Proserpine peeked through every doorway. So far she had found a grand dining hall, army barracks, an armory, a kitchen full of dead cooks bustling around making rich food.
She almost stopped at the kitchen, but continued. Not because she wasn't welcome, they even beckoned her to come in, but she refused to eat. It would mean she was accepting Pluto's rules as host.
She kept walking, finding a library and a room full of maps with a large table in the middle. War planning room, she surmised. But most of the rooms were just empty. Hollow, devoid of anything and everything, except walls and a ceiling. She looked up. A great pair of iron doors lay before her. She felt excited, yet hesitant. Would this be escape, or just the doors to the throne room?
She pushed one door open a crack. A slight breeze of fresh air wafted across her face. It wasn't the fresh she was used to, but it still carried the unmistakable traces of open air; or what passed for open air here.
She pushed it a little farther and peeked out. She could see for miles, until the end of the realm in some areas. One area, a huge, black field stretched on for as far as she could see, and farther probably. The only highlights were silver trees that jutted up here and there, and the occasional spirit.
She slipped out through the door, closing it silently. She took a deep breath. She was free. Sort of. She had to find her way out of this place. She looked to an outer wall she could see.
She stepped carefully down the stairs, trying not to trip, and looking up to the sky. Pluto had three winged hags. She hadn't met them, but it was only a matter of time. When they realized she was missing they would come after her, she was sure of it. But she planned to be at the outer wall by then.
She raced down the hill, aiming for the wall. On the ground, she couldn't see it, but she knew it was there. She raced across a small stretch of field, skirting the lava pools that spirits were playing in, which would have been a more direct cut to the wall.
But she couldn't risk being seen by a spirit, who would pass the word along, which Pluto could use to track her down. Finally, she was in sight of the wall. The grass had faded away, the ground littered with sand and rocks. In a couple places, the wind spread something gold and glittering across the ground.
She slowed down, thinking she would be safe. If anything came near, she could hide in the rocks among the wall. She walked slowly, catching her breath. Her sandals slapped quietly against the ground, her silver-green dress fluttered slightly in the wind.
The wind was behind her, so nothing behind her could catch her scent. But something in the wall did. It silently roused its companions and drew them out of the wall.
Proserpine stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck were alive. Something in the air had changed. Not the wind, or the smell, both were the same; awful. It was something else… something dangerous. She focused her gaze on her destination and saw the wall… moving? Why in the name of Tartarus would a wall move?
Then she saw a pack of what looked like centaurs, galloping in her direction. Why were there centaurs in the Underworld? The only thing that could enter the underworld without permission was mercury and the dead. Centaurs were nature spirits. If they didn't reincarnate into a plant, they would explode into golden dust. Golden dust. The glittering substance was monster dust. She stood, frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do.
Soon it was too late to run. The pack was on her. Arias. Proserpine looked upon the lead figure with horror, but a strange, morbid fascination. They were unlike anything she had ever seen. Their eyes were like the pit Pluto had created to the Underworld. Deep, foreboding, devoid of light. But these eyes had a light in them. The light was a thirst, a hunger. For blood. For warm, living flesh.
She stared at them, frozen in horror. They stared back at her, hungry, but confused. Their primal minds knew only two things: killing, and fighting. Most creatures they faced had been running in terror long before this. Their primitive brains couldn't come up with a conclusion.
They opted for something easier, killing. This strange thing in front of them smelled delicious; better than anything they had hunted. They bared their fangs. Proserpine ran. She was fast. But so were the Aria.