Episode 7: Family Ties (Part 5 of 8)

Quickly, the two run down the long tunnel and eventually meet up with Dorhi who stands above something, his body blocking their view of it; he turns his head back and looks at them stand behind him as he announces, "I don't know what's done this, but I feel we should be on our guard."

He steps away, revealing another fallen Orc who lays decapitated on the stone floor.

"Gross," Locke announces bluntly. "Why do you suppose he's like this?"

Lilanei observes the Orc, noticing that it is dressed much like the Orcs they had encountered above ground. As her eyes travel along its figure, she then notices a bag which lays beside it. Picking up the bag, she retrieves a potion which rests inside before glancing up at Locke and Dorhi.

"Whatever is doing this must not be far from here. What shall we do now?"

"As intimidating as the sight maybe," Dorhi begins, "I feel we should press on. The air is getting fresher and—"

Before Dorhi can continue, the group hears a "skitter skitter" before they turn and see in the tunnel ahead of them, two more giant rats. The group have unwittingly stumbled into a rat's nest!

"Vermin!" Locke exclaims. "What shall we do?"

Glancing slightly over to Locke, Lilanei motions for Dorhi to step behind her as she brandishes her dagger and exclaims, "We fight!"

"Fight?" Locke asks, his eyes widening slightly. "Against those?"

Looking to Locke, slightly surprised, Lilanei cries, "Just do your best! It'll have to come back to you sooner or later. . . I hope." Pointing her dagger towards the black rat before her, she cries, "Just concentrate, and when you're ready, strike – like this!"

Lilanei dives forwards to attack the rat with her dagger; however as she does, Locke grabs her by her cape and pulls her back with a violent jerk.

"Are you crazy?" He exclaims. "I don't want to see you get hurt! I'll fight this beast!"

"You sexist buffoon—"

Lilanei's speech is cut off as Locke gingerly paces forwards towards the brown rat. Looking at his sickle as the rat hisses in front of him, Locke yells slightly and closes his eyes and he thrusts the sickle forwards, the blade immediately striking the rat in the center of its head as it drops down dead to the ground.

He opens his eyes and pulls the sickle out from the rat's head and exclaims, "Oh! I did it! I've slain it!"

Lil cries excitedly, "That's it! That's how you do it!"

Before Locke can respond, the black rat dives forwards to Lilanei; however she immediately notices the attack and dives to her right directly behind Locke, causing the rat to lurch and bite at air. Leaping from behind Locke, Lil then dashes forward at the rat and thrusts her blade directly into its throat – twisting the weapon slightly with a growl before withdrawing it and watching the rat slowly bleed to death and die.

Locke breathes a slight sigh of relief, but before he can approach Lilanei, Dorhi cries, "Look out! Here come some more!"

Not surprisingly, since they reside in a rats' nest, Locke and Lilanei look to see another pair of rats, both brown and black, pounce into their view, screeching with rabid fury in their eyes as they see their family members dead on the ground. Without thinking, Locke once again paces towards the brown rat. While he is still nervous of facing the beast, his confidence is bolstered slightly as he feels more familiar with using his sickle. He begins to thrust the blade towards the rat; nevertheless, he hesitates at the last second. The rat screeches as it takes its paw and throws dirt up into Locke's eyes, causing him to stumble back beside Lilanei. As Locke backs off, the rat simply snaps its' head forwards and bites Locke in the leg.

"Argh!" Locke cries as he begins to hop on one foot. "My leg!"

Immediately, the black rat also dives forwards, catching Lilanei at the right arm and biting down on it as the bite causes a surging pain to ring throughout her entire arm. As Lil cries out in pain as the rat clings to her upper arm by its teeth, Lil grips her dagger tightly before thrusting it directly into the rat's head. The blade pierces the rat's skull who lets out a long painful screech as it lets go of Lil's arm and drops to the ground dead in front of her. The brown rat then looks to the freshly killed creature beside it and before it can respond, Locke dives at the remaining rat and plunges his sickle straight down into its head also – the blade of his sickle killing the rat instantly as it drops on top of its fellow rat. All four of the rat pack lie dead in the tunnel around Locke, Lilanei, and Dorhi.

Walking behind Locke, Lilanei pats his back before saying, "See? I told you it would come to you, sooner or later."

