It took Maxine's raven a few hours to reach the underground installation via shadow jumping. She was just waiting for one of the exterior guards to go inside and she would have her raven attach to their shadow as she created a portal in it. She had tested it before and found that if one of her constructs was in a shielded room then she would loose contact with it entirely. It was a different matter when it invovled one of her clones. She could connect to them regardless of barriers. Although extreme distances did weaken her connection to them, but didn't exstinguish her awareness of them.

When one of the guards moved towards the main entrance to the facility, she attached her raven to the man's shadow and created a needle-sized portal in his shadow. Once inside, she searched for another shadow to place her raven in and didn't find any in the immediate area. In fact, she was looking at a massive hangar without so much as a hand rail in sight. It was completely barren and extremely well lit. On the far side of the hangar, there were a couple dozen gun nests armed with fully-automated dual rapid fire plasma turrets. Talk about overkill defenses. Thank god, I didn't try a frontal assault and went with a stealthy approach. I would be lucky to walk away without loosing a limb. 

The guard walked down the hangar and into a hallway with a security camera at each end of the hallway to decorate it. At this point, Maxine gave up on trying to find another shadow and attempted to scan the entire facility. However she was dumbfounded when she couldn't go beyond the walls in the hallway. Holy fuck! Is this whole facility shielded?! How did they manage to find the materials for all of this?! Or did they figure out a feasible alloy that can block spiritual sense? If that's the case, they could literately corner the market with it.

Eventually, the guard reached a restroom and was walking towards a urinal. I do not want to watch this guy take a piss. Time to find another person to latch my raven onto. She quickly found a scientist wearing a lab coat exiting one of the stalls and quickly moved her raven and portal to his shadow.

Unfortunately, this scientist was working on some kind of energy shield generator and Maxine was somewhat frustrated until the man started talking with his colleague. 

"I still can't believe it," the scientist said, "I don't know what the supreme commander was thinking when he did that. What about you, James? Do you know what he was thinking?"

"Not a clue," James said, "But if you know what's good for you, you will stop talking about it. Jasmine made a fuss about it and she died in an 'accident' the next day."

"I guess you're right," the scientist said, "Still, I feel sorry for Petal and her kin." Petal?! That's the name that fairy mentioned. I wonder if they will give me any more information.

"So do I, but there is nothing we can do about it," James said.

"I can always sneak some candies to her through Luke," the scientist said, "She seems to like those alot."

"Well, the fairies have been proven to need a lot of calories to maintain their ability to fly," James agreed and handed the scientist a handful of hard candy, "Hand these to Luke for me during your evening meal. I want to stay a little longer trying to tweek this thing before I eat." Bingo. Now I just need to wait for James to go eat. She quickly transfered her raven and portal to James' shadow. 

"Not a problem," James said, "Now let's work out how to make this shield more stable."

It was a few more hours before James left to go get dinner. Maxine watch him carefully and when he met up with 'Luke,' she transfered her raven and portal to his shadow. Half an hour later, he walked into a observation room overlooking an enclosure with a large tree within it. She saw a dozen fairies lounging on the tree. She ran her spiritual sense over the fairies, whom started breathing excitedly, to see if any of them were injured. A two foot tall fairy with spiky pink hair immediately sent out her own spiritual sense to connect to Maxine's.

[How soon will you be able to rescue us?] the spiky pink haired fairy said excitedly, [Are you going to rescue the elves here as well?]

[I wasn't aware of the elves, but yes, I will rescue all of you as soon as I confirm the locations of everyone,] Maxine replied, [Do you know where the elves are?]

[In the room adjacent to this one. The door leading to it from this room isn't shielded,] the spiky pink haired fairy said, [My name is Petal by the way.]

[Mine's Maxine and when an grey arch appears on the wall, fly through it. It's a portal that leads directly to the place I'm at. It's part of my abilities. Spread the word while I locate the elves,] Maxine explained.

[I will and thank you,] Petal said gratefully.

[Don't mention it,] Maxine replied as she extended her spiritual sense to the room beside this one.

She found the elves in an enclosure similar to the one the fairies were held in and raised her eyebrow at the two varieties of elves there. The six of them looked identical to the forest elves she saw on the hero world, but the other ten were mostly purple with various shades of blue hair. Night elves? Wow, I was under the impression they were extinct. The Alliance's records stated they've been extinct for nearly twelve thousand years. Perhaps I should let them know to revise that detail. On second thought, I better not. If I recall correctly, they were chased to extinction for their ability to grow and care for world trees and world tree sap is a priceless ingredient for a life extending potion that grants an additional thousand years of life. It's safer for them if I don't say a fucking word. Still, I'm surprised the locals havn't located them yet. Their world tree must be rather young for it to remain undetected for so long. Normally those things are a few miles tall at the minimum.

