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.