Phillip had ran in the complete wrong direction. He ran southwest when he was supposed to go Northeast. He ended up in a small town that was briefly mentioned in the book. Only stating that this is where a few contestants had come from. Noting that if the author didn’t go into at least some detail about something, then there wasn’t really much to look at. 

A few houses here and there, all seem a bit torn down. A couple of stands for stores, a well, and obviously a church. Which was better looking than anything here. People were out and about, but stopped and stared at Phillip; watching him walk through the town. His outfit was an obvious give away that he wasn’t human. Children ran away from him and hid in their mother’s arms or back into the house. Phillip was confused by everyone’s reactions. Certainly they didn’t know that he was a witch, there was no mention of there being witches in the book. 

Why do they seem scared of me?

“You’re an outsider for one thing, second is that the outfit is drawing a lot of unwanted attention so they might have suspicions about you. Third, they might just think you’re someone from the kingdom.” Juliet informed. 

“They can’t hear you right?”

“No, I’m in your head. Doesn’t mean that they can’t hear you.”

Phillip noticed what she meant, everyone was giving not only him weird looks but now Juliet too. She never strayed away from his side and her size couldn’t go unnoticed. Normally Phillip would slip past everyone, not being seen by anyone; now he was standing out. No longer the needle in a haystack. As he kept walking through the town, searching for one of the contestants to travel with to the kingdom, he noticed that everyone started minding their own business again. 

He shrugged it off and continued down towards the chapel. Knowing that the contestants might be over there, getting blessed by the priest before their journey to the castle. As he neared the chapel, he saw three people. Two male and one female. One dressed in all black, holding a book was the priest. 

The female had black pants one, with a small satchel strapped to her thigh, black ankle high boots, her white long sleeve shirt was cropped, showing over her abs. She had her red, curly tied back up into a ponytail but left her bangs to fall, covering up her forehead. The other male was also wearing a white long sleeve shirt and black pants. He didn’t have a satchel on his thigh; his shirt wasn’t cropped either. His black hair was also tied up into a bun, with a few strands of hair falling to the side of his face. 

Phillip reached them as the priest was walking back into the chapel and both contestants were grabbing their backpacks. The girl was pulling her quill over her shoulders, grabbing her bow; he was strapping his sword around his waist. Phillip walked straight up to them. 

“Hello.” He greeted, stretching his hand out for a handshake. 

Both looked at him suspiciously then at his hand. They didn’t shake his hand but stared at him, waiting for him to continue speaking. 

“Oh… ummm. Are you headed off to the kingdom? I got a bit lost on my way over there.” He nervously chuckled, returning his hand to his side. 

They exchanged glances before the man nodded his head in the direction they were headed. 

“Thank you. I’m Phillip and this is Juliet.” he introduced. 

The man paused, staring at Juliet. 

“This a tiger?” He asked. 

“Haha, no she’s not a tiger.”

“That’s a pretty large cat then.” The female spoke. 

“Yeah she is.”

“I’m Adaline and this is Alexzander.” The female introduced, starting down the path back into the forest. 

Phillip remembered their names. Adaline and Alexzander grew up together. They are childhood friends, always doing everything together; no matter the danger. They had plans on winning the competition, proving that both of them were suitable for being rulers; but Adaline had lost in the third week of the tournament. While Alexzander made it to the final battle against Silas. Both were devastated that they had lost, they had so much planned for the kingdom. Giving more towards the people than what Ian’s greedy parents were doing. Lending a helping hand towards poor towns, just like their own. Luckily Silas listened to their dream and started working towards their goals. 

It wasn’t known if the goal was ever reached since Ian was killed and everything slowed down while Silas was grieving. Phillip likes to believe that when Silas finally found his footing, he started working towards that goal. 

“Are you going to enter the tournament?” Adaline questioned.

“No offense but you’re a little scrawny.” Alexzander chuckled.

“Alex be nice.” Adaline swatted his arm. 

“No no it’s fine. I may not be strong but I’m not weak. I can hold my own.” Phillip admitted. 

“Don’t make fun of the other contestants Alex, you never know. Phillip here could whoop your ass for all we know.” Adaline defended. 

“I would like to see him try.”

In truth Phillip wasn’t as buff as Alexzander or Adaline but he was strong. Back at home he would not only work on his magic but also went to the gym with his neighbor; who was a retired magic veterain. They would have fun together, if they weren’t working out or training. His neighbor became family to Phillip; always being there for anything he needed, cheering him up when he was sad, tending to him when he would fall ill and even helped him move into his house. Thinking back on it, Phillip started to feel homesick; he would’ve told his neighbor about the whole book. If only he woke up at home and not in a hut. 

