Early the next morning, the clone of Kone that Cain had summoned reported that she had found signs of a Dragon down a vent tunnel in the mountain that was far too small for any grown dragon to have fit through. Even with Su transformed into a petite Dryad, and Kone's own diminutive size, she was having problems fitting through some of the tighter sections of the tunnel, but her detection spell still showed that there was a Dragon of some sort up ahead.
"I will be right there. I can transform into something even smaller, and I will merge with you until we are through the tight spots, then let you lead the way again." Cain decided before sneaking out of the bedroom without waking the others.
If they were up, they would want to come along, and that would totally defeat the purpose, as well as requiring him to cast multiple transformation spells so that they all would fit through the tunnel.
When Cain arrived at the spot where he sensed his Summons, he almost missed the entrance to the side tunnel. The magma vent overhung the opening and was only visible from below, looking like a simple outcrop from the side or above.
It was surprising that they found it at all, but both of them had very good senses, so they might have detected the gentle breeze that Cain could feel coming from the tunnel. It smelled of fresh air and plants, so either it led up to the Caldera of the ancient volcano or it led outside of the mountain entirely.
If it led outside, they could be in for a long hunt, but Kone's senses said that there was still a Dragon somewhere nearby.
The dynamic duo was waiting for him in a small chamber, with an exit less than thirty centimeters across, which led into a twisting tunnel, which they had found impassible with their body size.
"Alright, ladies. I will pull you into a Merger but keep your detection spell active. Hopefully, we can find the egg that we are looking for." Cain told them before transforming into a copy of Luna in her natural Lamia Progenitor form.
Her body was as slender as his arm, and she was three meters long, making the navigation of a tunnel a simple matter for the snakelike body.
Cain rapidly slithered through the tunnels, keeping low and following both the tracking spell that said there was a dragon up ahead and the Reptilian sense for vibrations which told him that there was something moving less than fifty meters away in the direction that he was traveling.
When he reached the end of the tunnel, Cain found that a simple alarm barrier blocked the exit. It wouldn't stop him from advancing, but it would let anyone up ahead know that he was here. That might be bad news for the egg if it was in their possession, so Cain took the time to use Record Keeper's [Dispel] skill to remove the alarm before carefully sneaking into the darkened room.
A group of six human Cultivators was gathered around the smoldering remains of a fire, sleeping through the last of the evening, while a shimmering magical barrier blocked the far end of the chamber, where Cain could see the trees of a tropical forest blowing in the breeze.
The Ancient Dragon must have locked them in here when she put the barrier over the mountain, and it was only a coincidence that there was another way into the chamber from the back. Unless they could transform themselves, there was no way that they had come into the Chamber from the same direction that Cain had. Even as what was basically a snake with arms, he had found many of the sections to be a tight squeeze.
Cain focused on his Magic Sense, trying to spot the egg, which should be glowing with magical energy, but found only the humans and their belongings.
But after a closer inspection, there was an open scroll on the ground near one of them, and it gave off the sensation of a Dragon's presence, according to the Tracking Spell.
A careful application of the [Telekenesis] spell brought the scroll to his hands, and Cain found the prize. There were at least a dozen dragon eggs hidden inside the magical item, just waiting for someone to take them out.
It couldn't be stored in his inventory with living creatures in it, so Cain held it out in front of him and retreated from the chamber, back down the narrow tunnels until he was fifty meters away again, in the small chamber where he first transformed.
From here on, it would be easier to move, so Cain released Kone and Su to lead the way and scout for dangers while he put up an Arcane Barrier on the tunnel and followed behind them.
He would know if the barrier was attacked, but he wasn't expecting that to happen just yet. The humans were still asleep, including their watchman, so it would take some time before they realized that they had been robbed and begin hunting for their treasures.
They were back in the main chamber and almost ready to transform back into their natural forms when suddenly a Portal opened on Cain's left, smelling like the forest outside the mountain. Without hesitation, Cain thrust his spear into the portal, getting a pained scream back in response before the portal closed again.
"Run for the Ancient Dragon," Cain instructed Kone and transformed back into his Ancient form, flying as fast as he could with the scroll tucked under his armor.
They had made it up to the next level when Cain sensed another portal opening, back at the exact same spot where they had attacked the last one. The Cultivators must have marked it as a safe spot and could only portal to that location without risking ending up inside a rock face or a Dragon's nest.
When they made it to the main floor, they met with a group of Dragons flying their way in combat formation, ready to attack any intruders that they found.
"There are humans two levels down. They came in through a portal next to a hidden magma vent. One that overhangs the opening and has a narrow tunnel that leads outside the mountain." Cain told them, trying his best to describe the location.
"We know the one. Stay near the Matriarch until we have found the intruders." The patrol leader informed them without slowing their flight through the caverns.
When those humans were found, they were going to have a very, very bad day.
Cain flew up to the Matriarch, who was holding the scroll of names and glaring around the room, trying to get dragons to come forward to sign the sheet. The only ones brave enough to come near her at this point were dragons whose names had been recorded, so she wasn't getting far, and it was not helping her mood at all.
"Matriarch, we recovered a scroll full of Dragon Eggs from a group of humans hidden in a cave on the side of the mountain. Take a look and tell me if this is what you were looking for." Cain requested, handing over the scroll to the enormous Dragon.
One by one, she carefully pulled the eggs out of the scroll and placed them around the edge of her nest, but when it was finished, she only frowned and searched it over and over, not finding what she was looking for.
"Most of these were stolen from the nests of younger Dragons here in the mountain and some from nests in the forest outside, but none of them is mine." She sighed, then raised her voice to address every Dragon she could.
"Hear this. Humans have broken into our sacred mountain and stolen Eggs from our nests. The Ancient Cain has recovered fifteen stolen eggs, but mine was not among them. I will present a precious treasure to anyone who brings me a human from the mountain or the surrounding forest alive. I want my Egg found, and I will not let a single one of these thieves escape."
Her announcement brought a flurry of wings as the Dragons took flight, incensed that the humans would dare to steal their young from right under them, as well as all of Cain's disciples.
"How is your mind reading, Matriarch? I can read all of a person's thoughts, so if I lead them through questions, I can find out everything that they know about a topic quite easily." Cain suggested.
"I prefer to simply torture them until they tell me what I want to hear." The Black Dragon responded with a cruel chuckle.
Not many creatures would last a single hour if she were determined to make them talk. Black Dragons served the Goddess of Death, and she could torture their very souls if they refused to tell her what she wanted to know.
"You have humans in your group, and the Dragons are angry. It is best that you all stay right here so that you aren't mistaken for someone else and brought back for questioning." She decided, then curled back up on her nest and looked at the collection of eggs that Cain had brought back.
She was mentally contacting all of the dragons whose nests had been raided, including some who had been napping and hadn't even realized that an egg was missing yet. That concerned the Matriarch more than anything else. If the humans had gotten eggs out of a nest while the Mother was sleeping on top of them, they were very good at what they did.
They had better be just as good at fighting, though, or it wouldn't save them today. Not when the Dragons knew where their camp was and where they had entered the mountain.
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