The castle was no longer in sight.
The Kingdom Keepers were far on the road.
Philby and Willa were chatting away, getting to know one another.
Finn was reading the map, scouting the land, while Maybeck was trying to get to know Charlene.
Finn could tell he was taking a liking to the elf girl, but he also noticed something else.
Charlene could not take her eyes off Finn.
Finn had always been fascinated by elves, but he knew he loved Amanda.
He tried not to focus completely on her.
But then, he was suddenly focusing on something else.
A tiny sound coming from somewhere.
And it sounded like someone groaning in pain.
"Hey Finn!" said Charlene. "Did you hear me?"
Finn snapped to attention and stared at the elf.
"What?" he asked.
"I said have you ever kissed a girl?" asked Charlene. "Human? Dwarf? Elf? Mage? It doesn't matter have you kissed one?"
"Uh…no," said Finn trying to focus again on the noise.
"What are you staring at Whitman?" asked Maybeck.
"I think something that shouldn't belong here," said Finn.
He leaned out the window staring at Philby and Willa.
"Hey Philby!" he yelled.
"Yeah man?" asked Philby.
"Stop the carriage for a sec!" said Finn.
"What?" asked Philby.
"Just do it please!" said Finn.
Philby stared at Willa and they shrugged.
He then pulled the horses to a stop and Finn hopped out of the carriage.
He headed towards the back.
"What's going on Finn?" asked Willa.
"Call me crazy, but I think I heard small voices coming from our back," said Finn.
"Wait are you saying…" said Charlene.
"Guys I think we have a stowaway with us," said Finn.
"But who would do that?" asked Maybeck. "Sneak onboard with us."
"Only one way to find out," said Finn.
The rest of the Keepers hopped out to check with Finn.
They were all standing in front of trunk in the back of the carriage.
They had removed all the stuff on top of it.
"Ready?" asked Finn.
"What are you afraid of?" asked Philby.
"Just be prepared," said Finn.
Maybeck was already holding his axe.
Finn then stepped forward, and burst open the trunk.
A figure came bursting out gasping loudly and startling everyone.
Finn actually jumped back with the Keepers as they all screamed.
Willa had jumped into Philby's hands.
The figure then fell out of the trunk and onto the ground.
Finn took a better look at the figure, and then realized who it was.
Everyone was staring right at Dillard Cole.
"Dillard?" asked Finn.
Dillard looked up and smiled sheepishly.
"Uh…hi guys!" he said.
"What…da fuck…is he doing here!?" yelled Maybeck.
"Look I'm sorry!" said Dillard. "But I really wanted to help! I'm not a burden or nuisance! I can help you on this quest!"
"Dillard it's not that!" said Finn. "Do you realize you may have just sealed the fate of one of us?"
"One of us may die on this quest now!" said Philby.
"If that's what'll happen, I'll gladly let it be me," said Dillard. "I just want to do something big and heroic!"
The Keepers stared at one another.
"What should we do?" asked Willa.
"Well we can't take him back to the castle," said Maybeck. "It's too far now."
Finn sighed, making his decision as leader.
"Ok Dill," he said. "You can come."
Dillard jumped with glee.
"Thank you! Thank you!" he cheered. "Now let's go kill Maleficent!"
He was already inside the carriage as the Keepers groaned.
"I'm going to regret this," said Finn.
"We all will," said Philby.
The gang had continued traveling, now with Dillard by there side.
He just sat next to Finn and stared out the window.
Finn continued to stare at the map while at the same time thinking about Amanda.
He wanted to save her desperately, and hoped nothing else would delay that.
But of course, he spoke to soon.
Philby had suddenly pulled the carriage to a stop again, and this time abruptly.
Everyone hit their heads on the wood of the carriage.
As Maybeck, Dillard, and Charlene groaned in pain, Finn leaned out the window angrily.
"What the hell Phibs!?" he yelled. "We don't have time for more stops!"
"I unfortunately beg to differ," said Philby.
Dillard leaned out his window on his side.
"Oh! I see why!" he stated.
Finn looked out and saw it too.
A girl about everyone else's ages was sitting on the side of the road.
She was leaning against a horse that was lying down dead and looked very sad.
"Dammit we don't have time for this!" yelled Finn.
"I hate to admit it but he is right," said Maybeck. "We have to get the sword!"
"Well I'm not letting this go by," said Dillard.
He got out of the carriage and walked up to the girl.
"Dammit I knew he would be trouble!" said Maybeck.
"Hey cut him some slack!" said Philby.
"I would do the exact same," said Willa.
"Me too!" said Charlene.
Finn sighed and just watched Dillard walk up to the girl.
Dillard stood over the young girl.
She had hair black as night and looked very cute.
She also looked very sad, yet she was not crying.
"Uh…excuse me?" he asked.
The girl looked up at Dillard.
"Uh…hi," said the girl.
"Are you ok?" asked Dillard. "You look like you're in a pickle."
"Afraid so," said the girl. "My horse broke its leg and I had to put it down. But now I have no transportation. I've been trying to hitch a ride for a while but no one has stopped."
"Well that's just mean," said Dillard. "Where are you headed?"
"I was headed towards Magi Kingdom," said the girl.
"Magi Kingdom?" asked Dillard. "You're a mage?"
"Indeed," said the girl. "My name is Jess. But you could also call me Jessica or Jezebel."
"Well my name is Dillard," said Dillard. "And me and my friends are on a quest heading towards Holly Kingdom. Perhaps we can take you there and get you transport from there."
"Why…that would be great!" said Jess.
"Let me talk to the others," said Dillard.
He disappeared back to the carriage.
A few seconds later, everyone yelled, "NO FUCKING WAY!"
"We cannot take one more person with us!" yelled Finn.
"I was happy we stopped for her, but we cannot take her!" said Willa.
"I'm afraid so," said Charlene. "We already have six people. Seven could kill us all."
"Plus I don't even remember her from Magi Kingdom!" said Philby. "She could be trying to rob or kill us!"
"But we can't leave her here!" said Dillard. "I've traveled these roads too many times! Thieves and bandits roam around here a lot. I'd hate for us to feel terrible that we left a girl to get kidnapped, killed, or even robbed and raped."
"Well now he does prove a point," said Maybeck. "I couldn't stand the image of that."
"Besides," said Dillard. "We are not taking her on the quest. We're just taking her to Holly Kingdom to get her home!"
Everyone looked at one another, and sighed.
"Very well," said Finn. "She can come. But only to get her home!"
Dillard squealed and went to tell Jess the good news.
A while later the carriage was off, and Jess was in the carriage sitting next to Dillard.
Maybeck and Finn sat next one another now and Charlene was outside with Willa and Philby because there was no room.
Finn sighed heavily, having a terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen now.
And now I have officially brought in Jess! She is a mage and has a big part! But Dillard and Jess are now here! What will happen? Will it effect the quest? Stay tuned to find out!
See you next update! Review please dearies!
From your favorite Fanguy,
Jacob/Hades/Rumpelstiltskin/Sonicphantom47