So the fight scene continues! Just so you know, the scenes in here happen to be similar to Dark Passage, so if you haven't read it yet, stop reading this right now, go read Dark Passage, then come back. I don't want to ruin that book for you. For those of you who have read, I must apologize in advance. It's a crucial part of the story, I had to do it! Don't hate me!

I'm not going to keep y'all from it any longer! I present Chapter 21!

Chapter 21: But Then That Moment Ended

"Get the journal before they unleash the spirit!" Finn yelled to Willa.

Finn took off, with sword in hand, toward the woman standing over Jess, Philby and the captain's bodies. Finn wasn't sure if they were unconscious or dead. Neither would be good in this situation. Finn could have really used their help, but this time he had to do it alone.

He saw her wound on her thigh and decided to take advantage of that.

He swung for her leg, right where the wound was and connected, causing her to scream out in pain. She turned to him with a fire in her eyes that could burn down an entire forest.

He swung his sword again, this time at her head, missing on purpose. He brought the hilt back to knock her on the side of the head. She immediately collapsed right next to Philby's body.

Finn couldn't help but see the irony in the situation. She—whoever she was—had knocked out Philby and the captain and now he had knocked her out. He also couldn't help but think that getting rid of her was too easy.

Dillard took off running toward the center of the temple. Charlene yelled behind him, trying to get him to come back, but it was too late.

He ran straight for Maleficent with nothing to defend himself but a small dagger. He was almost to her when someone came up from behind, grabbed him and lifted him off his feet.

He tried and he tried to get free from his captor's grasp but couldn't.

Maleficent turned around and gave him a crooked smile.

"Look what we've got here. A willing sacrifice has fallen into our arms. He will do just fine. Much better than our dear Jezebel."

She motioned toward the table with her head and Dillard's captor threw him on the table, bound his hands and feet and gagged his mouth. Dillard couldn't help but say a few prayers. He didn't know where everyone was, but if they didn't come fast, he would become the human sacrifice.

One thing Charlene knew she was good at was running fast.

After Dillard was captured by a third guard no one had seen before now, Charlene hurled herself over the west wall and sprinted toward the three unconscious bodies.

She past Finn, who was heading toward Maleficent at the moment, and Willa, who was fighting two new guards to get closer to foreign priestess and the journal. She ran to the bodies and immediately started checking if they were even alive.

Terry and Philby were both breathing, which gave her a sense of relief.

"Charlene?" A hoarse, female voice called out.

Charlene turned around to see Jess sitting up, holding her head with both hands, looking straight at her.

"Jess!" Charlene ran over to her and helped her up. "We've got to get you out of here."

"What happened to Terry and Philby?" She asked so softly, it was almost impossible to hear.

"Not important now. Let's get you out of here."

Jess moved one of her hands off of her face, revealing a gash that extended from her left eyebrow to her chin. Charlene wasn't sure when that had happened, but it wasn't deep, so she wasn't too worried—yet.

"Where are we going?" Jess wrapped an arm around Charlene's shoulder as Charlene was ushering her toward the south wall.

"Out of the temple." Charlene struggled to hold on to Jess. "Far away form here."

"What about the guys?"

"You're awake. Let's get you out first."

Willa had been attacked by two guards that had come out of no where. But they were no problem.

Willa had dodged a few fireballs from Maleficent. Those weren't the problem either.

Getting the journal from Tia Dalma while she was unleashing an evil spirit: that was the problem.

The foreign lady was reading the enchantment from the journal fluently. Willa figured she must have studied the language for years. They had been planning this for a long time.

She stood five feet away from Tia Dalma and readied an arrow into her bow. If she could hit her in the leg, she could grab the journal before she finished.

She aimed the bow, pulled her arm back, but before she could release it, someone tackled her to the ground. The arrow went flying toward Tia Dalma, but did not hit her. Willa's attacker spun her around and she saw who it was.

But who was attacking her didn't matter. She kneed her attacker in the stomach, pushed him off of her and scrambled to get up. She reached for the arrow and stabbed Tia in the leg with it. She was attacked again, but this time Willa saw it coming and used her bow to whack her attacker on the side of the head.

Willa turned back to Tia Dalma and reached for the journal.

Tia Dalma stopped talking and smiled at Willa. The smile sent chills up her spine. The fact that she didn't seem to notice the arrow sticking out of her leg bothered Willa to no end.

"It is finished." She said in an accent that Willa had never heard before.

"What?" Willa grabbed the journal from her hands and stared down at the open page.

Willa had only held it for a second before a giant cloud of smoke burst up from the journal, almost knocking Willa to the ground.

The winds picked up, making it hard for Willa to stand still. Willa looked around for something that could help her, but her heart dropped in her chest when she saw the sun setting beyond the trees.

The cloud of smoke rose and formed into a bat-demon shape, at least that's what Willa thought it looked like. Its eyes shot open, revealing its glowing red eyes. It twisted so that it could look down at Willa.

They were too late. Maleficent had the evil spirit under her control and Willa was to be its first victim.

Finn turned to Maleficent just in time to see Dillard's hands being bound. His best friend was not going to be the sacrifice. Finn wouldn't allow it.

He charged Maleficent. She must have sensed him coming because as soon as he got close enough to swing his sword at her, she held up one of her hands and he went flying five feet backwards.

He stood up and Maleficent turned to face him.

"I see our little prince has come to play."

"Let him go!" Finn pointed his sword in her direction. "Take me instead!"

She let out an evil laugh. "It doesn't matter who dies."

