Maxine grumbled to herself as she browsed in a clothing store with Emily. She hadn't anticipated that she would've been talked into sticking around after their shopping spree for food and survival goods. She had wanted to leave after concocting the last of the nutritional potions, but Silky and Emily insisted that she not leave until the last possible moment. Maxine couldn't even blame them for insisting this. She was about to disappear for what they thought would be a considerable period of time.

Maxine didn't see a reason to deny Emily this small thing. However she didn't want to arrive after the Four Horned Kanzils did to that world. She wanted to beat them there by at least a week to find a couple places to hide in for when she needed heal from her wounds. Thus, she put one of her Shadow Wolves on her ship and sent it on it's way. She could quite literately warp herself onto the ship in an instant if she needed to and after three weeks, her ship had nearly reached the planet in question.

"So do you think this will look good on me?" Emily asked as she held up a red dress with a low cut V neckline against herself.

"I think everything looks good on you," Maxine answered truthfully.

"Flatterer," Emily answered with a smile, "Don't you want to pick something out?"

"Not really," Maxine answered, "I prefer to keep an eye on the love birds." Silky was trying out various dresses and asking Lanitherin's opinion. It was no surprise that most of the staff in the store quickly figured out that they were a couple. 

"Lan has definitely been more affectionate with Silky since he got your blessing," Emily commented, "I'm surprised Silky isn't trying on wedding dresses yet."

"Just give it a few minutes," Maxine said knowingly. Two minutes later, Silky came out of the dressing room wearing a wedding dress. She looked the part of a blushing bride. Lanitherin, on the other hand, was stunned to silence.

"She looks so beautiful," Emily said admiringly, "Please, tell me you're going to be there for their wedding."

"I plan to be," Maxine answered happily. Three years of constant combat should bring me up to gold stage, but that's assuming I can find something to catalyze my breakthrough to gold stage. It'll definitely be challenging, but I already have a few sets of the special medicinal herbs that has light and dark essence. It cost me five limb regrowth potions and fifty powerful healing potions to get it from the shadow elves, but it was worth it. Now I just have to find an herb suitable for my hydra bloodline, make sure it's compatible with my other medicinal herb, and a couple other auxillery herbs to finish up my breakthrough potion.  

"Good. It would break Silky's heart if you weren't there," Emily said.

"I know," Maxine answered, "I'm the one that raised her remember?"

"Not on your own," Emily corrected Maxine, "Still it's good to see she's found love."

"That it is," Maxine agreed as she looked at Lanitherin and Silky flirting. A smile spread across Maxine's lips, but it faltered when she felt a spiritual sense connect to her own. Strangely enough, she recognized it. It was Orianna's spiritual sense. That's impossible. She should be back at the Kavros clan with Maxwell. How is she able to contact me?

[Maxine?] Orianna's voice transmitted into her head.

[Orianna?! How the hell are you able to contact me?] Maxine asked.

[Yes! I knew it! I knew you weren't dead!] Orianna replied excitedly and after she calmed down, she continued, [Dad has some serious explaining to do, but never mind that. How are you?]

[I'm fine for the most part, but you still havn't answered my question,] Maxine replied.

[Oh, sorry about that. I'm just so happy to find out you're alive,] Orianna said cheerfully, [I'm coming towards a planet with a skilled alchemist on it. Grandma sent me with Elder Heathcliff to recruit her. I was able to sense you as we approached and after awhile I was able to contact you. Am I right in guessing that you're that alchemist?] 

[You guessed it,] Maxine confirmed Orianna's suspicion.

[That's amazing! I never had the patience to learn alchemy from dad,] Orianna admitted, [It's just involves too much memorization.]

[It can be a headache,] Maxine agreed.

[So, how are Emily and Silky doing?] Orianna asked.  

[They are both doing great. Silky even has a boyfriend,] Maxine answered happily.

[That's great! Does he know that she's an arachne?] Orianna asked.

"Who are you talking to?" Emily asked in english to avoid anyone from understanding her.

