Tanith indeed returned that night, and when she did, it was with friends.
There were two others with her, an older bronze dragon, Erashki, that was an old comrade-in-arms of Tanith's, and a small, young green dragon, Yulya, that still lived in Tanith's old Thunderblacks clan. Yulya visited the human places sometimes, but she had no interest in human politics nor in fighting for them, and so she had never gone on to become a dragon knight as others had. Fighting, in general, just wasn't her thing, and unlike Tanith and Erashki, her hide remained unmarred as a result.
Both were dragons she had, in the past, laid with. She and Erashki in particular had had many a wild time, and she often sought her out when she needed some companionship. It hadn't surprised her at all when Erashki had been down for another wild time, though she hadn't expected Yulya to agree when she'd suggested it; she was always a little more shy, and as far as Tanith knew, she'd never done something like this.
Shy or not, though, it seemed she was down with a little adventure. She seemed a little nervous, but it was an excited nervous, too.
They landed at the entrance and transformed, Tanith with her curled ram's horns, silver hair, and olive skin; Erashki, taller and stronger than even Tanith, with her brown skin, bronze hair, and huge horns like a nyala; and Yulya, petite and slender, with pale skin, emerald hair, and two sets of thin, tiny horns. They were naked after their transformation, but just as with Tanith, it didn't bother them. They were always nude in dragon form, after all.
"This way!" Tanith told them as she strode off, leading the way for Stygia's trove, and following the her familiar scent.
