This time Julian led the way. Oliver kept trying to give him hints as to where the nearest roads and paths were, but Julian brushed them off and tried to navigate the way by himself. Both Alice and Jos were growing increasingly worried as they started speaking less and less. Jos was planning on intervening, but then Julian started asking them for help. Suddenly, Jos was the one leading the way and they didn’t have the time to try and make them make up. Oliver was pouting at the back of the group, but as far as he could tell, Jos was being nice, and wasn’t planning on murdering them. He didn’t think there was any immediate danger, but he pushed all the good thoughts to the side so he could continue being annoyed with Julian.

They were in an endless cycle of setting up camp, and walking, and it was getting tiring and menial. Another evening passed, and Jos heard a shuffle from somewhere in their camp. They squinted, watching as Julian got up and walked slowly into the surrounding trees, and headed down to the bank of water nearby. Dropping from the tree they were sitting in, they tried to be as silent as possible.

‘Lux.’ Thy whispered, a small light appearing at the end of their finger tip.

Julian was sitting down, his shoes and socks were beside him, and his feet dipped into the shallow part of the river.

‘Can’t sleep?’ Jos took a seat beside him.

He looked up to Jos, a small smile creeping across his face. He liked it when they used magic, and the light they had cast was particularly beautiful. ‘I keep thinking about the map I saw… Or, more accurately, dreaming about.’

He sighed and looked back at the water. Both of them fell back into silence. Jos could tell something more was going on, but they were not too excited to confront him about it.

‘What are you doing Julian?’ Jos finally asked quietly, now understanding that he had been lying all this time.

‘I’m sitting by the water…’ He let out a nervous laugh.

‘You know what I’m talking about…’

‘I’m afraid I really don’t.’ He instantly became defensive, subconsciously shuffling away from them slightly.

‘I understand that you think it’s dangerous. But, I don’t understand why you’d lie to us.’

‘You don’t get it!’ He scrambled to his feet. ‘If we go to the real place, something bad is going to happen, I feel it!’

‘Then why didn’t you tell me that?’ Jos was now on their feet too. ‘You could have stayed behind, and I could have gone to check it out. Or, well, we could have all come up with a plan.’

‘What? You expect me to trust you?’ He shouted, but regretted his words soon after.

‘No.’ Jos shook their head with a straight face, though they were secretly upset. ‘But you could have sent me in, and you wouldn’t have had to risk your friends getting hurt!’

‘I can’t play into the hands of the bad guys!’ He took a step towards them, his voice getting louder by the second. ‘They’ll take away anything I care about as soon as I show weakness. That’s what people like you do.’

They stood opposite each other, and Jos’ peaceful light had now turn into an aggressive fire. They were officially pissed.

Oliver awoke to the sound of Jos and Julian arguing loudly. He instinctively grabbed his sword, and ran after the sounds of their voices. He found them confronting each other by the river, and Jos took a step closer to Julian with fire in their hand.

‘Step away.’ He said, calculated and cold.

Jos stepped back, glancing between the two. Julian mouthed a small sorry, though he didn’t seem like he meant it.

Oliver’s sword was pointed at Jos, and he took a few steps forward so the tip was against their chest.

‘What happened?’ He looked to Julian for the answers.

‘Jos, he… I couldn’t sleep, but he came to try, and he…’ Julian managed a few fake tears, stumbling away from both of them. ‘He tried to kill me!’

Oliver’s eyes filled with rage, but so did Jos’.

‘Oh, you little shit. I did not try to kill you.’ The flame in their hand became larger, forcing Oliver to step back. ‘But, I might now!’

They were only half kidding.

Oliver chanced it and, despite the flames, swiped his sword at their feet. But, Jos jumped over it effortlessly, glancing at him with a small amount of fear in their eyes.

‘You’re not going to listen to a single thing I say, but let me tell you now. You really don’t want to fight me.’ Jos dispelled their fire as an attempt at a peace offering.

Instead of settling down, Oliver took it as a chance to attack, swinging their sword violently at their torso. ‘Trust me, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.’

Jos stepped back, dodging effortlessly. ‘You know, I thought you’d be different to the other rich kids.’

They dodged as another attack came their way. ‘But obviously I’m a terrible judge of character.’

Oliver kicked them hard in the shin, catching them unprepared and knocking them to the ground. Without even questioning his choices, he thrust his sword straight towards their chest, Jos barely rolling away in time. But, the sword caught the side of their arm, leaving a large gash and a lot of blood. They scrambled to their feet, clutching their arm tightly in pain.

‘Mico.’

A bright flash of light appeared, blinding Oliver before he could go after them again. It didn’t effect Julian, but he didn’t have the guts to fight them, not after his lies. Much to their surprise, Jos ran straight back to the camp. Oliver ran after them, but as they neared they realised that they had vanished. Their stuff was gone from their tree, and Alice stood in the middle of the camp, utterly confused.

‘What the hell just happened?’