Episode 8: An Alluring Proposition (Part 6 of 6)

Without a word, Lilanei turns to the left staircase and begins to ascend to the next floor, Locke and Dara following close behind. Finally making their way up the stairs, the trio find themselves in what appears to be a large treasure room. The room is silent except for a faint shuffling on the other side.

Locke looks to Lil and whispers, "Do you hear that?"

Lil glances at Locke only slightly before looking into the room and concentrating on the noise. A couple of moments later, they see a figure emerge from the far side of the chamber – Alexandra, as she grasps a large fire opal up in the air in her hands and gazes up to it dreamily.

"Alexandra," Locke calls.

The female rogue glances briefly across the room before she cries back, "Oh, ja! How zid your little. . . rescue thing go?"

"It went perfectly," Locke replies. "But now we have to focus on getting everyone else free. Tell me, are you in or are you out? Judging by your exit and how you're looking at that piece of jewelry there, I'd say you're out, no?"

Alexandra lowers the opal as she looks across the room at Locke with eyebrows cocked as she asks sincerely, "'No?' Are you mocking me, Mr. Locke?"

"Not at all," Locke casually states. "I guess I just picked up some of your lingo."

The woman places the large jewel in her bag as she quips, "Huh! How very cute of you, Mr. Locke. . . I hope zhat at ze end of zhis journey, more zhan just my. . . lingo, as you say, vill have rubbed off on you."

"We'll see," Locke replies. "Now, are you coming with us?"

"Mm," she murmurs before responding, "I dunno, Mr. Locke. Vhile being a hero iz all great and all, vhat iz in it for me?"

"The satisfaction of the adventure!" Locke cries. "Besides, I can thank you with a drink later."

Before Alexandra can respond, Lilanei mutters something angrily and rushes to Dara, who she takes by the hand as she says, "Come on – they'll be here all night."

Dara meekly follows behind Lilanei as the wizard angrily leads her off and they begin to make their way across the large chamber and to the large stairway in the center of the room.

Locke looks to Alexandra and says, "I'm with them. If you want to come along, be my guest, but come now."

With that, Locke begins to follow behind Lil and Dara. As Locke attempts to follow them, he hears footsteps behind him as Alexandra rushes to his side and tugs on his arm, turning him quickly around as she cries.

"Oh, Mr. Locke! You vould just leave me. . . just like zhat?"

"No," Locke replies slowly. "But, I promised people I'd find a way to get them free—"

Alexandra suddenly snaps, interrupting his dialogue as she exclaims, "Promises are like friends, Mr. Locke – numerous and cheap! Vhy hang on to such childish nonsense vhen you can come vith me?" She pauses as she now grasps his vest in both of her hands and pulls him forwards, fluttering her eyelashes seductively. "Vhat does a. . . Halfie, have over me, Mr. Locke? She and her little Elf friend can get out by zhemselves. You and I, meanwhile, can move to some place more. . . comfortable, no?"

Locke stares at Alexandra longingly and begins to move away from the staircase as if to go with her, but at the last second, he stops and says, "That would be too easy, because it's selfish. I vowed I wouldn't be selfish like that when I started my journey, and I won't let these people down. Sorry, Alexandra, but I've got a job to do."

With that, Locke gives her a quick kiss on the lips before he turns and walks towards the stairs, saying as he walks, "You're a very charming woman, and—"

Locke is suddenly interrupted as Alexandra lunges forward and spins him quickly around as their lips lock with his in a very long kiss before she withdraws and says alluringly, "Mr. Locke. . . You vould leave me. . . Just like zhat? Come vith me! Ve could have many. . . grand adventures together, no?"

"There's an adventure right here," Locke replies slowly. "I don't want to leave you, but you must understand, I don't want to leave Lilanei, either."

Alexandra snaps, "Half-breed! Vhat could zhat little trollop give you zhat I couldn't? As far as I'm concerned, she's a bore! Leave her and come vith me," Alexandra finishes as she pulls him forwards and into her.

"Just what do you have against Lilanei?" Locke asks, frowning.

"Her? Nothings," she quickly quips as she flutters her eyelashes at Locke and softly says, "but I do not take much liking to zhose who stand in zhe way of my. . . conquests."

"So what happens after the conquest?" Locke asks, intrigued.

The woman grins and utters softly, “Tut, tut. . . I told you. You never ask a woman her secrets."

"You don't know how tempted I am," Locke begins. "Living the life of a rogue with a very beautiful woman, care free, is extremely tempting. But how do I know someday you won't get bored with the same old Locke and move to someone else? She might act like she hates me and call me all the names under the sun, but I know that I'll always have her, like she should know she always has me. I want a life long partner, and as great as it would be with you, I don't think you would settle for me for too long."

Alexandra simply chuckles as he finishes his speech before she begins to slowly wrap her arms around his waist and draw even closer to him; as her mouth opens to speak, Locke hears a sudden cry coming from the next floor as Dara screams shrilly, "LOCKE!"

Immediately, Locke shoves himself out of Alexandra's arms and rushes through the room, over the treasure, and sprints up the stairs. As Locke dashes up the large stairway, he immediately stumbles into another large chamber – littered with even more treasure, full cabinets, and the many remains of humanoid creatures, piled high near a desk in the back. In front of the desk sits a vicious looking Harpy, who kneels threateningly with her clawed hands extended outwards – blood dripping slowly from her sharp talons. In front of her, Lilanei and Dara are restrained by two female Half Elf pirates as they cry and struggle.

"I take it that you might be Martel," Locke announces to the Harpy.

The Harpy laughs in a high pitched shriek as she cries, "It's the funny man! Welcome! I was just getting hungry when these delicious little Elves trampled into my room – but you will do just fine as well!"

"I've heard it all before," Locke states blankly. "Let's just save all the pointless aggro. You let my friends go and we'll leave."

Martel cackles before shrieking, "I think not, little comedian! Belamros assured me that I would get to feast on your bones personally! And I'm not letting you go without a fight!"

"Okay, just let the women go," Locke states. "We'll stay here and dance, and then we'll see who's the dinner,” Locke growls as he reaches for his sickle – his hands grasping nothing but air where the weapon's handle should be. He finds it is gone from its sheathe on his leg – as well as the heavy coin pouch which hung on his waist. Trying to play it off, Locke looks over to the Harpy and continues. "I do have the taste for game, every now and then."

The Harpy licks her lips as she flaps her large wings behind her and cries, "Then let the hunt begin!"

Quickly, Locke withdraws one potion from his bag, pulls the cork, and spits out at one of the pirates before he drinks it in a rush before withdrawing his crossbow.

"The hunt?" Locke asks. "Well as you can see, I think I make quite the hunter!"

Quickly, Locke aims the crossbow at the Harpy and quickly pulls the trigger, firing the bolt from the crossbow, which flies through the air and catches Martel in the right shoulder. As the bolt plunges into her shoulder, Martel emits a shrill cry before swooping up into the air – which she can easily do, unlike the hippogriff's downstairs, due to the high ceiling of her chamber – before she launches at Locke and attempts to slash her claws at him; nevertheless, Locke raises his crossbow, blocking her attempted strike and also throwing her to the side as she lands on the ground before him. Meanwhile, the Half-Elf who restrains Lilanei plunges her short sword into the wizard's torso, missing any vital organs but still cutting deeply into her. Lil snarls viciously in pain and anger as she struggles hard against the Half-Elf's grip. As her temper rises swiftly, her eyes suddenly emit a dull red glow before the Half-Elf behind her launches suddenly into raging flames – letting go of Lilanei immediately and stumbling backwards into the large shelves behind her, where she collapses and dies.

As this occurs, the one eyed Half-Elf pirate who holds Dara tightly thrusts the unaware and helpless Elf behind her and into a large bookcase. Dara slams hard against the bookcase before the Half-Elf slashes at her with her short sword – cutting across Dara's upper shoulder as the Elf howls in agonizing despair. Locke looks around to see the dead and charred Half-Elf but also to Dara, who lies prone in front of the other pirate. Quickly, Locke tumbles about fifteen feet to the left of Martel while he grabs a new magazine for his crossbow, which he loads into his weapon before then standing up while he continue to operate his crossbow. As he attempts to reload his crossbow, Martel takes this opportunity to dash forward and slash wildly at the rogue's face, raking across it with her claws and creating many bleeding wounds.

"Argh!" Locke cries. "You freak! Get away from my face!"

Suddenly, Lilanei cries as she dashes across the room and behind the other Half-Elf, thrusting her dagger angrily into their back before pulling it downwards in a violent motion through her spine as the Half-Elf's back sputters with blood. The woman collapses to her knees and falls forwards, dead on her face. Meanwhile, with his crossbow successfully reloaded and armed, Locke points his now primary weapon at Martel and fires off a bolt from his crossbow. Immediately, Locke pulls the trigger and fires a second bolt, shortly followed by one more – all three bolts flying towards Martel's face in a barrage. The three bolts strike Martel hard in the face, the shock of which causes Martel to lose her sight and her bearings for a few moments.

As Martel begins to stumble about clumsily and dizzily, she suddenly thrusts her head back and emits a shrill and horrible screech which strikes Locke's ears, much like a thunderbolt, and causes him to clutch his head and howl in pain. As blood begins to drip from his ears and nose, he can also hear Lilanei cry painfully through the screech as the shrill noise barrages her senses as well. Now fueled not only by her anger, but by the pain pounding in her head, Lil releases another loud cry as she turns her body and thrusts her palms forwards, instantly releasing a massive white orb which flies swiftly through the air and into Martel's back. As the orb collides with her body, it shatters into many pieces and shreds through her feathers and wings as blood begins to mat her large wings.

Martel, although still dazed, turns to Lil and cries vengefully, "I'll peck your eyes out for that!"

With Martel now distracted by Lilanei, Locke dizzily raises his crossbow and aims it towards Martel – Locke feeling sluggish and dizzy as his pounding headache now worses ten fold and his senses are completely clouded. Despite this, he aims to the best of his ability and pulls the trigger, causing a bolt to fly through the air. Either by luck or by fate, the bolt flies through the air and collides with Martel in the same area of her back that Lilanei's attack hit earlier.

Ignoring Locke's attack due to her great anger, Martel launches forward – now fully composed – as she slashes her claws at Lilanei's face. As she does so, Lilanei drops backwards onto the floor dizzily and conveniently avoids the attack. Lilanei hits the ground with a loud thud and shakes her head as she immediately begins to regain her senses. Seeing the towering bird-like creature loom above her, Lilanei hisses as she thrusts her palm forwards and a silver power begins to glow in her palm. The power and energy whirs and hums before a mighty silver bolt launches from her hand and directly collides with Martel's face. The bolt wraps around her face, almost like a mask, and continues to fly past her head and into the back of the room where it collides with part of the ceiling and causes it to collapse to the floor below. As the energy collides with the ceiling, our Heroes notice flesh and blood flying inside the trail of the bolt until the energy fades away and Martel falls back to the ground dead – nothing but a charred skull remaining of her face.

"Good shot, Lil," Locke says with a relieved sigh as he walks over to her. "Are you okay?"

As Lil begins to stumble to her feet clumsily, she snaps, "I'm fine – no thanks to you!"

Lilanei then brushes herself off before rushing to Dara and kneeling beside her, as the woman now clutches her bleeding shoulder.

Locke walks over to Lilanei and clutches her shoulders before angrily stating, "What is your problem? I came for you. I know exactly what this is about, and if you must know, she's gone – with my sickle and my money. I came up for you and no one else!"

Snapping her head back at him, Lil cries, "Of course – but only after it was convenient for you! You left me all alone in that cabin on the Mighty Blue and up until now, you've completely ignored the fact I exist! If you want to chase after smelly little wenches then so be it! Just leave me out of it. . ."

