"What the hell were you thinking?!" Emily roared angrily, "Your wounds havn't even fully healed yet and you want to go fight? Are you trying to kill yourself? I know you care about people, but you need to take care of yourself first. Weren't you aware that your clan had a couple dozen warriors enroute when you left?"

"They did? But why weren't they there to begin with?" Maxine asked, "And why didn't they tell the defenders that they were coming?"

"Maxine, they had just finished defeating another horde a few hundred miles away and were moments away from notifying the defenders when you arrived. You should know better than anyone that beast hordes never appear by themselves. More than thirty cities were attacked in the US alone and only a few of them had easily defensible locations. The Kavros Clan just didn't have the manpower to defend them all at the same time," Emily explained, "Just ask Lisa, your bodyguard, if you don't believe me." Jesus! Thirty cities at once! That's more beast hordes at one time than had ever appeared in the previous timeline. The timeline has definitely diverged way more than it should have. Maybe it's because there are more cultivators now and it's ramping up the rate at which essence beasts are appearing. Hell, those things might be breeding like rabbits for all I know. 

"She has spoken the truth, young miss. I would have told you that had you not knocked me out," Lisa, the bodyguard whom she knocked out earlier, said with more than a little anger in her voice.

"What about Maxwell's family and the families of his team mates?" Maxine asked, "He is the only man that makes my sister happy. If he falls into dispair because his family dies, my sister will become unstable. I couldn't risk that happening."

"They were the first to be evacuated," Lisa answered, "We may not have had enough people to defend that city, but we were able to move those people to safety."

Maxine quickly deflated since she lost alot of her ammunition to justify her actions. Unfortunately, her bruised ribs decided now was a good time to protest in pain and she nearly fell down as she groaned in pain while craddling them.

"Damn it. I was worried you may have aggrivated your injuries," Emily said angrily as she rushed to Maxine's side and gave Maxine a look of disbelief after checking her ribs, "Really? Are you trying to maim yourself? Because adding injuries on top of previous ones will do just that."

"I'm sorry, Emily. I just didn't want to loose them again," Maxine answered without thinking and immediately regretted it. Lisa wasn't in the loop about her fused soul. Not to mention, she had yet to fully explain it to Emily.

"Who did you think you were going to loose?" Emily asked in confusion and her face shifted to one of realization, "Oh! I see. Just get out of that equipment and back in your medical pod. I will treat your wounds afterwards" 

"What just happened? I wanted to know who young miss was afraid to loose as well," Lisa said in confusion.

"Ask grandma. I don't want to talk about it right now," Maxine answered since she didn't want to explain anything.

Maxine transfered her training leathers back to her dimensional pouch and laid back down in her medical pod while trying not to wince at her bruised ribs. Emily didn't waste any time and began healing Maxine's ribs as soon as she laid down. 

A cool, soothing sensation suffused her ribs and dulled Maxine's pain. But it didn't remove it. She knew that Emily wasn't quite skilled enough to fully heal injuries.

While Maxine was laying there, she overheard Lisa ask Emily a few questions, "By the way, do you know who Maxine's beloved is? I know he has a protective detail, but I'm not sure who he is. It's just that some of us want to take his measure. We don't want our young miss to be paired with a weak man." Maxine nearly laughed at those questions, but was confused more than anything else.  

"Didn't grandma tell you?" Maxine asked before Emily could answer.

"No, the matriarch didn't. She seemed almost embarressed about it the whole thing. Which lead me to believe that he is either weak or hideous," Lisa answered and that seemed to make her realize something, "By the maker, don't tell me it's that disgusting fish-faced man?" Seriously? She thinks I'm attracted to Jack of all people. 

"That's rather mean to refer to one of the smartest men I know as fish-faced," Maxine answered, "But sadly, your description isn't wrong."

"Then who is it?" Lisa asked.

Maxine looked to Emily and smiled before she answered, "My beloved is a very skilled healer and she is a very kind person."

"So does he ply his trade here?" Lisa asked. Maxine and Emily looked at each other for a moment as if they couldn't believe Lisa was this dense. 

"I'm Maxine's beloved," Emily said it directly to remove all doubt. 

"Stop joking around," Lisa said with an amused smile on her face, "Tell me who he really is."

"I'm serious," Emily said with a straight face.

"But you're a girl," Lisa said as if that explained it.

"I'm aware of that," Emily answered with a slight smirk at Lisa's growing confusion, "It's not uncommon on Earth for there to be same sex couples." Lisa's expression became more and more bewildered and her face started turning beet red. A few moments later, she covered her face and ran out of the hospital room.

"I think you toppled her understanding of the world, Emily," Maxine commented, "Normally, I'm the one that does that."