"If you used me, you wouldn't have any threats to your kingdom! You could rule forever!"

"Oh you insolent fool! With the spirit of Chernabog on my side, I won't have any threats. You'll all be dead before the sun goes down."

She turned to the foreign woman who had just walked up to the table.

"I think it's time to start! The sun is down, the spirit is awakened, our sacrifice is here!"

Finn took the opportunity to strike. He walked up to her and turned her around with his free hand and held his sword right up against her stomach.

"Don't you dare touch him."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The foreign woman grabbed Dillard off the table and held a knife to his back. "I'll kill him if you touch her."

Dillard's mouth was gagged but his eyes were confusing Finn. One second they were pleading with him to let go of Maleficent, the next they were begging him to kill her and get it over with. Finn's head was spinning.

Maleficent had been the reason his father and grandfather were dead. She had ordered Willa's torture. She had kidnapped Jess. She had ordered Amanda to burn at the stake. She sent assassins to kill Charlene's parents. She had put a price on Captain Maybeck's head years ago. She had forced Philby into hiding. She had forced him into hiding. And now her friend here had the nerve to threaten his best friend Dillard.

Finn had never felt more angry in his life.

"Let him go, or she dies!" Finn yelled back at Maleficent's friend.

Dillard's head shook. What is he trying to say?

"Let's not be rash here Prince Finnegan." Maleficent hissed into his ear.

"Order her to let him go!" He poked the sword into her chest and a small bit of green blood began to show itself. "NOW!"

Maleficent nodded to her friend who, in return, gave her a crooked smile.

Her friend leaned down to cut the ropes binding Dillard's hands. But at the last second she stabbed him in the chest instead. Dillard let out a muffled scream and crumbled to the ground

Finn immediately turned back to Maleficent and pushed his sword through the rest of her right side.

He leaned in, loving every second of pure horror on her face, and whispered: "Unlike you, I don't go back on my word."

The glowing red eyes bore down on Willa. She dropped the journal, but that didn't seem to make a difference to the evil spirit.

Tia Dalma walked over with a bloody knife in her hand. Willa's eyes went wide. She looked past the woman to see Finn scurry to get next to Dillard's limp body.

"You killed Dillard?" Willa's voice cracked. "How dare you!"

Tia Dalma didn't seem to notice Willa. She poked the bloody knife into the giant cloud of smoke and it was swallowed whole. Willa watched in shock as the evil spirit began taking on a flesh form. It had to be at least forty feet tall. The spirit stepped forward, off of the journal and Willa snapped out of her daze and picked it up.

Tia Dalma didn't seem to notice anything. She was too busy admiring her work with the evil spirit.

"Lord Chernabog is alive!" She yelled. Willa closed the journal and used it to knock Tia Dalma to the ground from behind. A loud WHACK! echoed through the temple.

"FINN!" Willa yelled. She needed somebody to help her with this so-called Lord Chernabog.

When Finn didn't answer, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Chernabog stared down at her with its glowing red eyes. It took Willa a second to realize it wasn't after her, but the journal. She glanced around for a place to run and her gaze ended on the cave entrance. She took off running toward it and at the last second, she threw the journal as hard as she could into the cave. She waited for Chernabog to get close enough before diving out of the way.

She scrambled up as Chernabog went into the cave entrance and ran over to Finn.

Finn pulled the sword out of Maleficent's stomach and ran to Dillard. He propped him up and saw that Dillard was still awake.

Finn pushed the gag out of his mouth and let it dangle around his neck loosely. Maleficent's friend was no where to be seen.

"Come on Dillard. Stay with me here. I'm going to get you out of here." Finn ripped off his jacket and placed it over Dillard's wound. He pushed down, applying pressure to the wound.

"Finn…" Dillard's weak voice called out.

"Stay with me Dillard! You've got to stay awake!"

"It hurts."

"I'm sorry Dillard. I'm truly sorry. I have to apply pressure."

Finn heard someone yell "Lord Chernabog is alive!" followed by a loud WHACK! that came from near the cave entrance. "FINN!" Willa's voice rang out. He could hear the fear and uncertainty in it, but he still focused on Dillard.

Dillard's eyes started to close. "No Dillard! Stay with me here! Wake up!"

Finn felt tears streaming down his face. Dillard's eyes fluttered open for a few seconds before speaking his last words.

"Finn…you're going to make an awesome king."

"Dillard, come on man. You know you'll be there to see that!"

"Amanda's a great girl. You two better get married." He coughed up blood. "If your kids are anything like her, you'll be golden." He gave Finn a weak smile before closing his eyes again.

"Come on man. Stay with me here." Finn's hand went to his cheek, giving him a light slap. "You've got to stay awake."

"I'm glad you were my friend Finn." Dillard whispered before body went rigid. Finn could feel the life go out of him.

"No, no, no, no, no." Finn shook Dillard a little. "Wake up Dillard."

When Dillard didn't move, Finn's emotions got the best of him. Tears escaped his cheek and fell onto Dillard's face.

"FINN!" Willa's voice called out, this time a lot closer. "Finn! You need to—"

Finn glanced up at her. She was standing only a few feet away, her eyes wide with shock. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Is he—?" She asked him quietly.

Finn nodded. Willa crouched beside Finn and placed a hand on his shoulder. And for a moment everything was quiet.

But then that moment ended.

It was so hard writing this. I knew this was coming in the plot for a long time, but it's still so sad!

Nobody likes it when a character dies...sorry guys.

I'll do my best to have the next chapter up asap! Please review!