The door exploded outward, white splinters flying out into the structure across from us, either embedding themselves in, or blowing clean through. I was thankful to see the blue sky peak out between the saltbox style houses in front of me, granting my wish of freedom, and easing some of my stress. I exited the room, and entered the open world outside with Ella in my arms. Clinging to my cloak with both of her hands, she kept her eyes closed to avoid stray wood splinters.

Moving at a fast pace, I immediately took off down the street to my right, back the way I came. I was still adapting to my new abilities, and figured it would be best not to jump off a ship that was flying over the clouds with a girl in my arms. After a moment of contemplation, I began running in the direction of the smaller ships that were docked along the edge of the deck. I pushed off the ground with significant force, and tried to use the abilities I had used earlier, but found I couldn’t, at least not while escaping, and landed softly, continuing at my current pace.

I quickly left the district that was dedicated to the small, saltbox buildings, and entered the massive fields, gardens, and orchards that likely fed the passengers of this colossal ship, where I was greeted by dozens of elves baring an assortment of different weapons. About three-fourths of them had swords and spears, clothed in robes decorated in armor plating that added to the defense, while the remaining fourth wielded staffs similar to the one Ella had when I first saw her.

“Shit.”

They were likely there to stop me from leaving, however, another massive ship made an appearance on the horizon, it was hard to distinguish features at this distance, but it still gave me a certain sense of urgency. Ellis was definitely not safe here anymore now that I incapacitated her father, and because of that I need to get her off this ship to keep her safe until he recovers this job is getting more and more difficult by the moment.

I attempted to just leap over the warriors, but was intercepted by several bolts of lightning, and one beam of fire, which almost got me, but I was somehow able to narrowly dodge by twisting mid-air, and flipping backwards, landing on the other side of them, facing my opponents. I really didn’t have time for this, but I can’t really turn my back and risk getting an injury, or worse, Ella getting hurt. I put the elf-girl on the ground next to me, and faced them, but before I could do anything, a massive gust of wind came out of nowhere, nearly blowing the hat off my head. A storm of flames assaulting the elves in front of me, and blowing them off somewhere to my left as I held on to my hat and watched in amazement, though I couldn’t see where due to the bright red and yellow blanket that coated the scene.

I looked over at Ella, who smiled triumphantly at me, a strange, seemingly uncontrollable energy swirling around her, and bending to her will. This must be magic. I thought I sensed something off about the lightning and fire earlier, as if it was made by some form unfamiliar energy. However her magic was undeniably unnatural, and incredibly powerful. Some traces of flame swirled in the air around her, and the odd aura the magic gave out would have seemed badass if it weren’t for the child-like expression she wore, looking as if she just won some sort of game.

This chick is tough, and could likely stand her ground against the physical attacks of most people here, however I doubt the people here would come at her physically. Her father's overprotective nature seems to have made her lacking in many other areas.

After finishing her small celebration, Ella turned, and walked over to me, her smile broad enough to brighten the the darkest of hearts, and jumped up into my arms. I responded reflexively, and held her up, now back in the princess carry, making my mind wondering how vast her supply of confidence was as I resumed my escape.

There were a few more elves dressed in armor that tried to stop us, but they were few and far between, not to mention significantly slower than me, so I was able to avoid them. Of course Ella would still blow them away, not killing them, but not exactly being gentle either as the flames collided with robes and they were sent flying. Magic really is incredible.

I continued on until we arrived at a nearby ship, made of black wood like most of the others. Three masts rose up into the sky, and an elf’s face displayed as the figurehead, looking serious and determined. a smooth ebony hull seemed to both absorb and reflect light at the same time greeted us as we approached.

I jumped, hovering in the air for a second, then landed on the deck the ship, near the starboard side, and close the bow. Placing Ella down lightly, I lowered her feet to the ground, before she reluctantly stood, and dusted herself off. She grabbed onto my arm tightly, catching me slightly off-guard, and I thought I could feel a little bit of heat seeping out of her hands. Looking around, I saw several elves starting to realize my plan, and boarding ships of their own in preparation, making me curious if they knew their attempts would more likely hurt Ella than me. I looked down at the elf, who was smiling contentedly with her eyes closed, completely oblivious, or just apathetic to her situation.

“Do you know how to fly one of these?”

She responded to my question with a nod, but took no further action, continuing to cling to me with a seemingly infinite supply of enthusiasm. I was feeling a little awkward, and didn’t really want to disappoint her, but time was running out, so I placed my hand on her head, and gently tried to tug my arm away, but to no avail. She hugged my arm even tighter, pursing her lips, and revealing the strain on her face as if she was clinging to dear life against a force that was trying to tear her away.

I sighed, and began to walk toward the stern of the boat, thinking that would be the logical place for some kind of controlling mechanism, but didn’t see one. Come to think of it, when we came here on one of the ships, there didn’t seem to be anyone actually controlling the it, as if it was just flying on it’s own. That seemed impossible, which probably meant it had something to do with magic, which definitely meant there was no way in hell I can fly this ship. I looked down at Ellis, who had not loosened her grip, as if bracing herself in case I were to try to separate us again. The ships that were being boarded, suddenly became vacant as the warrior elves fled from them, sprinting at top speed to the group of saltbox houses while occasionally glancing at the skies behind us with worried looks.

I turned to see what the commotion was all about, and my question was immediately answered by a massive ship, shaped like a large arrowhead. Dangerous-looking spikes and blades stuck out in strategic places that could easily cripple another ship if used well. It came directly above me, blocking out the sun and casting a large shadow over the ship, though it didn’t cover the deck's entirety since theirs was only about a forth of the size of the elves’, however it did make me rethink my plan.