"That's a cart full of tripe!" Locke shouts, taking his hands away from her as he steps back. "The entire time we were separated and this all happened, my one concern has been you, and finding you! If I was more interested in Alexandra, I would've left with her on the lifeboat—"

Lil suddenly howls, "You liar! Do you think I'm deaf? I heard everything you said to her. . . All you needed was a good offer and you'd be on that boat already with that stupid woman! You don't care about me! You're just a selfish rogue who cares for nothing but satisfying his wild libido!"

"I said that because there was no way she was going to give me a good offer," Locke snarls as he takes Lilanei by the wrist. "I came back for you, you ungrateful little whelp. I came to help you and make sure you were safe," Locke pauses as he then throws her wrist from his grip and turns around. "And all you want to do is be the center of attention and accuse me of not caring about you. Well, that's okay, then. I'm sure I could find my way out of this place on my own, but you. . . Well, I don't think you'd fare so well. I don't want to leave without you, but if you're going to be like that with me because I originally just went for a drink with someone, while you were half comatose, then let's forget it."

Lilanei now stands abruptly as she faces Locke's back, glaring daggers at him as the corners of her eyes start to tear and well up; she cries, "It's not just that stupid woman and her drinks! It's every other woman as well! Every time a pretty woman flutters her eyelashes at you with false promises, you're running off in the opposite direction and leaving me all alone! Say what you will about me, but it doesn't change the fact that you're a selfish and insensitive buffoon! I was stupid to even think you wanted to be on this journey with me, and I was just as stupid to think you could ever love me back, as I much as I love you!"

She stops talking suddenly as she angrily wipes her eyes and turns from him, chocking slightly as she sniffles.

"Well," Locke says slowly with a choked voice. "If the one girl I really loved made her feelings clear to me, perhaps I wouldn't. . . chase after any pretty thing. . . but you always put me down, Lil. And I look elsewhere for the positive attention I've never had."

"Well. . . you," she pauses as she starts to cry, before continuing, "You never gave me a chance! I only said those things. . . and hit you all those times. . . because I was scared—"

"Scared about what?" Locke asks, his voice still meek from the tears flowing down his face. "You've been the closest person in my life, for all my life, and like everyone else important in my life – except my mother – you just treated me harshly. Akorrin did it, Longrin did it, you did it. So I looked elsewhere for some happiness, even if it was only for as long as a drink. I always knew you hated me, and why not? Considering how I was to you back then. . ."

Lilanei sniffles some more as she wipes tears from her cheeks and finally says, "I never hated you. . . I don't even understand how you could've ever thought that. I was just afraid that you would hate me again, like you used to. . ."

"I only hated you and your mother, like everybody else who wasn't human," Locke begins, "because it's what my father did. There was never anything personal about you I hated. It was just me being a stupid boy."

Lilanei glances over her shoulder to see his back is still turned and she sniffles as she says, "I know that couldn't have been your only reason. . . I know I'm not clever, or very pretty, or a 'great time' like all the other women you seem to be interested in. . . So I just didn't want to be hurt when you found someone else who could. . . fulfill your needs, better than I ever could."

"You're smarter than me," Locke begins. "And I love being around you, despite you not being the most flirtatious or charismatic woman I've ever met. But. . . I think you're beautiful enough to catch my eye, and I think if you gave me a chance, despite how stupid I am, you'd find you could satisfy my needs all I wanted. Besides that, like I told Alexandra, I couldn't trust her not to get with me and leave. I need my companion in life, Lil, and I feel that's you. I just felt you didn't want anything to do with me in that sense. I figured you stayed with me until some equally as smart of a bookworm came along—"

Lilanei interrupts him as she sobs, "Do you really think I'm that fickle? I'm not with you just to bide my time for the next person! I'm with you because. . . I. . . I love you. And I want to be with you. . ."

"That's exactly how I feel, Lilanei," Locke replies. "I know we're only young, but," he turns and places a hand on her shoulder as he continues, "from the day you saved my life when I nearly fell off that cliff, I loved you because I felt you could be the only person in the world, aside from my own mother, who could truly love me. And I love you for making me feel that way – and just because I love you."

With her back still turned, Lilanei clutches Locke's hand on her shoulder with her own as she continues to quietly cry – her eyes clenched tightly shut.

"You know, you're a really good wizard," Locke begins, smiling through his tears. "Because you're absolutely magical and light up my life just like a magic trick!"

As Lil opens her mouth to speak, Dara – who until now lay quietly listening with her eyes shut – weakly opens them and feebly smiles as she says, "That sounds. . . very much. . . like true love. . ."

"I'd say it is," Locke replies with a gulp between words. "I just need the one girl in my life to believe it, too."

Lilanei begins to turn around as she says, "Locke, I—"

Suddenly, she is interrupted by Dara, who coughs weakly as blood continues to pour from her injured shoulder; Lilanei immediately turns back and cries, as she quickly kneels by her once more and props the back of her head up with her hand, "Dara! I'm so sorry! Are you going to be okay?"

Dara coughs again and says, "It's okay. . . Just leave me. And save Marc and the children. . ."

Locke kneels down beside Dara on the other side of her and immediately pulls out another potion of healing, which he takes the cork from as he pours the liquid into her mouth.

"Just drink this, and rest," Locke says soothingly. "You'll feel better soon."

Dara swallows the potion with a weak gulp before the bleeding in her shoulder begins to lessen slightly as she closes her eyes and sighs contently, "Thank you. . . you two. . . I'm feeling very. . . sleepy now. . ."

"What do we do now?" Locke asks, looking to Lilanei with red eyes. "We can't leave her, but we can't trudge around carrying her, either."

Lilanei, whose gaze shies away from Locke as she glances about the room, sniffles and says, "We're going to have to take her. . . Who knows what other creatures may swoop down from upstairs," she finishes as she motions to a large staircase, leading up to another floor.

"Alright," Locke replies. "But I hope we don't come across too many opponents. I cant fight too well if I have to carry her around everywhere."

Lilanei looks back at Locke, just realizing that blood continues to drip from his wounds; she quickly reaches into her bag and removes a potion before taking Locke's right hand and placing the bottle gently in it as she sniffles and mutters, "Drink this. . . I'll have a look around the room."

Locke nods and quickly downs the blue liquid, throwing the glass bottle on the corpse of Martel as he stays crouched on the floor, recovering from his injuries. Lilanei in the mean time dashes across the room and to a large desk which the Harpy, Martel, used as her own – searching under bloody objects and several small bones which sit precariously on the desk.

She gasps excitedly as she suddenly says, "I think I've found the keys!"

Locke stands up and looks over to Lilanei who holds the bunch of keys before he walks over and looks to them, exclaiming, "If they are, it could make our trip a lot shorter!”

Lilanei nods, lightly tossing him the keys which he catches, before opening the drawer in the desk and discovering three bottles of potion and a pouch – containing one thousand gold pieces. Keeping two of the potions for herself, Lilanei pushes the third, as well as the bag of money, over to Locke who quickly pockets both.

"If I didn't let Alexandra get so close, this would've been around three thousand," Locke chokes.

Lilanei frowns at him before muttering, "Well. . . At least she didn't hurt you."

"How about you?" Locke asks as he softly runs his fingers through her hair. "Are you hurt?"

Lilanei looks away for a moment, before looking back at him and softly asking, "Locke. . . Would you have really left me if Alexandra made the right offer?"

"No," Locke replies softly but bluntly. "No, I could never do that to you."

Her lips curling very slightly in a smile, she whispers, "Then I'll be okay. . ."

Locke smiles back to Lilanei before softly patting her head and then turning back and walking over to Dara, whom he picks up gently in his arms.

"We should release the other prisoners," Locke states. "We've possibly got all the keys. If we can show the prisoners that you and I have gotten this far, perhaps their morale will turn and we can lead them against the rest of that Captain's men. We've dealt with this Martel, who I assumed was his most dangerous weapon, so what else more can there be?"

Lil walks over to Locke as he clutches Dara and says, "I don't know. . . But we'll soon be finding out. Quickly now – let's save everyone!"

Locke carrying Dara in his arms, the rogue leads the way with Lilanei following close behind. Quickly and swiftly, they remain in the shadows and light on their feet as they sneak back down the many floors of the Pirate's Cove. Fortunately for our Heroes, the descent is uneventful – perhaps because the rest of the pirate gang is missing, or perhaps because they have simply not noticed them in the safety and quiet of their cabins. In a rush, they finally make it to the third level which contains all the woman and children. Lilanei swiftly frees them all before leaving Locke to guard the women as she rushes down to the lower level to free the men. Once reunited, the many travelers and merchants deliver a tearful reunion before Locke and Lilanei announce that their escape must be made quickly and at this moment. The entire group in tow, they make their journey slowly, and again uneventfully, back upstairs and to the exit of the Pirate's Cove. Luckily, the large life boat from earlier remains anchored to the port, as the many rescued travelers board it slowly. As Locke places the final passenger, Dara, into the boat and safely into her husband's arms, our Heroes' hopeful expressions dim as they realize that there's no room on the boat for them.

"Well," Locke begins, "ladies and gentlemen, it's been a pleasure to have freed you and gotten to know you, even if it was in. . . questionable circumstances. There's no room for us, but this is what we decided to do with our lives anyway – so we bid you farewell and good luck. We hope you reach friendly waters and friendly land soon. Maybe you'll even get to Ibius, and you might see us there. Goodbye!"

As Lil waves sullenly to the large group of travelers, the largest of the Dragonborn men, which our Heroes recall from the first day they took off on the Mighty Blue, takes command as he and many of the other men begin to row the boat slowly away and out of the large cove – many of the passengers turning to wave sadly at their rescuers. As the small boat shrinks into the horizon of the ocean, Locke turns to Lilanei before he meekly smiles at her and opens his arms to her invitingly.

"You know, this might be the end for us, since we couldn't go with them. But if it is, then I'll die happy."

Lilanei looks to Locke with a stern expression before her gaze eventually softens and she walks into his arms and hugs him tightly, with Locke hugging back as equally as tightly.

After a few moments, Locke hears Lilanei gulp slightly as she quietly says, "I'm. . . sorry for everything I said before."

"I'm sorry for everything I did before," Locke replies.

"It's okay,” she softly responds, before continuing, "Perhaps I deserved it."

"No point in dwelling on blame now," Locke says. "The important thing is we're together, and they made it out safely. We've done something our master would've expected from us."

"Yeah," Lil softly replies in agreement.

Locke squeezes Lil a bit more and whispers, "I kind of don't want to get going from here. This is nice. I feel finally like we're at peace with one another."

Lilanei looks up at Locke as she says, "I feel that way too. . . I'm. . . sorry this couldn't happen sooner."

"It's one of those things," Locke says. "You couldn't help it, nor could I. It took Alexandra to push us together, I suppose. . . but speaking of which, I wonder where she went. She wasn't on the life boat."

Lilanei giggles lightly and says, "Perhaps she slipped through one of the cracks like the rat she is. . ."

"Well, she did help me rescue you," Locke says softly. "So I hope she got out okay."

Lil quietly rests her head against his chest and remains silent for a moment before she says, "She seemed resourceful enough. . . What's important now – is what we're going to do now."

"Well. . . If this the end, then we could take advantage of it. You still do have that servant's outfit, don't you? You could—"

Still leaning against him, Lilanei glares up at him and bluntly mutters, "No."

Locke smiles and with a chuckle says, "Aw, too bad. Well, this is the second time I've rescued you. If I have to do it a third time, that dress has got to come out. So don't get yourself caught again!"

Lil grins and responds, "Then don't leave me airsick alone in a cabin again."

"I'll learn by that mistake," Locke notes. "I only left you so long because I fell unconscious. Alexandra drinks some pretty hard stuff – I've never had anything like it before. If I was still conscious when those pirates came, I would've rushed to protect you, no questions asked."

"Well," Lil softly responds. "What's done is done. There's no use in dwelling on it now."

