"Are they pirates?" Emmaline asked, instantly worried after her previous encounter with slavers of the coast of Tilea. The Captain grunted and  looked unwell. Ignoring the wizard for the moment he turned and bellowed to his men.

"Bring her about south southwest, keep her a point of the wind, lateen rigs don't handle that well. Get every scrap of canvas we have aloft, I want handkerchiefs flying from the ends of the yards yesterday, move you cursed fools!" he bawled before slaming his spyglass closed so hard Emmaline worried he had broken it.

"Not pirates," he said in a somber voice, "Elves."

Emmaline looked to Amal but he, like her, was literally at sea. There had been elves at the College of Magic, usually snotty and aloof, talking to the senior wizards and generally ignoring all other humans. Emmaline had never spoken to one before.

"If they are Elves why are we running away?" Emmaline pressed. Already Destrier was coming about, hardening up on a course back towards Lustria where her big square sails could catch more wind than the triangular ones of the ship that was apparently pursuing them. Canvas seemed to be sprouting on every inch of timber and the slap of wind blown canvas grew more deafening as more and more was rolled out.

"Not those Elves," The Captain said, thrusting his hands in his pockets to conceal visible shaking.

"The bad ones." Emmaline felt the blood drain from her face. There were tales of a dark strain of elves who lived somewhere far to the north, raiding and pillaging and carrying of whole villages for some unknown purpose. Rumors abounded of dark blood soaked alters and hideous rites to forgotten gods. It was a topic that wizards were advised not to broach with their erudite and cultured visitors though Emmaline didn't know why it was such a sore topic.

"Can we outrun them?" Emmaline asked nervously. The captain glanced back over his shoulder. Already the Dark Elf ship was closer and Emmaline could almost make out figures on its deck.

"I certainly intend to try," the captain answered soberly.