The walk to the castle was a silent one, with a few sentences exchanged here or there, but relatively silent. Except for the rustling of bushes, trees and birds chirping. While they were stopped at a river for a break from walking, there was rustling in the nearby bushes. Thinking nothing of it, Phillip continued to stretch his legs; until Alexzander picked him up and rushed behind a tree. 

“What are-

“Shhhh.”

Alex placed his hand over Phillip’s mouth, keeping him quiet. He looked over and noticed that Adaline was hiding behind the tree next to them. She had her bow and arrows out. While Alex drew out his sword, bringing it a little too close for comfort to Phillip. He listened as the rustling of the bushes, letting his mind wonder to the horrible possibilities of what it could be. 

Is it other contestants or bandants? What if it’s a monster? We aren’t going to die. No Alex and Adaline make it to the castle in one piece. That doesn’t mean I will!

“Relax, it's not a monster.” Juliet informed him. 

Phillip froze, he hadn’t realized that Juliet wasn’t by his side. He squirmed out of Alex’s grasp running back towards the river. 

“Phillip!” Alex harshly whispered after him. 

Not listening to him, Phillip ran straight towards the river, looking around for Juliet. Seeing her just sitting by the river’s edge, he ran over and picked her up. Luckily she wasn’t too heavy but he struggled to run back to Alex, carrying her. Just as he neared Alex, an arrow was fired directly at him. 

Luck was on his side, just as the arrow was about to hit his back; Phillip tumbled over a branch. Falling down to the ground, Phillip protected Juliet so she wouldn’t be crushed under him; just as the arrow passed over his head. He scrambled back over to Alex, staying on the ground. 

Adaline had fired an arrow in the direction it came from hitting someone as they screamed out in agony. More rustling came from the bushes as someone sprinted straight towards Adaline. They swung their sword at her only to have it get blocked off by Alex. He moved quickly over to Adaline’s side, Phillip didn’t even realize he moved until the two were sword fighting. Adaline ran over to Phillip’s side, grabbing his arm and hoisting him up off the ground. She turned around, keeping Phillip behind her; she aimed an arrow at the man fighting Alex. 

Just as she was about to shoot the arrow, another one came in, knocking her bow off balancing. Having it fire into the tree line, missing both the other man and Alex. She turned towards where the other arrow came from and quickly fired one into the bushes. She missed, seeing that the other person came from a different side; straight for her with a dagger. Adaline backed up waiting for the impact as the dagger sliced the front of her bow. Instead of getting out another arrow, she started using the bow like a sword; blocking the swipes and smacking the other man when the options arose. 

Phillip stumbled away from them and straight into the arms of someone, who quickly entrapped him and brought a dagger to his throat. 

“Stop or I’ll slit his throat!” The man screamed at Adaline and Alex. 

They both stopped and looked over at Phillip, who dug his boot into the man’s foot and threw his head back into the man’s face. Banging his head against the other guy's nose. The man stumbled back, holding his nose with one hand. Phillip dropped Juliet and swung his fist, connecting it with the man’s jaw. Not letting the man collect himself, Phillip threw another punch to the other side of his face; then kicked him in the chest. Knocking the guy to the ground. Phillip noticed the arrow stuck in his side and decided to kick at it, pushing the arrow further into the man’s side. 

He rushed over to Adaline who got cornered up against a tree. Phillip leapt onto the other man’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck; choking him. The guy dropped his dagger, gripping Phillip’s arms and throwing him over his shoulder; straight into Adaline. He had tumbled on top of her. The man picked up his dagger as Adaline and Phillip struggled to get up with the aching pain. 

“Adaline look out!” Alex shouted, stabbing the other swordsmen and sprinting over to her. 

Phillip looked up as the man started to plunge the dagger into her. Swatting the knife away, it drew straight into the tree just at neck level. Taking the chance, Adaline kicked the guy in the chest and Alex came in stabbing his sword into the man’s side. He screamed out in pain, clutching the sword; but Alex drew the sword out of him. Leaving the guy to bleed out onto the ground. 

“You guys okay?” Alex turned towards them. 

“Yeah, just aching.” Phillip answered. 

“Did you finish the other guy off?” Adaline huffed. 

“I-

A groan came from where the other man was indicating that he wasn’t dead but dying. Alex sighed, walking over to him and drove his sword into the man’s chest. 

Phillip slumped down the tree, breathing in and out; calming down his adrenaline. Adaline did the same but sucked in a breath, looking down at her side. She got cut on her side, probably from when the man threatened to slice open Phillip’s throat. Alex came over, rummaging through her satchel looking for some cloth. 

“Here let me.” Phillip intruded. 

He hovered his hands over her cut, focusing his energy through his gloves into her cut. Imagining the cut slowly healing itself. There was a slight glow from his hands as he healed her. When he was done, both Alex and Adaline looked over at him in shock. 

“You’re a witch?!”