"Yeah," Locke replies. "We have to live for now. And right now, I suppose we should go and pay Captain Bluenose a visit. But first, there's something I need to give you."

Lil looks to Locke curiously and asks "What's that?"

Without speaking, Locke simply thrusts his head towards hers and presses his lips tightly against hers in a long, drawn out kiss, while he squeezes her tighter against him. At first very shocked, Lilanei then simply closes her eyes and enjoys the kiss, leaning further into him as he squeezes her. After a few moments, the two break the kiss and smile at each other.

Locke, slightly blushing, finally says, "Right. Now that's done – it's time for Cap'n Crunch and his first mate to start a mutiny. Argh!"

Blushing as she clings tightly to him, knees weak under her, Lil stutters, "Erm. . . Yeah. . . Let's do it!"

"Then let's go!" Locke cries as he jokingly hoists her up over his shoulder and marches off back towards the Cove.

Instead of following her first instinct to call him a sexist buffoon, Lilanei simply allows herself to be hoisted and laughs as he carries her across the bridge. Eventually, Locke puts Lilanei down and the two quietly march back up the few floors before they find themselves once more in Martel's chamber – facing the staircase they have yet to take.

"All I'm down to is my crossbow," Locke announces. "With about one and a half magazines left. We need to go up there, find the Captain, and not goof around. Let's just off him and then find a way to continue to Ibius."

"Okay!" Lil cries as she looks up the staircase with a determined gaze. "Let's – wait, what's that thing you always say again?"

"Let's show him who his – well, in this case – Captain is!"

Smiling, Lilanei grabs Locke by the wrist and tugs him up the staircase as they ascend it with great confidence in their step. As they reach the top of the steps, they are suddenly stopped in their tracks when they realize that they are in a small cave, leading out towards a cliff. Slowly walking to the cave exit, their gazes settle down on the large expanse of mountain leading down before them – and into a great expanse of green land which makes up the continent which they just now realize they reside on.

As she leads the rogue to the large cliff side, Lilanei cries, "You mean we were inside of a mountain the whole time? Have we been on Ibius all along?"

"I suppose so," Locke replies. "Well, we've marched our way up to the top of the hill – now we gotta march down again. Come on!"

Carefully, Locke begins to start the slow descent down the mountain trail, taking Lilanei by the hand to assist her down as they start making their way down the cliff. Rocks crumble beneath their feet as they continue, following the trail which will lead them down and into the massive continent before them – known to them only as the Kingdom of Ibius.

Episode 8: An Alluring Proposition (Part 5 of 6)

As Locke swings his sickle to his left and allows the blood of the Hippogriff to splatter on the floor besides him before he sheathes the weapon, Locke suddenly hears a sobbing coming directly from the cell to his left. He glances over and immediately recognizes two Half-Elf children as they sit frightened in a corner and hug each other as they cry. Locke rushes over to the cell and crouches down in front of the bars.

With a smile, he whispers, "Kids. Are you alright?"

The brother of the pair looks up with tears in his eyes as he cries, "Get away, mister! Don't hurt us!"

"Don't worry, kids," Locke replies. "I'm not a stupid pirate. I'm a friend of your mother's and father's. I'm going to get you all out, but it's going to take some time. I need you, big man, to be brave for your sister and look after her. Nobody will hurt you, especially now I'm here to take care of the pirates. Will you guys be okay for a little while?"

Still crying, the boy sniffles as he cuddles his sister closer and says, "Okay, mister. . . I'll protect her."

"Good lad," Locke replies with a smile as he stands back and looks around the cell block. "I'll be back in a little while. For now, just stay cuddled up and stay in dark at the back of the cell."

With a wave and a smile, Locke then walks down the cell block, looking at all the women in the cells; as he reaches the middle of the cell block, he hears a sudden cry as a woman whispers, "Locke! Iz zat you? Oh, thank ze heavens! I vondered vhat became of you!"

"Alexandra!" Locke exclaims as he rushes over the cell and clutches the bars. "How are you? What happened?"

As she also clutches the bars, her hands resting on top of Locke's, Alexandra sighs and explains, "Oh, Mr. Locke. . . After you passed out from all zat rum, I put you to bed. . . and soon, evil men began to attack ze ship! I hid you ze best I could. . . But I suppose it vas not good enough."

"Oh," Locke replies as he takes his hand and rubs the back of his sore head. "Well, I thank you for it. The pirates only got me because I ventured up onto the deck later on. Tell me. Did you see what happened to Lilanei?"

The woman thinks for a moment before saying, "Ze Half-Elf? Mm, no. . . I don't recall."

"Damn," Locke hisses. "Okay. Tell me. If I let you out of here, would you fight alongside me and help me overthrow Captain Belamros?"

"Oh, Mr. Locke!" Alexandra sighs dreamily. "You have quite ze peculiar taste for first dates. . ."

"Well, we can always get cozy in your cell," Locke replies with a smile.

Alexandra grins as she says, "Vell, vhile zat iz good and all, I'd prefer a more. . . comfortable arrangement, if you don't mind. To answer your question, of course I vill fight beside you!"

As she completes her sentence, Alexandra reaches between her bosom and withdraws a dagger, to which Locke's eyes widen slightly.

"Good. . . hiding place," He notes before quickly attempting to unlock Alexandra's cell door – as he is taken in surprise when the key doesn't fit. "Damn," Locke then mutters, before continuing, "Fortunately, I have other ways of breaking pretty birds out of their cages."

Reaching into his ruck sack, Locke withdraws a cloth, which he unravels, containing his Thieves' Kit. He connects the lock picking tool together and immediately begins to pick the lock of the cell. As he does so, he hears a click as the cell door unlocks; however, as he withdraws his lock pick, he is distraught to find it has snapped and broken.

"Oh, damn!" Locke cries in frustration before he tosses the broken piece he holds to the floor. "Oh well. At least it got you out," He then says to Alexandra with a smile.

Alexandra also smiles as she pushes the cell door open and steps out; twirling her dagger in her fingers, she replaces it in her hiding spot before motioning down the hall and exclaiming, "Very good! Now zat I am free, ve can escape together. Let's go, Locke!"

"Hold on," Locke announces. "Before we leave, we've got to make sure that we free everyone first."

Alexandra frowns and says, "Tut, tut. . . Can zhey not fend for zhemselves?"

"Well, no," Locke states as he motions around at the other cells. "There are helpless women here, and not only that – there are two children down there who need their mother. I'm not leaving until they're reunited with their parents, until I get Lil back, and until Captain Bullflower, or whatever his name is, is defeated. After that, I'll happily resume our date!"

Despite his joke, Alexandra continues to frown before she glances to Locke and down the hall; after a few moments, she sighs tiredly and mutters, "Very vell, zhen. . . I suppose I can help you."

"Thank you," Locke replies as he takes Alexandra's hand and kisses the back of it. "I'm very grateful."

Alexandra simply smiles with a "hmph," before withdrawing her hand and stating, "Ja, ja. . . Let us continue."

Together, Locke and Alexandra venture down the cell block, Locke constantly keeping an eye out for Lilanei or Dara; however, to his disappointment, he doesn't see them anywhere.

“I wonder where Lilanei and the children's mother are?" He whispers to Alexandra.

"Perhaps," she says through a smirk, “Zhey have been devoured by zhat hideous pirate creature."

"Well, I hope not!" Locke frowns. "The children need their mother and I need my partner back."

Alexandra raises her brow at these words before shrugging her shoulders and flipping her blond hair to the right as she says, "Ja, ja, ja. . . Shall ve?"

"We shall," Locke replies before he ventures slowly up to the ladder at the end of the hall – Alexandra right behind him.

Before they reach the ladder, they hear a sudden rumble as a large shadow sweeps down from above them – another Hippogriff flying down from the next floor. It lands on the ground before them with a loud boom before raising its wings in the air and ruffling them in a threatening manner.

"Aw, another one!" Locke cries. "I'm getting tired of slaughtering birds!"

Alexandra, who has already withdrawn her dagger, cries, "Vell? Vhat do you expect, silly? Zhey are Pirates, after all! Now let us see vhat you can do, Mr. Locke!"

"You're about to see something special, m'dear," Locke replies as he takes out his sickle once more and immediately rushes forwards coolly as so to impress his new comrade.

He sprints to the Hippogriff and when within striking range, Locke draws his right arm back and then violently thrusts his arm forwards, allowing the blade of his sickle to plunge deeply into the Hippogriff's beak. As the Hippogriff cries in anger, shaking its head about wildly, Alexandra lunges forwards and thrusts her dagger in a straightways motion directly into the Hippogriff's breast bone before drawing it out with a wicked twist. After she withdraws her weapon, the Hippogriff cries out before launching its beak forward, directly into Alexandra's left arm. Roughly, the Hippogriff cuts the skin of her arm, but does not draw blood.

As the Hippogriff cuts into Alexandra's arm, Locke wastes no time in grabbing a handful of the its fur, enraging it. As it turns its head to look towards Locke, the rogue keeps hold of its fur and steps to the side, the Hippogriff following suit as the two switch places before Locke then raises his sickle and throws it down in a guillotine-like motion, slicing the Hippogriff in the side with blood flying out of the wound. Immediately following Locke's attack, he notices what appears to be at first a circular disc flying swiftly through the air and colliding with the wall behind the Hippogriff. As the creature turns and looks, Alexandra immediately withdraws a shuriken from her peculiar hiding place before she again tosses it towards the Hippogriff – the small edged weapon gliding through the air and landing directly in the Hippogriff's large head, where it lodges itself deep within the creature's brain. The beast is unable to let out any type of cry as it simply trembles and then collapses under its weight as it drops dead.

"Nice throw," Locke says with a smile. "Where did you put. . . those things?"

Alexandra waggles her index finger at Locke and says, "Tut, tut, tut...One never asks a woman her secrets."

"I suppose," Locke replies. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, stop sniveling," Alexandra sighs with a smirk. "Let us continue, ja?"

"Okay," Locke replies before then climbing up the ladders.

Locke then emerges through the ceiling and into a large hallway as Alexandra follows close behind. Before them, they see a few closed doors leading into various rooms, as well as one open door directly to their left.

"What do you think?" Locke asks as he looks around all the doors.

"I think," she begins as she looks around, "I'd rather leave before any of zhese pirates can get zheir dirty mitts on me again."

"They won't touch you with me here," Locke replies. "I know it'd be easier, and probably a better time, to just up and leave, but there are people who are hoping for a miracle. So let's be that miracle, eh?"

Alexandra chuckles and smirks as she says sarcastically, "Vhat a little hero-man ve have here. . . Fine, let's go."

Locke walks forward to the wall beside the open door, which he peeps through to get a better look without being spotted. As he peers into the room, he notices it is a large cabin containing many beds. During this time, two Elven pirates currently rest, sleeping soundly in their beds. Locke looks back to Alexandra and motions for the door directly across from them before he wanders over to the door and listens into it to see if there are any hostiles on the other side. As he listens, he hears nothing but a drip. He decides to try and open the door, and as it easily swings open, the two march in.

Once in the room, Alexandra's face is overcome in disgust as she cries, "Vhat a disgusting place!"

Locke suddenly scrunches his nose as he realizes they are in a large latrine.

"Let's try another room," he quickly suggests as the two leave and make their to the door beside the room in which the Elven pirates sleep.

Locke listens in through the door and once again hears nothing. He attempts to open this door, which easily opens.

Locke and Alexandra step through into the room as his comrade suddenly cries, "My zhings!"

Alexandra rushes to a nearby corner which contains a small pile of bags and belongings. While becoming reacquainted with her things, Locke peers about the room and spies a small side table in the opposite corner. On it, he finds a loaf of Journeybread and one hundred gold pieces, which he swiftly places in his ruck sack for safe keeping. As he turns, he sees Alexandra with a bag on her back as well as a short sword, which she now holds into the air as she observes its gleam.