"Yeah!" Locke replies. "It's strange! I don't remember a thing about you, or any other part of my life, but once we got into it – using this blade just seems so natural."

Lilanei grins and says, "Now, don't you have the urge to spit on the rat you just killed?"

"Spitting is a dirty habit," Locke replies bluntly. "Did I use to do that?"

Lilanei sighs before saying, "No, it's okay. Just ignore me."

"Hm," Locke murmurs as he shrugs and the two continue on behind Dorhi, who praises them once more for their fighting skills.

"You two are incredible!" Dorhi announces. "I don't know who this master of yours is, but he must've been a mighty warrior! Bront is the bravest and most fierce warrior in all of Tuli and even he couldn't do what you do!"

"You're too kind, Dorhi," Lil says quietly as her gaze remains on Locke.

"Oh, but it's true," Dorhi replies. "I haven't seen a Dwarf, or any other fighter for that matter, handle a blade with such proficiency! My, if your master could train me, who knows – I could be as fierce as you two!"

Laughing, Lil looks to Dorhi and says, "Well, when we find our master, we'll recommend you to be one of his next pupils. Does that sound good to you?"

"That would be grand," Dorhi says with a smile. "I don't really want to be a courier anymore. I'd like be a guard. . . but Bront turned me away since I have no idea on how to defend myself – as you can see, since I am of no help to you in combat," he chuckles, embarrassed.

Lilanei smiles, saying, "Well, everyone is a beginner at some point. Take Locke and I for example; we used to be cowardly little children! It was our master who built us up from the ground and turned us into what we are today. He even taught Locke how to get along with other races."

"The Dragon taught me to be friendly to you?" Locke asks, slightly stunned.

Lilanei now looks to Locke with soft eyes and says, "Yes. . . You used to hate me, Locke! Does that perhaps ring any bells?"

"Hm," Locke says as he thinks hard. "Now you mention it. . . I remember. . . being lifted up into the air," he continues as the group walks on, "and I was spun around to face something. . . but. . . I can't remember anymore." He grunts as he strains to remember.

Lil cries, "That was Akorrin! You were just about to beat me up, when he came and broke us up. It was that day that we became his pupils."

"I was going to hurt you?" Locke exclaims. "Oh, forgive me!" He wails before he lunges at Lilanei and wraps his arms around her in a tight cuddle. "What was I thinking? I must've been such a horrid little boy! How did my parents ever put up with me – or you, for that matter?"

Blushing as Locke cuddles her, she softly says, "Yes, you were a nasty little boy and it was your father that taught you how to be so nasty. It took many years training under Akorrin for you to realize it was a fool hardy way to act."

"Hm," Dorhi mumbles, as the pair separate from their cuddle and the party continue on down the tunnel. "His father sounds like a right— Well, he sounds very narrow minded."

"He was. Longrin often came to my mother's shop where we lived and harassed her, simply because she was an Elf. And because she bore a Half-Breed as a child. It was his beliefs that he tried to instill on you, Locke."

"Maroco," Locke simply replies.

Sighing, she echoes, "'Maroco.' Yes, okay."

"Well, Lilanei," Dorhi announces, "from what I've heard, I commend you and your mother for living with such abuse. I'm glad Locke hasn't turned out like his father."

Lilanei glances to Locke with a smile and says, "Yes. . . I am too."

Finally, the group arrive at the end of the tunnel mouth, as they feel a friendly cool breeze gust through it – Dorhi's flame flickering slightly from the wind blowing against it.

Lil looks to his torch and exclaims, "A draft! We must be near the exit!"

"Yes," Dorhi announces. "Quickly. Hopefully the Grick hasn't caught with us, and we can finally be out of this nightmare."

Excitedly, the group step out of the tunnel mouth and into the cave. However, as they step into the cave, they notice that their feet begin to feel heavier under them. The group pays little mind to this as they continue forward until they stop and realize that their pace has slowed right down.

Locke looks around and innocently asks, "Why is there a skeleton stuck on the wall?"

Dorhi looks around at the cavern and to his horror notices that the walls, the ceiling, and indeed the floor are covered in thick layers of extremely adhesive webbing!

Lil suddenly cries, "Oh for the love of— Not another spider's nest!"

"Lilanei, calm down," Locke replies. "Why are you so upset?"

"Maroco. . . You may not remember, but we once spent a horrible night crawling around an underground spider lair in order to save an old Dwarf's baby daughter. And I know you also don't remember this – but I hate spiders!"

