Episode 7: Family Ties (Part 4 of 8)

The threesome are about to continue on their travels once more, when suddenly a roar echoes throughout the tunnel, causing them to bolt upright and stop in their tracks as the roar breaches the tranquility of the cave.

"That doesn't sound good," Dorhi announces.

"Well, whatever it is – we can take it," Locke whispers in a determined voice.

"And whatever it is, it's coming this way!" Dorhi cries before he points to the wall that curves into a corner of the tunnel.

The shadow of large body on four legs begins to approach their position. Locke grabs Dorhi by the shoulders and spins around so that Dorhi now stands behind him as Locke then withdraws his sickle.

"Stay behind us, Dorhi!" Locke cries as he grits his teeth. "We'll handle whatever this thing is, right Lil?"

"Right!" Lilanei cries hesitantly.

Roaring once more, the part of the tunnel our three explorers stand in shakes slightly from the sheer volume of the echo. Mighty foot steps echo throughout the tunnel as a head peers around the corner and its body follows soon afterward. Now standing in front of our Heroes is a brown giant rat, who has been disturbed by the movement and conversation of Locke, Lil and Dorhi – and is seemingly in a very bad mood.

"Vermin!" Locke cries. "Pesky creatures, but they can make a good meal."

Lil cries, as she stomps her feet into the dirt ground, "Disgusting! I can't believe you'd eat a disgusting rat!"

"Needs must if you want to survive," Locke replies. "Are you actually going to be okay fighting this, or is it something else you're afraid of?"

"Shut up!" Lilanei snaps. "I'll be just fine, thank you very much!"

"Children, if you don't mind," Dorhi says, breaking their conversation. "It's getting closer!"

Defiantly, Lilanei, holding her dagger in both hands, thrusts the dagger forwards as a cold purple ball of energy begins to form at the point of its blade. In mere seconds, this ball of energy launches from the blade, colliding directly with the rat's snout. The energy explodes on the snout and engulfs the rat, causing it to squeak audibly in pain. The energy crackles over the rat's body, causing its body to tense up until it drops to onto its side, its mouth open and its tail limp as it quickly dies on the cave floor. Bringing her dagger back, Lilanei shoots Locke a cocky grin.

"Not bad," Locke says with a “hmph” as he wipes his nose. "Maybe now you're getting over your fear of creepy crawlies."

"Huh, maybe," Lil says, her grin still evident as a large spider crawls off the cave wall and onto Lilanei's shoulder, softly scurrying over her new vest; seeing the spider from the corner of her eye, Lil's eyes widen as she emits a piercing cry and begins to swat at the spider wildly. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

Lilanei cries in panic until she eventually swats the spider off her shoulder. As she does this, another roar echoes throughout the cave, as another giant rat rushes from behind the bend in the tunnel.

"Oh great, Lil!" Locke announces in annoyance. "Your big mouth disturbed another one!"

With a spiteful glare, Lil cries, "Fine! If you're so tough, you kill this one!"

"No problem," Locke replies as he raises his sickle. "We'll see what this fur ball can do."

Lowering its body, the rat bares its two large front teeth at Locke who stands poised and ready to strike. With its tail whipping back and forth, the rat eventually dives forward, its jaws open as it prepares to bite anywhere on Locke that its teeth can catch. However, seeing the rat dart towards him, Locke tumbles to his right, causing the rat to land in the place he occupied – as it now hisses at Dorhi who backs off slightly in fright.

"Get away, vile beast!" Dorhi cries as he waves his torch in front of the rat.

"Don't worry, Dorhi. I've got this!" Locke exclaims as he twirls his sickle in his hand before he prepares to make an attack at the rat.

Facing the creature, Locke charges forwards and leaps into the air, flying above the rat before he quickly drops down towards it – the blade of his sickle pointing down towards the back of the rat's neck. Landing beside the rat, Locke allows his sickle to plunge into the back of the rat's neck as the rat lets out a squeak of painful death. Locke kicks the rat down to its side and allows his blade to slide out of the creature as the two rats now lay on top of one another.

"Whatcha think to that?" Locke asks triumphantly to Lilanei as he twirls his sickle once more, the fresh blood flying off the blade and landing on various parts of the area.

Growling as one of the bloody drops lands on her nose, Lil wipes away the red fluid and mutters, "I think – you're a buffoon!"