"Well, I'm glad you got your stuff," Locke says with a smile. "Let's carry on."

Swinging her sword to the side with a "swoosh," she immediately sheathes her weapon and follows Locke out of the room. Locke looks on and observes that the corridor has one more closed door as well as an empty weapon's rack next to a ladder which leads up to the next floor. Locke decides to walk to the last closed door, which he checks by listening through. Although he struggles to hear much, he does hear the low laughter of many men.

Locke looks back to Alexandra and says, "It'd probably a better idea if we keep moving. Let's go up the ladder."

Alexandra simply nods as they walk to the ladder and begin to ascend up to the next floor. As our duo ascend the ladder, they find themselves in a large chamber where the stinking and unforgettable smell of manure instantly hits their nostrils. As they glance around, they see many scattered bones and skeletons of humanoid creatures before their gaze rests on a single Hippogriff, who now sleeps on its nest – near a bundle of eggs.

Locke takes in his surroundings and then whispers into Alexandra's ear, "Let's just keep going. Quietly."

Alexandra nods and immediately scuttles across the room – lightly on her feet, so as not to disturb the monster. Locke follows suit, the tips of his toes lightly pressing on the ground as he darts across the room and once more is beside Alexandra. During this time, the creature remains undisturbed – faintly breathing as it peacefully rests. Quickly, the two grab hold of the ladder and begin to climb up towards the next floor.

A bright light violently strikes their eyes as they complete their ascension up the ladder and find themselves in a large, and brightly lit cove – the morning which just rises on the east still bright enough to illuminate this western facing cave. In the center of the cove lies a large body of water which leads out a large arching cave exit and into the wide ocean outside. On the water sits a long bridge, leading across to the other side, as well as a large row boat. In front of it and the bridge stand three pirates – a human, Half-Elf, and Elf respectively – who immediately spot the duo.

With a cry, the human steps forth from the bridge and shouts, "Oy! What are ya doin' out of ye cells? Stop where ye tread!"

"Argh!" Locke cries as he waves his sickle in the air. "Cap'n Crunch stops for nobody! I'll toss y'all overboard!"

As Alexandra chuckles, the human and Half-Elf in front of the lifeboat now step forward as well, waving their weapons forward as they cry, "The comedian! Get the landlubber before he reaches the Cap!"

"Comedian? Well, here's one for ya. What has six legs and is always a laugh? You bunch of jokes!" Locke swiftly retorts.

The three men say nothing and instead begin to approach the pair, their weapons drawn as they're ready to attack. As the trio of men approach the pair, Locke quickly sprints forward and with his sickle throws his right arm forwards before he allows the sickle blade to plunge deeply into the human's forehead – killing him instantly as Locke withdraws the blade. As he slays the human, his Half-Elf comrade cries aloud angrily as he charges swiftly forth towards Locke – short sword held high in the air. The cry the Half-Elf emits alerts Locke of his attempted strike, which Locke swiftly ducks out of the way of.

As Locke dodges, Alexandra appears in a flash behind the Half-Elf as her own short sword thrusts violently forwards and into the Half-Elf's torso, blood spurting out of the man's mouth before he collapses to the floor and slides off the sword. Seeing both his brethren fall so easily to the pair, the Elf begins to open his mouth as if to say something. However, fright – as the odds are clearly against him – overwhelms him and he begins a quick dash across the bridge and over the body of water.

"Where are you going?" Locke cries. "I thought you were all 'mighty pirates!'"

With that, Locke leaps over the dead carcasses of the pirates as he gives chase to the Elf, much like he did when he chased down the Hippogriff. Immediately as he runs, Locke springs into the air and flies over the distance separating them as he immediately lands on and clutches onto the Elf's back. He then takes his sickle and jars it deeply into the side of the Elf's throat, who collapses dead on the bridge. Locke swiftly spits on the Elf and kicks him off the bridge and into the water.

As he dumps the body into the water, he hears a cry from Alexandra as she exclaims, "Oh, Mr. Locke! It iz a lifeboat! We can escape now!"

Locke looks at her and is tempted to do just that, but as he steps forward, he stops and frowns.

"Come on, Alexandra," he states. "There are people still dependent on us. Besides, don't you want to get revenge on those pirates? As much as I would love to sail somewhere private with you, let's get these people out of here."

Alexandra grimaces as he speaks, her eyes constantly glancing over to the boat as she states, "Ja. . . I almost forgot. But Mr. Locke," she pauses, whining at him in a velvety tone, "vouldn't you vather ve not chance our lives and instead escape now, necks in tact?"

"Yeah," Locke replies. "But I've got friends still trapped here. Unless you can give me a much better offer, I can't leave them. Besides, I thought you were an adventurer. Isn't this your kind of thing?"

Alexandra now strolls in front of him and caresses his chest with her fingertips as she sighs, "Vell, that iz true. . . But I also value my life, Mr. Locke. Friends – zhey are very temporary, no? Vhy cling onto zhem when you can have something. . . much better?"

Locke strokes her cheek with the back of his hand as he says, "I value your life, too. Which is why I'll make sure you don't get killed. As for friends, well, Lilanei is a life long friend and I can't just leave her to rot here while I. . . enjoy my time with you. I'll make it up you, if you help me."

Pushing her fingertips into his chest as she pushes him slightly away, she snaps her head to the side with a "hmph!" as she exclaims, "Vat does zhis Lilanei have zhat I don't? I can give you very much, Mr. Locke. But first ve must escape vith our lives. . . If your friend iz so mighty, she can find her own way out. . ."

"She wouldn't," Locke states. "She'll be waiting for me. How would like it if you simply waited for somebody who didn't come?"

Alexandra raises her hands in the air as she shrugs with an indifferent expression as she says, "I vould move on. Vouldn't you?"

"Probably," Locke replies. "But I don't think you'd move on too well in a prison cell, and nor would Lil. Nor would I, or anybody for that matter. Alexandra, if you want to leave, then you can, but. . . I would much rather finish this with you beside me and I will not leave until these people are free! There re children back there. Doesn't that even motivate you?"

Alexandra looks to Locke, now with an irritated expression, before gazing at him intently for a few moments; eventually, she sighs and shrugs as she looks towards the bridge and states, "Vatever. If you are so insistent, I shall come."

"Thank you," Locke smiles as he kisses her cheek. "I appreciate it."

Alexandra merely wipes her cheek as she begins to walk away, waving her right hand casually as she says, "Come, come, little hero. Let us get out of here."

Locke quickly follows behind her and the two cross the bridge over the body of water as they make their way to a very large staircase which is carved from the stone of the cove. As Locke and Alexandra climb up the steps, the very long and tall steps, to the next floor, Locke stops in his tracks as he hears a very familiar voice shouting loudly.

"Stop it! Give that back; it's mine!"

"That's Lil!" Locke exclaims to Alexandra. "And she sounds close! Come!"

Alexandra simply shrugs as she follows behind Locke, who jogs across the hallway towards the first door, which he hopes Lilanei is in. Locke presses his left ear against the door and listens to any voice inside, but instead he hears a faint snoring, followed by a couple of snorts. Locke decides to softly open the door and peer in, just in case anything useful might be inside the room. As the door creaks open and he peers, he realizes it is a very dimly lit room, which once again contains pirate sleeping quarters. At this time, several pirates lay nuzzled in bed, sleeping soundly. Locke quietly closes the door and rushes over to the next door on the right. He listens through the door once more. As he focuses, he hears the many chuckling voices of pirates.

One such pirate suddenly begins to speak with a mocking tone as he reads aloud, "Maybe he's growing weary of being with me, or the things I do to him. It makes me angry at myself for even doing them—" The pirate pauses before emitting a large howl of laughter as he cries, "Bwa-ha-ha-har! Listen to this wench's drivel! The lass is a right comedian!"

Many cackles of laughter are heard before Lilanei screams, "JUST STOP IT!"

Growling, Locke withdraws his repeating crossbow which is loaded, before he then raises his right boot and thrusts it into the wooden door, forcing it to swing open. The pirates turn to the door as Locke steps into the room, his crossbow in both hands as Alexandra stands behind him in the doorway.

"Well, what do you know?" Locke asks mockingly. "These morons actually know how to read! Too bad they're too stupid to realize a lady's journal is private."

As Locke speaks, Lilanei and Dara, who are both tied to chairs in the room, cry aloud in unison, "Locke!"

The human pirate at the back of the room, who now holds Lil's journal, slams the book down on the table in front of him as he cries, "Ar! It's that comedian again! I tell ya what boy. Once we're through with these wenches, ye can have the scraps!"

"Sounds good," Locke announces, slightly lowering his crossbow.

As Lil and Dara look on, irritation on both of their faces, the human pirate howls in laughter as he is joined by his two half elf comrades; the human looks to Locke with raised eyebrows and exclaims, "Excellent! Let us carve these wenches up – are you a leg or a thigh man?"

"I'm a greedy man!" Locke snaps as he aims his crossbow to the human pirate. "As you morons would say – yargh! Hand over me booty!"

Quickly, before the pirates can respond, Locke aims his crossbow at the human pirate and swiftly squeezes the trigger, which sends a bolt flying from it and directly into the human pirate's throat. The force of the hit sends him crashing into the wall behind him as he falls to the floor, with blood spurting from his throat as his heart beats for the last time. As the other two pirates watch their human companion fall to the ground dead, both Half-Elves lunge forward in unison, short swords swinging wildly in front of them. Still holding his crossbow, Locke thrusts it to the left – the crossbow deflecting the one sword strike – before he swings it to the right and deflects the other Half-Elf's attempted attack. Locke aims the crossbow at the fat Half-Elf to his left and quickly launches another bolt. This one flies straight into the center of the Half-Elf's skull, who falls back to the floor in a dead heap.

As the fat Half-Elf falls, the balder of the duo launches forwards with a mighty war cry as he thrusts his short sword forward in an upwards motion and straight into Locke's right shoulder. Blood splatters from Locke's fresh wound as he lets out a distressed cry from the pain. Locke growls through the pain and swiftly puts away his crossbow before pulling out his sickle. He looks to the bald Half-Elf and lunges forward in an attempt to swiftly kill him by stabbing him with his sickle; however to his surprise, this pirate seems more proficient in fighting than most of the others he has encountered, as the Half-Elf easily dodges Locke's attempted strike. With an evil cackle, the Half-Elf viciously thrusts his short sword through the air before it strikes Locke in the same wound as before, causing Locke to cry louder in pain. With a diabolical glare in his eyes, the pirate twists the blade slowly before viciously pulling it out and stepping into the back of the room as he chuckles.

Still with a large grin, the Half-Elf pirate places his hand roughly on top of Dara's head, clutching her hair as he cries, "Ye may have bested me mates. . . but I'm still gonna carve me a piece of these delicious Elves. Move an inch and I'll strike her where she stands."

"Okay," Locke replies quietly as he places his sickle back into his sheathe. "I'm unarmed. Let her go."

Licking his lips evilly, the Half-Elf howls with laughter and cries, "Boy, ye don't phase me! And I ain't letting this pretty lass go without a fight."

As he finishes his sentence, he raises his short sword to Dara's neck, who clutches her eyes shut and emits a low whine.

Lilanei cries angrily as she glares to Locke, "What are you doing, Locke?"

Swiftly, before the pirate can react, Locke withdraws his crossbow one more time, aims it at the pirate's head, and lets off one more bolt which flies through the air and slams deep into the pirate's forehead – who grunts one last breathe and falls to the floor, dead.

"Stupid pirate," Locke announces as he spits at the nearest pirate. "Lil, you know me by now. He wasn't gonna get away with that. Alexandra, help me untie these two. . . Alexandra?"

As Locke turns to look behind him, he sees nothing but an empty doorway as Lil growls behind him and mutters, "Your new 'friend' left quite some time ago. . ."

