Horus's vision and hearing told him nothing was there. It was empty air hanging over the blackened stone of the dungeon.
But his life sense told him otherwise. A human being was moving slowly towards one of the tunnels carved into the walls.
The shape of its energy and its complexity told him it was human. Revulsion bubbled through his chest; this thing had been listening to them talk.
"Reveal yourself or die."
His cold voice made the figure stop. Horus' vision overlapped faintly with the grainy, black and white image of the person.
Life sense wasn't perfect as there was some lag between sensing and interpreting, but he was certainly enjoying it.
He drew his sword, igniting blue and purple lights over the curved, black blade. Horus closed his eyes and focused on watching the person.
He felt the change in the person's energy. Hostility flaring, strength coursing to their arms and legs as they prepared for a fight.
But before Horus could behead the person, their energy began to mellow down. He could almost sense them releasing tension from their body with a breath.
This skill could have combat applications…
"Promise me you won't be too angry," a voice said in empty space.
June jumped back. "Son of a goblin. You weren't joking."
Her disbelief didn't register in his mind. Instead the horrific familiarity of the person's voice made him turn pale.
He raised his sword. "Take it now!"
Sensing his seriousness, June readied her gittern, eyes fixed uncertainly on the empty space.
Hands appeared first, pulling down the hood of a travelling cloak to reveal the face of a young man.
He had low-cut black hair and dull red eyes. Horus' glowing sword cast light over a face with many harsh lines. Under the cloak of invisibility he wore black armor that devoured light and had a spear attached to his back.
John Needle. The same friend Horus and Wally were meant to meet down here from the beginning. Suddenly all the times Horus had wished John had come felt foolish.
Their friend had always been there. Horus sensed John lingering after his first battle with the Greenjaw, then again after the explosion in the storage room.
"You were in the storage room before. Where is Wally?" Horus demanded.
June had grown still beside him, her eyes were wide with horror. Suddenly the story she told him about Ulrich and John returned to mind. The two of them had always been best friends, always on the same page, and maybe bonded by their cruelty.
"I can explain everything—" John stepped forward.
Horus's sword glowed in warning. "Not a step closer. Why did you lie? What are you planning with Ulrich? Where the hell is Wally?"
John frowned at Horus, his eyes flickered with hurt. "I lied, okay, I'm sorry. But… I had to, okay? But Wally is okay."
"Where is he?"
"Trying to work out a new escape route for us. Once he's safe, we can talk about this, but I have to get back to Ulrich and the others or they'll be suspicious."
"Am I meant to be hoping you aren't lying?" Horus spat. "Give us the cloak… Now! Don't just stare at me."
John's jaw tightened but he threw the cloak over to Horus. "Now what?"
"You'll lead us to Wally and tell us what the hell is happening?"
◇◇◇
The tunnel was tight with silence and the miles of stone hanging over them. Thankfully they could walk upright in this tunnel so Horus kept his sword pointed at John.
John led them with Horus right behind and June some steps away.
Both the invisibility cloak and spear that John once wielded were on Horus' back. John glanced at them and then further back at June, who lingered behind them.
"Don't look at her," Horus warned.
"I'm worried. There are connecting tunnels in this path. A Firespitter could get behind her and kill her if she stays so far away."
Horus' glare deepened. He was watching her, June's safety was none of his business. "I'll know whatever is coming long before it gets here."
John raised an eyebrow then realisation struck. "Oh right, you have Adept Perception now. Felling crazy. My older brother didn't get an Adept skill for almost two months."
"Shut up and walk."
"You wanted me to tell you why all of this is happening right?" John said with a smirk. "Well it all starts with what our friend Wally has been hiding from us—"
"The blackmail? I know, June brought me up to speed. She also told me about a common friend both of you have. Kon."
John's smile crashed hard. He turned forward, face growing paler. "I-I don't know how to apologise for that. I was a dumb kid—"
"Don't Felling say that!" Horus snapped as quietly as he could. "That was what? Three or four years ago."
"That's enough time for a lot to happen. Like meeting someone that rocks your world and makes you question everything you've ever known."
The heat in Horus' head faded just a bit. "Wally?"
John nodded softly. "But Wally isn't as… smart as he'd like to think. He stepped on some people's toes and they decided he was more trouble than he was worth."
"Was it you that set the explosion to try and kill Wally," Horus asked in a low voice. It was set exactly where they knew Wally would be.
They knew Horus would follow Shiv's plan and that Wally would be the only one in the storage room. It even went off right when he was far enough.
"The bomb was set by the Shrinks," John explained slowly. "But I set them off. But only to trick them into thinking I killed Wally!" he added quickly as Horus' glare grew murderous.
"After that I grabbed Wally and tried to get him out of the dungeon, but the Shrinks have all the second floor exits being monitored."
Horus' grip tightened over his sword, restraining his anger. "Who are these Shrinks you keep mentioning?"
"Urchin. They're an office associated with the Master of Scouts and Master of Internal Security," he explained. "Their primary focus on paper is studying Mundane behaviour to predict actions. The name Urchin is meant to throw people off."
Horus had never heard of this department. He had been to Command headquarters many times, touring the building, but he didn't remember seeing an office with Urchin on it.
"Their office is like a broom closet," June said, seemingly reading his mind.
Horus and John turned to her with surprise.
"If you screw up enough and associate yourself with people others call terrorists, then you learn about the Urchins the hard way. Their office is a broom closet in headquarters where they keep a bunch of fake employees."
Horus grimaced at June's words, but nodded. "So they're another part of Bloodhaven kept secret from everyone."
"Don't sweat it. Even the people working in that broom closet don't know the true face of Urchin. You would have met them sooner or later either way, considering how important you are."
The tunnel brought them to an open cavern. The red glow of a flare briefly blinded Horus, but reaching out with life sense, he found only one person in the room.
John hadn't led them to a trap. He'd live another day.
June shot out from behind him, sprinting into a big hug from her older brother. They both spoke in hush tones that Horus forced himself to ignore.
The two of them deserved this after all they had been put through. Horus watched John instead, studying this cavern with his life sense.
"Horus, you can put the sword away." Wally's fiery red hair was black with soot, his silver eyes gave him a warm sentiment.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but John's the only reason I'm alive."