Izanami led us to a dining room. It was not as big or impressive as you would expect from a palace. No, it felt homey. The table had seating for ten and three servants were busy filling it with food and drink. She must have sent a mental command to have something prepared while we were walking.

  “I have sent word to your companions. They can join us, if they wish.” She said.

  “Who would not want free food?” Lucy asked.

  “Shani. She is probably trying to convince someone to go and slaughter something.” I replied.

  Izanami smiled. “Storm elementals do have a rather unique personality. But I think she will find some kindred spirits among the hunters. And certainly a dryad or two who shares her love for blood.”

  We sat down and I inspected the food. We had a plate with barbecued meat. Some of it was still attached to the bone but I could not identify the creature it came from. There was also a large assortment of vegetables. Something that looked like corn, but it was purple. There were carrots with red veins. Potatoes with orange glowing parts. Rice that was black with red lines on it.

  I had no idea what any of it was, so I simply had to try everything. I grinned and started filling my plate. First I tried some meat. It was juicy and really flavourful.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “It’s a blue stag. They can channel lightning with their horns.” Izanami replied.

  Lucy tried a bite as well. “Oh, this is nice! There is something special to the taste as well…”

  Izanami nodded. “If they are hunted and butchered properly they retain some of their mana. It gives them a unique flavour.”

  I was not aware that lightning had a taste. But I liked it. Maybe she was serving this because of our element? Did it taste better if you shared the affinity? It didn't really matter, it was delicious.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  While we were eating Lilith arrived.

  “Greetings…” She started, then stopped as she saw Lucy’s tails. After a short moment of staring she said: “Congratulations, Lucy. Your progress is remarkable.”

  “Oh? Have you known each other for long?” Izanami asked.

  “No. They summoned me not too long ago. It was in Mountainheart. Lucy grew her second tail during the battle right after my summoning, right?” Lilith asked.

  “Yeah. I got really angry when they attacked the palace. My family was there.” Lucy confirmed.

  “You went from one to three tails in less than half a year?” Izanami asked, looking surprised.

  “I blame Amaya.” Lucy said, then she grabbed a piece of meat and bit into it. She was holding it by the bone. It looked like a tomahawk steak.

  Izanami looked at me, questioningly.

  I shrugged. “I simply attract interesting people. Like Lucy, or Shani. Actually, speaking of interesting people: What is your connection to dryads? And to Sylphania? Do you worship any gods?”

  Izanami did not immediately answer. She seemed to consider her words first. “Sylphania is worshiped among some of my followers. I do not worship any god or goddess myself. I do not need their power but I can see why some choose to serve them. As for dryads, they are creatures of the forest. My power resonates with them, it can empower them. Many of them come here to serve me.”

  I wondered how well dryads would work as spies. Hiding inside a tree would be great. You could plant them in parks, near important roads… But they were stationary. Moving Thessia’s tree had not been easy. If they were discovered they had no way to escape. How easy would it be to hide a dryad?

  “Do dryad trees produce fruit?” Lucy asked.

  “Some of them do. There are different kinds of dryads.” Izanami answered.

  “We should recruit some for our county.” Lucy suggested.

  “That is not a bad idea.” I agreed. “We will have to see what we have to work with. How the soil is, the weather... Actually, we are near the black forest. Maybe we can use dryads to ensure monsters don’t enter our county. If we can get dryads with fruit trees the monster might even flavour the fruits.”

  I bit into one of the potatoes. The orange stuff tasted a bit like a spicy curry. They had potatoes with curry flavour. How nice. I wondered what sort of fruits you could grow.

  “I can point you towards some unaligned dryads. If your offer is good enough they might follow you. But I have no idea if they produce any fruit.” Izanami offered.

  “Thank you, that would be very helpful.” I replied. Of course, were they really unaligned? Or would she point us towards some spies? And what could I offer a bunch of dryads? They would not work for free.

  “So are you truly considering settling down? Or is this county just a base to expand your power and influence?” Izanami asked.

  I pondered that. It was a good question. “I am not sure. I want to build something but I also enjoy travelling.”

  Izanami nodded. “It’s the nature of the storm. I have often contemplated travelling but I do enjoy staying in one place.”

  Hm. Did my element influence my personality? I was not born that way. Once I was a human. How much had my personality changed? Did it actually change, or was the power just allowing me to be a different person? I suppose it did not really matter. I liked who I was.