It had taken Maxine the whole day and part of the night to run most of the way back to the city while remaining undetected since she cut her speed in half since she had reverted to her shadow queen form and while she ran, she discovered something that made her feel horrible. Her cultivation had jumped two ranks making her silver stage rank six. She concluded that it was due to devouring four gold stage essence cores of various ranks and oddly, it hadn't made her foundation unstable. She could only guess that it was due to the unique way that her full-hydra form processed the energies into her cores. It made her slightly tempted to unleash this form to rapidly increase her cultivation by eating a large number of beasts, but when she remembered eating those four-horned kanzil's alive, she quickly dismissed that idea as her nausea began to rise again. Since she couldn't control herself when she was in that form, very little would be able to stop her from eating people. In any case, just the thought of eating any kind of meat made her feel sick to her stomach. If it wasn't necessary to maintain her health, she wouldn't eat any at all for a good while. I definitely need to talk to Madam Neshan after I leave this world. 

She just reached the area where the four-horned kanzils were eating children, but found that all of the bodies had been removed. She didn't even detect any four-horned kanzils within one hundred miles either. But something was still bugging her. There hadn't been a single search party looking for her. Decaan, at the very least, would've insisted on it.

Maxine searched the city with her spiritual sense and was a little surprised at what she found. They were celebrating. Many young women were dancing around draconic warriors, but Maxine felt some surprise when she noticed that several of them were wearing false pointed ears. I don't think I'm that popular. Is this another cultural thing that they do after winning a battle? I will figure that out later if I have time. Now where is Decaan? Oh, he's near the center of the excitement and Cassandra and his uncle are with him. It looks they are arguing.

"... resources looking for her," General Detar said to Decaan.

"She's proven that she isn't a threat to us by helping us during that battle," Decaan reasoned, "Doubly so since she didn't charge at us when she changed into that thing."

"I've heard this arguement already," General Detar retorted calmly, "It still won't change the kind of resources we can spare. You don't even know if she is still alive and that she's in control of herself."

"Can you at least spare a man or two to monitor the cameras I set up around her den?" Decaan asked.

"I can if the general will not," Cassandra said, "She saved a life and we owe her a life. The least we can do is make sure she is alright." 

"I see you two have already have it worked out. Why am I even here?" General Detar asked grumpily before turning around and vanishing into the crowds to enjoy the celebration. Well, that solves that problem. I just need to turn back into my battleform and revert to my shadow queen form on camera. I really don't like that plan, but I don't have many other options when it comes to places to hide while I wait for my hydra bloodline to calm down.

After the general left, Decaan asked Cassandra, "Did she really speak that clearly?"

"I'm still having a hard time believing it myself," Cassandra said, "Still, I could just be remembering it wrong."

"I doubt that. It's been proven countless times that draconic warriors have far superior memory compared to normal people. It's one of the reasons I wanted to become one," Decaan said, "By the way, when are you going to assign those men? The sooner it happens, the better. She could have snuck back into her den already."

"Fine, fine. I will make the call," Cassandra said as she walked off, "But you better share a drink with me after." Nice, she's finally on the offensive in the romantic department. Anyways, it will be at least an hour, probably more, before they get someone monitoring those cameras, but they should have them recording video at the very least. 

Maxine swiftly disengaged her spiritual sense from the city and began searching her surroundings. She was looking for the remains of the clothes she was wearing earlier. She found them, but there wasn't a strip of cloth wider than her thumb. Well, trying to wear that is out of the question. I would be practically naked. Instead, she kept what she was wearing on. 

She started running to her den surrounded by her shadow wolves. It took her roughly an hour to run it, but she stopped a quarter mile away from it. She scanned the jungle surrounding her den, but didn't immediately find the cameras. However she found some rather immobile insects. On closer inspection, they were tiny robots that looked like bugs with very high definition cameras and all of them were active. Well, the stage is set. Now I just need to have them see me revert back to my shadow queen form. That should grab their attention. Hmm, now that I think about it, it's been over five years since I've been in my base form. It might be a good idea to revert to that instead. I'm kind of worried I won't be able to.

She took a deep breath and transformed to her battle form and began acting like she was completely exhausted while she walked back to her den. This display was necessary, especially after her hydra transformation. It would cause them to be very afraid if she revealed that she was still at full strength. 

Once she was in the clearing, she knew the small cameras had sighted her. She stumbled and caught herself a few times. She was just a handful of steps away from the hole in the ground she called her den when she collapsed onto the ground and reverted back to her base form over the course of three minutes. It was agonizing slow in comparison to her normal transformation, but she had done it intentionally. Well, that's one worry I don't have anymore. Now I just have to wait for them to come and get me.