"Shush," Emily said as she put her finger over Maxine's lips, "I recall you saying something about wanting a baby after the war with the Divine Marks clan was over."

"I did say that didn't I," Maxine replied and a perverted grin spread across her lips, "Why do you ask? Want to make that baby now?"

"No, I don't actually," Emily answered while blushing. 

"Then why bring it up?" Maxine asked in confusion.

"Because I think it's the only way I will ever stop you from charging into battle," Emily growled at Maxine, "Why can't you for once leave the fighting to someone else?!"

"I don't know why I charge into battle most of the time," Maxine answered, "I just feel the urge to protect others and do it."

"That needs to change," Emily stated, "Because eventaully, you will end up fighting someone that you can't beat and will get yourself killed."

"I... I know," Maxine admitted, "But how am I going to avoid fighting if the fight comes to me?"

"Let your bodyguards deal with it. That's what they're there for," Emily answered. 

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

[If she was the kind of person to let others fight, would you have fallen for her in the first place?] Guan asked, [Because those are the actions of a coward and we both know Maxine is not a coward. She is a noble warrior that fights valiantly to protect life.]

[I know that!] Emily snapped, [I just don't want her to die!]

[I know and I understand those feelings. But if you let others fight for her, her skills will become dull and when she needs to defend herself, she will lack many of the skills she needs to do that. So, stopping her from fighting will not keep her safe from danger. If anything, it will invite it because they will know that she is easy prey,] Guan advised, [I learned this too late after Hellen had died. I didn't want her to come to harm and insisted that she stayed out of combat. In doing so, she forgot much of her fighting skills. It was my fault that my beloved wife died. Learn from my mistake and be better.]

[I never blamed you for that,] Hellen said.

[You didn't have to. I blamed myself,] Guan said sadly.

[Oh, Guan,] Hellen said before the spiritual connection was severed.

"Uhhh, so now what?" Maxine asked.

"I don't know anymore," Emily said in defeat.

"I will try to be more careful," Maxine offered, "But if I see a fight that will be lost without me, I will charge in to help."

"I know that, but it doesn't mean I have to like it," Emily said angrily, "And when we finally do have that baby, no fighting while your pregnant. At all. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Maxine said while smiling.

"Good," Emily said with a smile, "Now get some rest. I will let Neesa know about your new injuries. By the way, she is now in charge of your protection detail. Lisa proved that she isn't up to the task when she failed to stop you earlier." 

"I would prefer someone I know to protect me anyways," Maxine commented as Emily left the room.

Maxine got comfortable in her medical pod and reached for a sheet when she heard the shifting of feet. She looked torwards the noise, but nothing was there. She looked for any tell tale signs that someone was standing there while using a cloaking technique, but found nothing. I'm just being paranoid.

She picked up the sheet and covered herself with it. She noticed there was a note on a bedside table and picked it up. It had no indication of who it was from. It only had her name on it and opened it up to see who sent it to her. She was dumbfounded by what she read.

"Please, convince Guan to give Nora the mercy of death. She has suffered enough after the death of our son, Adam, and being exiled from my clan. I can't even imagine what Guan is doing to her now. I know what I'm asking is difficult. She tried to kill you more than once. But I still love her and can't bear the thought of her suffering any longer. Do this and I shall be forever in your debt, Magnus Marks," is what was written. She had expected him to plea for his wife's release, not her death. But Nora is already dead. Hellen asked Guan to kill her yesterday as a form of mercy and now her corpse is rotting outside of the cave. Giving Magnus Marks a bit of closure would be as simple as having Guan send Nora's body to him and it doesn't cost me much to do it.

Maxine checked on Hellen and Guan in the shadow world and found both of them sitting down up against the cave walls. Hellen's head was leaning onto Guan's shoulder. She appeared to be resting. 

Maxine carefully exteneded her spiritual sense to talk to Guan, [Daddy, do you have a moment?]

[Yes, I do. What is it?] Guan asked.

[Could you send Nora's body to the Divine Marks clan?] Maxine asked.

[I could, but why should I? Her clan disowned her. There is no point to it,] Guan answered, but was swiftly swatted upside the head by Hellen.

"Do it. Magnus clearly contacted Maxine and he wants to bury his wife. You would want to do the same thing were you in his position. You and I both know he only divorced her to protect their child and clan," Hellen told Guan.

"Very well," Guan said.

[Thanks, dad,] Maxine said to Guan.

[Don't thank me. Thank your mother,] Guan said, [Oh, before you leave, I wanted you to know I spotted a few Shadow Lords observing 'your' village. They seemed particularly interested in the medicinal garden.] 

[Shit,] Maxine cursed before calming down, [Thanks for letting me know. Now I need to find a new place to hide at if things go bad.]

