Bolting down the passageway, I tried to hold my hand up and wave it back and forth as I looked at the walls to see if there were any other branches I could follow.
The passage veered off to the right, and upward. Soon I came into another big open area, but it wasn't as large as the one Dumadi had been in. Anthony zipped around it looking for another exit. The darkness made everything more complicated, and I wouldn't let myself think about what sort of creepy crawlies were probably being attracted to my light.
We were in another room with no exit. Either one was hidden, or we'd passed a different way out in the dark.
I screamed with frustration, throwing my glowing hands up in the air, and happened to look up as I did. There was a ledge, just above eye level, not five feet from me. “Anthony, look.”
He saw it and grinned. Dumping Dumadi on the ground with a thump, he crouched down then launched himself into the air, landing nimbly on his toes on the ledge. “I can't see very well,” he said. “But, this goes somewhere.” He hopped back down and picked Dumadi up, throwing him up onto the ledge.
“Can you jump?” he asked. “We've never tried that with you.”
“I have no idea,” I said. Crouching, I was about to give it my all when I heard the faintest whimper come from whatever was beyond the ledge. “Oh my God, did you hear that?”
“I'll bet I heard it better than you did,” he said with a relieved laugh. “That was my daughter.”
The sound of her voice gave me the strength I needed. I doused my flames and pushed off the ground as hard as I could, flying into the air without an ounce of grace.
I landed on Anthony, moving too fast to know how to catch myself.
He used some of that Supay strength and caught me, barely, so we didn't hit the ground.
I lit my hands again, feeling the drain from the flames.Not much longer now. You're almost there.Running forward, we weaved through a maze of passages, stopping whenever we heard Linna's sweet voice to reorient ourselves.
The problem was that caves echo, so more than once we were fooled and went in the wrong direction. Anthony's excellent hearing was helpful though, and we only lost our way a couple of times.
Finally, we entered a small room that was lit with more torches. Two little girls sat on cots, the older holding my baby.
I cried out, relieved and overwhelmed, and dropped to my knees in front of the girls. “Are you okay?” I asked, smiling at Linna. She fussed back at me.
“We're okay,” the younger girl said. “But I really gotta pee.”
“Okay, give me just a second, sweetheart,” I said, taking Linna from the other girl and clutching her to my chest, suddenly full of milk and aching.
In all my haste and the rushes of adrenaline I hadn't even considered my breasts since we arrived at the temple, but that had to be hours before. They were like rocks.
I handed Linna to Anthony, who had dumped Dumadi onto the empty cot. He kissed her and unswaddled her to make sure she was unhurt. She wore one heck of a soggy diaper. “What are your names?” he asked.
“I'm Hildr, and this is Herja. Do you know where our mommy is?” the older child said.
“We do, and we'll take you to her. I’m Anthony, and this is Riley. Are there any more diapers here?” Anthony asked.
Hildr helped Anthony find the diapers and change Linna, and I took Herja to the corner and squatted in front of her to give her some privacy so she could pee. I showed her how to squat and hold her panties out of the way.
“But Ms. Riley, how will I wipe?”
“Sweetie, you're gonna have to learn about drip-dry.”
I helped her bounce when she was done to knock off all the urine she could, then she waved her little butt in the air a little before pulling her panties and shorts back up.
“I can feed her as we find our way out,” I said. “Let's go.”
“Girls, did he leave any food in here? Are you hungry?”
“Yes, but we ate it all this morning. I tried to be brave, but I can't reach the torches and I couldn't leave them to go out into the dark. Herja wouldn't go out there,” Hildr said
“You did the right thing, Hildr. You would've gotten lost in this maze, and we wouldn't have found you. We're taking you to your mommy now, but it might be a long walk. Can you keep up with us?”
“We are Valkyrie. We will keep up.”