"Come now," Dorhi announces before Locke is able to retort. "We must make haste and find our way out of these tunnels. This just proves the kind of dangers that lurk throughout the cave."

Dorhi now walks in front of the duo once again as he leads the way down the tunnel with Lilanei following him swiftly.

“Well, nobody's for a meal, then,” Locke mutters as he takes one look at the two giant rats before he rushes down the tunnel to catch up with Lil and Dorhi.

A little further on down the tunnel past the bend, Dorhi, Locke, and Lilanei now walk down a long straight tunnel path seemingly going on forever; Lilanei sighs tiredly as she peers down the length of the tunnel and mumbles, "This cave goes on forever. I can't imagine where it could possibly be leading us."

"Right into a trap, maybe," Locke mutters, the events of what happened to he and Lil in Tuli still in his mind as he stares at the back of Dorhi – who continues to lead the way unaware Locke had said anything since he didn't speak fully.

Eventually, a few minutes further down the tunnel, the group stop as they see something just ahead of them on the ground.

"What's that?" Locke asks, pointing over Dorhi's shoulder to something lying over by the wall.

The three rush down the tunnel and stand in front of the object, which is a large dead Orc; kicking the dead creature in the shoulder, Locke asks, "What do you think this was about?"

Peering down at the corpse, Lil mutters, "Perhaps he was a traitor, or he somehow got on Orochi's bad side."

"Quite possibly," Dorhi puts in. "Orochi doesn't seem the type to stand for nonsense for too long. . ."

Dorhi then notes that the Orc's traveling bag, which is still slung over his right shoulder, is full of objects. Dorhi picks up the bag and, holding it in one hand, holds the other end to Lilanei so she can open the zipper with her free hand. Hesitantly, Lilanei unzips the bag and peers into it, weary that some ugly spider or a rat may dive out at her. Fortunately for Lil, nothing hideous dives out of the bag. Instead, lying in the bag is a bottle of liquid that glows blue in the darkness of the bag. Lilanei pulls out the bottle to see that it contains healing potion. Looking further into the bag as something clinks inside it, Lil then notices that twenty gold pieces line the bottom of the Orc's bag. Seeing the gold pieces, Lil instantly snatches them up and quickly places them in her coin pouch – which, fortunately, the Orcs did not notice earlier on her person – and then sticks her tongue out at Locke who eyes the money.

"That's a bit unlike you," Locke states. "You usually preach to me about principles if I do something like that."

Shrugging, Lil says, "Well, if you've got the Locke Ale Fund, then I think perhaps it's time to start the Lilanei Book Fund."

"Well, perhaps this Orc did do something to tick Orochi off," Dorhi muses. "Perhaps this gold wasn't his."

Lilanei adds, "Perhaps he stole it from Orochi?"

"Quite possibly," Dorhi answers with a nod as he eyes the bottle of potion and then looks to Locke who looks the worse for wear. "Perhaps if you're going to keep the gold, you should allow Locke to take the potion. He looks quite battle weary."

Pursing her lips slightly, Lil pops the top from the potion and hands it to Locke as a grin curls across her lips, "Wow, you're right, Dorhi. Not to mention you look so strange without your braid, Locke."

"Huh, my braid? What?" Locke moves his eyes towards the top of his head, only to notice that indeed his braid no longer hangs down over his right ear; loudly, he whines, "My braid! My lucky braid! What happened to it?"

"I suppose it really was a lucky braid," Lil explains with a bemused tone. "Orochi was nearly about to slit your throat when he instead cut off the braid and kept it – perhaps as a memento of you, Locke!"

"I don't care what he did with it," Locke hisses in anger. "I'm going to get my braid back, one way or another! Nobody defiles Locke Kallidin like that!"

Rolling her eyes, Lil snaps, "And what do you plan to do with when you finally get it back? Are you going to pin it directly to your head?"

"Well, maybe something like that," Locke sheepishly answers. "I just feel very different without it."

Smirking, Lilanei says, "Well, if we get out of this alive, maybe I'll give you a new one."

"I'll hold you to that," Locke replies as he takes the bottle of potion and drinks it whole. The bloody cuts on Locke's face and neck begin to heal up as the bleeding stops – Locke smiling slightly as he lets out a satisfied gasp of air and announces, "My headache's gone."

