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."