Complications

Quill's mind was working faster than his body.

Numbers, possibilities. 

He had no way of facing off against the mangled lizard, so running was the better option.

Even if he ran, where would he go? One wrong step off the ledge and he was dead.

Fire...he could try to use the lit torch to hit the lizard, but what use was that?

The flower...what could it do? How was he supposed to use it? There simply weren't enough chances to test anything out.

He had acted on impulse, and now he was suffering.

The lizard leaped again, and Quill dodged again, rolling on the ground and wincing as the rough edges of the stone hit him like tiny pinpricks.

There were a few drops of blood, and it hurt like hell.

Quill gritted his teeth as he took a step back, minding his distance from the platform edge. He was still too close to it for his own comfort, however.

The torch was tightly clasped in his hand, but the fire didn't seem to give off any heat.

'...Huh..!?'

The fire had gone out. Actually, had the torch ever been lit?

Quill's mind raged in turmoil. Nothing in his plan was working out. The risk he had taken was in vain, as the results had not been achieved.

The lizard was once again bending back on its legs, preparing to leap again.

'Which type of lizard is this damn murderous...curses!'

Quill eyed the fire. No matter what, he had to light the torch, otherwise the trial was Null.

When the lizard attacked, he wouldn't move to the side, rather jumping forward. That way, he could have proper reach into the fire, lighting the torch. As soon as that was done, he would stay there till the next attack, and then run for it, while the lizard would inevitably crash into the fire.

It was a dangerous plan, and one that could go wrong with a singular moment of delay, but it was still much more probable than killing the lizard.

For a second, the bleeding young man seemed to lock eyes, or more accurately, an eye with the lizard.

Quill gripped his torch tighter, narrowing his eyes.

---

The lizard leaped forward first, but before it had even properly launched itself into the air, Quill had skid forward.

A move he had practiced while sword-fighting, it was extremely useful to preserve his stamina and if used correctly, could cover distances faster.

Diving down so that he was close to ankles, he raised the torch, watching as the flames licked the rim of the torch.

The lizard had landed where he was previously, watching him greedily.

Quill narrowed his eyes, checking if the torch had lit up.

'Damn it...Light up already...!'

Desperately, Quill held up the torch even further into the heart of the blaze, desperately trying to make the torch catch the flames.

A sliver of doubt played in his mind, reminding him that the torch didn't have anything in it. No flammable item.

'Would it... even light...'

Damn it, how was he supposed to light the torch then?

A small part of his brain seemed to remind him that leaves were flammable, and he could have collected them from the course.

'...Curse it all!'

Quill heart only grew more and more fearful with every passing second. The lizard was leaning back again, if he didn't move, he would be crushed.

The torch was utterly indifferent to his situation, stubbornly staying very much not-alight.

Quill gritted his teeth, a rare expression of desperation showing on his face. 

The lizard was already in the position to jump, the singular hanging eye staring at him in greed. If he delayed a second later, he would-

Cursing out everything under the heavens and heaven itself, Quill ledged his foot onto a jagged rock, preparing to roll. Flames licked at his fingertips as the torch was unconsciously sent deeper into the fire.

The lizard leaped up high, and Quill rolled over, trying to get up on his knees from his lying position. 

He felt it before he saw it, the feeling of a sharp object piercing through his skin, tearing into his arm.

Quill let out a howl at the pain as he rolled over uselessly to his side, the torch lightly sliding from his grasp as he clutched his bleeding arm. Little drops fell on the ground, and Quill's vision was slightly hazy from the pain as he tried to lodge out whatever was stuck in his arm.

The agony only increased, and with each tug that he gave on the item, the pain only got worse.

'A bone....damn it, I was too slow...'

It seemed to be one of the bones of the mangled lizard which had embedded itself into his arm.

Breathing slowly but heavily, Quill closed his eyes, and tugged harder, pulling out the bone with much difficulty.

The bone was small, hardly larger than his thumb, but it was sharp.

His vision was still slightly blurry, but he was regaining his focus slowly. The initial pain from the wound had gone down to a dull throb.

The wound wasn't too large, nor did the cut seem deep enough for problems, but the agonizing throbbing wasn't exactly pleasant either.

Grimacing, quill wondered if he should try to find something to wrap the wound with.

Suddenly Quill's eyes widened as he tried to scramble back onto his feet, searching desperately for the lizard.

'...What in...'

Quill stared in utter confusion at his surroundings. 

At first, he had panicked when he couldn't see the lizard anywhere.

However, at a second glance, he wasn't even on the stone platform.

Quill dazedly muttered to himself if he was actually dead this time, staring at the vast expanse in front of him.

Gone was the beautiful split valley, the mutilated lizard, and the heavy mists, but instead he was now in an even stranger area.

Quill squinted at the area around him, a jagged expanse of rocks that seemed to form a ring around a strange circular platform. Not a shred of grass could be seen anywhere, and instead, flames seemed to light up every now and then, illuminating lines of strange text.

Lava seemed to flow down from unknown places, covering the rocks before hardening within seconds and obscuring any text. 

Quill took a tentative step forward, his mind spinning, but stopped a second later to observe the ground, gulping down a strange feeling in the back of his throat at the sight.

The ground beneath his feet didn't seem to be solid, but rather...flowing.

It was as if he was walking on waves, except that the waves were pitch dark, as if he was peering into an endless abyss. Every now and then, something cold touched his feet, the feeling that of a pure ice, but nothing seemed to be there.

It was breathtaking, the eerie beauty of the place, but his attention was drawn by something else entirely.

A single glance was all he saw.