Eventually, the group continue down the tunnel, and it isn't long before they finally reach another large cave mouth that joins the tunnel. The group make their way out of the tunnel and Lilanei and Dorhi use their torches to light up the large cavern. To their left among the many rocks and stalagmites that shoot up out of the ground lies a large archway which leads out of the cavern further into the cave. To their right, the group notice more rocks, more stalagmites, and finally a wall made of collapsed rocks – seemingly having been there for many years, but looking very much familiar. Water drips from an opening in the ceiling of the cave above the rock slide as a large bag lies in front of the fallen rocks. The group venture out of the tunnel mouth and into the center of the cavern and begin to peer around their surroundings.

"Well now," Locke announces looking around the cave before he spies the large bag lying by the fallen rocks. "Another bag. This place sure seems to get a lot of visitors."

"If you can even call them that," Lilanei mutters.

"Who knows why people would've been down here?" Dorhi adds. "Whatever the reason, perhaps we should carry on."

"No, no, no," Locke says. "What a minute, Dorhi. That bag could have something useful in it. Think back to the Orc in the tunnel. He had a bag, Lil got 20 gold out of it, and I got a potion. This is a bigger bag; perhaps it'll have better riches."

Lilanei frowns as she observes the fallen rocks behind the bag which Locke now approaches as she says, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. . ."

"This is coming from the girl who pilfered twenty gold from a dead Orc," Locke quips.

Lil cries in response, "It was the same thing you would've done in my situation! And in any case, there wasn't a large pile of dangerous looking rocks standing near the Orc at the time!"

"But you still took it," Locke answers. "Why shouldn't I take this?"

Fuming, she grumbles, "Fine, take the bag. If something happens to you, I'm not being held responsible. And Dorhi will have to carry your sorry hide out of the cave himself."

"Oh no, I won't!" Dorhi announces, shaking his head. "Not with my bad back. Too many heavy post bags, you see."

Raising her hands in the air, Lil cries, "Oh well! Then I suppose you'll be stuck here if anything happens to you."

Before Locke can put the theory to the test and grab the bag, another loud screech echoes through the cavern, stopping Locke in his tracks. As the group turn towards the archway leading out of the cavern, they see two large, red stirges fly through the archway and into the cavern, immediately spotting their prospective prey.

Rubbing her forehead in frustration, Lil grumbles, "This is beginning to look very familiar. . ."

"What do you mean by that?" Dorhi asks as he begins to cower away from the sight of the two monsters.

"Don't worry about it, Dorhi," Locke replies as he rushes to Lilanei's side. "Just look after my bag – I'll be back for it. Let's go! Argh!"

Without hesitation, the stirge that hovers in front of Lil sees her take a defensive stance on the ground and immediately swoops down to attack. It opens its mouth and swoops past her shoulder, allowing its large beak-like mouth to snap shut on her shoulder in a vicious bite as it swoops past her and circles around, before floating back to its original position as it screeches wildly. Like its fellow creature, the darker coloured red stirge swoops towards Locke in the same manner and prepares to take a bite out of him; however, the rouge notices the exact same pattern of the stirge's flight and the motions it makes with its head, and as the stirge prepares to fly past Locke and take a bite out of his shoulder, Locke leans to his side and grabs a rock from the ground before quickly returning to an upright position as he shoves it in the stirge's mouth.

"Take a bite out of that, beaky!" Locke hisses as the stirge swoops around and floats next to its fellow creature.

As the dark red stirge opens its mouth and allows the rock to drop from it, Locke charges forwards and leaps into the air, springing high as he meets the stirge face to face. As he begins to drop down, he thrusts his sickle out at the stirge's face and slashes, grazing the skin along the side of its right eye as Locke lands gracefully on the rocky floor.

"Ha ha, talk about a 'face off!'" Locke laughs.

Shaking her head at Locke's bad jokes, Lilanei now cups her free palm as an orb of magical force begins to form within it. She thrusts her arm back before pitching it forwards and releasing the orb in the general direction of the stirge that floats in front her. As the sphere collides forcefully into the stirge's belly, the orb shatters and bursts – sending many shards of force shooting towards the dark red stirge which floats nearby.

In an attempt to one-up her comrade, Lilanei now cries to the stirges, "Feeling shattered?"

"Ha, good one," Locke says with a chuckle as he looks towards the stirges who shriek in anger as their bodies are now covered in large bloody scrapes.