She reached out with her spiritual sense to the eldest looking elf, which happened to be a night elf, and said, [When an arch appears on the wall, walk through it. That will be your ticket to freedom. Tell the others. It will be opening after a count of thirty.] Instead of jumping in surprise, the elderly elf simply nodded his head. He must have sense my spiritual sense.

After counting to thirty, Maxine transformed into her shadow queen form for better control as opened a portal with an arch in each of the two enclosures and had them lead to the very room she was sititng in. Thankfully, the room was rather spacious and the elves and fairies were able to quickly ran through the arches. After all of them were through it, she closed the arches immediately and when she opened her eyes to greet them, the elves were giving her hostile glares.

"What do you want, dark elf witch?" a young male forest elf growled.

"Dark elf? Me?" Maxine asked in return while feeling confused, "Do you really think I'm a dark elf?" How the hell do I look like a dark? They just have a heavy tan and none of them have grey skin of any kind and while they have a bad reputation, they are actually rather nice. So how did this idiot mistake me for one?

"Who else could I be talking to?" the young male forest elf asked.

"I'm not a dark elf," Maxine replied calmly, "I'm a shadow elf."

"Shadow elf, you say?" the elder night elf asked as he took a closer look at Maxine and promptly nodded to himself, "You are a rare breed indeed. Most shadow elves have thrown off the name and became those 'Shadow Lords' long ago."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Not as rare as night elves, elder," Maxine replied respectfully, "Many worlds believe your kind to be extinct."

"I see," the elder night elf said sadly, "It was a necessary thing. My race cannot live long without a world tree and the greed of humans nearly killed us all." And that would explain why they are so protective of their world trees. 

"I understand, but there is a route to survival if you are discovered," Maxine offered, "My father is someone that even the strongest members of the Alliance do not dare offend and he's a well known alchemist. If he were your patron, no one would dare harm either your people or the world tree for fear of him."

"Hmm, a good suggestion, but would he demand that we bleed the world tree dry to satisfy the demands of others?" the elder night elf asked cautiously.

"No, he is well aware how easy it is to kill world trees by over drawing it's sap," Maxine replied, "And if anyone pushed the matter, he would kill them and whomever sent them."

"Elder, can you explain what's going on?" the young male forest elf asked respectfully.

"I'm trying to seek out a protector for my race," the elder night elf responded over his shoulder before setting his gaze back on Maxine, "How do you know your father will even consider being our patron?"

"I could ask him right now, if you want?" Maxine replied calmly as she retrieved a communication disk from her dimensional ring, "Even if he says no, I will patron you once I reach gold stage. I will be nearly unmatch against anyone below immortal stage."

"Interesting," the elder night elf said with a small grin, "But for now, we need to leave. Petal, can you open one of those portals? The closer to our home the better."

"Of course, Elder Evensong," Petal said respectfully as a swirling blue portal opened to the left of the door.

"Alright everyone, head out," Elder Evensong said and he looked to Maxine, "I will talk to the other elders and see if they agree to your idea. Will you remain here for the time being?"

"Originally, I came to this world to train by fighting against the invading four-horned kanzils. So if there is a battle or skirmish, I will be there," Maxine answered, "Otherwise, I will be here." Elder Evensong nodded his head and directed the elves and fairies through the portal before leaving himself. That went well and since my raven is already in that facility, I might as well look around some more. A facility like that is extremely expensive. I doubt they have many of them. Maybe they have a red fire drake in that one as well.

She refocused on her raven and found the scientists were panicking as they examined various instrument panels. This continued for another three minutes before some very angry officers entered the room. She didn't even bother listening in. However one of them got pale and turned around to leave in a rush. 

Maxine attached her raven and portal to his shadow before he could run out of the room. Within minutes, she was staring at a massive red fire drake covered in heavy chains and restraints. It was at least three hundred feet long from the tip of it's snout to the end of it's tail. Those restraints were made of a very tough metal that exceeded even lead in weight. The dragon itself was gold stage, and yet was unable to break free. It was then that she noticed that it was on the verge of unconsciousness due to bloodloss. That's one way to do it, but seriously, do they have to drain the big lady that much. It seems like they are feeding her just enough to keep her alive and continue replenishing her blood. Now should I really wake her up? She's liable to just start tearing everything and everyone apart that she can get her claws onto. Fuck it, I can give her just enough of my energy to wake her up without giving her the strength to break free.

With that in mind, Maxine transfers a small chunk of her energies into the red fire drake. It worked just as she planned. Before the red fire drake could waste the energies, Maxine quickly contacted her with spiritual sense, [Do you need help, elder?] 

Instead of answering, the red fire drake blasted her with it's spiritual sense. Maxine screamed in pain since it felt like her mind was about to be torn asunder and immediately severed their connection. FUCK! That hurts! 