"Oh well," Locke replies as he moves to Dara and begins to untie her. "She wanted to leave a long while ago, so if she's gone, she's gone. I came for you two anyway." With that, he releases Dara and then quickly unties Lilanei before giving the top of her head a quick kiss and saying, "I missed ya."

Lilanei simply looks away as she stands abruptly from her seat and walks to the back corner of the room where her stuff lies – making sure to pick her journal up from the table along the way.

Locke looks to Dara and with a soft smile asks, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I scared you there."

With a shy smile, Dara responds, "Oh. . . I'll be okay. . . Tell me! Have you seen Marc? What of the children?"

"Marc's alright, but the kids are quite shaken," Locke explains as Dara's face drops before he continues, "I'm sure once they see their mother again, they'll be fine, though. Speaking of which, we've gotta be quick and get them out."

Dara looks to Locke with a quizzical gze as she asks, "Get them out? What? Do you have the keys?"

"Well, I have the keys to the men's cells where Marc is, but I couldn't find the key to the women's and children's cells. I had to release Alexandra with my Thieves' Tool. . . which is broken now."

Dara looks to the floor sadly as she says, "Well, I can't leave my children. . ."

"Don't worry. We won't," Locke answers with a grin as he raises his fist to his chest. "We'll just have to find the wench who holds they keys. Unless Lil can cook up some magic to get them out."

Lilanei, who still remains in the corner gathering up her things onto her person, says nothing, prompting Locke to say, "Well, we'll just have to find the wench or sucker who has the keys. A bit of a challenge, but a fun one, wouldn't you say?"

Dara's eyes soften fearfully as she mutters, "Erm. . . That's not quite how I'd think of it, but," she pauses, looking about the room nervously before saying, "I suppose I must come with you two. . . I do not think I could fare on my own in this horrible, horrible place."

"Don't worry," Locke says with a smile as he grips Dara comfortingly by the shoulders. "Lilanei and I will protect you. Right, Lil?"

Lil, who now brushes past him and towards the door, mumbles, "Sure, Dara. . . I'll get you out of here."

Locke thinks nothing of it and nods to Dara before then following Lil out of the door – taking Dara by the wrist to keep her close. As Lilanei glances to the two stairways in the room, Locke looks to the stairway on the right and announces, "I came from that way – let's go left."

Episode 8: An Alluring Proposition (Part 4 of 6)

It is unclear to Locke how much time has passed when he finally stirs from his slumber; however he finds that he feels very nauseous and hung over.

"Uh," Locke groans as he shifts around.

As Locke attempts to move, he suddenly realizes that his body is completely covered in sheets and pillows from head to toe. Something very heavy also appears to be lying on top of him.

". . .What?" Locke says weakly to himself as he feels everything on him.

While he is tempted to immediately shove everything off from on top of him, the darkness and warmth of being under the sheets is so alluring that Locke decides to stay under the sheets for a little longer as he is still quite dizzy and sleepy. As Locke lays stills, he hears what appear to be footsteps and thumping overhead on the deck. Deciding that he should probably now investigate his surroundings, as he remembers he is not in his cabin with Lilanei anymore, Locke presses his hands against the sheet and other various things on top of himself before thrusting his arms up and shoving them off to one side. As he does so, Locke hears the loud boom of the table, which had lain on top of him until now, falling off his body and onto the floor. Locke then sits up and glances about the room to find it is in quite a state of disarray; he also notices that Alexandra is no longer there and that a bright light comes from the window nearby – indicating to him that he must've been asleep all night. Meanwhile, footsteps, thumps, and bangs continue to emit from the ceiling above him. Locke slips out of the bed and rubs the back of his neck which aches from the position he stayed in all night.

As the setting around him begins to sink in, Locke grumbles, looks around the room, and calls out, "Alexandra? Alexandra, are you here?"

No answer comes. He stands around for a moment before realizing that he has left Lilanei alone all night and wastes no time in heading out of the room, as he walks to the door which he notices is cracked open. He opens the door fully and steps out into the cabin hallway before looking down the hallway to notice that most of, if not all, the doors are open. Locke begins to walk down the hallway, his head turning from side to side as he walks past the doors, before he finally stops and settles on the the nearest door to his right. He walks to the door and peers into the room, seeing that this room, much like Alexandra's, has been ransacked and the occupants are missing.

"What's going on?" Locke asks himself before he then quickly dashes back to his and Lilanei's cabin to check that she is okay.

As he darts through the open cabin door, Locke is taken aback to see the room is in a similar state to all the other cabins. All of their possessions are gone, and the bed in which Lilanei slept lies tatters as the sheets droop off the side of the bed and onto the floor.

"Lilanei!" Locke cries as he kicks a chair that was laying on the floor away in frustration. "Damn! Who has done this?" He roars in anger, before calming himself slightly and thinking, "It couldn't have been longer than a day that I was out for. . . Was it? Let's see. . . I was in Alexandra's and we had a drink before I began to feel. . . then I woke up. Everybody seems to have gone, but where? They can't all just be up on the deck and left their rooms all like this. . . Unless. . ."

With that, Locke turns and leaves the room, not bothering to check the room's wardrobe or drawers as they are either open or thrown on the floor. He makes his way down the hallway and begins to quietly climb the stairs up to the deck. He gets halfway up the staircase and stops so that he can peer through the stairwell to see if anyone is on the cabin deck. As he peers up into the deck, Locke believes that he hears loud laughter as well as some chattering; however, before he can focus on the talking, he feels a sudden shove from behind as he's forced up the stairs and tackled to the floor on deck – feeling his hands become restrained and the entire weight of whoever is at fault for his capture pressing down upon his back.

"Hey, what?" Locke cries as he falls to the floor; grunting, he turns his head which is slammed against the deck as he growls, "Release me! Unless you want to be eating this decking!"

The assailant says nothing as he merely chuckles beneath his breath. Nevertheless, at this time, Locke glances around the deck from his prone position and notices that many of the passengers are sitting on the deck floor with their hands and feet tied; all the passengers are also hunched together in a group. He finally notices that in the group sits a very sick looking Lilanei, who rocks back and forth dizzily with an ill expression on her face.

"Lil!" Locke cries, calling to her before trying to shove his assailant off him. "Let me go, you monkey!"

The assailant, however, simply lifts Locke slightly by the shoulders before slamming him back down into the deck as a way of silencing him. As he does so, Locke sees the outline of a large pair of black boots as they step in front of his face – that is, before everything goes dark as his assailant pulls a sack over his head.

Suddenly, he hears a deep and bellowing laugh as the man in front of him cries, "Har, har! That takes care of the last straggler. . . Ye all are now the private property of the Ibius Scoundrels! I'd guarantee ye yer lives, but. . . then I'd be lying! Har, har, har!"

"Har, har, har?" Locke echoes in a mocking voice. "This isn't Long John Silver or Blackbeard, is it, mate?"

The man bellows in laughter again as he exclaims, "Ah-har! We've got a comedian aboard! Ye best keep ye mouth shut, whelp! Lest ye—" Suddenly, the man stops speaking as Locke hears a suddenly "blurgh!" sound followed by a loud thump against the deck; the man pauses for a moment before crying amusedly, "Har, har, har! Pathetic landlubber! Martel, clean that dirty wench's mess up, will ye?"

As he commands, Locke hears the heavy banging of what sounds like talons stomp heavily past him and across the deck.

"I don't believe it," Locke begins. "Damn pirates! My old man told me fairy tales about mindless peasants like you. . . But then again, the pirates in his stories didn't sound as lame as you do, Captain Long John Beard the V, or whatever you want to call yourself. Why don't you show yourself to me, coward? From one wayward soul to another, let's introduce ourselves. . ."

As Locke completes his challenge, he feels a blunt kick to the head, which causes his already pulsing headache to ravage his head even further as the pirate cries, "The name is Captain Belamros and ye best be rememberin' that name – for it'll be the last ye ever hear, landlubber! Now, ye best be keepin' yer little mouth shut before ye find yourself walkin' the plank!"

"Plank?" Locke asks. "The only plank I see, or hear rather, is you, 'Captain.' If you wanna shut me up, make me!"

Captain Belamros howls with laughter as he shouts, "Ye hear that, boys? I think the lad be issuin' us a challenge! Martel – best not leave the boy waiting then!"

Immediately, Locke hears the same heavy banging of talons against the deck before he feels a very heavy and blunt blow to his head, which promptly sends him into unconsciousness.

Soon, Locke awakes – still with a pounding headache. He sits up from the stone floor he was laying on and once again rubs his sore neck, which is suffering from cramps due to being on the cold, hard floor. Locke now looks around at his surroundings, seeing that he has obviously been locked up in a prison on what he figures were orders from Captain Belamros.

"Oh. . . My head. I don't think my skull can take too much more of this," Locke moans.

Glancing around again, Locke notices that the three walls to his left, right and back are made of stone, while the fourth wall in front of him consists of large prison bars and a door. From his position, he can see many cells running along the left side of the hallway, across from where he stands, as well as more cells to his left and right. He glances across to the cell directly in front of his and finds it is empty, except for a skeleton slumped in the right hand corner of the cell – which he can easily see due to the prison area being brightly lit by lanterns on the ceiling. Getting up off the floor, Locke stumbles over to the cell bars, wraps his hands around two of them, and tries to peer out of the cell.

"Guard? Guard!" Locke calls, before he hears a low rumble and is taken aback in surprise when he sees a large bird-like monster stomp suddenly past his cell – a Hippogriff.

It looks into the cell at him and emits a large, threatening breath through the nostrils on its beak before turning and continuing down the hall.

"Is that it?" Locke asks. "I'm being guarded by a freakish pet? Huh. . . Hey!" He then calls out. "Is anyone else here?"

Locke listens closely and hears through the echoes of the prison block sudden footsteps as someone shouts, "Locke! Is that you? It is Locke, isn't it?"

"That depends, pal!" Locke shouts back. "Who wants to know?"

The man's voice cries out, "Marc!"

"Oh, Dara's man, yeah?" Locke calls back.

"That's right!" Marc cries back, a bit quieter than last time. "You sound really close. Are you hurt?"

"A bad head, but that's partly self inflicted, my man," Locke replies as he rubs the back of his head. "How about you?"

"I'm fine," Marc replies before pausing. "But Dara. . . Dara is somewhere else! The women and children have been taken to another floor."

"Lil," Locke sighs, before he then looks to the left, trying to peer to the other cells down the corridor as he asks, "Do you know if any others are here?"

As Locke glances to and fro down the hall, he sees the many faces of merchants and travelers who were on the ship, before Marc finally replies, "Yes. . . This is where they've stowed the men."

"Ah," Locke replies before then raising his voice. "Hear me, brothers! Are you all okay?"

In response, he hears many disgruntled grunts of the many men, seemingly quite downtrodden and hopeless after being captured.

"Well, at least they're alive," Locke quietly remarks to Marc.

Marc mutters, before finally saying, "Locke. . . I'm worried about my wife! Who knows what those terrible brutes are doing to her, right this moment! I've looked and looked, but I can't find any way to escape. They've taken all of our things. . ."

"I'm worried about Lil, too," Locke answers. "Hang in there, Marc. I'll think of something. I am a rogue after all. . ."

Locke watches as the Hippogriff continues to pace up and down the prison. Locke rubs his hands up and down the cell bars, before then feeling the hinges of the cell doors to see if there's any weak point in the construction; however, he finds that despite the shabby appearance, the hinges of the prison are well kept and show no weakness. Despite this, Locke takes a step back from the door and kicks his left foot out at the cell bars with an almighty "clang!" Nevertheless, the doors fail to break as Locke whines in pain as he hurts his foot.

"Are you alright?" Marc suddenly exclaims.

"Yeah," Locke replies with a slight hiss of pain. "I'm used to this now. . . Marc, what's your cell like? Do you see any cracks or flaws in any part of its construction?"