The lighter coloured stirge then dives down towards Lilanei once more and opens its mouth as it prepares to bite her like before. Much like Locke, Lilanei attempts to dive to the side as to avoid the bite. The stirge's jaws misses Lil's shoulder which it targets once again; however the tip of its long and pointy nose scrapes Lil in the shoulder, the sharp tip of the nose causing her to feel some slight pain. As Lilanei avoids the stirge, Locke looks towards her to check if she's okay. As he does this, the darker coloured stirge seizes its opportunity to swoop down and attack the rouge. Without making a sound, Locke turns to see the stirge dive towards him; however before he can react, he finds it is too late as the stirge thrusts out one its crab-like hands and takes a snap at Locke's face. The claw digs into the bridge of Locke's nose before the stirge screeches – the screech sounding almost like a mocking laugh as the two stirges float back up to above the archway of the cave.

Clutching his nose, Locke growls slightly and runs towards the stirges once more. Much like the last time, Locke leaps into the air, his sickle clutched tightly as he flies up into the air in front of the stirge that attacked him before he slashes out wildly; however, as he is annoyed, Locke misjudges the distance between himself and his enemy. The stirge now chirps once again, almost as if it mocks Locke as he simply drops to the ground without hitting it. Meanwhile, feeling confident from her previous success, Lilanei takes her dagger which she held in the same hand as her torch and thrusts it forwards as a silver glow begins to surround the blade. In moments, the energy gathers at its tip before launching in a silver bolt at the stirge before her. Unable to react in time, the stirge's face is immediately hit by the bolt as the magic engulfs it in a silver light. The light begins to fade away, and as it does, the stirge's eyes are revealed to be completely devoid of life as they are now simply black holes in its head. It then drops to the ground in a heap, dust flying from under its fallen body.

Screeching as it sees its fellow stirge die in front of it, the darker stirge now looks towards Lilanei and quickly swoops down towards her, readying itself to attack. The stirge swiftly flies down to Lilanei's face and hovers in front of her before it lets out a loud screech once more and snaps out to her face with its mouth. Its jaws quickly snap shut, grabbing Lilanei's left cheek before it pulls back and releases its jaws – giving a sharp bite to Lil's face. Before swiftly adding a couple of scrapes with its claws, it flies back into the air, Lil's cheek now bleeding. As the stirge begins to fly back to its original position, Locke attempts to rush at the stirge. Leaping into the air, his body extends so that his chest is horizontal to the ground as he tries to pounce on the stirge with his sickle ready to slash it in the back. However, the stirge is too quick for Locke as it flaps all four of its wings and flies higher into the air, as Locke begins to drop out of it – landing however on his knees as he lets out a cry of frustration.

Crying in pain from the bite and scrapes to her face, Lilanei suddenly lurches forwards angrily as she launches another silver bolt from her dagger. This bolt flies directly towards the stirge's underbelly and collides with it, sending silver energy pulsating over its body before covering it almost like a cocoon. The energy crackles and surges for a moment, and as it fades away, the stirge drops down to the ground in a heap as it dies. Whining slightly, Lilanei then holds her hand over her cheek in pain. Walking over to Lil, Locke takes her hand from her cheek and begins to wipe the dirt and blood from the wound with the finger tips of his gloves.

"Ow!" Lil cries as he brushes one of the cuts. "Watch what you're doing! I'm still mad at you, you know!"

"Well excuse me!" Locke replies. "Maybe I should let it get infected and allow your jaw to drop off. That'd be a blessing."

"Hmph! Fine. If you don't want to hear me talk, then I won't speak to you for the rest of the journey! Will that make you happy?" Lil cries as she turns away stubbornly with a pout.

"Lil, don't be like that," Locke mutters as he places a hand on her shoulder. "It'd be awful lonely if you didn't talk to me."

Ignoring him, she steps into the back of the cave near Dorhi and says, "Shall we carry on then?"

Dorhi nods, "Yes, let's! I'm feeling more confident that we'll make it out alive, the more I see you two in battle. That was some incredible skill you both possess."

"Ha! I suppose you could say that. . . for some of us!" Lil exclaims.

"No, no," Dorhi replies. "You both have exceptional fighting skills."

With pursed lips, Lil simply glances away at another part of the cave as Locke walks past them both and mutters, "Don't bother trying to talk to her, Dwarf. When she's like this, she won't reason with anybody. Take it from somebody who's spent a decade with her. Now, let's see what's in that bag."

Dorhi looks to Locke with a frown, watching the young rogue kneel down beside the bag as he announces, "Perhaps we should just get going, young one. Don't you want to be free again?"

