Maxine opened her eyes as she finished her meditation and stood up. She had been hiding out here for the last two days and her ravens hadn't reported any hostile activity from the four-horned kanzils. She found it odd that they hadn't done anything and wanted to know what was going on.

She quickly opened a portal to the city and stepped through it and immediately, she looked in the direction of the four-horned kanzil camp to find that it was simply gone. Huh? Where did they go? Their own records stated that they usually sieged this planet for six months. It hasn't even been half that. So why did they leave? I wonder if Decaan or Cassandra knows what's going on.

She spread her spiritual sense out to find those two, but quickly retracted it when she found them. They were in the middle of having sex. Maxine's face was blushing fiercely due to what she just saw. She knew something like that would eventually happen, but even though it was an accident, it made her feel like a peeping tom. 

"Good morning, Maxine," Turan said as he stepped out of a shadow infront of her, "Would you care for some breakfast? I managed to procure some delicious chocolate coated strawberries from a world called Earth. I know it's strange to call a planet that, but the food from that planet is phenominally delicious. You should really try it." He flicked his wrist and a small paper box appeared in his hands with chocolate-coated strawberries inside of it. What is he up to? 

"No, thank you," Maxine said calmly, but she really wanted to eat the strawberries. Or rather, she wanted to eat something from her homeworld. 

"I insist that you try at least one," Turan said as he held out the box infront of her. Reluctantly, she took one and ate it. It was just as delicious as she remembered. She closed her eyes to best enjoy the flavor as she chewed.

Once she finished it, she opened her eyes and asked, "Do you know what happened to the four-horned kanzils?"

Turan looked both surprised and confused for a moment before he answered, "They left this world yesterday. Apparently, they had taken heavy losses and decided it was best if they retreated with the troops that they had." 

"Good, this world has seen enough bloodshed," Maxine said, "Now I imagine the locals will begin celebrating their victory soon."

"Yes, they are going to tonight. They invited both of us for the festivities," Turan said to confirm Maxine's statement, "Would you care to join me for it?" 

"No, thank you," Maxine responded coldly. Ugh, he's acting like those young masters trying to court me when I was at the Kavros Clan. Although in his case, he isn't looking at me with a lustful or greedy glimmer in his eyes. Still, it's best if I keep my guard up.

"That's a shame. I was looking forward to sampling the local delicacies with a member of my distant kin," Turan said regretfully. 

Maxine stayed silent and simply scanned the city with her spiritual sense. She was hoping for the off chance she would find one of the leaders of this world. She still had an agreement to keep with the red fire drake. She definitely didn't want that creature causing havoc amongst the cities until the locals could put it down and that's assuming that they could. 

Unfortunately, her search rendered her nothing and she sighed. Of course, they wouldn't dare come here. I've been too active at this city. 

"What are you looking for?" Turan asked curiously.

"The leaders of this world. They've angered a rather nasty tempered red fire drake. I'm hoping that it will only take another one or two of them to appease the beast so it doesn't go on a rampage," Maxine answered, "I gave it my word that I would find a few of those pricks."

"Oh? I know where they are," Turan said offhandedly, "They're in a bunker three hundred seventy two kilometers south by southwest of here. It's well away from any large city. That's probably why you havn't been able to find it."

"What?" Maxine asked in disbelief, "I mean, how do you know that?"

"They were the ones I originally talked to when I arrived on this planet. I doubt they were aware that I could trace their signal to their secure bunker," Turan replied, "If you don't mind, you could tell me where this fire drake is and I will deliver a few of them to it for you."

"I would appreciate it. I don't want any innocents to come to harm. That fire drake is on a quest for vengeance and those assholes deserve what's coming to them. They were experimenting on night elves," Maxine said as she sent the red fire drake's most recent location and saw a flicker of rage in Turan's eyes when she mentioned the night elves, "She should be around there, but no promises. Just a warning though, she has a nasty temper."

"I will be back as quickly as I can, Maxine," Turan said just before he blinked out of existence. Uh, how did he do that? He wasn't standing in any shadow as far as I could tell and I didn't sense him using spatial energies.

Maxine flew down to a nearby park and sat at a bench while contemplating that mystery. She was sitting there for quite some time before she noticed Cassandra and Decaan approaching her on foot.

"Hey, Maxine. Where'd your boyfriend run off to?" Cassandra asked in amusement, "Did you two have a fight?" Maxine felt instantly infuriated, but reined in her anger to find out why Cassandra called Turan that.

"Did he tell you that?" Maxine asked while failing to completely hide her anger.

"No, it's just the way he was asking about you," Cassandra answered honestly, "He seemed genuinely worried about you. I don't see why you would be angry about that." Maxine released a sigh and let go of her anger. It was just a misunderstanding.

"He's not my boyfriend, nor will he ever be such," Maxine declared.

"Okay, care to explain why you hate him so much then?" Cassandra asked.