"No," Marc mutters. "It looks quite impenetrable. . . I have even checked each stone brick individually to see if there was a loose one, but alas. . ."

"Damn," Locke hisses.

Nonetheless, he then begins to run his hands over the brick walls of the cell to try and find a weak spot. His eyes then widen as he notices one of the stones on the back wall is slightly jutting out.

"Ah-ha!" He whispers triumphantly as he begins to pull on the brick, continuing, "Come on, ya—“

With a loud grunt, he suddenly stumbles back as the stone removes itself from the wall and falls against Locke's upper body. Locke places the stone down at the back of the cell, so that the Hippogriff or any guards don't notice what he's doing. He then glances into the rectangular hole in the wall, and at first does not see anything; nevertheless, he feels around the hole with his hand and suddenly caresses a couple of items. Locke removes these items and finds he is holding a very old and worn sling as well as a small metal pellet. Locke looks at the sling and pellet and scratches his head with the end of the sling, trying to think of what to do with it.

He walks back over to the cell bars, keeping the sling and pellet hidden behind his back, before he then asks Marc, "Who has the keys?"

Marc soon replies, "Keys? Well. . . I don't know. Erm, the last pirate I saw in this block came merely to feed the Hippogriff, which guards us now."

Locke thinks for a moment and then acts, shouting, "Oy! You ugly monster! C'mere!"

The Hippogriff, which now stomps past his cell, simply turns to Locke before shaking its head and ruffling its feathers with a slight sniff as it continues to walk away. Locke shakes his head in a mocking gesture before spitting out at the Hippogriff.

"Dumb bird," Locke mutters as he peers out of his cell once more, this time to look and see if there are any keys on the walls – but he sees nothing; Locke calls to the Hippogriff once more, "You stupid walking bunch of feathers and fur – come here now!"

He's severely annoyed when the Hippogriff simply ruffles its wings and keeps walking, this time back to Locke's left.

"Oh yeah? Well spit on you, too!" Locke roars with annoyance. "Bring me your master! Bring me a pirate!"

Locke waits a few moments, but the Hippogriff continues its slow descent down the hall, leaving Locke stuck for a strategy.

Marc sighs and says, "I fear we may never escape. . ."

"Don't give up hope yet, Marc," Locke whispers. "You're in the presence of Locke Kallidin. This rogue will get us out, you mark my words. . . Marc. Tell me. Are we still on the Mighty Blue?"

"Of course not. Why—Oh, that's right. They knocked you unconscious, didn't they?" Marc asks.

"Yeah, so where are we?" Locke asks again.

Marc replies, clearly with a frown on his face from the tone in his voice, "I don't know. . . They concealed our faces with sacks before we arrived in this hell. They then guided us down many ladders and the next thing I knew, I was being thrown in this cell. I'm afraid that's all I know."

After listening to Marc's explanation, Locke then presses himself up against the cell bars and watches for the Hippogriff to walk past once more. As it begins to walk past his cell, Locke reaches out and grabs the Hippogriff, quickly pulling on it before drawing his hand away to antagonize it. The giant creature caws angrily as it swiftly snaps back and bites Locke in the hand with its beak. Shaking his hand, Locke then quickly grabs the sling and loads it with the pellet, before he pulls back on the elastic material of the sling and then lets it go – with the pellet flying towards the creature in an attempt to hit it. As the Hippogriff is now glaring to Locke with a demonic gaze, the pellet hits him directly between the eyes as the bird then throws its head back and cries in anguish and anger. As this occurs, Locke feels a harsh snap against his hands, as the sling he used to throw the pellet, snaps in his grasp.

"Ha ha ha!" Locke laughs before kicking the cell door softly and then reaching out to the Hippogriff, only to withdraw his hand before it strikes again. "Not so," Locke begins as he kicks the cell door again, "tough, are ya?"

The Hippogriff, deeply angered, suddenly rushes at Locke's cell door and slams into it as it emits a horrible, high pitched screech. Unable to break through the bars, the Hippogriff steps back a few feet before sitting on the ground a few feet in front of Locke's cell before it glares at Locke angrily.

"You know, you stupid bird," Locke begins. "Get me out and—"

Suddenly, Locke quiets himself when he hears a pair of footsteps begin to echo down the hall. Suddenly, Locke sees a Half-Elf pirate step in front of the cell door before he motions to the Hippogriff, who walks away angrily.

The pirate now stands before Locke's cell and glares down at him as he cries, "What is this? Quiet yerself, landlubber!"

"Shut up!" Locke snaps as he kicks the cell door once again. "You pirates are talking big right now because everybody's incarcerated and at a disadvantage. In a fair fight, you cowards couldn't lace my boots."

The pirate snarls before he withdraws his short sword and slams the blade into the bars of the cell as he cries, "I ain't got time for yer mind games, boy! I got meself some work to do, so are ye gonna quiet down, or am I gonna have to make ya?"

"You're gonna have make me. . . mate," Locke says with a snarling grin.

With another vicious snarl, the pirate thrusts the blade of his short sword into his cell, forcing Locke to step back. In one swift motion, he then removes a set of keys from his side, before unlocking the cell door, stepping in – as he continues to hold the short sword in front of him – and finally closing the door behind him as he locks it.

"I'm unarmed, matey," Locke announces in a mocking pirate voice. "Daren't ye face me the same way, bucko?"

The pirate now smirks as he slightly withdraws his sword and says, "Well. . . 'matey.' Don'tcha know? We be pirates! And we ain't got time for ye petty morals nor ye ethics!" The pirate then thrusts his sword forward, attempting to slash Locke across the waist. "Now face me, ye snivelin' whelp!"

"Ha, okay!" Locke cries as he jumps back from the slash before he raises his fists. "Let's do this."

With his fists raised, Locke snaps his right arm out, allowing his fist to fly at the pirate's jaw; however the pirate simply laughs and tilts his head to the side as Locke withdraws his arm back to the side of his head, which he uses to cover his temples.

Still laughing, the pirate yells, "Yar har har! Ye call that a right hook?"

With a cackle, the Half-Elf pirate then proceeds to lift his short sword in the air and slash it in a downwards motion towards Locke's shoulder; however Locke takes a step back in his small cell as the strike fails to hit.

"Ha ha, and you call that a sword strike?" Locke laughs back. "Quit swinging like a girl. Put up your dukes!"

Dropping his fists, Locke makes a quick step back before then shifting his weight into his left foot as he leans onto his left leg, raising his right leg in the air before violently snapping his leg out into the pirate's chin. Locke's boot snaps into the pirate's jaw, the force of which throws the pirate against the cell bars head first. The pirate slides down the bars, blood covering the bars as he falls to the ground, no longer breathing.

"Game over – mate," Locke says as he spits on the pirate's hair.

As Locke does so, his eyes suddenly widen as he notices that his sickle is sheathed to the pirates back. Locke bends down beside the pirate and unclips his sheathe from the pirate's back, placing it around his boot once more.

"Thanks for keeping this warm for me," Locke announces as he then notices the set of keys clipped onto the pirate's belt.

Locke snatches the keys away before he grabs the pirate and throws him to the back of the cell. He then walks to the cell bars and looks for the Hippogriff once more, who at this time is at the far end of the hall to Locke's left. Acting quickly, Locke takes the key, places it in the lock, and with a turn unlocks the cell door. He walks out of the cell and closes the door shut before locking it and rushing to Marc's cell to his right – however, he stops in his tracks when he feels the warm breath of something behind him. Locke turns around and his eyes widen as he sees the Hippogriff standing in front of him with an angry scowl on its face.

"Hello, beastie," Locke mutters. "Let's play."

The Hippogriff simply responds by raising its mighty wings in the air as it flaps them menacingly at Locke before it drops to the floor once more as it prepares to pounce the young rogue. Without hesitation, the Hippogriff launches itself forward, extending its large and pointy beak at Locke's neck in an attempt to attack; however Locke ducks down onto his heels and the Hippogriff's strike harmlessly passes over his head.

"You need to get that beak blunted a bit," Locke says with a grin as he stands back upright. "Let's see if I can that do for you! Yargh!"

Locke charges forwards with his sickle in his right hand, and as the Hippogriff gets closer to him, Locke thrusts his sickle out quickly and violently at the creature, allowing his sickle to strike the beast right in the breastbone. Fearfully, the bird cries with a mighty screech as it backs up slightly and ruffles its feathers before then glaring down at Locke and emitting a heavy breath. It then swiftly rushes forwards as it thrusts its beak toward him once more just as before and snaps at the rogue's left shoulder. The sharp point of the Hippogriff's beak cuts through Locke's vest and shirt before grazing his shoulder in a deep scratch, although it does not draw blood.

Clutching his shoulder for a moment, Locke looks to the Hippogriff. With no hesitation, he lifts his sickle in the air and slashes downwards towards his left side, slashing the Hippogriff over its previous wound on the breastbone before dragging the blade upwards and then slashing it in a downward motion across the Hippogriff's chest to the right – drawing blood from its chest as Locke takes his now bloodstained sickle from the beast. The Hippogriff howls in great pain as it once again steps back slightly and looks to Locke. He can see that its eyes are now filled with great fear when suddenly, the bird steps back even further before turning and attempting to flee.

"Come back here!" Locke cries angrily as he now runs after the Hippogriff.

Now within a couple of feet behind the monster, Locke jumps and clears the distance between itself and the Hippogriff as he lands on its back. Taking his sickle, he lifts the blade into the air and then slams the crescent shaped blade down deeply into the top of the Hippogriff's skull – the blade piercing the skull as the beast drops dead to the floor beneath Locke. Slipping off the Hippogriff's back, Locke rushes back over to Marc's cell, placing his sickle back into his sheathe on his boot before he arrives in front of it.

As Marc sees Locke run towards his cell, he clutches the bars in front of him tightly as he exclaims, "Locke! You've managed to. . . How did you. . . I can't believe it! Dara was right about you two – you're amazing!"

"Dara wasn't just blowing hot air," Locke says with a wink as he takes one of the keys and places it into the lock.

Suddenly, Marc cries, "No! What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here," Locke replies. "I'll release everyone, and we'll fight back!"

Motioning with his hands, Marc exclaims, "But you can't! If the guards come back and find we are all gone, they might do something horrible to the women and children! You can't free us. We must stay here and act as a distraction. . . Besides, I fear we would be no use to you in battles."

"Well, if that's how you want it, then so be it," Locke replies, placing the keys on his belt. "Sit tight and I'll go and pay our dear Captain a visit."

Now, with a very sullen expression, Marc softly says, "Locke. . . Dara, Thia, and Alek are all I have in this world. . . Please, I don't care what happens to me. Just save them."

"I'm going to save everybody, my man," Locke announces. "Lilanei included with all of them. . . and Alexandra. Like I said, sit tight here and just wait for the fireworks. Once you hear the commotion, you'll know it won't be long until Locke Kallidin liberates the people of the Mighty Blue! I'll see you later."

With that, Locke tips his two fingers towards Marc in a parting gesture and walks away from his cell and down the corridor. He stops and looks down at the Hippogriff, pondering on what to do about its carcass. Deciding the creature would be too big and heavy to drag into a cell, Locke simply climbs over it, makes his way to the ladder at the end of the hall, and slowly begins to climb it as he unsheathes his sickle and prepares for any dangers ahead. After climbing up the ladder through a large hole in the ceiling, Locke emerges in what appears to be a large storage area. Treasure and items are scattered thickly throughout the room, except for an empty path that leads across to the other side.

"Hm," Locke says as his eyes widen at the sight before him and he licks his lips. "Very nice. I might have to pick up a souvenir before we leave."

With that, Locke follows the passage that cuts through the heaps and mounds of treasure. As he walks, he immediately spies a large pile of ruck sacks and bags lying to his left. Among them, he quickly recognizes his own ruck sack, which now sits on the ground – his crossbow being thrown nearby.