"Children," Dorhi announces. "Keep calm. If the webbing moves too much, it will alert any spiders in the cavern of our presence. If we can somehow trek across the webbing without disturbing it too much, we won't disturb any spiders."

Lil grumbles, "Trust me, Dorhi. . . It isn't that easy."

"It'll have to be," Dorhi replies calmly. "It's either that, or we get invited to dinner."

"Dinner?" Locke asks. "Sounds good! I'm hungry."

Lil cries, "We'll eat when we escape! First, let's get out of here."

"Swiftly now, children," Dorhi announces. "But be careful."

The group slowly make their way across the spider web, the web sticking fiercely to their clothes to which Locke and Lilanei slash at slightly to try and continue on their way. Ahead, Dorhi can see where the wind blows from as an opening lies on the other side of the cavern – the night sky letting them know that the outside is just ahead.

"Quickly!" Dorhi announces with excitement. "We're almost out! Just a few more feet!"

Locke and Lilanei continue on behind him when suddenly Lilanei feels something wet drip on her head. She looks up and lets out an ear piercing screech of horror as she sees the large, bulbous brown body of a large and very hungry Deathjump Spider. The spider opens its mouth and screeches as its fangs reveal themselves to the group. Immediately, the group let out a cry of fright as the spider lets go of the webbing on the ceiling and drops down onto the floor in front of them, blocking their way to the exit.

"We're trapped!" Dorhi cries.

With a shriek, Lilanei screams, "I hate them! I hate them, so much! Let's get it, Maroco!"

"Forget that!" Locke exclaims.

With a growl, Lilanei shoots a glare at Locke before crying, "Fine, I'll destroy it myself, you buffoon! Stand back!"

Immediately, Lilanei grabs Dorhi's upper arm as she violently pulls him back and forces him to stumble behind her as she takes his place in front of the spider. The spider lets out a screech as its fangs twitch and its legs shiver in excitement at the prospect of a fresh kill. Immediately, it streams down its webbing, charging towards Lil as it keeps its mouth open – its fangs ready to bite. Once Lil is within its grasp, the spider screeches and lunges forward as the fangs sink into Lil's chest; as it pulls away, it tears away at the front of the material of Lil's leather vest and her new top. Crying out, not only in pain but in anguish as she sees her new clothing become ruined, Lil glares daggers at the spider before swiftly downing the potion she had found just earlier.

Throwing the bottle at the spider's feet, Lilanei then raises her palms forwards as she begins to chant a magic spell. Taking into effect immediately, the spell conjures a giant ball of fire, which begins to rage on the spider's left side. The spider screeches as the flames lick at the side of its body, and while the creature cries out in pain, Locke looks on and notices that the flames begin to eat away at the webbing by it. The flames continue down the trail of webbing in a domino effect as the webbing blows away after being charred by the flames; however the flames also cause burns to the threesome as well, due to them being on the webbing, before they drop to the ground in burning pain.

The spider begins to prepare to attack Lil once more; however before it can move, it screeches again as the fire continues to eat away at the side of its large, bulbous body. The spider leaps out at Lilanei once more, in an attempt to bite her in a similar fashion as before. This time, the Spider successfully bites Lil, but strikes her in the right leg.

"Lil!" Locke cries as he watches Lilanei get bitten in the leg by the spider.

Angry, and now free of the webbing, Locke decides to rush head on into the battle with the spider, despite his fears of it. He rushes towards Lilanei and the spider who begins to back off.

With a snarl, Locke softly shoves Lilanei to the side, jumps into the air, and cries, "Prepare to meet your doom, Spider!" before he jabs his sickle violently into the top of the Spider's upper body.

Slightly annoyed after being pushed aside, Lil cries, "Not bad, Maroco! But I think you meant to say, 'I'll show you who your Lord is!'"

As Lil completes her sentence, she immediately motions her hands towards the spider, causing the large roaring fireball to once again lick its flames at its already burnt flesh. The spider screeches and withdraws for a moment, blood spewing from many parts of its body as Lilanei's fireball has literally burnt away large chunks of its skin. The spider prepares to attack once more; nonetheless, it whines slightly as the burns continue to take effect. Seeing Locke in front of it, the spider leaps forth desperately and attempts another bite attack. It reaches Locke and bites into his right shoulder – the fangs violently piercing and ripping at his skin as blood swiftly spurts from the wound. Locke cries in sheer agony as he stumbles slightly, the spider's fangs twitching as it rubs its front legs together.

