I Remain (Trollhunters)

4

It was like the creatures never stopped coming. Draal panted heavily as he raced through the tunnels, hearing the far off screeches and screams of the gaining demon-like troll creatures. The injured troll couldn't seem to shake them, and it had nearly been two days of an endless game of cat and mouse. Draal hated being the prey, but the more he tried to fight, the more seemed to appear. For every one he took down, with much effort, two more would appear in its place. His mechanical arm hung uselessly at his side, having lost all use after yet another skirmish with the creatures. Draal had already been heavily wounded, and now his body was littered with the teeth and claw marks of these new predators. 

He could feel the exhaustion constantly creeping in, threatening to overtake his body and pit him into darkness. He did his best to push it down, use all the strength he had to run. That was all this was. Run, fight, run, fight. He had given up standing his ground after the second battle, when his arm had been rendered useless. As much as he hated being the weak one, his mission was to find the Trollhunter, and he couldn't do that if he was dead. 

Again.

Draal's breath hitched slightly when he heard the scurry of one creature right behind him, as if it had appeared out of thin air. Roaring, he turned sharply and swung his still useful arm in its direction. Thankfully, it made contact, and the thing yelped as it flew backwards and hit a tunnel wall. The blue troll didn't stop, turning again immediately and running away, despite the throbs over his entire body. He felt them coming on stronger and grit his teeth, begging for his legs to keep going. 

Black and white spots danced in his vision, a strange taste coming to his mouth. Suddenly, the tunnel was spinning and he was tipping. He could hear his heavy breath loud in his ears as the room swayed, feeling his legs stumble and nearly trip over themselves. He would have fallen completely over if it weren't for the giant horns on his head. He grunted as they hit the wall beside him, just barely keeping him upright. Draal swallowed heavily and blinked the colors out of his eyes, trying to stop everything from spinning. Growling weakly in annoyance, he pushed himself off the wall and steadied his legs as quickly as he could. 

He couldn't stop here, or he was at the mercy of those things. However, he did know that he didn't have much longer before his body shut down. The exhaustion was too heavy and he wouldn't be able to ignore it for much longer. If he really thought about it, he was surprised that he had made thus far, in his condition. He had to find some way to stop these creatures in their tracks so they wouldn't get to him when he did collapse. 

A loud, high pitched scream woke him from his panicking thoughts. In a split second, he came up with a plan. He could tell that it was getting closer to night, but the sun would still be out at this point. Gritting his teeth, Draal began to run again, picking up speed quickly. As soon as he found the right pace, he jumped and ducked his body into a ball, grunting slightly when he hit the ground, but kept going. He swerved harshly to the right, rolling up the tunnel wall. With all his strength, he barreled himself into the top of the underground corridor, and much to his relief, the soft earth gave way. Draal burst through the dirt and stone into the open air, out in the forest above him.

The troll untucked himself and landed on his knees, one arm on the ground to hold him up. More colors, brighter and more painful, flashed in his eyes. He shook his head, trying to shake away the force of the blow. That had been no easy feat, especially in his shape at the moment. He couldn't allow himself much time to recover, however, hearing the cries of the horrible things below him, already crawling up the whole he had just made. Draal swallowed and looked up with dizzy orange eyes. Indeed, the sun was still out, though beginning to set. Thankfully, the shade of the trees where keeping him safe, but he could see plenty patches on the ground where the bright ball of fire had light peeking through.