"Lovely," Locke whispers as he toddles over to his items before placing his crossbow, magazines, as well as his ruck sack all on his back and then clipping his coin pouch to his belt.

Locke stands back up from his crouched position and looks around the room, trying to find Lilanei's items. He doesn't see her things; however he does notice a bag which has been dropped in the center of the walk way and appears to have gold pieces trickling out of it. Locke follows the trail of gold, picking up each piece, until he stops in front of the bag of gold and picks that up also. He adds the dropped gold as well as the gold in the sack into his coin pouch. As he does so, he suddenly hears a jingling as two platinum rings fall from the sack and onto the ground, rolling around on the floor before his feet.

Locke crouches once more and inspects the rings before saying to himself, "Nice!"

Locke pockets the rings and once again rises to his feet before he carries on. Seeing nothing else of great importance in the room, Locke opts to climb up the next ladder which lies at the end of the room and also leads up into a hole in the ceiling much like before. As Locke finishes climbing the ladder and brushes off his clothes, which are now quite dirty, he now looks up – and is immediately met with the pointed beak of another Hippogriff.

The creature is accompanied by an Elven pirate, who growls, "What is this?"

"Why, it be Cap'n Crunch!" Locke replies as he holds up his sickle with a grin. "An' I be about to make ye' walk da' plank! Release one's wench at once and thou will spare ye. . . That's how you talk, isn't it?"

With a snarl, the Elf motions forward with his long sword after which the Hippogriff roars and flaps his wings at Locke in a threatening manner. With a shrill cry, the bird then lunges forwards with its beak and bites at Locke's waist, the bite squeezing down on Locke's waist who lets out a yell and pulls back in pain. As he stumbles, the Elf pirate launches forward and attempts to jab him with his long sword; however Locke swiftly dodges the strike, causing it to miss. Without thinking, as the Elf withdraws his sword, Locke launches forwards with his sickle, jabbing it into the Hippogriff's left leg, just above its talon. The blade grazes the Hippogriff, giving a stinging but not deadly wound.

The Hippogriff stumbles back on its injured foot as it emits a low cry of pain as the Elf pirate then rushes forwards and slashes at Locke's chest with his long sword. The slash cuts deeply into Locke's chest, causing it to gush with blood. He roars in pain before quickly withdrawing one potion, which he opens and gulps down quickly, before discarding of the empty glass bottle by throwing it at the Hippogriff's face, as it growls at his taunting throw. Focusing his glare on the Elf, Locke then takes his sickle and pushes it forth, attempting to land a striking blow with it. He rushes at the Elf and grabs him by the collar before violently pulling the Elf forwards, and when the Elf stumbles towards Locke, Locke thrusts his sickle violently up into the bottom of the Elf's chin – the sickle plunging into the Elf's head before killing him. Locke throws the Elf to one side and glares at the Hippogriff.

"I'll tame you, ya ugly sack of feathers and fur!" He cries.

Although it does not understand what Locke yells at it, the Hippogriff is nevertheless angered by his tone and as it begins to flap its wings wildly, its feet slowly begin to ascend from the ground. Nevertheless, the Hippogriff doesn't realize the room is too small for it to take flight in, as it thumps its head against the ceiling before it lands on the ground with a disgruntled growl.

"Ha ha ha! Aw, grounded, eh birdy? Maybe I should. . . clip your wings!" Locke hisses before he launches another attack at the Hippogriff.

Immediately, Locke does as he says as his strike is focused on the Hippogriff's left wing which he forces his sickle to jab right through – the blade slashing through the feathers and into the bone of the wing. As blood seeps through its feathers, the Hippogriff lowers its wings and cries in fear and pain. It looks to Locke with wide eyes and much like the last Hippogriff, it begins to back up, down the narrow hall. Locke immediately begins to twirl his weapon in his right hand while he walks after the Hippogriff.

"Come back, you coward. Why are all you creatures all bark and no bite? That's right – cower. Cower in front of your master, before I slaughter you! Argh!"

Once again, Locke grips his sickle tightly after twirling it in his hand before he lunges forwards and thrusts the blade straight into the Hippogriff's chest, much like he did before – blood spurting out of the fresh wound as it whines in pain and begins to lower towards the floor as Locke withdraws his sickle once more. To Locke's great surprise, instead of running, the Hippogriff suddenly shoots its head upwards, its beak aimed directly at Locke's face as it attempts a desperate attack. However, it is too weak and stunned to strike Locke successfully. Backing off, Locke then growls and thrusts his sickle back into fresh wound he caused the Hippogriff, this time forcing his sickle deeper into its chest. This fatal wound now kills the Hippogriff outright as it dies and drops to the floor.

Episode 8: An Alluring Proposition (Part 3 of 6)

Immediately after leaving the tavern, Locke and Lil continue to follow the crowds which inevitably lead to the city center. Just outside the factory at Blackcrest's center, they notice a large ship which sits heavily on the ground below, towering high above the people which stand to gawk at it. Its anchors rest at its sides, the heavy steel driven deep into the ground. A large crowd of people gather around the front of the airship, but a small number of large and buff merchants keep the path to a pair of steps clear – the steps leading up to the ship's deck.

Grasping Locke's left arm in hers and clinging to it tightly, Lil cries excitedly, "Wow! I've never seen a ship out of water like that!"

"Same here!" Locke exclaims. "This thing is incredible! I can't believe it flies. . ."

"And I can't believe they've managed to contain enough magic to make it fly!" Lilanei says in wonderment.

"There must be some powerful sorcerers around in Ibius," Locke ponders.

Jumping slightly up and down as she continues to cling to him, Lilanei cries, "That's all I need! Let's go!"

"Okay, okay!" Locke says with a laugh as he holds the tickets and walks towards Mighty Blue. "I can't wait to fly, just like a bird!"

Excitedly, Locke and Lilanei weave their way through the bustling crowd before finding themselves in front of the large staircase leading up onto the ship; as they gaze up at it dreamily, a large and very muscular man steps in front of them and cries, "Oy! Tickets, please!"

"Here," Locke says as he offers the tickets to the merchant. "Two tickets."

The buff merchant snatches the small tickets before scrutinizing them closely; after a few moments, he motions to the merchants behind him who step aside and allow our Heroes passage onto the ship. Once they are past the merchants, they climb the steps excitedly to the deck which they find is crowded with many people. Merchants rush past them as they push crates along the wooden deck, as adventurers much like the duo look around the ship with great excitement. As they take in their surroundings, they notice a group of three Dragonborn standing nearby. To their right, a Tiefling woman as well as an Elven man speak to each other with great vigor. At the center of the ship, leaning against the large and wide pole which leads up to the bird's nest, they see a single human woman with long blonde hair. Nearby, a couple of Half-Elf children run around the deck crying aloud playfully as an Elven woman and a human male stand by and watch them with smiles.

As Locke and Lilanei take in their surroundings, the Elven woman glances over to them as her eyes immediately widen and she trots over to the pair; as she nears them, she cries, "Locke! Lilanei!"

"Who are you?" Locke asks in his blunt manner, to which Lil frowns.

The Elf woman simply smiles and says, "Well, you may not know me, but I sure know you. My name is Dara and I hail from Willow's Keep."

"Oh, wow!" Locke says in surprise before exclaiming, "So you were set in stone when we were there!”

Dara giggles as she nods and cries, "Sure was! But thanks to you two, I'm alright and I'm able to be here today with my family."

"That's great," Locke replies, before noticing the man she was standing with is human, before he begins, "No offense. . . But I didn't realize your leader allowed humans in the village. I should know – she hated me!"

Dara smirks at the duo before explaining, "Well, that's precisely why I'm here, I'm afraid! Marc and I have been together for quite a long time. . . However, once Adiel found out about our relationship, she demanded that I either cut off contact with him and my children or that I left Willow's Keep. Obviously, I've chosen to do the latter."

Lil sighs sadly as she exclaims, "I'm so sorry! That Adiel – she's so stubborn!"

"Well, I'm glad you chose your husband over the village," Locke states. "It's good to see."

Dara smiles and says, "Yes. . . I could never choose Adiel and her selfish beliefs over the man I love. But in any case, I'm quite happy with my decision! Once we heard the Mighty Blue was going to land in Blackcrest, we immediately made our way here. Hopefully, we'll be able to start our new life in Ibius and begin anew."

Lilanei smiles and says, "Oh, I'm sure you two will be quite happy!"

"Do you know what Ibius is like?" Locke asks. "We've never even heard of it!"

The woman shakes her head as she states, "All I know about Ibius is that it is a massive country! In fact I've heard it is nearly four times as big as Murrad! It's a Kingdom as well, meaning a great King resides over the nation in a grand castle."

"Sounds like fun!" Locke exclaims with a smile. "It sounds like just the place to further our aspirations."

Dara giggles as she says, "Certainly! Well, I wish you two all the luck in the world – but my children are beginning to grate on one of the merchant's nerves. So I bid you good day!"

Immediately, Dara waves to the pair before rushing across the ship and reprimanding her two children.

"Ibius, huh?" Locke asks to Lil. "What do you think?

With a broad smile, she says, "I'm quite excited, actually! It seems like the perfect place to start our search for Akorrin as well!"

"Well, he's sure not here," Locke states, talking about Murrad. "So let's hope our luck turns in Ibius. But speaking of excitement," Locke then says, his gaze directing to the blonde haired woman standing by the bird's nest. "Let's mingle some more."

Lilanei follows his gaze before she cries, "Oh! You never change!"

"Let's just be friendly," Locke grins. "There was nothing wrong with me talking to Dara now, was there?"

Lil smiles as she says, "Well, Dara wouldn't have been interested in you anyway!"

"That's what you might think," Locke replies as he begins to walk across towards the blonde woman; once within ear shot, Locke raises his hand and greets her. "Good day, madame. How are you?"

The blonde haired woman glances to Locke, piercing blue eyes narrowing at his figure as he approaches; cocking her eyebrow at him, she states in a foreign tone, "Vell, hello zere."

Locke hesitates, hearing the woman's accent, but shrugs it off and continues, "So, you're on your way to Ibius, too?"

"It vould seem so, yes? Vhy else vould I be on this ship, silly man?"

"Erm, yeah, sure," Locke replies, thrown off by her comment. "This is my friend, Lilanei, and we're off to Ibius in search of adventure! Tell us, what are you venturing to Ibius for?"

The woman merely glances to Lil shortly before looking back at Locke and smiling slyly as she says, "Vhy, I'm an adventurer too! I've lived in Blackcrest for many a year. And now, I travel to Ibius to. . . How you say? Expand my horizons."

"So are we!" Locke exclaims excitedly before grinning and saying, "You know. . . maybe we could expand our horizons together."

To Locke's surprise, his comment causes the woman to grin as she states, "Vell, vell, vhat have ve here? I seem to have encountered a feisty young man! Tell me, adventurer – vhat iz your name?"

"Locke. Locke Kallidin!" Locke proudly states as Lilanei glares at him from behind. "And this is my comrade, Lilanei Serpenthelm."

The woman bothers not to glance at Lil as she says, "Ja, ja. . . Locke, iz it? Vhat a powerful name!"

"Well, I'd say so," Locke chuckles. "I am fond of it."

Her grin grows as she extends her hand forward, palm down, and says, "Well, Mr. Locke, it iz quite ze pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine," Locke says, taking her hand softly and kissing the back of it; as he does so, he hears a slight grumbling behind him as Lilanei angrily strolls to a nearby ledge and glances down at the people below.

The woman smiles and withdraws her hand before saying, "Vell, Mr. Locke? Are you not going to ask me my name?"

"Of course! How silly of me. What is your name, madame? I'm sure it's as striking as you are," Locke replies.

The woman chuckles and smirks as she responds, "My name iz Alexandra Federova."

"I was right – it is as striking as the woman who holds that name," Locke smiles.