From what I understood from the elves’ tone, ogres were not beings to be trifled with, to the point where any outstanding warriors would be recruited to their army even if they were discovered by another race. I placed my hand over my hat as the ship approached, holding it on my head despite the wind’s resistance, and watched as the massive object pass over us. If we took off now, we would likely be shot out of the sky before we got very far, so my best chance of avoiding a fight at the moment was hiding until they decide to leave, and escaping via the ship I was currently on.

This plan seemed suitable, since I would have to take some time anyway to convince Ella to fly the ship, so everything works out well in the end. There was no way to get down below deck, however there was plenty of boxes and supplies littered around that could be used to hide us. I worked my way over to the port side of the ship where a large pile of crates sat, conveniently arranged in a semicircle that protected us from unwanted eyes, while still allowing us to see what was happening outside. I sat down, pulling Ella down beside me, and began talking, trying to convince her to let go, and fly the ship. She just shook her head subbornly, the smile on her face that showing no sign of concern.

After several moments, I heard some commotion from the other side of the crates that caught my attention, and I peeked over the top to see what was happening. Standing near the center of the elf-ship's deck was a big green man-like creatures with thick white tusks and a hostile loon on their face. Their size matched that of Ella’s father, and some were even bigger, though unlike the elves they were dressed in loincloths, and wielded crude weapons. Accompanying the large green men were smaller, tuskless, lighter-colored women, clad only in the skins of assorted animals that only seemed to be made to cover the most important parts, and did a poor job, shaking loose at the slightest movement.

I shook the distractions from my head, and focused on the current circumstances, which was the hostile attitude the ogres had towards the elves, who seemed submissive at the moment, however I could tell there were a couple preparing for a fight. I’m sure the elves can hold these guys off on their own territory, so there is no reason for me to get involved unless things really south, and they decide to use their ship as a weapon.

I let out a sigh, and turned back to Ella, opening my mouth to speak when I was interrupted by an explosive noise that vibrated the boxes next to me, followed by the sound of splintering wood and several shouts of surprise. I looked over again, and saw an all-out battle going on, one that the ogres were clearly winning, though there were only four fighting that I could see. Each and every movement of the ogres' was done with precision, and every blow sent another elf flying in some random direction. The elves with staffs fired assorted magic at the invaders, but did little more than hinder them, or piss them off, and they, too, where blown away across the ship.

I was astonished at the incredible amount of strength and speed that was exerted, one punch being enough to take down an elf before he or she had any time to react, which made me realize the elves had no chance. Cursing under my breath I stood up, pushing my hat down on my head to keep it from flying off like in the last fight.

“Wait here.”

I didn’t want Ella involved, the ogres would likely target her if she went out there, and even though she was strong she definitely couldn’t take one of their hits and walk away unscathed. I jumped in the air, relying on my superior physical abilities alone would be pretty risky, but I can’t exactly control anything else at will, so this will have to do. I considered just leaving, but this was caused partially due to me, not to mention I had no particular resentment against the elves, and it didn’t feel right to just leave them to be kicked around, and killed by the ogres.

I pushed off the ground, and arrived at the scene with incredible speed, dashing straight up to one of the ogres that had been more violent with the elves. Each of his swings knocking several overboard to their deaths or beating them into the ground.

“On your left.”

I bent my knee, bringing my foot up in front of me before making contact with the ogre’s bicep, and pushing away with all my might. The air around me exploded, emitting a shockwave that blew the grass and dirt underfoot away, revealing the dark wood underneath, and turning the ogre into a giant bullet.Theotgre went flying over the edge an incredible distance before losing momentum, and falling out of sight.

At the sight of my entrance, the battlefield froze, all eyes resting on me and, the ogre that had been reduced to a speck on the horizon. Uncomfortable with the attention, I resumed my attack, disappearing from their sight before charging at yet another ogre, this one being ready to fight. This time my attack didn’t come as a surprise to the green beast-like creature and my attack was met with his own, moving at nearly the same speed as me, and with much more skill. Swinging his fist around, our attacks met and the forces collided, creating a momentary clash, but ended with a loud snapping sound as the knuckles and arm of the ogre snapped and shattered. In order to stay on the ship, the green man threw himself to his right, absorbing some of the momentum, and crashing into the black ship’s railing.

“Stop!”

A voice boomed, catching the attention of everyone that was involved in the fight, and holding them down with the weight of his tone, which demanded respect and obedience. All eyes, including mine turned in the direction of the voice, and standing there was an ogre, dressed in war clothing like the others, but a certain intelligence reflected in his eyes that the others lacked. This guy must be the strategist, or at least a voice of reason to the rest of these overly-aggressive super-warriors, and he looked straight at me with determination and... was that hope in his eyes? No, it’s something else, an ogre has no reason to have hope in a human, much less one that was clearly not friendly.

“You! You are the one that did that?”

He pointed at the ogre I had just hit, his right arm looking like a limp noodle as he lay there, unconscious. I nodded, accepting responsibility for my actions, and preparing for an attack, but none came. In fact, the ogre smiled, not in a twisted, evil way that you would expect from an ogre that was engaged in a battle mere moments ago, but a smile filled with relief. Confused, I looked around, and the other ogres seemed to share the same smile, which seemed very unbefitting of the current mood. The ogre shifted his stance to a less hostile one, straightening to his full height, which about matched that of Ella’s father, and placed the sword he was wielding in it’s sheath at his left side.

“We have searched everywhere, and now we have finally found someone. It may not be an ogre, but it should not matter as long as he gets the job done, and has good results.”

I didn’t drop my guard, staying aware of everything around me while the ogre continued.

“Finally, someone that can tame Ak Maru!”