are wearing the same uniforms as the soldiers that were on the island. I didn't bother to shapeshift so they have seen me as well and the sailors are panicking.

However, the two ships below me are not that big of a deal, we can handle them easily. The problem is, that from here I can see another three ships in the distance. These are the large warships and they can certainly cause us some serious problems.

The two faster ships are probably meant to catch us and slow us down enough for these three to catch up. Then they will try to either capture us or sink us, my money is on sinking us. After all, I have done more than enough to completely infuriate them.

Considering that they sent an entire fleet after us I would say my guess is correct. It also my fault that they have caught up to us, I delayed us too much so I could go to the auction. Otherwise we would have been long gone before the fleet got near us.

Once I spot the three large warships I turn around and fly back towards the ship. I need to inform Stillwater and the others so that they can decide what they want to do. My vote is to avoid fighting them, but I can also destroy them if that is what Stillwater decides.

Then again, I could also let Lin destroy them, she should know some powerful spells. If she does it, that should help improve her reputation with the elves. It will also help settle any doubts they have about who's side she is on.