Chapter 14: Just Needs a Little Push

Finn watched the cave entrance collapse in on itself. He saw Philby and Willa share one last kiss before he shoved her into the cave. He saw her trip and he saw the captain run and catch her.

He saw it all and stared in shock. He had no idea what to do. The captain helped Willa regain her composure, trying to convince her that Philby, Charlene and Dillard were going to be okay, but she wasn't listening. Finn could see that Willa was treating her recent kiss with Philby as a goodbye.

Finn walked over to the wall of the cave and sat down. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and tried to think of what to do. We've just been cut off from half of our group. Finn repeated that line over and over to himself but still couldn't believe it.

He didn't know anything about the canyon caves, but Willa did. That was a plus. They didn't know anything about the loud roar that would cause the cave to shake every few minutes. Maybe Charlene was right. Maybe there was a dragon in the canyon.

Amanda sat down beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Philby told Willa to meet them at the dragon's cove." Amanda placed her hand on top of Finn's, causing his heart to flutter. "She says she knows how to get there."

"That's good. We should leave whenever they're ready."

"Yeah." Finn glanced down at Amanda and for the first time he saw how worried she looked. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked her in a whisper just before kissing her forehead.

"Nothing."

"Hey," Finn nudged her head with his shoulder and she picked it up. He used his hand to grab her hand so that she was looking at him. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him with a sad look. Finn thought she looked sick. "What if the plan doesn't work and you have to marry Charlene?"

"Don't you worry about that. We need to focus on getting out of the canyon caves first." He gave her a warm smile, in attempt to cheer her up. When it didn't work he continued. "I'm not going to marry her, Amanda."

She didn't say anything. He kissed her on the cheek and stood up, extending a hand to help her up.

"Ready to go?" Finn asked the captain and Willa.

"It's about time the lovebirds stop their love fest." The captain retorted. "There's only one way to go, so let's hurry up and get out of here. I'm tired of this place already."

They walked for hours upon hours before they finally reached the end of the tunnel and stepped out into the canyon.

The canyon looked as if someone had taken a mountain and split it open. The cave the four had just walked out of led to the bottom of the canyon, a good five hundred feet below the surface. There were many holes in the walls, which Finn figured were other cave entrances. Only three of them lined the canyon floor.

The canyon seemed to extend forever. For a split second Finn thought they would be stuck here for a long time, but he quickly pushed that thought away.

"Dragon's cove is that way." Willa pointed to their left. "It's got to be about a mile or two in that direction."

Without another word, Willa trudged off in that direction, with the captain close behind. Finn couldn't help but notice the two had become over their journey and felt a pinch of jealousy.

The feeling of jealousy was swept away by Amanda grabbing his hand and dragging him behind her.

"So tell me Terry, do you believe what Charlene was saying about the dragon?" Willa asked the captain. Finn and Amanda trailed behind them, which Willa planned to use to her full advantage.

"Dragons can't possible be real. They're the stuff of legends. She's lost it."

"I wouldn't tell her that."

"I wouldn't tell that to her face, Wills. Geez! Do you think I'm suicidal?"

"Wills, eh?" Willa nudged the captain. "Is that my nickname?"

Terry thought about it for a second then nodded. "Yup. Wills suits you."

"I like it." She continued on in silence, trying to figure out the best way to ask her question.

Terry raised an eyebrow at her. "Anything else you want to ask me Wills?"

"What was the girl like?"

"What girl?"

"The girl that you loved before we all met. The one you still love deep down in that big heart of yours." She poked him right in the middle of his chest to emphasize her point.

"You mean Jess? She…she was something special."

"Maybe talking about it will get you closure."

"I guess. What do you want me to say about her?"

"How about…when you first met?"

"Oh that one's simple. I wasn't looking and ran into her. She dropped all of the food in her arms. She laughed at me and I offered to buy her some more food. And...yeah, that's how it started. I'll spare you the boring details."

"I doubt they're boring." She nudged him. "How long were you two together?"

Terry looked down, counting their time together on his fingers.

"I'd say about six weeks."

"Six weeks? That's not very long."

"Yeah, I know, but she left me too soon."

"What do you mean by that?"

"'Bout three years ago, Maleficent led a raid on our town and Jess disappeared during it."

"Did they ever find her?"

"No."