After waiting half an hour, Maxine got bored and searched for Decaan in the city again. He was sharing a drink with Cassandra and it was clear that it wasn't their first one of the night. There were three very large empty bottles on the bar infront of them. Damn someone's drinken alot of booze.  

Decaan oddly didn't seem to be fazed. Cassandra, on the other hand, was tipsy, and leaned in close to Decaan's ear to whisper, "How about I take you to my place for the night?" Uhhh, should I be watching this? 

"I won't take advantage of you while your drunk," Decaan said calmly. Aww, and here I thought he was going to get lucky. 

"Aww, come on. You know you want to," Cassandra teased.

"I said no," Decaan said firmly, "I'm worried about Maxine and I need my wits about me if and when she's spotted. She could be hurt."

"You're so mean to ignore me. I'm practically throwing myself at you and all you can do is think about another woman," Cassandra pouted and she downed another bottle of what passes for beer on this world.

Before Decaan could admonish Cassandra, a soldier came up to them and reported, "Sir. Ma'am, you won't believe this, but that beast woman was spotted near her den."

Decaan instantly turned to him and demanded, "How long ago? And what's her condition?"

"Well, sir. She came stumbling towards her lair and collapsed just outside of it, but..," the soldier trailed off.

"But what?" Decaan demanded, "Is she injured?"

"No, it's hard to explain, sir. It's easier if you saw it for yourself," the soldier presented a data pad and it played a video of her in night vision. Decaan's jaw dropped when he saw her physically revert back to a human over the course of three minutes.

"I think I must have hit the liquor a bit too hard. Because I just saw Maxine transform into a human," Cassandra said in disbelief.

"She's a hybrid," Decaan stated in disbelief and quickly recovered, "We have to get her right now."

"What's a hybrid?" Cassandra asked.

"Draconic warriors had a draconic bloodline infused into them. Maxine, on the other hand, was likely born with her beast bloodline since she was able to actively transform into a different shape. It's almost exactly like Dr. Stein's hypothosis. The only difference is that her transformation occurs over a shorter period of time than predicted," Decaan said quickly, "And her being a hybrid also means that one or both of her parents had beast blood in them. If we study her biology, we might be able to figure out why draconic warriors are infertile and correct it. That's why we need to go get her right now!" Every draconic warrior in earshot quickly turned their heads towards Decaan with hope in their eyes.

"Are you serious?!" Cassandra asked in nearly uncontrollable excitement as she grabbed the front of his clothes.

"I'm dead serious," Decaan said as he broke free from her grip and he moved to leave, "I need to get a transport to go fetch her."

"Don't bother," Cassandra said as she grabbed his shoulder, "It will be faster if I got get her myself. Meet me at infirmary number three. I won't be long." She ran out of the bar and launched off the ground like a rocket.

Maxine retracted her spiritual sense and waited for only a couple more minutes before Cassandra landed next to her. "Easy does it," Cassandra said as she rolled Maxine over and picked her up in a princess carry. Maxine continued to fiegn unconsciousness. Within seconds, they were airborne again, but Cassandra was flying far slower than before. 

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Out of curiosity, Maxine scanned Cassandra's ovaries and womb for any defects that might explain her apparent infertility. There wasn't anything physically wrong with her, but most of the eggs in her womb were damaged. They were still technically alive, but only a handful of them would ever stand a chance at becoming a baby. Emily could repair them with her divine essence with very little difficulty. I could, technically, do the same thing, but it takes a lot more out of me to do it. Not to mention, I would be swarmed by young men and women that want me to 'heal' them. I guess I could use a potion to do it, but that would push my skills to the limit. And it would require herbs that I don't have. Just another thing I need to do in secret or make up some bullshit along the lines of I can only do it once. 

After five minutes of flight, Cassandra touched down near a hospital of some kind and carried Maxine inside. "Decaan, I have her," Cassandra announced as a team of doctors with a hospital bed rushed at them.

Maxine decided now was a good time to awaken and opened her eyes halfway as she was placed on the hospital bed. "Hungry," was the only word she said as she looked at Decaan. A few of the doctors snorted.

"That's a good sign," an older doctor said in amusement, "Still, it might be a good idea to give her a full work up anyways."

"Good and please send the results to my office as well as any extra blood samples you collect," Decaan said and he handed the older doctor a data pad, "Just watch the video if you need to understand why."

Within moments, the doctor's hand was trembling. "This.. This is incredible! She's a hybrid," the old doctor said gleefully, "The things we could learn from studying her." 