With his striking arm badly hurt, Locke transitions his sickle from his right hand to his left – the feeling of holding the blade in his left arm feeling extremely alien to him. Nonetheless, Locke lets out another cry, this one of anger, as he rushes to the spider and slashes at its face. It is unsuccessful though, as slashing from the other side is strange to the rouge, and he stumbles backward slightly – missing the spider with his blade, to which the spider makes a skittering-like noise.

"Shut up!" Locke cries in anger as he then takes his left arm and thrusts it forward, allowing the sickle to pierce the spider in the center of its head.

The large spider lets out a long, hard screech as thick brown liquid squirts out of the wound and onto Locke as it drops to the floor, dead. Locke then drops to his knees as he lets out a sigh of exhaustion.

"Maroco?" Lil softly asks as she slowly approaches Locke, who sits on his knees.

"Yes, Lilanei?" Locke says with a pant as he sweats. "Are you alright?"

A look of disappointment grows on Lil's face as she realizes he still has not regained his memory; with a sigh, she smiles slightly and responds, "Yes. . . I'll be okay."

"Good," Locke replies with a sigh of relief, his eyes closing slightly as he leans into Lil and rests against her legs.

Lil pats Locke on the head and says, "Come on then. The exit can't be far from here."

Locke struggles to get to his feet as he groans – the wound inflicted by the spider causing him great pain. Dorhi walks over to Locke and Lilanei at this point and helps Locke to his feet before he looks to Lilanei.

He announces, "He doesn't look too well, child."

Lilanei frowns and holds Locke up by his other side before saying, "We have to get out of here before anything else comes at us. I fear we may not be able to hold anything else off in our state."

"Yes, quickly now," Dorhi says. "The exit is just over there!"

The threesome begin to move, slowly due to having to support Locke as they walk. A rumbling immediately stops them in their tracks however, as rocks begin to fall from the ceiling once more. With a crash from the right hand wall, rocks explode into the cavern, and with a screech, the Grick slithers out of the hole in the wall!


"The Grick!" Dorhi cries. "It's back! It caught up with us!"

Looking up at the Grick, who emerges from the wall on their right side, Lilanei lets go of Locke and cries, "Get him out of here! Escape through the exit! I'll try to hold it off!"

"But Lilanei!" Dorhi cries, "I can't let you—"

Dorhi's speech is cut off as he feels something wrap around his abdominal area. The Grick has unleashed one of its tentacles, which now hold Dorhi tightly in its grasp as it lifts the Dwarf up into the air beside its mouth. Dorhi lets out a scream of fright as the Grick screeches in excitement, its tongue vibrating heavily from the screech as Locke once again drops to his knees, feeling weak. Lilanei looks to Dorhi who now hangs helplessly in the air and she feels her muscles tense in fright as her heart begins to beat faster – the adrenaline which now pumps from her body causing a surge of fresh energy to flow through her. Immediately, her wounds cease bleeding and Lilanei thrusts her hands forwards in an attempt to land a deadly magical blow on the Grick. However, her magic simply does not respond as she cries out in frustration.

The Grick wastes no time in attempting to slow Lilanei down as it flicks one of its very long tentacles down at the wizard. The tentacle flicks in front of Lilanei before it snaps out straight in front of her in the face, the tentacle whipping her in a slapping-like motion and forcing her to the ground. Remaining on the ground, Lilanei once again thrusts her hands forwards as a magical purple orb finally begins to form in her palm. It launches forth with great force and collides with the Grick's front, the energy crackling over the Grick's body as it cries in pain and begins to wave slightly from side to side in a dizzied state. Stunned, the monster attempts to once again attack Lilanei as she continues to rest on her back. Another tentacle flicks out at Lil; however as it does, it whips past her and instead strikes a large boulder behind her, the strike immediately crushing the boulder into nothing more than powder and little pebbles as debris flies around the cavern.