"It'll only take a second," Locke sighs, palming Dorhi's suggestion off as he pulls the bag away from the rocks; he opens the bag and finds within it two potions. "Ah," Locke announces as he holds a bottle to Lilanei. "If you'd be my friend again, I'll let you have one."

"What's that? Dorhi, do you hear that noise? It sounded like another rat!" Lilanei sarcastically utters.

Dorhi sighs and shakes his head as he begins to walk away from the pair, making his way towards the arch that leads further through the cave. However, he stops as he nears a slight rumble and some rocks fall. He looks back into the cavern to see Locke standing beside the rock wall which now begins to shift slightly as more rocks begin to fall from the wall.

"No!" Dorhi cries. "Get away from that wall! It looks like it'll collapse shortly!"

As Dorhi's voice echoes through the cavern, the cavern begins to rumble as more rocks fall away from the wall. Locke backs away, the potions in his hands as he stops beside Lil. The pair look towards the wall to see a group of rocks half way up the wall fly out – almost as if they had exploded! From the other side of the wall, they hear a familiar screech as a tentacle slithers through the gap in the wall – the Grick from earlier on the other side of the wall, now trying to break through!

With a sarcastic cry, Lil says, "Ah, look, Locke! You're not the only slimy beast in the room anymore!"

"Don't bother with sarcasm, girl!" Dorhi cries from the other side of the cavern as it continues to rumble. "RUN!"

Locke and Lilanei watch as the Grick begins to poke its head through the hole in the wall, causing more rocks to slide out of it and shatter on the ground. Wasting no time, Locke and Lilanei turn and run towards Dorhi's position under the archway. Dorhi then runs through the arch and into the tunnel on the other side. As Locke runs alongside Lil, he looks up suddenly to see at the last moment that some rocks fall from the ceiling down towards Lilanei. Saying nothing, Locke simply shoves Lilanei away from the arch as the rocks fall onto Locke's head and the young rogue immediately drops to the floor.

Eyes widening as she stumbles back into the cavern, Lilanei shrieks, "Locke!"

Dorhi turns and sees Locke's legs jutting out from under the rocks that lay above him. Groaning, the Dwarf jogs back towards the fallen rogue's position and begins to push the rocks off Locke as fast as he can. He looks to Lil, still standing in the cavern, and sees behind her that the Grick continues to worm its way through the wall.

"Quickly, girl!" Dorhi orders. "Help me! We need to get out here – all of us!"

Immediately, Lil rushes to Locke's side and begins to push the rocks away with Dorhi's help. Within seconds, the two clear the rocks to see Locke lying face down on the ground. Quickly, Lil grabs his left arm and pulls so that Locke's body rolls to the right and on to his back. Looking down, Lil and Dorhi see that Locke's face is badly bruised as blood runs from a wound open in his head as his eyes dizzily gaze up at Lil.

"You buffoon!" Lil cries in worry before leaning down beside him and wiping some of the blood from his face. "Can you walk?"

"Urgh," Locke moans as his eyes begin to focus. "My head. . . it hurts. . ."

"I'll take that as a yes!" Lil exclaims before grabbing him beneath his upper arms and pulling him up with all of her might, forcing him to his feet as the Grick finally breaks through the wall.

"The Grick is through!" Dorhi screams in fright as he collects up Locke's sickle and the two potions which had rolled by his feet. "Quickly now, we must flee! Those rocks that have fallen will buy us some time!"

Dorhi turns and swiftly continues down the tunnel as Locke stumbles and looks dizzily towards Lilanei.

"What's going on?" Locke moans.

Sighing out loud, Lil runs behind Locke, dipping under his left arm before standing upright – essentially propping him up with her body. Wrapping her right arm around his waist, she begins to run forwards as he stumbles along beside her. Locke looks to Lilanei with a dizzy and confused expression as the Grick slithers across the cavern and then lets out a screech of anger as it cannot yet penetrate the now narrowed archway in front of it due to the half collapsed ceiling. Eventually, the group begins to slow as the noise behind them grows further and further away. Once again down the long tunnel, Dorhi stops and looks back to Locke and Lil who stand behind him.

"There's a fork in the road up ahead," Dorhi announces, motioning with his free hand behind him. "We'll need to figure out which way to go. But first, how are feeling, young one? Any better?"

Locke remains silent as he stares at Dorhi and then looks at Lil and shrugs, while she continues to hold Locke up in support.

