‘Wait, what?’ Oliver exclaimed, dropping the popcorn he was holding. He was away from Julian for 5 minutes and someone was already trying to kill him. He seriously couldn’t catch a break.

‘Yes, well…’ Julian started, looking over at Oliver, ‘There was this guy with a crossbow, and-‘

‘And he shot at us, but I, like, stopped it with my magic and stuff…’ Jos interrupted Julian, pairing their words with some elaborate hand gestures.

Alice glanced to Oliver, and let out a small sigh. ‘I guess that’s kind of a relief.’

‘A relief?!’ Julian pulled the most incredulous face in Alice’s direction. ‘I was almost killed!’

‘I mean, it’s good that Jos isn’t the one who’s trying to kill you.’

‘Wait, why the hell would I try and kill Julian?’

‘Yeah, what?!’ Julian shared the same confused thoughts as Jos, before pausing. He glared at Oliver. ‘Wait if you thought Jos was going to kill me, why did you leave me alone with them?!’

‘Yeah! Damn, you guys are absolutely terrible friends! If I weren’t so nice, and I wanted to, then I totally could have killed him already!’ Jos placed their hands on their hips, and looked disapprovingly at Oliver and Alice.

‘Well, isn’t that reassuring.’ Julian joked, rolling his eyes.

‘I feel like we’re getting off topic here.’ Oliver interjected before Jos or Julian could say anything else, ‘Maybe, instead of bickering like children, we should think about getting to safety, and keeping Julian alive.’

He looked around at where they were standing, and decided they shouldn’t stay there any longer. They were standing right out in the open, and it wasn’t even slightly safe.

‘Yeah, we should get going… I don’t really feel like dying today.’ Julian mused, though he too noticed their vulnerability.

Oliver nodded, and took a brisk step towards the busier part of the street. But, letting out a long sigh, he stopped short.

‘Of course…’

At those words, Julian and Alice took the initiative to turn and see what Oliver was looking at. In front of them stood an angry man, holding a crossbow. He was out for blood, and Julian’s at that.

He released a single bolt, though it wasn’t aimed at Julian. It was heading straight at the back of Jos’ head, who was lost in thought. Fortunately, Alice swept them off their feet just in time for the bolt to miss.

‘Fuuuuuckkkkkk…’ Jos moaned as they landed on the floor with a loud thud. They were going to ask Alice what the hell was going on, but their questions were answered by the crossbow bolt now lodged in the wall.

Oliver unsheathed his sword, and ran towards the man, not particularly caring about his safety. Another bolt was shot, though it was mainly out of panic, and not the intention to kill. It flew off sideways, missing Oliver, and everyone else, completely.

Closing the distance between them quickly, the man had no other choice than the swap out his crossbow for a small dagger. But, it barely worked in defence against Oliver’s sword. One quick swing to his neck, and he was already struggling to keep up.

‘You have two choices.’ Oliver glared coldly into his eyes, his stance not wavering, ‘One: You try to kill my friend, and die by my hand. Or two: Turn and run, hard. I won’t kill you, but I can’t promise you your life. What’s your choice?’

A small flicker of fear passed through his eyes, before he dropped his dagger to the floor. Not a second passed before he was running in the opposite direction.

Oliver turned back towards the group, making sure that Julian was still alive. And, of course, Jos was still lying on the floor. He looked at them, unimpressed. He had no idea how this idiot had managed to save Julian’s life.

‘Are you going to get up?’

‘I’m alright thanks…’

‘Come on.’ Julian took a hold of Jos’ arm and pulled them onto their feet.

The four of them stood in a weird, and awkward circle. None of them sure of what they should do next, but Jos decided to break the silence.

‘Are we still doing the circus, or is that a bust?’