"Fine," Maxine replied and relayed what had happened between the shadow elves and shadow lords, "His race and mine underwent a schism a long time ago. I'm not sure what the exact reasoning for it was, but the shadow lords viewed themselves as too superior to their shadow elf breathren for some reason. And they saw no need to mingle with an inferior race. Thus they decided to abandon our homeworld to look for better pastures. You have no idea how hard it was for us to survive when strongest members of our popuplation decided to up and leave. All of our enemies decided then it was a good time to attack. We managed to survive, but not without sacrifice. We had less than a tenth of our original population after it was all over and the shadow elves were forced to hide their cities to avoid being attacked again. So, that is why I detest all shadow lords. Their ancestors abandoned mine and left them to die." Well, I might as well play the 'I'm a shadow elf' card as hard as I can.

"I... I had no idea," Cassandra said, "But how long ago was that? Shouldn't you try to make amends?"

"Do you think the elders havn't tried?" Maxine asked, "Every single time that they tried, they were rebuffed by the shadow lords for some nonsensical reason. Their lucky to get a communication from the shadow lords once a year."

Before Cassandra or Decaan could say anything, Turan blinked into existence infront of them and said sorrowfully, "Had my ancestors known about the difficulties yours suffered, we would've helped you. No matter what you think, we still think fondly of shadow elves."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Tell that to the dead," Maxine snapped and changed the subject, "So did you find her?"

"Yes, I did. She was quite happy with the gift I gave her," Turan said neutrally, "And before you asked, she already agreed to leave this world peacefully."

"Thank you," Maxine said.

"I try," Turan said with a slight bow and smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Decaan asked with clear suspicion.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Turan answered before Maxine could.

"I heard that there will be a celebration later today. Where will it be held at?" Maxine asked to change the subject.

"In the city square," Decaan answered, "A large number of people have requested that you sing."

"I only sang for the children at the hospital. How did they know I can sing and why would they want to hear me sing?" Maxine asked.

"The hospital staff recorded you and posted it on the internet," Decaan answered, "Believe it or not, there are not many songstresses amongst my people and you by far better than any of them."

"I rather not be infront of that many people," Maxine said weakly, "But if you insist, I will sing for the children in the audience and don't count on more than a few songs. I don't know that many of them."

"Thanks, Maxine," Decaan said gratefully, "You have no idea how many people are looking forward to this."

"You're welcome," Maxine said and saw Turan had a strange smile on his face, "What that smirk for?"

"You're more like the original than I thought. She too loved children," Turan remarked, "She loved them so much that she went out of her way to rescue beastkin children being used as trackers."

"Beastkin?" Decaan asked.

"Beasts that appear to be mostly human, but still retain a few of their beastial traits such as ears, tails and sometimes claws," Maxine told Decaan before turning back to Turan, "Yes, I know. She also had that trait used against her as well if I recall correctly. Something to do with a teleportation trap placed on the inside of a wolfkin child's ear."

"And yet she still managed to save both of them and escape at the same time," Turan said admiringly, "She possessed both great skill and kindness."

"She sounds like a wonderful person," Cassandra said.

"Yes, she was," Turan said sadly.

"Okay, let's take a break from this depressing topic," Maxine said and asked Cassandra, "So, you two going to have kids any time soon?"

Cassandra smiled proudly as she replied, "Of course, we will. I've been talking to that alchemist from Seton Academy about getting me a fertility potion to hurry it along." 

"Those are expensive and in high demand. I doubt that alchemist can get a hold of one," Maxine reminded Cassandra, "If you don't personally know an alchemist capable of making them, it can be very difficult to get ahold of one."

"Are you offering?" Cassandra asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure if I can make one strong enough to have an effect on you," Maxine said honestly, "I could give it a try if you had all the ingredients for it. Let me make a quick list." Maxine retrieved a small piece of paper and wrote out the ingredient list for a fertility potion before handing it to Cassandra.

"I'll see what I can do," Cassandra said as she glanced at the list, "What the hell is a 'heart fruit of a lingu tree'?"

"It's a fruit literately shaped like a human heart," Maxine replied.

"That's disturbing," Cassandra commented.

"Tell me about it," Maxine agreed, "And that's not the worst one either."

"How could it be worse?" Cassandra asked, but Maxine really didn't want to answer.

"There is one ingredient that looks like a sleeping infant," Turan offered in Maxine's stead, "It's a lotus core, which coincidentally is called a infant lotus core. They are quite rare due to over harvasting in the past and their appearance makes those that find them reluctant to collect the core."

"By the fairies!" Cassandra cursed, "That's disturbing."

"It didn't originally look like that, nor did it have the same name," Maxine explained, "Those lotus cores used to look very different, but because they had unique properties within these giant lotus cores added years of life to cultivators when made into potions. Human greed caused those flowers to develope that particular adapation, but that didn't stop them entirely. It was only after they developed a very nasty contact poison on their petals that humans stopped harvasting them."

"I would love to get a sample of one of those things," Decaan said exictedly and when both Maxine and Cassandra glared at him, he added defensively, "For scientific purposes only. I wouldn't dare take a piece big enough to harm the plant."

