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Where is she?He spun in a circle.

“Nadzia!” he frantically yelled as he searched the area.

He banged on his comm. It had to be wrong. Nadzia wasn’t here. There was no evidence of her at all. He cringed as he thought about the evidence he was looking for.

No, she can’t be…He refused to think the worst.There’s something wrong with this thing.

Aculus looked at his comm again and realized he’d missed the elevation. Stunned, he dropped to his knees and started digging, only to realize this was sheer madness, she was over fifty spans down.

How in Vasta’s name?It was unfathomable that she was underground. It just didn’t make any sense.

He glanced at the odd rock formation jutting up from the ground. There was a dark crevice running along its base, just big enough Nadzia might be able to fit. He sprinted to it, reached in and felt a cool breeze.

“Nadzia!” he hollered into crack.

Nadzia

She’d been hesitant to do anything as she sat with her back resting against the massive ostrich’s breast. There were other chicks roaming about and though Momma seemed to accept her, she didn’t want to anger one of the other birds. They could easily kill her with those hooked beaks and sharp claws. It was shocking Momma hadn’t inadvertently hurt her just carrying her back to the nest.

As she studied the chamber, it was evident this wasn’t a cavern either, but the ruins of an ancient building, long buried and forgotten.

Apparently not forgotten.She looked around at the flock that made it their home.

The ostriches were well suited to living underground with their bioluminescent feathers. But unlike cave animals back home, they weren’t blind.

They must surface somewhere,she reasoned.Why else would they have eyes?

Momma abruptly moved, startling her. She quickly shifted so she wasn’t smothered by a mass of feathers as the giant ostrich rolled and got to its feet. A trill call drew her attention to the approaching behemoth. The newcomer had a glowing feathery crest on its leathery head. Its big eyes focused on her and suddenly a giant beak was coming toward her. She pulled in a deep breath and braced herself. A warbling sound erupted from Momma, vibrating her big feathered body. The newcomer instantly stopped.

Oh thank God, she sighed.

Still she didn’t move, observing the way the trio of chicks and Tarsus hid behind Momma’s big feet. Instead of retracting its long, armored neck, the crested ostrich lowered its giant head, opened its beak and puked up an egg the size of a basketball.

“Ew.” She blanched as the bird rolled it toward Momma.

Momma trilled again, her feathers ruffling as she accepted the offering, nudging it into the confines of her fluff nest.

The moment the crested newcomer retreated, the three chicks scurried forward and started pecking at the egg. It was funny watching their long necks swing haphazardly at the sphere. Wisely Tarsus stayed back. Momma watched as the chicks made a valiant effort but were unsuccessful at breaking the egg. Eventually she nudged them away and with a precise whack, cracked the egg open. The chicks swarmed around the egg, lapping at the yolk as it spilled out. Even Tarsus couldn’t resist joining in, making happy little growling sounds as he licked. Momma blinked at her, much like Tarsus did, so she blinked back. The oversized ostrich then pushed a gooey piece of shell toward her.

“No. Thank you.” Nadzia pushed the piece back.

It was quickly snatched by one of the chicks and licked clean.

“Look at you,” she softly snorted when she saw the egg yolk covering Tarsus’ head.

She froze as Momma’s head descended on the kitten, its large beak gaping. Her breath burst out when the bird licked the kitten clean instead of gobbling him up. If she wasn’t so worried about getting out, she would’ve laughed at Tarsus’ disgruntled expression, his wet fur standing on end. Momma repeated the move, showing her chicks how to clean and preen themselves before settling again in the nest.

I guess lunch is over.She plopped onto a pile of down beside Momma.

Something poked her in the behind, making it impossible to get comfortable. She fished the hard object out of the fluff and was stunned to discover an ornate scrap of silver. The colorful enameled metal looked like a crushed cup or bowl. As she looked around the nest, she noticed other vibrant trinkets littered here and there.

“Nadzia!”

Her chin popped up as her name echoed through the chamber. She’d recognize that deep voice anywhere. She was on the verge of calling out when every ostrich shot to its feet, their feathers ruffling in agitation. Their response made her nervous and she clamped her mouth shut. Shouting back to Aculus probably wasn’t a smart plan. But his voice had to be coming from somewhere relatively close by.

“Come on, buddy. We gotta go,” she whispered as she scooped Tarsus up.

“Nadzia,” Aculus hollered again.