Straight away, Lilanei, who still clutches Locke's body in her arms, looks up to Locke with a frown and asks, "What's the matter?"

Locke looks down to Lilanei, blinking before then turning his head and glancing over to Dorhi as he asks, "Is she my girlfriend or something?"

Dorhi looks to Locke in confusion before announcing, "Well, I don't know. You tell me!"

Staring at Locke in shock, Lilanei slowly asks, "Locke. . . What's my name?"

Locke looks to Lilanei and his eyes focus sharply on her face as he concentrates hard before eventually announcing, "I. . . I don't know. Who are you?"

Lilanei stares at Locke sadly for a moment before exclaiming angrily, "If this is some dirty trick because of what I said earlier, then you can stop now, thank you!"

"What do you mean?" Locke asks. "Did I do something wrong?"

Desperately, Lilanei looks to Dorhi and cries, “What are we going to do? He can't remember a thing!"

"Calm down, Lil," Dorhi says in a soothing voice as he walks up to Locke and takes the top off a bottle of potion. "Locke, drink this. It might help you feel better."

"Locke is my name?" Locke asks as he takes the bottle. "How strange."

Locke then quickly gulps down the potion and hands Dorhi back the empty container, as the Dwarf hands Lilanei the extra potion. Taking the potion in her free hand – which no longer holds a torch – and gulping it down, Lil simply throws the bottle aside before looking to Locke once more.

Her right arm now squeezing his waist tightly, she says, "Can you not remember anything?"

"Mm. . . Everything feels muddled," Locke says as he grips his head. "My headache's gone, but it's hard to think. I don't recognize you or him. Where are we?"

A pained expression crosses Lil's face as it is obvious he cannot remember her; Lilanei looks to Dorhi sadly as she explains, "We're in a cave and we need to escape. Dorhi, what should we do now?"

"Locke," Dorhi says as he looks to the rogue, “does this remind you of anything?"

Dorhi holds up Locke's sickle that he picked up earlier; Locke reaches out for the sickle and takes it as Dorhi explains, "You're Locke, an adventurer. You and your friend, Lilanei, are on a quest to find your master who you recently lost. Does that jog your memory?"

". . . No," Locke answers as he looks blankly to the sickle. "Erm, but for some reason," he continues as he begins to weave the blade in a curling motion in his hand, “this feels strangely familiar. I don't even remember holding one of these in my life! I don't even remember my life. . ."

Lil stares sadly ahead before looking up at Locke and simply asking, "Do you think you can stand on your own now?"

"Yes, I think so," Locke announces as he takes his arm away from Lilanei and stands under his own power. "That drink made me feel better."

Staring at Locke as he stares away, Lil shakes her head before glancing down the tunnel ahead – finally noticing that it forks into two directions.

"If you're well enough to walk, Locke," Dorhi begins, "we should carry on. I know you don't remember anything, but we must get out of this cave and you'll have to be brave as we encounter any possible dangers that may lurk beyond the tunnel." Dorhi then turns to Lil and announces, “Which way, Lil?"

Lilanei sighs as she says, "Let's try the left path."

"Very well," Dorhi announces before beginning to walk away. "Let's go!"

Dorhi leads the way once more, his torch illuminating the tunnel, and quickly the group turn left at the fork before then proceeding to follow the rocky path that now seems to be on an incline – not too steep, but enough so that the group recognizes it.

"This path seems to have gotten steeper," Dorhi whispers at the front. "Perhaps this is a good sign."

"Perhaps," Lil echoes as she side glances to Locke, who is a couple of steps behind Lilanei; his shoulders droop as his right arm hangs by his side while he looks at the sickle in his right hand. "Are you going to be okay?" Lil quietly asks, causing to Locke to stop in his tracks and look towards Lil.

"I don't know," Locke replies. "I don't really know why I'm even here. Um, Lilanei, isn't it? Can you just take me home?"

Lil's eyes widen as he speaks before she responds softly, "Yes. . . Just hang in there, and we'll be out of here soon."

"I hope so," Locke replies. "I don't know why, but I feel a great urgency to get out of this cave. It's quite intimidating."

Lil laughs slightly as she looks ahead and says, "Wow. I would never have imagined such words coming from you, Locke."

"Locke's a very strange name!" Locke exclaims. "Who came up with it?"

Lil once again glances to him, this time with a quizzical expression, as she utters, "Your mother, silly! Rivka Kallidin."