"Just to be clear, her health is a priority, not your curiosity. We can't study a corpse," Decaan said coldly, "And I'm going to observe to ensure she doesn't become one." I don't like what Decaan just hinted at. In any case, I should be set for the next few days of being poked and prodded, but at least, this will give me some time to effectively reset the aggitation caused by staying in my battle form for too long.

At that moment, Maxine's stomach growled loudly to emphasize her hunger. She hadn't been lying when she said she was hungry earlier. While nutritional potions could sustain her for long periods of time, they did little to actually fill her stomach. Hence why she was currently feeling hungry, even though she didn't need the food. 

Unfortunately her growling stomach was ignored. She stopped paying attention to Decaan and the old doctor discuss how she should be treated. Instead she searched the area around the city for any fruit that she had eaten before. She found a few of them beyond the city walls and opened a portal in her shadow to pick something that looked like a pink pear. 

As soon as she brought it to her mouth and took a bite, she started paying attention to them once more, but the audible crunch she made from biting into the fruit got their attention. They both looked at her as she chewed the fruit. Decaan was the first one to react when Maxine took another bite out of the fruit.

"Who gave her that?" Decaan asked.

"No one did," Cassandra said, "I was watching everyone else. Maxine must have found it on her own."

"How did she get it then?" Decaan asked in confusion. Maxine reached into her shadow after she finished eating her fruit and picked another one before she began eating again. 

"Amazing, she has somehow created a spatial pocket in her shadow," Decaan said. However Maxine decided now was a good time to make it appear that she just realized that her hands were different by giving both of them a good long look of confusion.

"Oh! So that's where she keeps those blades of hers," Cassandra commented, "I honestly thought she walked around with them shoved up her shirt and I was wondering how she managed it without cutting herself."

"That thought crossed my mind as well," Decaan agreed.

Maxine finished the fruit off and asked, "Decaan, why do I look normal now? I don't remember changing back."

"So she can speak," Cassandra said with a smirk, "I told you I wasn't hearing things."

"I didn't doubt you," Decaan said and he directed his gaze at Maxine as he knelt down beside her, "I didn't do anything. You lost consciousness for awhile just outside your den. Cassandra went over to pick you up and brought you here. Do you remember what happened at the battle earlier?"

"I ... I don't want to talk about it," Maxine said in discomfort.

"And we won't force you," Cassandra said gently and she gave Decaan the evil eye as her tone grew harsh, "Right?"

"Yes," Decaan said meekly while suffering under Cassandra's glare, "Yes, of course not. Talk to someone when you're ready."

"Thank you," Maxine said gratefully and a moment later the nurses were carting her off to another place inside the hospital.

"You're welcome," Cassandra said gently and she pulled Decaan away. Unfortunately for them, Maxine could still hear them with her spiritual sense.

"Why did you keep me from finding out?" Decaan asked.

"I saw the same look in her eyes as some of my warriors after a particularly nasty battle. If you press them to talk about something before they're ready, it can break them," Cassandra said angrily, "If what she knew had some vital importance to our survival, I would push the questioning myself, but she doesn't. For now, we should just give her some time and a lot of care."

"That's oddly caring of you," Decaan commented.

"What was that?!" Cassandra growled.

"Nothing," Decaan said meekly and a man wearing a lab coat rushed at them from outside.

"Finally! I found you," the man wearing a lab coat said anxiously, "I just finished analyzing that organic poison you gave me. I don't know where you got it from, but it's the most toxic thing I've ever seen! And that's not even including the strange energy within it that seems to augment it's lethality. Even if only a microliter gets on your skin, you're dead and anyone below the gold core warriors would die horribly if it gets into theri blood stream. And I'm almost certain that gold core warriors would suffer permnament damage even if they were to survive." Both Cassandr and Decaan paled before their gazes looked in Maxine's direction.

"Mike, who have you told about this?" Decaan asked weakly.

"Just the two of you and General Detar," Mike answered, "Why?"

"Don't tell anyone else. I don't want there to be a panic," Decaan said as calmly as he could, but he was clearly sweating nervously.

"Wait, are you telling me that you didn't find it on an enemy? Then where did this stuff come from?" Mike asked with a hint of fear.  

"It's from the claws of that hybrid over there when she's in her fighting form," Decaan said almost reflexively and he quickly glared at Mike, "I trust I don't need to tell you that you shouldn't share this information with anyone else. I will contact my uncle to keep him from killing her."

"I'm not going to kill her before we figure out how to make our own hybrids," General Detar said in a cold logical tone, "Not a moment before." Dick. Not that it matters though. It will take them months, if not years to figure that detail out and that's assuming that I let their medical scanning equipment penetrate any further than my skin. 

