Page 106 of Hades and Persephone: Crown of Souls

That’s when I see it.

Something sharp and scaled crests the still water, much like an alligator might peer through the surface that conceals it in the moments before it strikes its prey. Fear bludgeons my heart against my rib cage, and paralysis like I’ve never known freezes me to the pebbles I lay on.

Eyes the shade of deep mauve are set in jagged scales of purple-tainted deep sangria. I’d always envisioned the Hydra much like a snake. But this isn’t that.

The sharp points that craft a giant head of the beast shimmer as though plated metallic, caught in the prisms of the inky water that ripple gently as it rises to show the slope of a long, jagged snout.

It hovers there, glassy eyes peering into mine, the base of its powerful jaw still concealed within the dark water.

Something, belayedhumanintuition perhaps, tells me to run.

But that deadly weight inside my belly which led me here—coated in fear—pins me in place.

The Hydra—only one head—opens her mouth. A toothy void has my eyes snapping wide.

Sound spills from the depths of her. It is deep, and yet surprisingly feminine, even as it rings with ancient power.

“I have been waiting for you.” The words are slow and clear. She hums my name, “Persephoneeee.”

That human instinct kicks in and I finally possess the will to pull my arm from the water with the beast.

Only—something catches me before I can.

Something cold and scaled.

A flash of metallic sangria in ink.

And then I’m pulled into the water.

Deep. Deep below the surface.

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