CHAPTER 417: CUTTING OFF HER MOTHER’S CHAINS

The commotion that followed the violent quake at the Cave Manor served as Zina’s cover as she slipped from her prison while she ran like a mad woman towards the tunnel.

The map was her only sense of direction. But that was more than enough for her as she prowled forward without looking back for once.

Servants whipped past her in a blur, none of them taking any true notice of her as the world collapsed under their feet.

Since the night before, Zina had long known that the Cave Manor would collapse. Now, everyone in the Manor was witnessing the same. But what Rowan was unaware of was that no matter how bad the earthquake got to be, the Oak Tree would remain standing even while buried in the rubbles of the cave.

Zina knew that... she had seen that. Which was why the staff had become her last recourse. And after successfully diverting Rowan’s attention to the possibility that the Oak Tree would collapse as well, she finally had some space to make possible what really mattered.

She crawled into the tunnel, and she had barely taken five steps when Seraph came into her line of view, panting hard like she had run a marathon.

"Th...Theta?!" She stuttered, collapsing on the ground while gripping the long stick, covered in a black silk.

Zina leaned down before her, her eyes drawn to the stick. "Is this it?" She asked, hesitantly, unsure.

Seraph nodded frantically, tears spilling her eyes. "I finally did it, Theta." She said, sniffling, "His Majesty refused, but I managed to deliver your threat to him." She finished amidst tears.

Zina slowly reached for the stick, and on contact, shock zapped through her body, zinging her heart like a bad burn. The same bone wrenching pain she had been experiencing at her heart after her torture became more profound. And now that she understood a lot of things, she knew the origin of the pain was Pack Runes within her that was fighting against the power of the staff.

"Just how hurt was he?" Zina said in a distant voice, "he must now hate me after my cruel request."

Seraph angrily wiped at her tears. "You’re the one suffering the most in this situation, how could he afford to hate you."

Zina simply scoffed, her eyes glued on the staff which she now feared. "How did you get back?"

"Theta, the Alpha King had Malik Zorch escort me. As you ordered, I arrived back thirty minutes ago but I waited here and didn’t make a move until I heard your footsteps."

"It’s already noon," Zina mused, lifting the staff, "he would very well be here by now."

"But the Manor is collapsing," Seraph reasoned, "is that why you asked me to wait here? Because this part of the Manor seems relatively safe? Did you foresee all of this?"

"None of that matters," Zina said sternly, "this commotion will last but for minutes. Even if a war will be fought it will be fought on the open grounds of the caves surrounding here. Before this place is reduced to ruin, we must rescue my mother and I must send the both of you to safety."

It took some seconds for Seraph to fully understand what she was saying, and when she did, the girl shook her head, gripping Zina’s black dress. "I am not leaving your side, Theta."

Zina shrugged her off violently, pointing the now naked staff at the girl sternly. Her face, set like stone, she said in a meaningful voice. "This is not a negotiation, Seraph. This is an order. And every second you waste objecting to it is every second you delay what I must do and further endanger all of us"

Tears spilled down her eyes. "What do you mean to do, Theta? If you’re sending me away like this, then what will you do all on your own?!" She finished with a frustrated scream.

Zina tilted her head to the side, and then a sad smile crept up to her face. "I mean to put everything to an end. And today will be the end."

Seraph fell on her knees instantly. "Please don’t do anything. Malik Zorch and his majesty are probably already here, fighting against the Deformed. Just wait... he will rescue you. But in the meantime don’t do anything." She pleaded.

Zina wanted to stay hiding in one place where Daemon would then sweep in like a knight in shining armor to her rescue. She wanted to do nothing and just wait for her dashing savior. But whether it be during the time she was with the WolfKnight’s, or during Eldric’s reign, she had learnt one thing;

The only savior in her world was herself. Dragging other people into her misery, no less her husband, was a crime she couldn’t afford to hear.

Not when she had done the same thing to her post mother who bore the crime of birthing a deformity like herself.

Zina breathed in deeply, and helped Seraph to her feet. "Listen to me very carefully; I’ve already planned this with Prophetess Ada, the one known as the Butler Lysandra of the Manor. I told you I suspect that she’s my mother’s aide, correct?"

Seraph nodded begrudgingly, eyes wide with fear.

"I’ve confirmed it for myself, and she now helps us, so erase whatever fear you’ve in your head," Zina assured the girl just to calm her agitation, "both you and Ada will escort my mother out of the cave. She now awaits us. Whereas I on the other hand have this to protect me...." She finished, tilting the staff to Seraph’s direction.

It was obvious that Seraph didn’t totally believe her, but the maidservant nodded nonetheless.

With that, they both crept in the direction of the other part of the Manor which had been hit the most by the earthquake. But that was exactly the same wing where both her mother and the Pack Runes were kept at.

They didn’t need to be too careful for the manor was engulfed by commotion at the sudden and unexpected fall of their mansion, so in a few minutes, Zina was bursting inside the room where Ada awaited them alongside the servant who had easily strangled Rose to her death.

Her mother on the other hand, was still hung by the chains that bound her for thirty-two years, and without asking, Zina already knew why they hadn’t taken her off the silver chains just yet.

Ada’s eyes flitted to the staff that she gripped in her hand. "You finally got it?" The woman said in that strange voice of hers.

"I did." Zina said, locking eyes with her mother... the woman she cursed all her life for abandoning her without knowing that she was in fact, the most abandoned out of the both of them.

Ada sighed deeply. "These chains have bound your mother for more than three decades, Zina. Removing it is quite easy for us, but for her it will be a pain worse than hell."

Zina nodded grimly, handing her staff to Seraph momentarily. "I am here. I will support her, please remove them."

And that was what Ada’s servant did. He climbed up, and began to cut at the chains with a dagger Zina was confident could slide through bone itself.

The first chain that bound her hands snapped with a sharp, metallic crack.

And her mother—who had not made a single sound all the time Zina had stood before her while maintaining eye contact—screamed.

It was a cry of pain—the kind that was deep, raw, ancient even. It tore from her throat like something that had been buried for centuries and was now dragged into the light. Her body arched forward against the chains still binding her, veins bulging across her thin arms and neck as her voice echoed like a wailing spectre through the collapsing manor.

Zina maintained eye contact with her, suppressing the urge to stagger back on instinct. Her mother’s agony was not just physical, it was...spiritual, woven into the very chains that had kept her shackled for over three decades.

Ada hadn’t been exaggerating. This was not freedom. This was pain.

The second shackle that bound her feet was severed, and before anything else could happen, Ada screamed for them to go down and hold their ears.

Seraph, the servant, and Ada all cowered to the ground while her mother let out a violent scream that could only be the scream of a true blooded member of the Screamers Pack.

But Zina didn’t go down. Instead, she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her mother, holding her tightly as the third shackle fell off. Her mother’s head dropped forward, strands of silver hair plastered to her damp, sweat-soaked face. She was trembling violently, her mouth open in a silent scream now, as if her voice had finally torn itself out completely.

"I’m here," Zina whispered, her voice cracking, "I’m here... I’m sorry I came so late."

Then the final chain snapped.