As the Grick misses its attack, Lilanei takes this chance to climb to her feet and once again face the monster upright. Thrusting her hands forwards much like before, this time a white orb of energy begins to form. She clenches this orb in her right hand before drawing the arm back and then throwing the orb forwards with all the strength she can muster. The orb launches towards the same spot Lilanei injured just moments ago, before connecting and bursting into many fine shards which pierce through the worm's flesh violently. The pain knocks the Grick back to its senses which immediately causes it to let out a cry of frustration as it unravels its one tentacle and throws Dorhi out of it and down into Lil. The Dwarf collides with Lilanei in the face and the two tumble to the ground violently as Lilanei now lies under the back of Dorhi – both of them momentarily stunned.

The Grick towers over Lilanei and Dorhi and lets out an excited screech as it prepares to advance on the two who lay on the stone floor together. Suddenly, from near the exit, they hear a rejuvenated cry. Lil turns her head weakly towards the entrance to see Locke now darting towards the Grick – his sickle extended from his left hand while his right arm still drapes by his side. Sprinting, Locke places his foot on another large boulder that rests in front of him as he leaps into the air, feet first, as he flies at the Grick. Locke's feet collide with the Grick in the side of its body, and before he drops, Locke plunges his sickle deep into it as the monster begins to draw blood – Locke's sickle tearing through its flesh as he slides down the side of the Grick's body and down to the floor.

Gently pressing her palms against Dorhi's back, Lilanei pushes him off her body as she begins to dizzily sit up. Without a moment's hesitation, Lilanei launches her right index finger forwards as a roaring bolt of forceful energy launches from the fingertip and at the massive worm before her. The energy collides head on with the Grick's face before exploding. A flash of energy soon engulfs the room in a blinding light for a moment before it subsides. As it does, the threesome quickly rush towards the exit as the Grick's large body comes dropping down like a large oak tree to the ground while the cavern rains with blood and flesh from the Grick's exploded head. The Grick lies now on the stone floor of the cavern, dead – its large worm body blocking the exit of the cavern as our Heroes let out a sigh of relief in the tunnel which leads to the exit of the long, dangerous cave.

"Ah," Lilanei sighs. "Thank goodness that's over. Thank you for your help. . . Maroco."

"It was nothing," Locke pants heavily as he rubs his very injured shoulder. "I had to save you two. Seeing you in that position lit a fire or something inside of me. . . I suppose that sounds kind of silly."

Lilanei smiles and responds, "Yes, it does – but it's also very much like you."

Locke smiles slightly at Lilanei's comment before his back slides against the wall of the tunnel and he eventually sits on the ground, obviously tired from the whole ordeal.

"That was incredible!" Dorhi says. "I've never seen such bravery in all my life. How Bront can speak ill of you two is such a mystery to me. Clearly, you are both greatly heroic."

Lilanei looks to Dorhi and with a grin says, "If Locke were still here, he'd be very happy to hear you say that."

"Well, I speak the truth!" Dorhi announces. "Now, if you are able, let's take a look outside of this tunnel and see where we are."

Lilanei nods before offering her hand down to Locke, who sits on the ground. Locke takes her hand and squeezes it tightly as he looks up to her for a few moments before he than lifts himself off the ground. The three begin to walk from the tunnel out into the night that lies before them. They stand, just under the arch of the tunnel, and look around as Dorhi's face changes to a grim expression.

"We're still in Vadhat Forest," Dorhi announces.

Lil cries, "But the forest seemed so small on the outside! How can such a large cave still lead into it?"

"We may have been going in some kind of circle, or other ridiculous shape," Dorhi ponders. "Quick! Look out!"

Dorhi shoves both Locke and Lilanei back into the dark tunnel as an Orc audibly snorts and belches, dragging its axe against the ground as it walks past the tunnel entrance to the cave, not noticing the threesome nearby.

In a whisper, Lil cries, "We need to find a way out of here!"

"Yes," Dorhi replies. "But I fear if we do it now, with you in your weakened state, we may not get very far. Perhaps we should rest a while and regain our wits before we try and negotiate Vadhat."

Lil looks to Dorhi with concern as she says, "But what if they find us hiding here?"

"You both need to rest," Dorhi announces. "Look at Locke – he seems quite worn out. And you, Lilanei, seem very battered yourself. I will stand guard over the tunnel mouth. You two should try to rest and recover some, so that we might stand a chance of getting out here. Your bravery and skill is without question, but Orochi's army is many in number. Give it a few hours, and when you awaken, we shall continue."

Lilanei sighs and says, "Alright, Dorhi. . . I suppose it couldn't hurt."