"That's so tragic. Terry, that must be hard to deal with, not knowing what happened to her."

"Yeah." He kicked a rock by his foot. "I've come to peace with it though. I've just accepted the fact that I'll never find her."

"You just stopped looking? What if she needs you?"

"She's got to be dead. You're the only one that Maleficent's ever spared in a raid."

Willa nodded without a word. She knew it was true. Maleficent wasn't one for mercy.

Without warning the entire canyon shook. A few seconds later, it shook again. To Willa, it sounded like a giant was stepping into the canyon. She saw a shadow appear around the corner of the canyon.

The canyon continued to shake every few seconds. Willa tried her best to continue standing, but when the beast rounded the corner, she fell onto her rear with terror.

Before them, about four hundred feet away, was a large, fiery red dragon with a dull yellow underbelly. It had two horns, but one had been chopped at an awkward angle. Willa guessed it had to be at least fifty feet tall.

"Dang! Charlene was right about the bloody dragon." Except the captain didn't say dang.

Finn's eyes widened. There was a fifty-foot tall dragon in front of him. Finn inched his way over to Willa and Captain Maybeck, dragging Amanda with him.

"Willa, do you know how to kill a dragon?" He whispered to her.

"Well since I didn't know dragons existed until about thirty seconds ago, I'd say no."

"Your sarcasm is deeply appreciated Wills, but we need to come up with something, and…fast!" The captain pointed to the dragon, who was now looking in their direction.

"Follow me!" Amanda sprinted off to the other side of the canyon, where there was another cave.

Finn took off running, hoping that Willa and the captain would be right behind him.

Amanda stood at the entrance, urging them to hurry. Once all three had made it, Finn pulled Amanda by her arm and held her behind him, shielding her from whatever the dragon had to offer.

The dragon raised its head and unleashed flames onto the canyon floor, luckily the cave kept the four from getting burned.

"It's a freaking fire-breather?" The captain yelled out, probably a little bit too loud.

"We've got to kill it somehow!" Willa yelled toward Finn.

The captain replied before Finn could. "No duh, Wills. But how?"

"Stab him with your sword!"

"All in favor of Finn doing it, raise your right hand!" The captain, Willa, and to Finn's surprise, Amanda, all raised their right hands.

"Oh thanks guys." Finn turned around to look at the dragon, then noticed something behind him.

"Guys, I'm going to need all of you to make a run for it. You can climb the canyon walls and get to another entrance higher up."

"But dragon's cove is further down! We're not there yet! The dragon's blocking our way!" Willa protested.

"How much farther?"

"Uh…probably just around the corner there, in the direction the dragon came from."

"Okay, you three head that way and take off. Don't wait for me."

"But Finn! We can't just leave you to fight the dragon all by yourself!" Amanda pleaded with him. "What if something happens to you? Our whole mission will be a failure!"

"Then get Willa to take my place. She's better qualified anyway." Finn noticed Willa's eyes grow wide in shock, but ignored it. "I'm going to try and distract it by making it go the opposite way of you three, so when I get him far enough away, make a run for it."

The captain and Willa nodded and headed toward the entrance to get a good spot to watch for the perfect moment to make a run for it.

"Please Finn, let me help you." Amanda placed a hand on his arm.

"No, Amanda. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to you."

"How do you think I feel?"

"I'll meet you at dragon's cove, like I said."

Amanda studied him. "How come I don't believe you?"

"I'll be there." He kissed her on the forehead. "I promise."

And with that Finn ran out of the cave to face the dragon.

At first, the dragon didn't notice Finn, which he worked to his advantage. He ran underneath it and stabbed each of his legs a few different times. None of the stabs cut that deep, but Finn knew the dragon felt every one. Before the dragon realized what was going on, Finn took off running in the opposite direction of dragon's cove.

Finn sprinted along the edge of the canyon. The dragon walked slowly behind him, the canyon trembling with its every step. Every few seconds, it would breathe fire in Finn's direction, but Finn would hide behind a large rock every time, barely escaping the flames.

Finn knew he couldn't keep this up forever, sooner or later he wouldn't be able to make it in time and would be engulfed in flames.

He kept this up for another three minutes or so when that time came. He heard the flames headed toward him. He searched frantically for a rock to hide behind. When he saw none, he panicked. Before the flames could reach him, he was hit by something unseen and flew ten feet. Finn slammed onto the canyon floor and immediately blacked out.

