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@Rhi-Rhi !
The vaulted cave was dazzling. Carved initially by earth and water, it had subsequently been embellished by the dragons and their human riders. Columns of stalagmites and stalactites stretched across the large, gaping chamber as though they were intentional supports. The walls glittered with crystals. And the forms of dragons and men had been carved into the glistening marble. The cave had to look impressive, it had a very important role for the people and dragons of Adela: it held the eggs of dragons that would take riders.
There were three eggs in the chamber now. They were set into a nest woven out of gold and silver and gems and other things that dragons loved and men coveted. Steam channeled from deep within the mountain billowed around the eggs, keeping them warm and incubating while the mother dragon was away. The eggs were larger than a human head and each was different from the other. One was a deep, inky black with an oil-slick sheen on it that glistened in the dragonfire that lit the chamber. The second was a deep, emerald green. And the last was a pearly white-gold. Each was more beautiful than any gem.
Each was observed by the small, black eyes of a
yellow-thrated marten, perched on the edge of the nest and gazing down at the three jewels. Each beautiful. Each invaluable. Who could put a price on such a rare and beautiful - and powerful - gem?
Well, Flitch would see about that.
This was, monetarily and risk-wise, the biggest job Flitch had taken on. If she'd worked with someone else, they could have looted all three eggs, but Flitch didn't want to share this job. She rarely wanted to share her big jobs. It had, in a way, been easy enough to get in. Though security was high on this chamber, the intruders they were expecting were humans, other dragons, or other similarly large creatures. Penetrating such defenses as a marten, able to fit in and through passages the guards would never think they needed to keep an eye on, had not been particularly challenging. Though Flitch had made a few wrong turns and it had taken her awhile to successfully find this chamber.
And now she was in. It was just a matter of getting
out.She'd waited in the shadows for the mother dragon to leave and Flitch knew that time was of the essence now. But something made her pause. The
grandeur of it all was impressive and... reminiscent. With a hollow pang, images of her youth as a daughter of the Actaeon Czar's court. And, after he fell and she fled, this place brought to mind the solemn and august years of solitude, held and worshipped as a goddess. It hadn't been quite as opulent as this, but... The marten shook. That was a different life. That life was over. She'd left it.
The marten leapt down to the stone floor of the cave, and when it landed, the marten was replaced by a scruffy-looking woman dressed in worn, high brown leather boots, form-fitting trousers, and a similarly dusty and worn brown leather jacket over a plain cotton shirt. She produced from inside the jacket a silk-lined bag. She paused for just a moment over the eggs in a moment of indecision before slipping the bag over the emerald eggs. She lifted it carefully, then slung the bag over her shoulder.
Time to make her escape.
