Interlude: Enter the Maze (Lloyd's POV)

AN: Warning-character death ahead.

Lloyd's heart pounded in his chest. This is it: The final task. After this, the nightmare would be over, and he would never have to worry about another life- threatening challenge again. He gazed into the dark hedges, hoping to get a glimpse of what was to come.

"Champions! Your task is to reach the Tri-wizard Cup first. It has been hidden in the depths of the maze by Mad-Eye Moody, and only he knows it's true location. If you should run into any trouble in the maze, you may cast red sparks from your wand, and one of the patrolling professors will come to your rescue. Best of luck to you all. You may enter the maze," the announcer said.

Lloyd swallowed and walked toward the hedges. He could hear his friends and his father cheering loudly behind him. The second year glanced at Cedric. He looked so confident, ready to take on anything that was thrown at him. Lloyd wished he were that brave.

Finally, the their path came to an end. Cedric went left, so Lloyd decided to go right. Clouds rolled in overhead, casting a shadow over the maze and a breeze whistled through the hedges. Lloyd shivered. Hopefully, he could make it to the center alive.

Something rattled in the distance. Must be the wind, Lloyd decided. He took a right and took a few more steps when he heard the rattling again. Lloyd tried to shrug it off, but then he heard the rattling again, and again, and again, louder and louder and louder.

Lloyd glanced behind him, but he couldn't make out anything in the gloom. But the noise persisted, so he broke into a jog. Something was definitely following him. He turned left, and right, right again, but the noise wouldn't go away. Maybe this was part of the trial. Maybe he had to confront whatever was making that noise.

Lloyd turned around and waited. Then, all of a sudden, a skeleton came out of the hedges. He had four arms, like Garmadon, with a sword in each hand. Lloyd pulled out his wand. Even if he had four swords, the skeleton couldn't be any match for magic.

"Stupefy!" He yelled.

But the skeleton crossed his swords and deflected the spell. Lloyd gasped and dropped to the ground as red light grazed past his head. The skeleton chuckled and rattled closer, his red eyes glinting.

Okay, so maybe magic wasn't the answer, but there had to be a way to beat this monster.

"What do you want?" Lloyd said, as pushed himself up, buying for time.

"I, Samukai, am going to destroy you!" The skeleton roared. He lunged and Lloyd jumped to the left.

Samukai growled and attacked again.

"Expelliarmus!" Lloyd yelled. The skeleton's four swords went flying. Lloyd grinned. This was it.

"Aarrragh!" The skeleton jumped, arms outstretched. He wasn't giving up.

"Stupefy!" Without his swords, Samukai was helpless. Lloyd sprinted away as fast as possible after making sure he was stunned. Who knew how soon he would get up? Hopefully the whole maze wouldn't be like this.

"They've got Blast-ended Screwts!" Cedric screamed as he bolted from a passageway.

Lloyd watched as the Hogwarts champion sprinted straight toward Samukai.

"Um…there's a skeleton over there!" he called, but Cedric was already gone. Those Blast-ended Screwts must be really bad. Lloyd went the opposite way, and hoped for the best.

Suddenly, a high scream pierced the air. Something must have happened to Fleur. Lloyd shivered and broke into a jog. The sooner he found the cup the better. This maze was starting to drive him crazy. Right, left, left, dead end, right, right, another dead end, left. It just kept going on and on with no end in sight.

Lloyd walked through a dark mist, which made the world turn upside down. He closed his eyes and kept going, until twigs scratched his face and he was forced to open his eyes. He walked right into a hedge, sighing deeply, but kept going.

Then, just up ahead, there was a glimmer of light. Could it be? Yes! The cup was sitting on a black podium, only a few hundred yards away. All he had to do was run up and grab it. It was almost too easy.

Lloyd was almost there, when his legs gave out from under him. Then came the blinding throb of pain. He turned around and a giant spider loomed over him. Its pinchers were covered in blood. His blood. He gulped and backed away as fast as he could, dragging his injured legs behind him, only to hit the podium. He was trapped, with nowhere to go. The spider came closer. Lloyd fumbled to get his wand out of his robes. Why did he put it away in the first place?

"Stupefy!" Cedric yelled. It hit the spider on the back of the head, but it only seemed to get angrier. But the Hogwarts champion had bought Lloyd enough time to think. Maybe elemental magic would work on the giant beast.

Lloyd closed his eyes and let the energy build in his hands. Once he had enough, he opened his eyes and flung it at the spider. It was green, just like with the dragon. Meanwhile, Cedric fired another spell at the creature's head. Both landed at the same time.

The spider shrieked and writhed in pain, and then it finally fell. The champions grinned at each other. They did it. The two of them beat a giant spider together. Cedric helped Lloyd to his feet, and the younger champion leaned on the podium. Then they looked at the Tri-wizard Cup.

"You should take it," Cedric said. "You got here first."

"But I'd be dead if it wasn't for you," Lloyd countered. "You take it."

"Are you kidding? Your green energy was what saved us. I've never seen anything like it."

Lloyd shook his head. "We beat the spider together."

"Then let's take the cup together," Cedric replied.

Lloyd nodded. That sounded fair.

"On three," Lloyd said. "One, two, three."

As soon as they touched the handle, Lloyd felt a lurch in his stomach, and the whole maze swirled and faded around them. They spun round and round in circles, and bile rose in Lloyd's throat. It was like being on the worst roller coaster ever.