Amanda and Terry followed Willa to dragon's cove. Every once in a while, Amanda would look back to see Finn running from the dragon, sword in hand. She couldn't deal with herself if he didn't make it. She could have been with him, she should be with him now.

Willa stopped suddenly, causing both Terry and Amanda to run into her.

"What's up Wills? We've got to keep going!" Terry yelled at her.

"We're here." She pointed up to a cave about forty feet up the wall.

"How the heck are we supposed to get up there?"

"We're going to have to climb."

"How?"

"The wall's not completely smooth. It'll be easy." She placed her bow over her shoulder and reached up, grabbing an indentation in the wall with her hand.

While Willa started heading up, Amanda was staring back at Finn. He had rounded the corner and drawn the dragon with him, buying them enough time to escape. But Amanda was convinced that he was going to be able to make it out alive without help.

Help that only you can give.

Amanda's face lit up. She knew exactly what to do.

She grabbed Terry by the arm. "I'm going to help Finn. Don't wait on me."

"What? No!" Amanda tried to let go, but Terry held on. "Are you INSANE?"

"I can help him! Just head up there with Willa!"

"No you can't go Amanda! It's a suicide mission!"

"I have to help—" Amanda's stomach cramped up, shooting pain throughout her whole body. She let a quick scream escape her mouth.

"Whoa! You okay?"

"Yes! I have to go now!" She pushed Terry and started running toward Finn and the dragon.

"Amanda!" Terry yelled after her, but Amanda was too far away to care.

Amanda ran as fast as she could, but as soon as the dragon came into view, she hid behind the nearest rock. She had to time this perfectly so that she didn't hurt Finn as well.

She watched as the dragon reared its head back and sprouted flames in Finn's direction. For a second Amanda felt her heart sink into her stomach when she lost sight of Finn. But that second ended and Finn jumped out from behind a rock and continued running further away from the dragon.

She waited for the dragon to rear its head back again, before standing out in the open. She closed her eyes, focused in on the dragon and extended her arms slowly.

The dragon slowly wobbled and lifted off the ground for a few seconds before flying a few feet and crashing into the canyon wall. Amanda suddenly felt zapped of energy, but forced herself to stand.

Amanda lost sight of Finn again, but while the dragon laid on the ground unmoving, she did her best to move in his direction.

She made it around the dragon when she saw Finn lying on the ground unconscious about twenty feet from her.

Without warning, she threw up. Amanda knew she had been feeling sick all morning, but this had come so quick she didn't have any time to respond. She slowly made her way over to Finn. She knelt down and tried to check his pulse.

But her exhaustion got the best of her and she passed out.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Willa yelled at Terry.

"I mean, she flipped out and ran after him. You heard the big crash!"

"They can't be dead! I refuse to believe it!"

"I didn't say they were dead! I said they were gone, as in NOT HERE!"

"Why did you let her go after him?"

"It's not like I encouraged her to do it! She shoved me out of the way and ran after him. I had no choice!"

"You're useless!" Willa threw up her hands in frustration and started walking away from him. Terry had no choice but to follow in silence.

Willa and Terry made it all the way to the cave entrance without saying another word.

They walked out into the daylight and saw three figures emerge from the forest.

"Willa? Captain?" Willa would have recognized that voice anywhere.

"Philby!" Willa ran toward him and jumped into his arms. She buried her head into the crook of his neck. Philby grabbed onto her and held on tight.

"Where are Finn and Amanda?" Dillard asked Terry.

Terry and Willa exchanged a look. Telling them wasn't going to be easy.

Finn slowly sat up. His head felt like it weighed a ton. It was dusk. I must have been out for hours.

His thought the small amount of sunlight was playing tricks on him. He could have sworn nobody was with him when he knocked out, but yet there was someone lying unconscious near him.

Finn forced himself up onto his elbows and slowly pushed himself up. He sat there for a second to collect his strength before rolling the unconscious person over. His heart sank deep into his chest when he saw who it was.

Amanda.

Uh oh! Is Amanda okay? Will the group reunite? I guess you'll have to wait and find out!

Don't worry, I'll update as soon as I can.

And don't forget to review! I love to read them! :)