Maxine quickly recovered and was instantly enraged. She was just trying to help and was attacked for it. She reinitiated her contact with the red fire drake and roared, [You fucking bitch! I just wanted to help you out and you attack me! You can rot in that pit for all I care!]

[Hmph, I do not need your aid, whelp,] the red fire drake growled, [I can free myself. I've just now regained a small measure of my strength.]

[Then you are dumber than I thought. That strength you've regained is what I gave to you,] Maxine retorted.

[It's mine now,] the red fire drake sneered.

[You ungrateful, bitch! I should come there in person and DEVOUR YOU ALIVE!] Maxine roared angrily. Oops, it seems my hyra bloodline isn't competely placated. Well, it should work in my favor now.

[You wouldn't dare,] the red fire drake warned, but Maxine could detect the slightest sliver of fear.

[I'm a fucking hydra. What wouldn't I dare?!] Maxine snapped and something was radiating out of her. She guessed it was her version of Dragon Fear.

[Please, calm yourself, little one,] the red fire drake said as her attitude completely shifted, [What is it that you wanted to talk with me about?] I just said that I was a hydra out of anger. It seems other dragons are afraid of them.

[I wanted to talk about helping you free yourself, but now it comes with strings attached,] Maxine growled.

[What sort of 'strings' are we talking about?] the red fire drake asked cautiously, [I don't have to feed my young to you, do i?]

[Nothing like that,] Maxine responded, [I want your restraint in seeking vengeance You will only take it out on the five individuals in charge of these foolish humans. Torture, kill or eat them alive. I don't care. Just limit your wrath to them alone. Deal?]

[Your terms are agreeable,] the red fire drake said calmly and Maxine transfered the holographic images of the supreme leader along with his four cronies directly into the red fire drake's head. Next she transfered her portal into the red fire drake's mouth before pouring vial after vial of her nutritional potion into her end of the portal. She ended up using three dozen of her nutritional potions to feed the red fire drake. I better stop there. I only have one hundred of them left. You would think two hundred, along with whatever I could hunt or gather, would be sufficient for my needs, but clearly it's not. 

[Those potions should help you regain enough strength to allow you to gain your freedom,] Maxine said, [I will find the location of the human leaders and let you know where they dwell as soon as I can. Oh, and one last thing, be careful on the surface. There is a hostile race invading this world called four-horned kanzils. They may try to subdue you.]

[Let them try. I will feast on any creature foolish enough to try once I'm free,] the red fire drake said with vicious confidence.

[I won't come to your aid again if you get yourself captured,] Maxine warned the red fire drake, [You should start feeling stronger any moment now. I trust you will honor our agreement.]

[Once a dragon gives their word, they keep it, unlike humans,] the red fire drake said proudly, [Now leave me be. I need to conserve my strength until I can free myself.]

[As you wish,] Maxine replied before severing their spiritual sense connection.

She had to wait for nearly half an hour before the red fire drake began to fight against her restraints. The scientists and guards were simply nervous at first, but quickly began panicking once the first massive restraint tore free of the floor. They scattered like leaves in the wind as more chains and heavy restraints were literately torn apart by the very angry red fire drake. Thankfully, the red fire drake stayed true to her word and didn't kill anyone directly.

The red fire drake began using her claws to tear into the northern wall in a bid for freedom. She had already gotten through the metallic walls and had a tunnel deep enough for half of her body to fit through when soldiers stormed in with rifles. They fired plasma bolts at the red fire drake, but the plasma bolts only barely singed her scales. Dumbasses. Fire drakes of any kind are extremely resistant to fire. They bathe in lava for fucks sake. 

A gold stage rank 1 draconic warrior burst into the room and charged at the red fire drake. The poor idiot didn't even see the tail before it slapped him into a mass of bloody pulp. I'm not going to hold it against her for defending herself and that idiot should've known better. I sure as hell wouldn't have done something that stupid. I would be lucky just to survive a hit from any beast that large. Afterall, most dragons exceed the beast grading system that the Alliance uses. I would literately have to transform into a hydra to be able to kill a dragon that's just a rank above me.

Within minutes, the red fire drake had already filled up the tunnel behind her and was making excellent time digging her way to the surface. Maxine guessed that she would need another fifteen minutes to reach the surface and hoped that the military couldn't scamble a force to subdue the red fire drake in that time. Maxine had no idea where the red fire drake would surface at, but the red fire drake was on her own from that point on. 

Maxine got comfortable and began to wait for one of two things to happen. First was for the the night elves to return to let he know their decision and the second event, was for Cassandra to return to the battlefield. It would take mere minutes to deal with the night elves, but If Cassandra returned to the battlefield, Maxine intended to lend her a hand. She wasn't going to let the effort of healing her go to waste. I wonder which one will happen first.