"Oh, you know how to flatter a woman, Mr. Locke," Alexandra flutters her eyelashes as she continues. "Tell me, Mr. Locke. . . Do you like a drink?"

"I've never said no!" Locke cheerfully replies.

"My, my!" She cries happily. "Ve have a winner! How vould you like to join me tonight when ze moon iz high, for a small little drink?"

"Sure thing!" Locke says. "Where?"

"My cabin," she explains as she motions behind them and towards the stairs leading below deck, “lies in ze back of ze hall. . . It iz ze final door to your right. I'll be very interested to see vhat you have to say about your adventures, Mr. Locke."

"I'll be interested to hear more about you, too, Alex," Locke replies.

Alexandra waggles her index finger at Locke before saying, "Ah-ah-ah. . . Alexandra."

"Sorry, Alexandra," Locke repeats.

Excitedly, she claps her hands and exclaims, "Very good! I shall see you later tonight zen, Mr. Locke, yes?"

"You sure will," Locke announces with a grin on his face. "See you soon."

"Ja, ja. . . Very soon indeed," Alexandra finishes as a great smile grows across her lips and she gives him a slight wave before turning and retreating below deck.

Excitedly, Locke rushes over to Lilanei and stands beside her.

"I've got a friend!" Locke exclaims happily. "She seems nice, doesn't she?"

"Hmph. . . Very nice indeed," Lil mutters as she throws him a side glare, which Locke slightly picks up on.

"Something wrong?" Locke asks in surprise.

"Oh, it's nothing," Lilanei sighs before looking back down below to the ground. "If I'm not mistaken. . . I take it this ship is going to take off soon."

"I'd say so," Locke answers, looking over the ledge. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Excitedly, she now watches as the merchants begin to pull the anchors up the side of the ship as she cries, "I want to see this baby go up in the air!"

"Same here," Locke states. "It's going to be incredible!"

Just as Locke finishes his final words, the ship suddenly rumbles. Slowly, the magical orbs which surround the hull of the large ship begin to glow brightly and whir with great energy as the deck hands finish pulling the anchors from the ground. Slowly, the ship begins to ascend from the ground as people on the deck gather at the ledges and wave down to their family and friends below. The ship eventually rises and rises until Blackcrest soon becomes like a giant mass of ants as they float up in the sky. From their position on the ship, they can see the great expanse of Murrad directly down below them.

"It all looks so tiny from here!" Locke exclaims before asking Lil, "Don't you wish your mother could've seen us off?”

Lilanei now slightly shrinks away from the ledge of the ship as her knees shake below her, the Half-Elf softly uttering, "Um. . . Yeah. . . That would've. . . been really nice!"

Locke frowns, "Lil, what's wrong?"

Holding her stomach as the ship begins to move forward, Lil wobbles slightly to and fro as she says, "Oh. . . Nothing. . . I just. . . feel really funny!"

Locke places his hands around her and squeezes her softly to him, as he gently replies, "Just hold onto me. You'll be okay.”

As he squeezes Lil against him, he suddenly hears a loud, sick grumble from her stomach before she pushes him away gruffly and runs across the deck of the ship to a nearby ledge.

A merchant who passes Locke suddenly stops and begins to chuckle as he says, "Ah. . . Gotta love them newbies," before he then continues on his way.

Blinking at the merchant, Locke then walks over to Lilanei and begins to gently rub her back, asking softly as he sees her become violently ill over the ledge of the ship, "Are you going to be okay?”

Lil's head and arms hand slightly over the ledge of the deck as she simply mutters, "Guh. . ."

"Maybe we should go and find our room now," Locke announces. "I think you could do with a lie down."

Stumbling backwards away from the ledge, Lilanei lands against Locke, who she then leans into with a miserable grunt. Holding her tight, Locke carries most of her weight as he leads her down the stairs to where the cabins are located. As the duo head below deck, a friendly, and very pretty, deck hand happily shows Locke and Lilanei to their cabin, whose door lies in the center of the hallway before leaving them to it. Locke opens the door of their cabin and assists Lil into the room, where he notices a single bed – quite small due to the small room.

"Well, we didn't get an extravagant room," Locke begins as he walks Lilanei over to the bed and lays her gently down on it. "But it'll do for the trip, right?"

Shifting uncomfortably in the bed, Lil groans, "Urgh. . . I hate ships. . .”

"Aw, and you were so excited on the ground," Locke says as he slips onto the bed, sitting up as he places his arm around Lil's shoulders and rests beside her, looking out of the window of the cabin as he watches the clouds slowly drift by in front of the blue sky.

Many hours pass before the sky begins to grow dark with the coming of the night. Meanwhile, Lilanei remains in bed where she sleeps slightly uncomfortably, while Locke slips out of bed and prepares to meet Alexandra in her cabin. Checking on Lilanei one final time and brushing her hair softly as she sleeps, Locke turns and exits the room, gently closing the door behind him. He walks down the hallway and eventually finds Alexandra's room. He then knocks on the door three times and stands waiting for the door to open. After the third knock, Locke hears a shuffling inside the cabin before the familiar figure of Alexandra swings the door open and greets him with a smile.

"Mr. Locke!" Alexandra exclaims quietly. "So you did come. . . I vas starting to think you had stood me up, young man!"

"No, not at all," Locke replies with a grin. "My friend, Lilanei, is quite air sick, so I was just looking after her until she feel asleep."

"Ah. . . Vhat a pity. Anyway, vould you like to come in?"

"I would indeed!" Locke says excitedly, his voice remaining cool so as not to seem too childish.

Stepping aside, the woman allows Locke to step into the room as he notices this room is just as small as his own. A single bed sits against the left wall while a small table with two chairs sits on the right. Motioning with her hands, Alexandra invites him to sit at the table, where there rests a jug of rum as well as two cups. Locke nods and sits at one of the chairs as he looks to Alexandra, who shuts the door behind him and locks it with a click. Soon, she joins him from across the table and begins to pour him a glass of rum.

"I trust zat you like rum, yes?" She simply asks.

"Ah yes, I love it," Locke answers as he takes the glass from her. "Thank you."

"You've very velcome, Mr. Locke," She smiles as she pours herself a glass of rum. "So tell me, adventurer. . . You tell me zat you travel to Ibius to expand your horizons. Vhy iz zat?"

"Well, firstly, my friend and I just have a yearning to see the world," Locke explains. "And while we're at it, we wish to help people along the way, if we can. Also, we're looking for our lost master who went missing a few days ago. We thought there could be a chance he's in Ibius."

"Master?" Alexandra echoes with a intrigued expression growing on her face. "Vhy vould such a strong man such as yourself need a master?"

"Well, he's my teacher," Locke explains further. "Or at least, he was. He said we're equals, but when I last saw him, he helped rescue Lilanei from an evil man named Lucio – you might have heard of him.”

"I'm afraid, young man, I have not. . . I do not much concern myself vith matters such as zose. . . So zis Lilanei? Iz she your—"

"Erm, no," Locke replies suddenly. "At least, I don't think so. . . I don't think she's really interested."

"Vhat a pity," she cries as her lips curl in a grin. "Vhy vouldn't any woman be interested in a young man such as yourself? From vhat you say, your life seems so. . . interesting."

"I'd say it is," Locke replies, drinking some more rum. "I don't know. Lilanei just has her ways. Mind you, we never got along well as children, until our master, Akorrin, forced us to get along by making us train and grow up together. We've become very close; however I feel she still either resents me somewhat, or I'm just too much for her."

She giggles at those final words as her grin turns to a smirk and she says, "Ah. . . Vhat a pity indeed. Vhat you need, Mr. Locke, iz a voman who iz villing to handle your. . . great masculinity."

"Sounds very appealing," Locke answers with a grin. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Oh, Mr. Locke! You are quite ahead of yourself! I never said I vould do it," she chuckles girlishly as she begins to pour Locke more rum, before taking a sip of her own glass.

"Ah," Locke grunts. "Well, I suppose you are right. Lilanei has never really seemed interested. . . Maybe I should look for someone who is."

"Ja, ja. . . Zat vould be. . . How you say? Ze smart thing to do, vould it not?" Alexandra asks.

"Yes," Locke answers. "It's just life would feel rather strange without her there, I suppose. If there was another woman in my life, I guess that would leave Lil out in the cold," he finishes as he frowns.

"Vell, you know vhat they say," she says as she sips her rum. "Ze strong survive. . . and ze rest, well. . . you know."

"I see what you mean," Locke answers as he drinks more from his glass. "So tell me, Alexandra. What about you? You said you're an adventurer. Are you more the adventurer who looks for treasures as dazzling as herself, or one, like me, who rights the wrong doings?"

As Alexandra tops up his drink once more, she sighs as she leans back in her chair and swishes her rum in her glass as she explains, "Vell, actually. . . I'm ze sort of voman who does like treasure – but not in ze sparkling variety, as you say. No, I'm much more interested in ze. . . how you say? Treasures of man!"

"Really?" The rogue asks. "So, do you scour the world looking for a good time?”

Alexandra giggles as she drinks from her glass and says, "Vell, I suppose you could say zat, ja. . . I also quite fancy myself a good fight now and then. Do you not, Mr. Locke?"

"I live to fight," Locke says with a grin. "It's one of the reasons Lil and I set out on our journey."

"Ah," she sighs dreamily as she says, "a man after my own heart. Vell, Mr. Locke. . . I feel ve could have a very, very, very good relationship, don't you think?"

"I'd drink to that," Locke says with a nod. "Perhaps we should act upon your words."

"Oh, ja! I vould find zat quite exciting," Alexandra nods as she leans forward and tops up his drink once again. "So tell me. . . After ze Mighty Blue lands, vhat do you plan to do? Are you going to set off vith zat girl?"

"Well, that's the plan," Locke answers. "You're more than welcome to join us, if you want."

"Tut, tut, Mr. Locke. . . You know vhat they say: two's company, three's a crowd. Tell me now. Zis girl, she seems very. . . unlike vhat a man such as yourself vould keep as a straggler. Surely, one such as yourself – so full of vitality – requires a more. . . action packed life."

"Well, it's quite action packed now," Locke says. "I don't think I could separate from Lil like you suggest. We've been through too much together, as we said we'd only separate if one of us died."

"Vhat dedication!" She cries, slightly disappointedly, as she gulps down the rest of her rum and pours the remainder of the jug into Locke's glass; she then looks to him with a drunken grin as she says, "Zhat iz all vell and good. . . But you do not convince me, Mr. Locke. I have met many men like you on my travels, and one thing vill always be ze same: you live for the thrill of danger and excitement. Tell me now, have you ever thought of changing your path?"

"What, without Lilanei?" Locke asks. "Sometimes if we bicker," Locke begins, "but otherwise, not really. . . Unless a real attractive offer came along." He finishes, looking at her.

Alexandra smirks before saying, "Vell. . . I don't consider myself unattractive, if zat's vhat you mean."

"Nor would I," Locke replies with a smile.

Nudging the rum towards Locke and enticing him to drink, Alexandra says, "Vell. . . Mr. Locke, you may have just persuaded me."

Locke picks up the drink and smirks at Alexandra as he says, "Oh, I hope so. Cheers!"

With that, Locke downs the remainder of the liquid in his glass, before emitting a sigh of satisfaction.

Now resting her elbows against the table as her face rests in her palms, the woman sighs and says, "Oh. . . How I love a man who likes his drink. . ."

"Well, I certainly love to drink, fight. . . and get to know the ladies very well," Locke replies, hiccuping slightly.

"My. . . Vell, here's hoping you get to know zis lady very well," she says slyly with a grin.

"Well. . . Show me what more there is to know," Locke slurs slightly. "Maybe we could—"

Suddenly, Locke stops as he notices the room has started to blur slightly. He blinks once as the woman's expression changes to one of concern before he feels himself growing heavy headed. In fact, his head become so heavy that he slowly. . . falls. . . asleep. . .