Attempt 5

Picking the lock is as easy as breathing, just as it always is. I've learned that's not the hard part even though Hades has now switched the lock to a different kind. I almost look forward to the challenge as I study the new lock with an extra tumbler but just as the others before it, I pick it and have the door open within minutes of deciding to. I've failed in my endeavors so far, but I know I can get out of here. I just have to keep trying.

Now, there's a demon who guards my door, but either Hades has a shortage of good demon guards or they're all idiots, because this one fell asleep right as he got here. I waited an hour to see if it was a fluke, but apparently not. This one is just super sleepy. All the better for my escape plan.

The door swings open on well-oiled hinges, no noise coming from it. I'm thankful that my room seems well cared for. It makes it easier to be silent when I escape. Still, I can't have the demon waking up and sounding the alarm. I'll have to dispose of him properly.

All my weapons have been taken from me. Hades finally found them all and so I've been left with nothing, but the quill in my room meant for writing makes a nice enough blade if I use it right. Before I think better of it, I leap on the guard. He startles awake, but before he can so much as scream, I've jabbed the quill into his heart, and he explodes in a rain of black goop. I scowl and sling what covers my hands off, trying my best not to wipe it on my clothing.

The worst part of demons is the ichor when they die. Those stains never come out.

The smell reaches my nose a second later and I clamp my lips shut in the hope that I can inhale as little of it as possible. I reach down and grab the medieval-like spear the demon had been holding and take off down the hallway. The city opens up before me, wide and unassuming. It's beautiful, and I have the urge to explore it deeper, but escaping is more important right now. There's no need to know the city if I'm going to leave it soon.

I get horrified glances as I run through the streets, searching for the route we'd taken to get here. I don't know how long it's been since I came here and I don't know if the portal is still there, but it's the only information I have. Someone shouts, "demon killer!" as I pass, and I grimace. Great, that took less time than I'd hoped.

"Stop!" A guard shouts and I pick up my pace, sprinting through the streets, searching for a familiar opening. An opening I recognize appears before me and I head for it, pumping my arms, desperate. Every failed attempt adds more obstacles. The more I fail, the harder this gets, so I need to get out of here now. I don't know how long it'll be before I can try again.

"Almost there," I grunt, pushing myself.

And then something slams into my back, and I go rolling. The spear snaps in two with the force of my fall, but I lift it up and wield it over my head in two parts when whatever hit me presses down. It catches the demon beneath the chin, and he explodes above me, his ichor spilling on top of me.

I groan in disgust, gagging on the stench, but still I scramble to my feet only to find myself surrounded by demon guards. Each of them holds a weapon, though none of them point it at me. At that moment, I realize I'm surrounded, that this isn't going to work. My opening is gone. I'll never make it to the portal now, not faced with so many in my way. Screaming in fury, I throw myself at them. If I can't escape with cleverness, if I can't escape at all, I'll use brute force. Perhaps, that's what's needed to get out of here.

Demon after demon rains around me, none of them once stabbing me with a spear despite my vicious fighting. But there are ultimately too many. They close in around me, dragging me to the ground, using their bodies to stop my trajectory.

My scream is filled with violence and desperation as Hades appears with a sigh in front of me.

"Such perfectly good demons. Now, I'll have to go fish them out of the river," he says, and gestures for them to lift me and cart me back to my cell.

My screams of rage echo throughout the city as I fail yet again.