The walk back to the tavern was a short and relatively simple one, with no more people trying to kill Julian. After the whole ordeal, they decided that they would stay night in the inn, considering they had already paid. Their plan was to leave early, and way before the show commenced.

Once they finally reached the inn, which was just as cramped as they had remembered, they headed straight up to their tiny room. Once they were finally alone, Oliver let out a deep sigh.

‘Jos, after tonight, you should go home.’ Oliver avoided eye contact, but there was a hint of sincerity in his voice.

The three others looked at him as if he were mad. Julian hadn’t even heard of the idea to get rid of Jos, and he definitely didn’t like it. Even Alice was beginning to grow fond of Jos.

‘Okay, One: I don’t even have a home, Two: Wow, rude much, and Three: Who says I want to leave.’ They counted the points on their fingers, looking over to Oliver with a confused and inquisitive look.

‘It’s too dangerous for you to be here.’

‘Too dangerous?’ Jos laughed, setting down the stuff they were holding on the floor. ‘I’m capable enough to look after myself, thanks.’

Oliver scoffed loudly. ‘Really? Because all you did back there was lie on the floor. And if it weren’t for Alice, you would have been dead by now.’

‘Okay, good point. And, thanks Alice for saving me. But, to be fair, I was completely lost in thought.’ Jos turned away from Oliver, ready to end the conversation here. They didn’t feel like arguing about their safety.

‘You were thinking? I didn’t know you were capable of thinking.’

‘Kick a guy while they’re down, why don’t you.’ Jos pursed their lips, ‘And if you actually care, I was out of it because I was thinking about Julian, and, more specifically, why people are trying to kill him. So technically, you guys were the ones who put me in a near death situation.’

‘That’s my point.’

Jos looked to Oliver, only just realising his intentions. He wasn’t just being annoying for the sake of it, he was trying to make sure that Jos wouldn’t be killed. At least, not because of him.

‘Yeah, well, I’m still not leaving…’

‘Powerful people are after us, and they’ll kill anyone who gets in the way. And you’re not invincible, so that includes you.’

‘I’m not a complete idiot, believe it or not. I know the risks. But as I see it, if I had the Ravens after me, I’d want all the help I could get.’

‘What?!’

‘What?’

‘What…?’

‘What!’ Jos chimed in, and everyone gave them The LookTM. ‘I thought we were going round in a circle, saying ‘what’ for fun… But obviously not…’

Oliver gave them a harsh look, making Jos sigh.

‘I mean, you know, the Ravens??? Not the birds, but a bunch of power hungry elves who have the ability to reach into people’s minds?’ Jos looked at their blank faces. ‘No???’

‘Okay, Jos, the truth is we have no idea why, or what’s trying to kill me.’ Julian spoke honestly, much to Oliver’s dismay. ‘And, we don’t know what they’re after either. So any input is much appreciated.’

Jos hummed in thought for a moment, plopping down onto one of the two beds. ‘I think what they want from you is a memory.’

‘To take memories, wouldn’t Julian have to be alive? Because, they’ve definitely been trying to kill him.’ Alice spoke up after a long silence. She had not really got any idea of what was happening.

‘Normally, yeah. But if it’s the Ravens, then they’d definitely be able to take memories from a dead body. It’s probably easier in this case.’

‘It makes sense as to why no one ever dug through our stuff. They always went directly to Julian…’ Oliver, surprisingly, was convinced by Jos’ theory.

‘If that’s the case, then what do we do? By the way you describe them, they sound powerful.’ Julian sat down next to Jos.

‘The Order of The Divine.’

‘What?’ Alice was the one to question them again.

‘It’s another Elven magic order. They promised to stay neutral in all wars, but some of their members didn’t like that. So, they went rogue and formed the Ravens. Now they’re basically hermits.’

‘And if we go there, they’ll help me?’

‘Hopefully. I don’t think they’d turn us down, considering it’s about the Ravens. But, that said, they aren’t particularly fond of me…’

‘Aren’t fond of you?’ Julian laughed at the thought of a bunch of old and wrinkled Elves shouting at Jos.

‘Oh, well, long story short, I threatened to set their place on fire a few years ago.’

‘Seriously?’ Alice laughed lightly. ‘You did cut that story real short.’

Before Jos could answer, Julian interrupted again. ‘You know where they are, right? You could take us.’

‘I’m more than happy to, if Mr. Grouch agrees to let me stick around for a little longer.’

Oliver pretended to think over the question (ignoring the nickname), even though he already had an answer.

‘You can stay, but for practical reasons only.’

Jos smiled slightly, lying down completely on the bed.

‘It’s about a three day walk from here, I think. So sleep up!’