The next day I introduced the High Queen to Lilith. The demon lord was very polite and talked a lot about the mutual benefits of trade. Not only that, she pointed out that cooperation could further magic discoveries and would allow the Dominion to train people in hell.

Lilith was a great negotiator, even without her magic. Of course, she had to overcome a lot of preconceptions about hell and demons. It would take more than one meeting to fix that.

Meanwhile, I was finalising the preparations for my ritual. It was the reason why I had invited Maeve, after all. Lilith had organised a big tree, which was native to hell. It was called a brimstone oak. The bark was a mixture of orange and red while the leaves were yellow. It looked rather nice. The tree had been planted near the gate on the plaza, which was made from black stone. The roots were connected to the gate and the dryad network. The berries from the black forest would serve as a catalyst for the ritual.

What had started as a simple idea had certainly grown into something a lot larger. My grove would extend into hell. That in itself was huge, magically. But diplomatically? Lilith had allowed me to extend my power into hell, into the heart of her domain. There was a huge amount of trust there. It was also a statement on my part, that I took our alliance seriously. Any attack on Lilith's city would be an attack on my grove.

There was another aspect as well. I was creating a new dryad. Essentially, the ritual would create life. That was not something I had pondered too much, at first. Ash and the grove would take good care of her. I had also been assured that magically awakening a tree would result in a mature dryad.

I had asked Thessia a few questions about it, since she was an independent expert.

"What if the new dryad does not want to be here?" I asked, it was one of my major concerns.

"Dryads are bound to their tree, rooted in place. Wandering is not in our nature." She replied.

"Sure, but your trees can be moved." I pointed out.

"Certainly. But it does require outside help, usually. I understand that your nature is to wander. Ours is to stay. Even for me, moving is taxing. We are attached to the land. That you have managed to convince a grove to follow you is quite impressive, it is not the norm." Thessia replied.

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I scratched my hand. "They seemed quite eager to follow me. Although, I did bribe them with a demon lord corpse, I suppose."

Thessia smiled. "The promise of a strong home can be tempting. You offered them power, food, shelter,... We might be attached to our homes but we can be tempted with the offer of a better one. I doubt that anyone could bribe the new dryad with a better home." She paused for a moment before continuing: "You know, Sylphania is quite impressed with you. Despite your town and your train you have not lost your connection to nature. The grove, the naiads,... you are building a rather magical place."

"Uhhh…" I was not sure how to react to that. Having a goddess pleased with my actions was probably good. Especially since Imperius was certainly not pleased with me.

"Don't worry about your new dryad. She will likely be rather happy with her location." Thessia replied.

That made me wonder if the goddess of nature was influencing things. Maybe that was just paranoia. I had no idea how much power the gods actually had. But it made me feel better about the ritual. In the end, I would allow the dryad to leave, if she wanted to. But I was hoping she would love her place inside the grove.

The day of the ritual was a grand affair. It was also a day of heightened security, on both sides of the portal. Meluza and Maeve were our guests of honor. We had snacks, drinks and a comfy place to watch the show prepared for them.

The ritual itself would be powered by Lucy, Lilith and myself. I would provide the majority of spell slots but Lilith had offered to provide one as well. It was another big step in our cooperation and it would likely be beneficial, considering that we attempted to create a demonic dryad. Huge circles had been painted around the tree. I had used a special mixture which included some of the berries and blood from demonic beasts. Shani had been really excited about that part.

Most of my senior staff was here, except for Sandra and Minerva. Also the majority of the grove was still in the mortal realm. They were needed to ensure the security of my town during the ritual. Only Ash was here to welcome the new dryad.

I unleashed my aura, Lucy and Lilith joined me. Our powers mingled and I directed them into some lovely clouds and a light rain. Hopefully the new dryad would appreciate it. I tried to put a lot of love and warmth into it.

In my hand I held a big amethyst. It was a gem from my inventory. I engraved some runes into it and fueled it with the magic of the berries. Gems could hold mana, especially with a bit of enchanting. Tyrell, our smith, had helped with that.

I did not have a grand speech prepared, I just nodded to Lucy and Lilith and began feeding spell slots into the ritual. The circle lit up and the amethyst in my hand slowly dissolved into purple smoke. The smoke floated towards the tree and was absorbed into it.

"TODAY WE SHALL WITNESS THE BIRTH OF A NEW DRYAD!" Shani shouted. "TODAY THE STORM SHALL ENTER HELL!"

Lightning descended from the sky, hitting the tree. Not what I had intended, but I suppose lightning was my element. The tree started to change. The orange-red bark turned into a dark purple. The leaves slowly changed from yellow to pink, although a few yellow lines remained.

"BE BORN IN BLOOD!" Shani shouted and a giant red blob appeared. It burst into a shower of blood, which mixed with the warm rain. That had not been part of the script but I was not too surprised, it was Shani after all. The tree's roots drank greedily.

Suddenly the entire tree shuddered, then the outline of a woman formed on the bark. Slowly it took the shape of a dryad's body. Then it separated and fell down. The dryad's skin was purple, like the bark of her tree. Her eyes were golden and she had some pink leaves on her head. She stared at us, looking curious.

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