The ground finally spiraled into view, and they thumped on the ground. Lloyd's legs rattled and his cuts burned. He needed to get those wrapped.

"I can't believe it. The cup was a portkey," Cedric said. "This must another challenge or something."

Lloyd looked around. They were in a dark graveyard with crumbling stones, and an old cottage off to the side with rotten wood and cobwebs everywhere. There was a cauldron by one of the gravestones that didn't seem natural at all.

Unease curled in Lloyd's chest. The whole place was kinda creepy.

"Cedric…I think we need to get out of here."

An old door creaked, and a hooded thing in a white cloak almost glided out into the graveyard. It was holding some kind of baby in its arms, almost like a black and purple blob.

"Kill the spare," the thing hissed.

The white robed creature whipped out its wand and flash of green passed before Lloyd's eyes. He didn't even have time to blink. Horror raced through his chest. A killing curse.

The green light hit Cedric in the chest, and he fell to the ground. His blank eyes stared up at Lloyd, and the second year swallowed. He was dead. All because Lloyd wouldn't take the cup. Cedric was dead and it was all Lloyd's fault.

Then the figure turned his wand to Lloyd. In an instant, the second year was bound to a gravestone with hardly any room to breathe, let alone escape. Then the creature dumped the blob in the cauldron and slithered away.

"The boy is secure to the stone, my Overlord," it said.

Overlord? That name sounded familiar, but Lloyd didn't have long to think about it. Suddenly, fire shot through Lloyd's limbs. His skin began to glow and burn. Golden light left him and started entering the cauldron. Lloyd writhed against his restrains but it was no use. He was trapped. A howl escaped from his lips. It was like all his power and energy was being sucked into that black, metal pot. Finally, the light shut off, and Lloyd slumped to the ground, his binds broken with the last of his power.

"Yes! Yes!" the Overlord said, his black form rising out of the cauldron. "After all these years, I'm in the flesh again." Then he turned to Lloyd, who barely had the strength to lift his head. "And as for you, my golden wizard," he said, "your usefulness has come to an end."

Lloyd shivered. Every bone in his body ached, and his limbs had turned to lead. There was no escape. He was going to die. He wished he could have said goodbye to Kai and all his other friends. He even wished he could see Garmadon again, one last time.

The Overlord turned his head to the hooded figure. "Bring me my wand, Pythor," he commanded. The creature bowed and reached inside his robe. Maybe there was a chance, while the Overlord wasn't looking.

Lloyd threw his hands out and forced himself to crawl. He probably wouldn't make it very far, but he pictured Kai, jumping up down, his fist in the air, cheering him on. He heard his father's voice, "You can do it, L-loyd!" And he thought of every person who had pushed him to make it this far. He was going to move another inch for them.

"My Overlord! The boy!" Pythor shouted. He had been discovered. Fear pushed Lloyd faster against the pain, cutting through his exhaustion.

"I see him! Give me my wand, you fool!" the Overlord yelled back.

There was still time. Lloyd crawled faster, even though he had nowhere to go. He ducked behind gravestone after gravestone to keep out of sight. His heart raced. Then, Lloyd's hand brushed something soft instead of the hard, packed earth.

He had accidentally crawled to Cedric, whose body was now cold and lifeless. Lloyd paused.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. If only he had just grabbed the cup in the first place, then Cedric would still be alive.

The cup! If it could take him here, then maybe it could take him back. It was a long shot, but the only one Lloyd had at the moment. It was only a few yards away, but for Lloyd's broken body, it seemed like miles.

"Avada Kedavra!" A voice shrieked.

Lloyd let his body drop to the ground, so the spell would race over his head. That was close. He tried to push himself back up to keep going, but his arms felt like noodles and his battered legs wouldn't respond. But Lloyd had come too far to give up now. He grabbed a nearby gravestone and used it pull himself forward.

The weak stone crumbed in his grasp, but he managed to drag his body a few feet. He glanced at the name on the tomb.

"Sorry, Morro," he whispered. A chill set into Lloyd's bones from head to toe, so strong he actually shuddered, but Lloyd ignored it threw out his arms and pulled his body forward. He didn't have much time left.

"Avada Kedavra!" the Overlord yelled again. It seemed his voice had gotten louder, or maybe he had just gotten closer. This time, Lloyd took shelter behind a marble slab that got obliterated on impact. He covered his face, but not before he got a mouthful of stone and dust.

There had to be a better way to do this. A spell or something. Lloyd couldn't keep crawling. Warm blood oozed from the wounds the spider gave him, and the adrenaline that had got him this far had run out.

The Overlord was in sight now, Pythor at his heels. His patience wore thin. It was now or never. Lloyd freed his wand and racked his brain. Kai and the others, especially Zane, had taught him countless spells over the past few months. There had to be something he could use.

Got it!

"Accio!" Lloyd yelled with all his strength. If he couldn't go to the cup, then he would make it come to him. The Overlord saw what was happening and his eyes widened.

"No!" he screamed, right as the world blended and swirled into nothing. Lloyd closed his eyes. He did it. He survived.

AN: Thanks to all the guest reviewers-I really appreciate the support! You've reviewed almost every single chapter and I really love seeing your comments. One more chapter to go! Stay tuned.