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

Prompt: Writer's Choice – Fear

Part Four

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It was dark again. That wasn't good.

The crystal he'd gotten an unknown time ago finally dulled out completely but he didn't drop it. It was sharp so if nothing else it would make a good emergency weapon.

He'd already had a couple of encounters with creatures down here, encounters he hadn't exactly gotten away unscathed from, as the throbbing pain in his arm noted. At the thought of pain, his side flared up again, sending red-hot stabs straight to his head.

Forcing himself to keep quiet, Peak delicately touched the self-made wound with his fingertips. The sudden rush of pain nearly brought him to his knees, only sheer determination keeping him standing upright. The area felt extremely tender, swollen and hot to the touch, bringing the worry of infection to his mind.

It'd been stupid to do but he'd had to. That weird device had been hurting him even more when it'd been inside, to the point that extracting it had brought an almost heady sensation of relief. Peak had at least remembered his training, burying the resulting mess and using the surprisingly sticky plant leaf's sap to try and keep his wound closed, with other leaves used as an improvised bandage.

So far it seemed to be working, but he knew he needed to get home as soon as possible. Thinking on home made him pause, a dangerous thing to do right then.

Here, in the dark and the unknown, Peak wasn't above admitting he was scared. There were a lot of things in this place to bring fear to the human. Lack of water, lack of food, lack of sleep, lack of defense and offense, no secured shelter but most of all, the idea that he'd never get to see his family or Airlandis again.

Blinking away the stinging sensation in his eyes, Peak forced himself to keep moving. He had to focus on what he could do right now, not on what he couldn't. First, another light source. Then something to eat and drink. He'd had some...failures...in that department but there were a couple of things he'd found that were safe enough.

As he carried on through the tunnels, one hand on a wall to keep himself steady, Peak almost thought he could hear someone calling his name.

It had to be a hallucination, after all, why would Nora be calling for him?