Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 410: A Different Trail ()

"And so if I were the dwarf king, I would send out multiple groups of smaller sizes through different routes over a period of time." Neveah explained.

"But the inner citadel is so well hidden that there is sure to be only a few entry and exit points, otherwise it could long have been discovered and would not have earned the name ’hidden city’."

"The question is, how can one send out multiple supply teams through different routes if there are only a few entry and exit points?" Neveah asked aloud.

"Did I ever mention how I got out of this hidden city or why I believed I was being held in the hidden city and not some regular outpost?" Neveah asked again.

"I did not see anything much other than the cells in which I was held. But in the circumstances through which I escaped, I was stuck in a tunnel, having to find my way out for what I would imagine were a few days at the least." Neveah recalled.

Neveah pointed at a spot on the map.

"All along, the hidden city has never changed locations. If my guess is right and measuring the time it took to turn up at the Fodder Grooves, it should be somewhere around this region." Neveah said with certainty, circling a large area.

"But I know you had already guessed that much. Considering it is a large city, we can assume it covers a vast expanse." Neveah said, marking out some points.

"Now, here it goes. The tunnels I went through are underground and should be the only entrance and exit points of the inner citadel. If there was an entry point on surface level, it would already have been discovered."

"And while the dwarves surely cannot change the location of an entire city as it would be logically impossible to move even with magic, especially being underground."

"There is something else that they can easily change but would seemingly give the illusion that the city was not where it had been initially." Neveah asserted.

"The tunnels, they can change the layout of the tunnels." Menarx realized.

"Tunnels by themselves are like unending mazes, it is already difficult enough to find a way out, now if those paths were easily moved?"

"The tunnel can be considered a death trap for all who venture in...then comes the ’no one has lived to tell the tale’ part of the hidden city’s many myths." Neveah continued with a nod.

"My point is, the entry and exit points of the inner citadel are also the same, they are all outlets of the tunnel, it is only that they can be moved, hence the routes to them would also change."

"Which brings us back to how the dwarf king would be able to send out multiple groups through different routes out of a few entry points. He will keep moving the tunnels and so the supply team through the route today...?" Neveah left the question hanging.

"They will be the only team to go through that route and if we had trailed them, the dwarf king would restructure the tunnels at the slightest suspicion, he would not hesitate even if the entire supply team dies with us, we will all get stuck in the tunnels." Lodenworth finally caught up with Neveah’s reasoning.

"The dwarf king is cruel and selfish, using a few supply teams as decoy to take down a few dragon lords is not a bad bargain to him."

"Given that a tunnel is a death trap for a dragon, it is impossible to change forms in there, I will not have anyone rushing into any danger if it can be avoided." Neveah said seriously.

"What can we do then? If this is just the first supply team, many more will go past different routes in the coming days." Lodenworth asked.

"That is precisely what we want. They will lead us right to them." Neveah said.

"How? We cannot trail them." Lodenworth was still uncertain.

"There are many ways to tracking than just doing mindless legwork, Lord Lodenworth. We are surely going to trail them, only with a different approach." Neveah assured.

"This hidden city, we will smoke it out in two different ways...if one gives no yield, the other is sure to."

"From now on, we have a different mission entirely and for that, I will need answers to this question within the hour. What would dwarves usually purchase on a supply run?" Neveah asked.

Menarx and Lodenworth exchanged looks uncertainly.

"Food supplies? Explosives?" Lodenworth asked and Neveah passed him a glare.

"They are dwarves, Lodenworth. Not arsonists." Neveah deadpanned.

Lodenworth shrugged sheepishly and Neveah sighed in exasperation.

"You dragons truly know close to nothing about your enemies do you? And I do not mean their political situation or size of their army? I mean the little... easily passable things like preferences."

"It would be silly of me to expect any of you to think like a dwarf would... I guess knowing your enemies being an important battle tactic does not hold much ground when you breathe fire." Neveah realized with a shake of her head.

"If you all even bother with tactics instead of jumping headfirst into danger believing you are indestructible." Neveah continued.

"Veah...we are close to being indestructible." Menarx pointed out teasingly.

"Tell that to the mines of adamantium at the ready down in the hidden city. No Narx...your kind is strong, excellently so, but you are not anywhere near being indestructible."

"But on my watch, you will be. Heaven knows I will not cry over you a second time, I’d sooner kill you myself. " Neveah made clear.

Menarx chuckled in amusement while Lodenworth just stared at Neveah in baffled horror.

"Lodenworth, send word to the keep. I want Mor’rud of the academy sent out here with immediate effect, if I cannot get dragons to think like dwarves for even a second, I will get myself an actual dwarf." Neveah decided.

"Right away." Lodenworth said with a nod.

"What will you do when you find that out?" Menarx asked.

"Then I will ask another question. Where would the dwarves procure their supplies?" Neveah murmured, her attention fixed on the map.

"And if you get the answer to that?" Lodenworth asked.

"Anything a dwarf supply team is likely to purchase must go through our hands first, that is what comes next. We forget that not only the dwarves go into the citadel, they bring with them goods from all parts of the world."

"While it would be a risk to track the dwarves themselves without being noticed... supplies are a different thing entirely. They are easily ignored, nothing to be cautious of but they will be our trail."

"Poison is not the only way to turn food into a weapon, with little alterations, it could become our eyes...every route they pass, every room they are delivered, every table they touch, every hand... I will know it all."

"And with them... that map of the hidden city that does not exist, I will draw you one. A perfect layout of the city that never saw the sky." Neveah said, a smirk settling on her lips.