The old dragon stared at her greatest treasure. An item she had been immensely lucky to find but had never really been able to use. Not because she didn’t know how to use it, but because it required far more energy than she could feasibly provide. The massive and ancient construct that was her greatest treasure needed a minimum of a hundred thousand mana a day to function, but it preferably wanted about five times that much mana. Given what it was designed to do, it came as little surprise that it would need large amounts of mana to function. Although she had found a few more economical functions of the device that required a lower daily input. The price was still steep though.

As for the device, it was an example of magical technology created by Marcus the Exile. A device he created for his hobby, and ultimately something she wanted to use for her own purposes. She had a vision, and this machine was the key to achieving it. Well in a reasonable timeframe that is. With it, she could cut down the time needed from centuries to a decade or two. The old dragon had been working on her plans steadily and had been making progress. Slow progress but it was still progress. Speaking of progress, some of her efforts had recently improved thanks to an increase in the mana flowing in the ley lines below her lair.

The village near her lair was rather isolated, and only got visitors once or twice a year. None of which ever noticed the changes because it was rather easy for her to hide things from mortal minds. Running a claw along the surface of an ancient activation console, she sighed. Reluctantly she turned away from her treasure and made for the entrance of her lair.

The village was conducting one of their rituals. It was almost planting time, and this ritual was a nature aligned blessing to the land. Meant for a more bountiful harvest, but the ritual had a few aspects that were long forgotten. Aspects she had been twisting for her own gain.

Reaching the entrance to her lair, she took wing. While simultaneously wrapping some mana around herself. To an outside observer, her body would have seemed to shimmer briefly before vanishing into thin air. In reality, she had simply cast a cloaking spell, that rendered her effectively invisible to the eye and also dampened the sound of her wings. Her spell was a high tiered multi-element stealth spell and was honestly one of her favorites.

She used it often when visiting the village, as it allowed her to move around in either form without attracting the suspicions of the local villages. A part of her then remembered Ivy one of the village girls, she used to visit. The girl had first caught her notice when she was four, although she had not actually shown herself to the girl until she was sixteen. Ivy had a lot of potential honestly, and it was a shame that she had freaked out after her class advancement. In hindsight, Zemoria felt that she had rushed the girl’s initiation too quickly and that was why she had freaked. It had just been so long since she had had a priestess that she had grown overly excited.

Reaching the village she dismissed her brief thoughts of Ivy and settled on a nearby hill to watch the ritual. The younger village women and girls were already gathering in the ritual circle. The spell formations had already been renewed and prepared the night before. Each girl stripped what little they were wearing, and began to paint spell formations on each other’s naked bodies. Not a single man could be seen, but that would be because none of the boys were participating in the ritual. They were out in the early fields getting the land ready for planting. A fact Zemoria was happy for, as she did not enjoy the ugly visage of most males. Which is why she had made sure they were so few here.

Below the last girl to be participating was stripping herself of her dress. She didn’t have much to hide given her age. She had just turned eight a few days ago, and this was her first time in the ritual. Her naked and already painted mother, was ready with the paint, and the moment she was naked she drew the symbols. Although she did remove a few of the ones she had on herself, like the one meant to invoke a blessing of fertility. It was well known that one was best not placed on a child. Zemoria had seen idiots do it, and the child often resented having it done to them later. Those symbols would cause an instant development of secondary characteristics in a child, but it also hindered further growth. Meaning after having that done to them, they would have a fertile body, but they would not grow any bigger than they already were. 

Zemoria dismissed those thoughts and waited patiently. It was not long before the last girl was painted and was taking her spot in the circle near her mother. With her in place and everyone ready, they began to sing. Ancient notes filled the air, and mana began to swirl in response to the first invocations of the group. Massive amounts of nature mana swirled into the air, but smaller amounts of other elements mixed in as well. Zemoria took that as her signal to start her own spell and began twisting the mana into the air changing its effects and adding a mental component. Below the girls began to dance, their movements slow and methodical at first, but suddenly they became rapid and sensual.

All around them magical light exploded into being creating a fantastic scene. Mana poured into the soil, and the trees grass and bushes exploded in vibrancy. Rapid growth surged in the plants, and the dancers continued to dance and sing. By now they were completely lost in the ritual, and she inserted her twisted spell into theirs. Their movements and song changed in response, but enchanted by the magic none of them noticed the effects. Nor would they think much of the changes afterward thanks to her mental component. As they continued to sing and dance their bodies began to change a bit as the magic took effect, and their connection to nature became so much stronger.

After awhile the dancers stopped singing and their movements slowed. The vibrant mana settled into a new pattern, and a jovial happy mood settled over the village girls. Not a single girl bothered to collect her clothes, as they filed away from the ritual circle and back into the village. A moment later, Zemoria turned away from the circle and flew back to her lair happy with her work. A part of her looking forward to admiring her greatest treasure again.