Bloom

Dryad shivered as if she was cold, before raising one hand and pushing outwards towards the Elder of Metal. Pollen swirled out from her outstretched hand moving slow, yet arriving fast.

Within a second the Elder of Metal was gasping for breath as he fell to his knees.

Dryad pulled slightly on the connection between her and Tree to refill the Aura used to leap through the Void.

Flaring her Aura out, she flickered in front of the human that had dared to attack her Tree. A slender hand landed atop the Elder’s head before she spoke a single word, “Wither.” Like a dehydrated plant slowly dying in the heat, his body dried up within seconds. The delicious taste of Life swelled within Dryad’s throat, like wine on a parched mouth.

Tossing the corpse aside, Dryad eyeballed the remaining six mages. Their elements pulsed strongly from each of them. Matching memory to faces, from the Oak, she nodded to herself before flaring her Aura once more.

Seconds later, the apprentice of Metal was dead as well. Casting his corpse into the lava, Dryad stared across the bridge at the monsters on the other side.

She was so very, very, hungry.

Eyes flashing, Dryad flared her Aura once more, as she charged forward to hunt.

***

Vex followed the sense of kin she felt, and managed to enter the Library. It had taken a small amount of Charm in order to placate the young man following behind her.

“What do you mean we are lucky to have escaped? Isn’t the one you call a Dryad your friend?” Travis said as he followed her into the maze of shelves on the lower level of the Library.

Vex sighed, thinking how naïve this world must be, “Ancient Dryads were once more powerful than the Divinities. Primal Woods stretched across entire worlds, Groves dotted the universe like firelies, and World Trees were tended by the dryad’s servants, the elves. She might be my friend, yes, but I can sense she’s also hungry. Very. Hungry.” Vex glanced at her follower, “You don’t have to worry though, if your master is anything like you, he’ll be fine. Earth, Water, and Wind mages are extremely useful to Dryads.” Vex paused before muttering, “She’d probably extend a hand to a Fire mage too, what with Tree being that way…”

Travis shuddered, he could feel in her tone the inevitability of service. “What about Light and Dark element mages?” After all it wasn’t set in stone that the Elders would be servants, they still had the summoning ritual to work with.

Vex paused before continuing to weave her way through the shelves, “If they don’t piss her off…maybe…a Dryad doesn’t really have use for those elements. Unless you guys are talented enough to do something like Sunlight or Night. I’d doubt that though, since the method I saw for spellcasting was…atrocious. It’s not that this world is weak, rather, someone has limited the amount of training here. Almost as if…” Vex narrowed her eyes, as she saw a shadowy figure step out from the shelves ahead.

***

Dryad stood among the group of elite monsters that had previously been halfway across the bridge. Nothing living was within range anymore, except the human mages, and Tree.

Concentrating her Aura, Dryad fed the life-force she had just devoured along pathways in her body. Slowly tiny cracking noises began to sound throughout her current form.

Like a plant growing out of the seed’s shell, a new form emerged from her wooden body. Discarding the old husk into the lava nearby, she stretched. Her new form was taller, and much better designed! Taking a page from Vex’s book, she’d copied a few of the main points to assist in feeding later. A larger chest area, longer legs, tighter waist, lengthy blonde hair, and shimmering emerald eyes graced her new form. Even the skinwood that made up her body was a pale silver-white, glowing with healthy Life and Chaos swirls.

“It’s much easier to hunt in this type of form, unless Vex was lying to me.” Dryad said, as she moved back towards the human mages. Without the need to use Aura, her speed was much slower. Halfway across the bridge, Vex appeared at the cavern entrance with two figures behind her. One was the young man she’d previously abducted, and the second was gentleman dressed to the nines in a black pinstripe suit. The white shirt underneath the upper suit brazenly set off the single red rose on the left breast pocket. In contrast, Vex had switched to black one-piece toga, the contrast between the two demons was striking.

Raising one blonde eyebrow, Dryad waited for Vex arrive next to her, “Collecting?”

“Charity work. Have you noticed anything…strange about this world?” Vex said, her eyes displaying a sapphire gleam. As a succubus she could shift her form to whatever seemed best. When they had arrived she took a ‘neutral’ form of a long haired, blue eyed, non-wing or horn bearing mature lady. Her toga, which Dryad was almost certain was a weapon, rippled with an unseen wind.

Since it looked so nice, Dryad copied the toga style with her own twist in green. Without blinking, she using vines and moss that seemed to cloth her form almost instantly. The difference was in the tiny flowers she used to dot her apparel, they released an intoxicating scent that would lure prey more easily. Just like Vex, Dryad left key pieces open like the split down the sides to reveal legs, or the deep V to draw in male eyes. According to the demon, prey were easier to eat when their attention wasn’t focused on survival.

“The people are weak, the world is strong. Isn’t it usually the reverse?” Dryad responded to Vex, as they walked side by side towards the Elders.

“Exactly.”

“Do you think…it’s them?” Dryad said, worry crossing her face. Tree was in a weakened state now. If she had brought them to a world with Divinities who were ready and prepared for battle, she would never forgive herself.

“No.” Vex shook her head negative, “The cute little kid behind me has been here for centuries, if there were any Divines, he’d know about them.” She gestured to the new addition behind her. “Even with his specialty being…books, it would be hard to escape his eyes. Besides, do you really think those arrogant, divines, would be patient enough to allow one of my kind to remain unmolested?”

Dryad nodded at the logic. “The Oak from before also had no memories of them as well. This place must be…”

“…an unclaimed World.” Vex finished as they finally arrived in front of the remaining Elders of the Conclave of Guardians.

For a moment both sides stared at each other. Dryad watched to see if there was any hostility, while Vex surveyed the group searching for the leader. Both women exuded powerful auras that stifled any attempt to question them.

Finally, after a few tense moments passed, Garvon said, “Welcome to our humble world of Durant.”

Dryad zeroed in on Garvon as he moved to stand in front of the Elders and their apprentices. Clearly, this one was in charge, or close enough to it that it didn’t matter. “I am, Dryad.” She pointed at Vex, “This is Vex, a succubus.” Raising her finger, she pointed at Tree, “That’s my tree, Tree. I’m hungry, feed me.”

Vex covered her face with a palm before massaging her forehead and saying, “What kind of situation are you in?”

Garvon chose to focus on the inhumanly gorgeous demon, rather than the strange plant lady, “We were in the middle of a rite known as the Ritual of the Void. It has been used in the past to summon powerful entities that are able to solve the problems our human nations possess.” Watching the demoness start to frown he quickly said, “Currently the Barrier that the Oak maintained has failed, with this I estimate that millions of monsters similar to the ones…Lady Dryad…just massacred will flood the human nations. Without help, our people will be utterly destroyed…” he trailed off as he watched the two powerful women exchange glances.

“Servants?”

“Better than those traitorous elves, perhaps?”

“I want the cute ones.”

“I want the adorable ones.”

“Should we help?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

And so, Garvon watched as the fate of the entire human race on Durant was settled over a discussion about cuteness and hunger.