Earthbreaker's Promise

Spiderweb cracks appeared in the stone as Zanna came through the window and slammed into the floor of her bedroom. She took a moment to catch her breath as she knelt there, the banging from the Vault was coming continuously now. Each time an impact landed against the barrier she felt like something was taking a hammer to her head. Combined with the significant blood loss she was dealing with Zanna was careful to remain conscious as she stood.

“I can’t afford to fall now.” She whispered and headed out the door, using as little power as she could to keep her wound sealed while it healed. Zanna wanted to save everything she had left for the Vault, but knew it would be foolish to not even make it there.

Relying on her own preternatural swiftness she sped through the many corridors of the castle, a dark haired blur against the stone walls and dimly lit lanterns. It was quiet without the many people that normally lined the halls. Massive dining areas and hundreds of bedrooms sat abandoned, their occupants having left everything they couldn’t easily carry on their backs.

While she ran she forced her mind to drift, anything to distract her from the constant banging and welling nausea. If the Trinity had followed her last order they would be several hundred feet beneath her right now, walking alongside the remnants of her people and leading them to safety.

The Kingdom of Charon existed long before Zanna ever took the crown. Thousands of years ago, when there was not even so much as a castle in place, the first Earthbreaker, Lytha, had been drawn to Mt. Hartt. And she had brought along hundreds of Others who already considered her their ruler. Then shortly afterwards her power had led her to the Vault.

It was anyone's guess as to who or what had constructed the Vault within the mountain. Only the eldest of the Beldala may have had an idea, they had been there since time immemorial. But Lytha never got the chance to ask them. By the time she had made her way to the Vault one of the lesser Void had already made their escape. Lytha was able to destroy the creature and seal the crack in the Vault, but not before it had wreaked a path of destruction through the native tribesmen.

Task complete, the actual construction of the kingdom had begun and with it a network of tunnels that had only been recently completed by Zanna herself. She smirked as she set off down the staircase that would take her to the dungeon. The tunnels had originally started off as a faster route to the rear of the mountain but Zanna had been unimpressed and more than a little disappointed that no one had taken the idea farther.

Using her power, Zanna had expanded the tunnels until they covered a distance almost a hundred times greater. There were now exits scattered across the continent. Some were built into various safe houses in human cities while others ended in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. And although Zanna had gone to great effort to make sure the tunnels stayed as secret as possible, Ambrose had still proposed that she make the place an impossible to navigate death trap.

That ended up being the first of many fights. Zanna smiled, collapsing a wall in the dungeon. Stepping through the hole that remained she entered one of the pitch black tunnels and destroyed the entrance behind her. It was a good idea, but admitting it too easily would have gone straight to his head.

The way things were set up now made it nearly impossible for even an Other to navigate, much less a human. Light was completely absent from nearly every part of the tunnels and there were hundreds, if not thousands, of dead ends or sudden drop offs. If Zanna made any sound during her passage it would have echoed out into dozens of directions. The only accurate way to navigate was through a series of grooves that moved between the walls, floors and ceilings. Even still, there were false patterns among them.

None of that stopped Zanna from speeding ever downwards. Other than its size the tunnels weren’t even an inconvenience to her. She had personally smoothed every wall, and arranged every groove. To her, the layout stood out in her mind’s eye like a map.

Minutes later the distant sound of rushing water reached Zanna’s ears and she poured on one last burst of speed, chest heaving in exertion. Just a bit farther. This close, the banging sensation from the Vault rippled across her body causing her teeth and bones to ache.

Without stopping, Zanna let her power coalesce in front of her. Seconds later, she felt resistance and knew even in the darkness that she had come upon two giant, closed doors. Using her power like a battering ram, she forced them apart with the grinding sound of an earthquake.

She squinted as pale light spilled onto her face, then stepped into the cavern. Zanna allowed herself several moments to look around in awe. I'll never get used to this place. I can make tunnels, but this is art.

The cavern was shaped like a sphere, more than a thousand feet in circumference. It was made up of completely smooth stone walls and the ceiling was covered in some type of glowing plant life that Zanna had yet to see in nature. In the middle of the sphere a stone landmass seemed to hover, until one noticed the spindle below it that stretched down into the darkness. Sitting on the mass was a castle with all sharp angles, made from a white substance, similar to glass. Inside that castle was where the Vault resided and a small bridge, barely thicker than a rope, connected the Vault and her current plateau.

Zanna glanced towards the ceiling where an underground waterfall fell down on top of the bridge. An entire river had been diverted to fall through the cavern and the pressure was easily strong enough to knock off someone attempting to cross. If that person had to walk across anyway. Zanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pushing away the thumping sound that was still beating into her mind. Opening them she crouched, ready to fling herself across and to the Vault when a voice interrupted her.

“Where are you, Zanna?”

She frowned. That sounded like… “Ambrose?”

“Who else?”

Zanna rolled her eyes, even speaking this way his tone came across cocky.

“You know we can feel your distress.” He continued. “What’s happened? Is it the army? Are you hurt?” A spike of Ambrose’s rage came through the link, causing her to wince.

“Control yourself.” Zanna kept her eyes on the Vault exterior. “Their latest march has been dealt with. I left one alive to tell of what he saw. It should at least buy us some time before the rest are ready to march.”

“Then why are you still in the castle?” She imagined his frown. “Don’t make me come back there and get you.”

“Where are Lorina and Theron?”

“We split up. We’re each taking a share of the citizens and letting them choose where they want to exit. Don’t think I’ve missed you not answering my question either. Where. Are. You?” The last word ended on a growl.

“The Vault is failing, Ambrose.”

There a brief silence on their link before Ambrose spoke again.

“Damn it, of course this would happen now. I’m on my way.”

“NO!” She shouted, then calmed herself. “No. I’m going to seal it and find you. The humans will never find this place and we will kill them one by one if necessary to take back our home.”

“I don’t like this Zanna, are you sure you’re alright?”

Zanna shifted, feeling the blood sticking to her upper body. “I’m fine. Do you really think they could pose a threat to me?”

“....Fine. I won’t distract you. Meet me atop the mountain when you’ve finished.”

Zanna felt his presence fade from her mind and she grimaced as the pounding and nausea came back all at once. Ah well, no time like the present. Wrapping herself once again in her own power, enjoying the tangible feel of it, she jumped.