"Orianna. I need a few moments to talk to her. She's on the ship that's approaching us and is somehow able to contact me," Maxine answered and replied to Orianna, [Yes, he knows and he loves her for it.]

[I'm so happy for her,] Orianna said happily, [Is it okay if I tell Maxwell about this? I don't like keeping things from my husband.]

[Of course,] Maxine answered and did a double take, [Did you say husband? When did that happen?]

[June of last year,] Orianna answered, [Grandma wasn't happy when I insisted that the ceremony be on Earth, but I wanted Max's and our parents to be present for it. You should've seen Alice in her bride's maid gown. Purple is such a good color on her.]

[That sounds like it was amazing,] Maxine said honestly, [I'm bummed that I missed it.]

[Don't worry about it. I can just share the memory with you once I touch down,] Orianna said happily.

[That may be a problem,] Maxine cautioned, [I'm planning on leaving before you get here.]

[Why?] Orianna asked, [Dad took out all of the Shadow Lords involved with what happened to you.]

[No matter how thorough Daddy was about dealing with them, there could be a few that weren't openly with those bastards. I do not want to be caught unaware by them and used for their 'breeding' program,] Maxine said as she shuddered in disgust, [I really don't want to take that chance. Thus I'm going to hide until I'm gold stage.] 

[I understand. I don't want that to happen to you either,] Orianna agreed, but her tone was trembling, [What do you plan on doing with Emily and Silky? You're not leaving them on that world are you?]  

[I was planning on warping them to Earth, unless you want to give them a ride home,] Maxine answered.

[No, you go ahead. I doubt they want to take a month and a half trip back to Earth. The rooms on this ship are tiny. The room that I share with Max is barely big enough for a bunk bed,] Orianna complained.

[Say no more,] Maxine said and noticed Emily was glancing over Maxine's shoulder, [I better cut our conversation short. Something is bothering Emily. I need to find out what. Talk to you later.]

[Talk to you later, sis,] Orianna said before severing her spiritual sense connection. 

Maxine promptly looked over her shoulder and saw Hero Alec Ard waiting just outside of the clothing store. She sighed. This wasn't the first time he ambushed them outside of a store, but it would be the last. She had no more plans to go shopping since they were leaving this world tonight.

"I'll go see what he wants and I'll wait for you outside afterwards," Maxine said, "Just let me know if Silky buys that dress or not."

"Will do," Emily said happily.

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Maxine quickly headed out of the clothing store to see what Hero Alec Ard wanted, but as she got closer to Hero Alec Ard, she noticed that he wasn't looking at her. His gaze was scanning over the streets as if he was looking for anything out of place. This caused Maxine to feel a moment of pause. She had no idea what had him spooked like this, but the only way to find out was to ask.

As soon as she got close enough, Maxine asked him, "What has you so wound up?" Hero Alec Ard jumped slightly and looked relieved when he realized it was her.

"I know you're going to leave soon. There is no other reason for you to be stocking up on so much travel food. My father noticed this as well and he's going to get you to stay one way or another," Hero Alec Ard said while continuing to scan the surroundings, "I think it has something to do with a transmission we recieved recently. It very specifically singled you out as a person of interest to them from what we could translate." Just perfect. They're getting excited over a mistranslation.

"Oh, that? It's nothing," Maxine answered, "Those offworlders just want to recruit me to be an alchemist for their clan. I'm not interested in going there. At least, not for now."

"How the hell do you know that?" Hero Alec Ard asked, but he seemed to wave that thought away as he continued, "Regardless of how you know this, you need to leave the city as soon as you can. My father is planning on handing you over to avoid angering a race capable of interstellar space travel." 

"I'm not sure whether to call him pragmatic or cowardly," Maxine commented.

"How can you be so relaxed about this?" Hero Alec Ard.

"It's because I'm going to leave just before sunset on today," Maxine answered.

"That's not soon enough. My father is already gathering his personal force to detain you. They could be here within the hour," Hero Alec Ard warned her, "You need to leave now."