[I can help with that,] Guan answered, [I have a few warp stones that can teleport you to several different worlds. I got them when I was doing some research on which world would be the best one to hide you on. Any of those worlds would be a good place to hide for you.]

[And how many of these places can I easily blend into?] Maxine asked.

[Three and all of them are as much out of the way as Earth is,] Guan answered.

[Well what are my choices then?] Maxine asked.

[Karos Two is very close to Earth technologically and has naturally occuring mana, ki and essence on it. However it's rather strange culture. They call cultivators on that world 'heroes' of all things. Zanatel Four on the other hand has only mana and those that cultivate it are hunted down almost religiously by it's inhabitants. As for their technological level, they just developed propeller planes in the last ten years. And last, Arnok is a world I found rather charming. It reminds me of my childhood home. It's a very primitive world that has just mastered the forging of iron and most of their nobility live in stone castles,] Guan explained, [So, which one do you favor?] There is a world where cultivators are called Heros? A juvenile part of me wants to go there, but I know it's not a good idea. Or is it? By now, the Shadow Lords would have figured out my behavioral patterns by now. Going to Karos Two would be indulgent in a way and out of character for me. Hmm, it might be a good idea to use that place as my primary hiding spot and use Zanatel Four as my secondary one.

[Zanatel Four and Karos Two,] Maxine answered.

[Interesting choices,] Guan commented, [Care to share your reasoning for picking those two?]

[Karos Two is a destination completely out of character place for me to hide at. It would be the very last place they would look for me,] Maxine answered, [As for Zanatel Four, there are very few people that would willingly go to a world where they would be hunted down just for being a cultivator. On the plus side even if the locals discover that I'm a cultivator, they would find it very difficult to even wound me with their level of technology. So both choices are actually quite good ones.] 

[Excellent deductions, I'm glad that you are as smart as your mother said you were,] Guan praised Maxine.

[Mom's been around me more, so she would know,] Maxine said.

[That she would,] Guan replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, [I will get those warp stones to you shortly. I need to make your mother something to eat.]

[Alright, daddy. I will leave you to it,] Maxine said before she cut off her spiritual sense connection.

She wasn't happy that the Shadow Lords discovered the village in the shadow world, but there was no changing it now. And she really didn't like having to rely on Guan, but unfortunately in this situation, she didn't have much of a choice. She just hoped that she would never have to use his warp stone. 

The only reason she would use the warp stone is if she was the Shadow Queen that the Shadow Lords were looking for. She wasn't a big fan of them to begin with and was definitely not going to help them summon their ancestor. She just hoped that if and when they decide that she is this Shadow Queen that she wasn't pregnant at the time. It would make matters difficult if Guan's notes were accurate. Pregnant cultivators couldn't exert even half of their full strength during pregnancy except in rare situations and as another demerit to pregnancy, just before giving birth their strength would be down to one percent of their full strength. It will take me a couple years to bring my mana core up to the same level of strength as my others. So as long as I have my baby soon, I shouldn't have to deal with the Shadow Lords' test while I'm pregnant, but that's assuming Emily agrees to have a baby with me in the next couple years.

Maxine knew that rest was what she needed most right now to heal up and closed her eyes before shifting her focus back to her main body. Orianna was putting on a light layer of cosmetics on her face for a dinner date with Maxwell. This would be the first time she will be going into the city.

"Are you sure that you want to go out to the city for your date, Orianna?" Maxine asked for the fifth time today,

"Yes, I'm sure," Orianna answered firmly, "I know you are worried about me, but I will have Maxwell with me."

"Alright. But if it gets too much, just give the signal the raven I left in your shadow and I will make a portal home for you," Maxine reminded Orianna. 

"Thanks for the reminder," Orianna said as she put the finishing touches on her dress, "How do I look?" Orianna stood up and spun around. She was wearing one of Maxine's green dresses with a few red ribbons tied into bows in her hair.

"Like a knockout," Maxine answered honestly, "If Maxwell doesn't agree, he deserves a good hit upside the head." Orianna giggled softly and a knock on the door drew their attention. "It seems your date is here," Maxine said as she gestured to the door, "Have fun."

"I'll try," Orianna said happily as she exited the room and gently took Maxwell's arm when it was offered. Maxine closed the door behind them and resisted the urge to snoop on them. Orianna needed to know that she could trust Maxine not to spy on her. 

After taking a deep breath, Maxine walked to the huge bed and laid down. She felt exhausted both physically and mentally. She just wanted to rest if only for a day, but she didn't have that luxury. At most, she could take a nap for a couple hours while Orianna was out on her date. She didn't have anything pressing at the moment to take care of.

After releasing one last sigh of frustration, Maxine closed her eyes and attempted to get some sleep.