My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 240: Origin Of The Dryads

Over the next few days, Kace began to look forward to his talks with Lilly as he regained his strength. However, he was indeed shocked to learn that Lilly was Elderbeard's granddaughter. When he questioned how that was possible, he received an answer that he had never expected.

The Treant race created their offspring through pollination. Whether male or female they were each capable of producing fruits or flowers. The flowers would release the Treant's pollen into the air, which would be absorbed by any Treant's bark willing to accept it. Officially making them 'pregnant' regardless of gender.

The accepting Treant would then mix the DNA signature of the pollen with their own. Shaping what would be born from their combined seed however they wanted. Once that was decided, their body would bear fruit. When it was ripe, it would fall from their branches. Eventually, the seed carried inside the fruit would absorb its nutrients before taking root in the soil. 

This, in turn, allowed them to grow. Taking the shape of the Treant, they were destined to become. It usually took a Treant about a century of growth as a normal tree before they became sentient. Immediately gaining the memories of what had happened around them for all of that time due to the information stored by their bodies.

Every member of their race born this way immediately knew who their parents were. It just so happened that Lilly was the daughter of Elderbeard's son. There was something that bugged Kace about that. She obviously was not a Treant! Lilly had given him a sad smile when he questioned her about it and regretted asking when he found out the secret behind the Dryad race.

Apparently, when the heroes first arrived and began to cut down large swathes of forests, many Treants became enraged. They revealed themselves and tried to take out the invaders who were destroying their homes. However, for all the justice that was on their side, they failed. The original invaders were far stronger than the heroes who invaded the world today.

Eventually, a pair of Treants came up with a devilish plan. They decided the best way to counter the enemy was to use their own reproductive abilities to chip away at the enemies chances of reproducing. They studied humans for a long time, only to realise that the males were more consumed by their lust. So they were the perfect target.

With this goal in mind, the treats gave shape to a unique seed. One that would grow to take a form that would attract human men and stir their lust. Thus, the Dryads came into being. Their goal was simple, to lure human men into the forests with their charm and different scents before slaughtering them. For a time, it was extremely effective. 

When Lilly's father's domain was threatened, he created Lilly. However, when Elderbeard and other older Treants discovered they were using their offspring in such a way, they felt disgusted. A quiet rage bubbled in them as they marched against those who created the Dryads. It was a one-sided slaughter. The older a Treant got, the more powerful they became. The younger generation stood no chance at all.

Elderbeard killed his own son for his crimes. However, when the elders of their race beheld the Dryads, they felt the familial connection between them. They decided that they were descendants that needed their protection. Since then, Elderbeard had carefully guarded his granddaughter. She was his last living relative. This was where Lilly stopped her reminiscence of the history of her race. However, there was more to her story than that.

When Elderbeard had taken her in, he had hoped for a new generation to be born from his line. However, the Dryads could only procreate in the same way as humans. Meaning that they could only create children with other humanoid races. Elderbeard had given up hope for his granddaughter. The dryads never showed any interest in another race that was not human. 

For Elderbeard that was entirely out of the question! However, Kace became a rare opportunity for him. Lilly had shown an interest in him! Even though he was not human, he still held a small percentage of their DNA. This was an acceptable compromise for the old man. Which was the only reason he allowed for the two to meet.

Of course, he was running interference with Kace's other companions. Telling them that he had to be kept under a strictly controlled environment to recover. They could only complain since they had no idea what was actually wrong with him. None of them dared to interrupt his path to recovery!

So basically he was giving Lilly the chance to get know him without anyone interfering. If they developed a relationship, it would be beneficial to their race. Elderbeard was not using her as a hidden trap. Instead, he severely hoped for her happiness. It just happened that in this case, their union would bring a lot of benefits to the Treant race.

They would become related to the Chimera. Which would see them receiving many benefits once the war was over. It put a contender of their own into the mix against the vampire Sophia and the goblin Vaskra. It would help to build a sense of trust and a solid relationship between their race and Kace.

Sure it was a dirty trick, but all is fair in love and war. It just so happened that Elderbeard was willing to be as devious as he needed to be to make sure that Lilly won the war for Kace's love. Even now, as the council was meeting again, Elderbeard flashed a smirk at Shagrat. The Goblin King was extremely confused by this uncharacteristic gesture of the Treant.

'I've no idea what that was about, but I'm getting a bad feeling.' Shagrat felt a cold sweat run down his back. It took a few minutes for the strange feeling to dissipate, he was left with a cloudy feeling in his mind. Almost like a sixth sense, he suddenly knew that there was something important to take care of. He waved one of the attending goblin servants over, before whispering in his ear.

"Make sure Vaskra doesn't get into any trouble. Understand?"