"If you have her killed, I will end you," Cassandra said threateningly, "She saved that little boy. You know the one I'm trying to adopt? I owe her for that and I will be damned if I let you harm a single hair on Maxine's head." 

"Come now, can't you see the big picture? Can't you see how big of a threat she is?" General Detar asked disarmingly.

"You are so terrified of what she might do that you can't see what she's already done," Cassandra said angrily, "For fuck's sake, she saved many of my warrior's lives by taunting a large chunk of the invaders into fighting her. And to top it off, she saved that little boy without any kind of prompting! If anything, we should be showering her with praise and rewards, not discussing on how to fucking kill her!" Uhh, what? I didn't expect that much from her. Well, I mean I was expecting her to be on my side, but not to that extent. I guess I made quite the impression.

"You need to calm down, Commander," General Detar ordered.

"Even though Cassandra's emotional right now that doesn't mean she's wrong," Decaan agreed with Cassandra.

"Fine, we will do it your way, but if that creature harms a single civilian, I will have her destroyed," General Detar growled before he stormed off. Yeah, right. Like I would believe that for more than a second. He's probably going to try and poison me now. Joke's on him though. I'm practically immune to any kind of poison. Hell, even if they use cynide on me, I wouldn't even feel that much.

Maxine retracted her spiritual sense as the nurse got her into a room with some kind of medical scanner. However before putting Maxine into it, the nurse pulled out a needle to draw some blood. That's a big nope, especially after General Dumbass threatened to kill me, twice. 

With a thought, Maxine covered herself in essence armor. The nurse jumped in fright and tried to soothe Maxine, "Easy now. All I'm going to do is take a little bit of blood. There's no need to get worried, miss."

After it was clear that Maxine wasn't going to attack, the nurse approached Maxine slowly with the blood drawing needle in hand, but when she tried to penetrate Maxine's defenses, the needle broke. Good luck with that. Cassandra would have to enhance that thing with her energies to penetrate my essence armor. 

After breaking another needle, the nurse gave up and pushed the hospital bed that Maxine was in under the huge medical scanner. Maxine smirked to herself. She knew for a fact that her essence armor blocked all kinds of energy, including radiation. They wouldn't be able to scan her body at all. 

The nurse tried several times as far as Maxine could tell to get a scan, but all of the machine's attempts were futile. The only image that showed up was Maxine's solid sillouette. 

After a few minutes, the old doctor came in and asked angrily, "Why havn't I gotten those scans and blood samples yet?!"

"Doctor, I would've already sent them to you, but your patient has a strange carapace form on her," the nurse said as she gestured to Maxine.

"What are you...?" the doctor asked and his jaw dropped when he saw Maxine in her essence armor, "I wasn't told about this! Get Decaan in here at once!"

"What are you yelling about?" Cassandra asked as she walked into the room with Decaan.

"That," the doctor said as he pointed at Maxine.

"I've never seen her do that before," Decaan admitted and he walked up beside Maxine before asking her, "Can you remove this scale armor?"

"Can't," Maxine answered with a lie, "It's an automatic defense that triggers when I'm in a weakened state and when I percieve something threatening."

"Did you threaten her in any way?" Decaan asked.

"No, I didn't. All I did was prepare a needle for a blood draw," the nurse said defensively and Cassandra snorted in amusement.

"That's rich. The big badass hybrid is afraid of needles," Cassandra chuckled.

"It looks like you will have to wait for her to recover and convince her you mean no harm before you can do any tests," Decaan stated and he looked back at Maxine, "Are you still hungry?"

"Yes. Can I have some snake fruit?" Maxine asked. Yep, I think I'm getting addicted to that stuff. I hope I don't go into withdrawal once I leave this planet.

"Of course," Decaan said softly, "You heard her. Go fetch her some snake fruit once you get her to a room."

"Yes, sir," the nurse said and she quickly pushed Maxine's bed to a free room. Decaan and Cassandra followed behind just outside of normal earshot, but Maxine still listened to the via spiritual sense.

"Do you believe her?" Cassandra asked, "It's a bit convenient for her to have an ability like that."

"Possibly, but she should trust us after we brough her here," Decaan said.

"But she has no reason to trust anyone else," Cassandra corrected him. He didn't appear to have an answer to that. I just have to keep up the weak act for a few days until my hydra bloodline calms down. On the down side, I will have to put up with these guys trying to get a blood sample and/or medical scan of my body while I rest. Ugh, the next few days are going to suck. Might as well get comfortable while I can.