The stone at her back offered only meager protection, and as the next creature dove, she had to drop to the ground to avoid the reach of its claws. The wicked barbs hit the stone above her instead, raining down small bits of rock before the creature launched back into the air again. Persephone let out a small yelp before struggling back to her feet in time for the third attack.
​This time the creature struck her, its claws sinking into her shoulder even as she tried to twist away from it. Where the blow broke her skin felt white-hot, the creature’s grip dragging her away from the rock even as she screamed and struggled against it. She had no weapon to defend herself, but enough quick thinking to grab a rock as it dragged her and bring it down with all her strength against the foot that held her shoulder. There was a faint crack of breaking bone and the creature howled as its grip went slack.
​
Persephone could hear it hiss as it dropped her to tumble across the ground. Her own blood soaked through her clothing, the wound searing with pain as she tried to drag herself on her stomach across the ground back to the cover of the wall. Her shoulder ached and her arm was weak as she crawled across the hard ground, her fingers digging through the ash as she pulled herself forward.
​
The wall of stone was within a few feet of her when another shriek split the air, so shrill it made the hair on her neck stand on end. She curled into a ball, her uninjured arm protecting her head as the sound of wingbeats grew loud and her hunter’s approach sent flurries of ash swirling from the ground as it descended.
Just as she braced for impact, the air filled with a faint ringing noise that very quickly grew louder, accompanied by a slight whistle. Persephone looked up in time to see Hades’ pronged spear fly and catch the creature in one of its wings as it dropped toward her. There was a squelching sound as the spear pierced charred skin, the force of the blow nearly yanking the wing from its socket as the beast was pulled through the air and pinned against the wall of the outcropping, the spear sinking deep into the stone.
​
The creature let out an ear-splitting cry of pain, struggling where it had been pinned to the wall, as Persephone turned back in time to see Hades emerge from the thick smoke. The queen of the dead was walking fast, the asymmetrical hem of her dress-like tunic whipping about her legs and her cloak swirling behind her. The shadows that trailed off her had grown in size and were flickering like flame, making her silhouette all but impossible to distinguish as she stalked forward with gold fire in her eyes.