June shot to her feet. "Seriously!"
"Yes. There wasn't enough blood at the hole so I checked around and found footsteps. They were about his size."
June nodded, but something was wrong in his eyes. "Where though? Something wrong right, it's not all good."
"I found fresh footsteps from other people. And one set right beside what Wally had left behind. The footprint though…"
So Ulrich and the others were already here, and they likely knew Wally was still alive. She needed to find him now. Maybe they could still catch up to Elle, George and Jenneth, and leave Bloodhaven together.
She nodded excitedly. "Okay so can we find him?"
"No. For some reason he left no prints after that. It's like he disappeared into thin air. But we can predict where he's going. Escape, he'll be trying to get to the first floor."
June shook her head. "No way. There are soldiers up there, they could grab him. He'll use one of the Firespitters' other exits, a hunting tunnel. Like the one east of here."
Firespitters had multiple ways out excluding the one humans had claimed. They went out into the world and hunted monsters.
"How do you know that?" Horus asked, eyebrows narrowing. "Those aren't on the issued maps."
June shrugged her shoulders in an attempt to look calm. "I saw it on Wally's map, the same way I knew to come down to this road to find you guys and the oasis."
That was half-true. The best kind of lie.
"I heard you talking to Wally just before we were teleported," Horus said. "Something about leaving. During these First quests, it's pretty easy to escape Bloodhaven. You're outside the Lord shield and the effective territory for Lord Thunder to curse you."
June bit her lip. "You make it sound so bad."
"It's treason."
No Mundane was allowed to travel outside the territory. The only way out of Bloodhaven was if you were going to one of its colonies like Tombstone or Busy Bee.
Horus sighed. "I don't want to be the bad guy here, you know that right? But every choice you make confuses me. Why would you associate yourself with anything related to the Lily Court, why would you want to go out into the wastelands and fight just to survive?"
She turned away. Why did she have to explain that the Equalists had broken off from Lily Court and become completely different. Why did she have to explain that not everyone liked living like a second-class citizen in a shitty town that was barely holding on.
"It's all Orc shit."
"Everything?" Horus asked with a raised eyebrow. "Every day you lived here has been hell? You've never smiled, had fun or met amazing people here?"
"It's complicated, okay?" June finally snapped. "You've been the golden child your whole life, you've never lacked a single thing, and I don't blame you for that. I actually hate how nice you are. I always wished you were just secretly evil like the rest of your friends. But that doesn't change the fact that things could be better than this. Fort Thunder doesn't have to treat us like we're leeches sucking your perfect big toe."
Horus squinted. "My big toe?"
"That was just a random thought. But I want to leave this hellhole, why can't I? I don't even contribute much. I'm a musician, all I do is play at bars and small occasions. I'm not the righteous Master of Scouts or the great Horus Twilight, no one will care if I felling disappear."
The silence between them and her hurried breath made her very self-conscious suddenly. But she was glad she got everything off her chest.
She planted her head in her skirt to avoid his gaze and hide her tears. She felt so embarrassed.
The sound of Horus sitting beside her and sighing made her heart jump. She could feel the heat rolling off him and the calm weight of his presence.
"I'm sorry."
She turned one eye to him, saying nothing. She couldn't help but trace the line of his jaw and be impressed by the glow and swirling colours of his eyes. Like looking into the aurora borealis, an event she had only seen on the web.
"I can't say I understand your plight much," he continued. "But I do want to understand. Starting with my… evil friends. They aren't the best people, but they would all die fighting to protect this territory. And I frankly think we are a bit better than our parents at least."
June sniffed and turned away. "Being a bit better than a Demon Lord doesn't really make you a good person. But I understand, they all toned it down when you were around. As much as they hated pretending they also respected you, and wanted to look… decent."
The words seemed to stun Horus. He faced forward with a still expression. "I have this memory of when I was twelve, of Ulrich and John. They had been messing with this kid and I wanted to know if they hurt him, but they said no. They had blood on their fingers… I never forgot, I was just too busy to care after that."
June chuckled, a morbid sound in the solemn silence. "That was the day they hurt Kon. I remember, they always made fun of him and one day John said something about Kon's brother. The one that died in a Shield break."
"I remember finding him in a room after I saw Ulrich and John leaving, they were laughing. Kon was on the ground, cradling his head… they took one of his eyes out."
Horus was deathly silent now. His eyes were fixed ahead, fist tightening around his knees.
"When Wally became friends with John, I moved out," June continued. Her voice shook. "I've never been that angry in my life. Kon looked up to Wally, and he went ahead to play buddy with his Fort friends. I went to live with Kon and Elle, they used to date back then, and that was when my relationship with Wally kind of… just became worse."
She waited for Horus to say something, to maybe condemn Wally, or even better call Ulrich and John what they were. She was still scared of them to this day, every time Ulrich spoke to her she felt like she would throw up remembering the blood and ruined tissue.
"You said Kon used to date the Wind mage, Elle," Horus asked strangely. "Why? They aren't together anymore."
June raised her head sharply, her eyes ringed with shock. "Kon is…" her voice faltered. "They broke up a while ago," she said instead.
There was no reason to burden him with their problems. It didn't matter anymore.
"The fact of the matter is that I can't live here anymore. I used to think we were really similar, because you seemed unhappy with this place. But we are different, because if there is anywhere else in the world that I could be happier, I'd go there. But you would stay and fight. Cause I'm a coward and you're the hero."
She got up and began walking toward the exit she thought Wally would go to. Horus followed silently.
There was no point in wasting any more time. She needed to save her brother.