"You really think it's that bad?" Maxine asked. Although Maxine didn't like Hero Alec Ard, she understood that the man was besotted with her and as far as she could tell, he hadn't lied once to her during the entire time that he was trying to court her. 

"I would have a hard time getting away from these people on my own," Hero Alec Ard admitted, "You have your whole family to look after. If you don't leave now, you may not be able to later."

"Very well. I will leave as soon as my daughter is done with her shopping," Maxine said and she looked Hero Alec Ard in the eyes, "Thank you for warning me."

"Any time," Hero Alec Ard said with a loving expression on his face.   

"Mom, we're done shopping," Silky said in the next moment as she walked out with everyone else and paused as she saw Maxine and Hero Alec Ard, "What's going on?" In that instant, Maxine felt several people lock onto her. She felt no killing intent, but that didn't really make her feel any better. It seems Govenor Ard is making his move earlier than expected. Too bad those idiots don't know I can warp away with a thought.

"We are leaving. Now," Maxine said angrily and made sure everyone was in a shadow of some kind. With a mere snap of her fingers, Maxine used Shadow Step to bring Emily, Silky, Howard, Lanitherin, Illana, Nala and herself out of the city. They appeared on an empty piece of land where her ship used to be sitting. 

"I'm sorry about that Silky," Maxine said, "But a large group was coming towards us and I didn't want to stick around to find out their intentions."

"It's okay, mom. I knew we had to leave today anyways," Silky said understandingly and she blushed slightly as she added, "At least, Lanitherin got his wish that I get my wedding dress from this world."

"Oh? So is that why we went there?" Maxine asked with a great deal of interest, "I was under the impression that I had to make your wedding dress myself. At least, that's what Mikari told me."

"Mom, that's only if you're an arachne, so that rule doesn't apply to you. You at most have to buy it," Silky said firmly, "But honestly, you only know how to knit and you're not that good at it."

"Fair enough," Maxine chuckled.

"So what do we do now?" Emily asked.

"I could send all of you back to Earth," Maxine offered, "Are you okay with that Lan?"

"Yeah, I am," Lanitherin said, "Although I'm still wondering what is this chocolate Silky keeps raving about."

"Believe me you will find out shortly. I have no doubt that Silky will want to share some with you," Maxine said, "Everyone ready?"

"Yes, just send us already," Howard said in gruffly and Maxine smiled in response.

"Let me make sure that the exit point is clear," Maxine said as she focused on a Shadow Wolf inside of Claudia Levings' shadow. It was night and Claudia was sleeping soundly with a small brown-haired boy laying next to her. Wow, mom really looks a lot older now. I guess that little guy next to her is my adoptive brother. Cute little guy. I guess he had a nightmare or something if he's laying down next to her. I better warp Emily and the others away from the house to avoid waking those two up.

Maxine ordered her Shadow Wolf to leap from shadow to shadow until it reached the nearby park. It was the best place she could think of that would have plenty of open space. Once her Shadow Wolf was in position, Maxine looked at everyone one last time. They all looked sad.

Maxine walked up to Emily and shared one last kiss. "See you later," Maxine said sadly into Emily's ear and warped them to that park before ordering her Shadow Wolf to return to Claudia's shadow. She stared at the spot that they were at for a few more moments, but she didn't warp to her ship just yet. She had two things left to do before she did that.

Maxine searched for the link to Orianna in the air above her and connected to her via spiritual sense, [Are you still free to talk?]

[Yeah, what's up?] Orianna asked. However Maxine felt somewhat uncomfortable with what she was going to ask next, but she really needed to know how Patrick was doing. Regardless of anything else, she still saw him as her brother and she was worried about him.

[How's Patrick doing? Did he get married to Meagan yet?] Maxine asked.

[About that,] Orianna said uncomfortably, [He proposed to Meagan during banquet after my wedding. Meagan told him no.]

[Why?!] Maxine asked in bewilderment. She knew for a fact that Patrick and Meagan loved each other. It blew her mind to find out that they hadn't.

