Disclaimer: TinySprite owns nothing of Dragon Flyz, which is owned by Gaumont Pictures. Only the plot is hers.

Prompt: Writer's Choice – Futile

Part Two

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"Call off the search."

Z'neth didn't bother to hide his glare at Councilman Joshua, though the other man had the dignity to show at least a little bit of guilt on his face. Aaron shook his head, "It's the only lead we have Joshua."

The brunet gritted his teeth and replied, "It's futile and you know it, all of you. We don't even have any evidence that Peak is actually in that maze."

Summit piped up then, "He's got to be. Fryte's no actor and he clearly tried to keep me from going down certain tunnels. Plus I'm pretty sure I saw that dark dramen looking at something while we were down there."

Z'neth nodded at his brother and spoke up himself, "It's been two days already Joshua. We're sending Zarkan in tomorrow, with Nora going in the day after. Dram's only allowed in on the last day."

There was a brief period of silence as everyone considered that. Five days was a lot of time to spend in a dark and confusing place, especially without gear and supplies. It was clear that the longer they waited to send Dram in, the fainter their chances of recovering Peak successfully got.

Seeming to read their minds, Dram quietly confirmed their worries, "If I'd been allowed in on the first day, I likely could have found him then. But five days...his scent will be weak and dispersed throughout the area. That's not including the conflicting scents of Old Earth interfering."

Joshua growled, "Either way we need to end this soon! By doing this, Dread Wing's completely tied up our best fliers! We're barely getting the needed number of amber crystals right now and there's no telling when Dread will do his double-cross."

They were all quiet again at that. Everyone knew that Dread only held his word for as long as he cared to, as well as that he'd do anything to get the city of Airlandis under his control. Aaron took that time to glance at Apex, who shook her head with an exhausted sigh.

There were bags under her eyes, her skin had paled and her hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in the last few days. Taking a minute to gather her thoughts, she spoke, "I still can't get anything from Wing Storm, not even when I go through Blaze Wind. What little I can get though, it points out that Storm doesn't know anything either, just that Black Heart ambushed him. Gremwings must have gotten Peak from there or dark dramen got him with a net."

Z'neth nodded at her, "Anything you can find out helps Apex. Could it be possible that Peak isn't in the maze?"

Apex shrugged, "It could be. If they just lead him through there to put his scent in the area to trick Dram and no one told Fryte that Peak was somewhere else, that could have happened."

Z'neth nodded again, resisting the urge to rub his forehead. There were too many factors to consider here, too many unknowns. A rough idea formed in his mind. It was risky, but they'd have to try it. Looking around at the table, he began, "Here's what we'll do. Dread wants the Flyz at that maze each day, as well as the other searchers. So that takes us out of the running for now. We'll try to keep them there as long as possible, however we can. While that's going on, we'll send a second team to Warnado to scout it out. If they find evidence that Peak is there, then we'll plan a rescue mission. If they don't, then we've got to keep on trying the maze. As soon as we find Peak, we're out of there. Is that clear?"

There were nods and some half-hearted agreements from around the meeting table. Z'neth took it at that, knowing that everyone felt drained by this. Tomorrow would either bring relief or disaster and they could only hope it was relief at this point.