"Rivka?" Locke announces. "Hm, it seems like this family has a penchant for strange names."

Dorhi looks to Locke and Lil before announcing, "Lilanei, maybe if you talk to him a bit, it might jog his memory. I'll take a little gander further down the tunnel and see if there's any sign of a way out yet."

The Dwarf finishes, feeling and sounding somewhat braver in his words. Nodding to Dorhi, Lil turns to Locke as the Dwarf begins to walk slowly down the tunnel.

Softly, she begins, "Well, maybe you don't remember your mother. . . but how about your father, Longrin? Or perhaps your little sister, Zelsa? Do those names ring a bell?"

"Hm. . . Longrin and Zelsa," Locke thinks. "No, but once again, they are quite strange. Does my family come from the mountains?"

Lilanei sighs as she says, "I suppose you could say that. . . Okay, do you remember perhaps a Dragon named Akorrin?"

"A Dragon?" Locke asks as Lil cuts him off.

"A Dragonborn, actually," Lil notes.

". . . No," Locke replies. "Why would I know any Dragon?"

Lil sighs again as she scratches her chin in thought as Locke stares into Lil's eyes; Lil blinks, looking back into his eyes as she mumbles, "What is it?"

"You have very pretty eyes," Locke simply states. "Did I ever notice how beautiful you are before?"

Blushing, Lil glances to the ground before mumbling, "I don't know. . . You've never really told me anything like that."

"That's silly!" Locke exclaims. "You seem like such a beautiful young lady."

Shaking her head, Lil simply responds, "You're delirious, Locke. Those rocks must've really dealt your mind a great amount of damage."

Locke thinks for a moment and then speaks, "You know, Locke seems like a really strange name. It's bothering me. I think I'd prefer to be known as," he pauses as he thinks for a moment and then looks to Lil and speaks again, "I'd like to be known as Maroco from now on."

A look of shock overcomes Lil's face as he utters that name before she cries, "Maroco? Why ever would you want to be called that?"

"I don't know," Locke replies as he rubs his head. "It just feels. . . familiar."

With slight hesitation, Lil utters, "Well. . . 'Maroco.' I know you don't remember, but that name actually belongs to a very evil man – one who we do not particularly get along with. Do you perhaps remember that?"

Locke thinks for a few moments before announcing, "No, not at all. I just remember the name. . . and something about flowers. . . Yes, flower! You! You remind me of a pretty flower!"

Lil slaps her forehead, dragging her palm down her face in slight frustration; however she retains her cool as she now walks closer to Locke, eyes staring up into his as she explains, "Well, even if you can't remember, I'll tell you anyway. Maroco is a very evil man who kidnapped me once while we were traveling together. That nickname is one I do not particularly like, nor wished to be called, so I would appreciate it if you'd forget about it. Anyway. . . How about the kidnapping? Do you remember that at all?"

"Not a thing," Locke replies with a shrug. "All that feels familiar is the name Maroco and this sickle. . . and calling you a pretty flower. But, you are, so I suppose that feels natural."

Lil sighs in exasperation before stepping closer with a serious expression and saying, "You say some really nice things, 'Maroco.' But I know you don't mean them. They're simply not like you."

Locke's eyes soften as his mouth opens slightly, "That doesn't sound particularly nice," Locke replies. "I was only being sincere."

Lilanei grins and explains, "Well, I know you can't remember, but I've never been particularly nice to you, have I?" She pauses before thinking to herself; after a moment, she suddenly flicks him in the nose and cries, "Now stop being a silly buffoon and try to remember!"

"Ow!" Locke states as he rubs his nose. "I'm sorry – I can't remember anything. . . But, buffoon sounds like something I've heard before."

"Yes!" Lil cries excitedly before stating, "Buffoon! I've called you that ever since we were children, as you have always been very thick headed, rash, and not very bright. You're also a womanizing sexist who drinks too much! Ring any bells?"

". . . No," Locke replies. "Why I would I look at other women when I can stare at you?"

Taken slightly a back by his comment, Lil looks away for a moment before saying, "You don't really think that way, do you?"

"Well, yes," Locke answers innocently. "Why wouldn't anybody?"

Suddenly, before Lilanei can respond, they hear Dorhi's voice echo through the tunnel, "Lilanei! Locke! Come this way quickly!"

Immediately, Lil turns before saying, "Come on, Lo— 'Maroco!' Dorhi may have found a way out!"