"That's not a good idea," Maxine said as she glared at Turan for a moment, "Those particular lotus' are now under the protection of some elves that are very protective of nature. If you were to even breathe on those lotus' wrong, they would kill you and use your corpse as fertilizer."

"I'm not that curious," Decaan said with a weak smile, "I prefer to live a nice long life."

"You better not be," Cassandra said firmly, "So, whose hungry? It's my treat."

"I'm not sure about Turan, but I'm game," Maxine announced, "What we going to have?"

"You'll see," Cassandra said while smirking, "Just follow me." Cassandra grabbed Decaan's hand and took flight dragging him behind her. 

Maxine followed behind them and she didn't even have to bother looking to know Turan was right behind her. They flew slowly, but wherever Cassanda was leading them, it wasn't far.

She lead them to a plain looking building, but inside of it was a different story. It was a high class restraunt and from the smell eminating from the kitchen alone, Maxine was drooling. They were cooking meat from essence beasts and they were also using medicinal herbs in the meals as well. This setup would be something she would expect when she was staying at the Kavros clan. It was completely unexpected find.

"Only high ranking members of the military and wealthy civilians can eat in facilities like this one and I've only dined in a place like this a few times. It's expensive, but believe me, it's all delicious," Cassandra explained as she flagged down a waiter, "A table for four, please."

"Of course, Commander Cassandra," the waiter said with a slight bow and gestured for them to follow him, "Let me show you to your table."

"I don't like to eat red meats of any kind," Turan spoke up.

"Don't worry, sir. We cater to all of your dining desires," the waitier said as they finally reached their table, "Here is your table. Are you ready to make your order yet? Or do you need more time?" Everyone sat down at the table and ordered a variety of different meals when the waiter returned.

"So what songs do you intend to sing tonight?" Cassandra asked, "Will it be that 'healing' song? Because it's a major hit amongst the soldiers." Maxine rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure yet," Maxine replied, "But I will definitely put some thought into it."

"You know the healing song?" Turan asked with genuine curiosity.

"Only the words," Maxine replied, "I can't actually heal people with it. I lack the gift."

"It is a rare gift," Turan commented.

"Well, I don't know about any of that," Decaan said, "But I'm sure you will do just fine."

"By the way, I was wondering why you chose such a meaty meal, Maxine," Turan asked, "It's quite uncommon for any elf to eat so much of it."

"If you havn't noticed, I'm a half-elf," Maxine told Turan, "And I have to eat copious amounts of meat daily to keep my bloodline in check. You don't want to see me go berserk due to neglecting it. It's not pleasant for anyone involved."

"Yeah, I've seen what happens to her first hand and believe me, we don't need a hydra going nuts in the middle of a city," Cassandra commented.

"You can transform into a hydra?" Turan asked excitedly.

"Yes, I can transform into a hydra, BUT I can't control it at all," Maxine said, "So I don't suggest you try to trigger that transformation. You could end up becoming my food."

"Interesting," Turan said with a smile.

Cassandra and Decaan ignored everyone else and started speaking softly to one another. Every once in awhile, Cassandra giggled. After a few minutes, the waiter returned with their meals. 

Maxine's dinner composed of an extra thick medium-rare steak with various essence enriched vegetables on the side and a fruit salad for desert. It was so delicious that she had to force herself to eat slowly in order to maintain her manners. Still, her meal didn't last nearly as long as she would've liked it to.

After they were done, Cassandra said, "Let's get you to the main square. I still need you to perform on stage within the hour." After she finished speaking, she signaled their waiter to return and began to settle their bill.

"Fine, but don't complain when I run out of things to sing," Maxine replied, "I don't exactly know a lot of songs."

"That's fine," Decaan answered for Cassandra since she was settling the bill, "Just having an elf singing in public would be a huge boost to their spirits. You have to remember. My people's religion revolves around fairies of any kind and they view you as a warrior amongst them."

"Yeah, yeah," Maxine said, "Just show me where I need to be."

"Don't worry. You can't mistake where you're supposed to sing at," Decaan said with a smile.

"Alright, let's head out then," Cassandra announced. All of them got up and followed Cassandra to the city square, which was extremely crowded and like Cassandra had said before, Maxine immediately saw a bright orange stage. A good third of those present were children. 

Maxine sighed and took flight and landed on the stage, which caused everyone present to cheer happily. She was taken aback at their enthusiasm, but it only lasted for a moment. She walked up to the microphone on a stand and felt Turan's spiritual sense expand outward just before she started singing the healing song. 

Maxine turned her head to glare at him, but he had already disappeared. Huh? I wonder where he went. No matter. She shrugged and began singing. She felt that something was off the whole time that she was singing. When she finally stopped, the crowd roared with applause. That was fun. Now, what should I do now that the four-horned kanzils have left? Should I head back to Earth? I should be strong enough to flee away from anyone below immortal stage, even if I can't beat them, but I should still wait until I reach gold stage. That shouldn't take me more than a month.