[I'm not completely sure as to why, but I think she said something about being unable to compete for a spot in his heart with a dead girl,] Orianna answered, [I can only assume that she was refering to you, but that's strange. I thought he hated you.]

[I did too until I heard he cried at my funeral,] Maxine replied.

[Well is there anything else you wanted to know?] Orianna asked.

[Yes, how is Sara, Amanda's daughter?] Maxine asked.

[She's beautiful, just like her mom,] Orianna said fondly, [The sweet little thing called me 'Auntie' and insisted I read a story book to her the last time I saw her.]

[I wish I could've been there,] Maxine said happily.

[I know, sis. You always did love being around kids,] Orianna said.

[That I do,] Maxine agreed, [Now I best head off. I have one last thing to do before I leave this world.]

[Talk to you later, Maxine. And don't be a stranger,] Orianna said as she sent Maxine her communication disk frequency before Maxine could severe their spiritual sense connection. 

Maxine extended out her spiritual sense and located her herb garden at her mansion. It was still intact, but she could sense several people rapidly approaching it. I have no doubt that they are coming to steal my things after I've apparently left. Fucking assholes. With a thought, she retrieved all of the herbs, root and all, using small portals of shadow and placed them into her dimensional ring. She had left just enough space left to put them into it. 

With that out of the way, Maxine transformed into her battleform to assess it before leaving. The first thing she noticed that her scales seemed to be thicker, but they didn't seem to impede her movement. She decided to test their durability and brought one her claws against it. 

She gradually applied force and stopped when she felt her claws puncture her scales. It had taken a third of her strength to penetrate them. Whereas just before she came to this world, it took only five percent of her strength. My scales have become tougher, but my bloodline didn't improve any during this time. So why did my scales get tougher? Could it be that juvenile hydras have softer scales to accomodate faster growth? I guess that sort of makes sense. If their scales are too tough, they won't stretch or be able to shed them as easily while they grow and it makes sense as to why my scales have always been so weak considering my bloodline. Afterall, hydras are a type of dragon. 

Maxine shook her head to dismiss her thoughts. It was more important that she get of off world than wonder why her scales were not as durable several years ago. With that in mind, she reached out to her Shadow Wolf on her ship and warped herself onto the bridge. 

The bridge was rather spartan in design. It had the pilots chair and a large instrument panel infront of it. There was a huge viewing screen above the instrument panel for manual piloting, but she didn't see much use for that aside from landing the ship. The main computer took care of everything else including combat, but if the need arose, she could take over manually. 

The world she was headed to was still a couple days away and she wanted to know as much as she could about it in the meantime. To get that information, she sat down in the pilot's chair and used a computer terminal to her right. After a few keystrokes, she brought up the information she wanted.

The ship's databanks didn't have much on that world, but what it did have surprised her. The Four Horned Kanzils have assaulted that world five times already in the past one hundred years and failed each time. The most recent attack was ten years ago and they sent nearly one million peak iron stage, ten thousand silver stage and four gold stage warriors to it. The reason they lost was because the inhabitants possessed a high level of technology in combination with powerful cultivators. 

Strangely though, she didn't find any reason for the Four Horned Kanzil to invade that world beyond stealing the technologies of the natives. There were other easier worlds to conquer with greater resources than this one. That was until she found out that every last single one of the local cultivators had a dragon bloodline. Although it didn't mention which bloodline that it was. Well, that explains it. The four horned kanzils want access to a dragon bloodline to bolster their forces, even if they don't know what it is. That just means they will be sending a lot more warriors to that world than what I previously expected, especially since they failed to conquer so many times. So I should expect there to be at least three to four times the last assaults numbers. On the upside, I have better defenses now, and unlike my other attempts to hide, I fully intend to go all out at that place. But if that four horned kanzil from before was any sign of how nasty they are, I will have my hands full with even the weakest of their gold stage experts and if more than one comes at me, I will have to flee. Now let's see if those bastards have any up-to-date geographical maps.