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MillionNovel > Diary of the Shadow Queen > Chapter 215

Chapter 215

    Maxine had been very busy the past two months. She had taken Alexander Schmidt to an Alliance assembly and taught him everything that she could think of. It frustrated her to no end that she had to repeat herself half a dozen times for him not to flirt with the other representatives. Once she was certain that he could handle everything without causing any problems, she passed on her responsibilities to him, but warned him if he screwed up too badly that she would reclaim her position.


    Still, that wasn''t the most time consuming thing that was on her agenda. She hadn''t realized how dependent Earth was on her potions and was forced to teach a handful of earthlings the basics of alchemy. However, she kept the bulk of Guan''s alchemical knowledge to herself. It was, afterall, a family inheritance.


    Emily was surprisingly easy to convince to leave. Her grandfather, Howard McKenzie, on the other hand refused to leave. Emily tried desperately to convince him to leave with them, but he remained firm in his decision. He had told Maxine a few days ago that he was nearing the end of his life and wanted to die on Earth. Nothing either of them could say or do would change his mind. It was frustrating, but it was his choice.


    Lastly, Silkie somehow found out about their intent to go into hiding and insisted that Lan and herself go with them. Maxine had forgotten how potent arachne familial bonds were. They refused to abandon their family, no matter how dangerous the situation. It was a massive pain in her ass, but in the end, she let it go. Two more people wouldn''t make much of a difference when she thought about it. She already had to take her clones, Reena, Lucas, Emily and Hellen. So, she saw no harm in it. At least, she didn''t have to worry about Kerrigan. No one, including deities, would risk the wrath of the other hive matriarchs by harming her.


    Right now, however, Maxine was picking up Silkie and Lanitherin. Both had just left to grab their bags from their respective rooms. "Me and Lan have everything packed up and ready to go," Silky said as she walked into the room, "How is the world that you picked out?"


    "It has a breathable atmosphere and the continent that I can send us to is mostly composed of humans. Also, there is a war going on near our entry point. Unfortunately, I heard at least a dozen different spoken languages from the locals so I didn''t bother learning their language until I figured out which group we''d end up with," Maxine answered. She had scouted it out a week before and it was not good. The locals were humans and had recently developed an propeller driven aircraft. Unfortunately, they were also in the midst of a large scale war. While it made it easier for them to appear as refugees, it also put them under greater scrutiny as possible spies. Still, it was better than a group of strange people showing up out of nowhere.


    "Um, what are we going to do about Lucas and Reena?" Silkie asked, "They''re hydrakin and the locals are almost entirely humans." It''s just that the continent that I can transport us to is primarily composed of humans. There are at least a dozen continents on that planet and humans only control three of them. The rest are controlled by various other species, including the beastkin. A few of which I don''t recognize. And if I can''t recognize them, it''s probably a planet that the Alliance has either very little or no contact with, whatsoever.


    "Don''t worry about that," Maxine assured Silkie, "I found a technique that allows them to shift their form into that of a human. The only drawback is that their hair color will stay the same. It just makes explaining Lucas'' green hair a pain in the ass, but I''ll cross that bridge when we get there." I could just say some rogue wizard tested a potion on him that turned his hair permanently green.


    [Maxine, get everyone out of there. NOW!] Guan roared into Maxine''s head. She barely had time to process Guan''s command when she felt her restlessness transform into a desperate need to flee. It felt like she was a small child being stared at by a ferocious predator.


    Silkie showed an expression of concern as Maxine grabbed her wrist and shadow-stepped beside Lanitherin before leaping through a portal straight to the others. When she saw the others, their expressions were fearful. She wasted no time and created an arch on a wall as she shouted, "Go, go, go!"


    Maxine waited for the others to get through and glanced at Gaun as he headed for the airlock. With a thought, she created a spider construct and had it enter his shadow. She created a dozen more to act as relays to avoid being tracked through them before she followed after Silkie and the others. "Come back to us alive, daddy," Maxine said just before she walked through the arch.


    She passed through multiple arches that took her from one world to the next until she was finally in her intended spot. However, the glowing blue gems that were in this small cavern were gone. So, the locals see them as a valuable resource. I don''t see any reason why they would take a bunch of glowing gems otherwise. This is good to know. I still have one in my dimensional ring. Perhaps, I can pawn it off for some of the local currency, but that''s only if we have to stay here.


    "Is everyone okay?" Maxine asked.


    "Yes," Emily answered, "Although, our baby did not like the sudden movement. The little guy is kicking for all they''re worth." Maxine glanced at Emily''s very swollen belly and remembered Orianna had given birth recently. Maxine had forgotten to contact her with everything that''s been going on. Shit, now that I think about it, how the hell am I going to explain to the little guy that we''re not from this planet? Welp, that''s a problem for future Maxine.


    "Good. Now all we have to do is wait," Maxine said, "I placed a construct on daddy before I left to keep an eye on him. And from what little I know, they should have a confrontation in the next few days. Thankfully, I have enough food and water in my dimensional ring to last us two weeks. After that though, we''ll have to go out and forage." Now, I just hope that the deity can''t track me down after I went through the trouble of creating a dozen different arches to bounce us all over the place.


    "I want to look outside," Lanitherin stated, "Just to get the lay of the land."


    "You can if you want, but don''t wander more than a mile away from the mine''s entrance," Maxine stated and double checked to make sure this place had been abandoned via spiritual sense, "There isn''t anyone around to see you right now, but that could change at any time. There could be soldiers or refugees that come to the mine''s entrance looking for shelter."


    "Understood," Lanitherin said as he jogged out of the small cavern.


    "As for you two, let''s see your humanization technique," Maxine said to Reena and Lucas, "I want to see how the mana in the air here effects it." It was difficult to find a technique that was compatible with hydrakin physiology. It cost me nearly a tenth of my wealth to buy it. But at least, those two were able to learn it. It''s too bad that it has no effect on their hair color. At least, I can explain away Lucas'' green hair as a side-effect of a potion some crazy wizard made him drink. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Maxine watched as their tails retracted into their bodies and Reena''s quills retract into her head. The problem was that both of them were still green and covered in scales. She examined them both with here spiritual sense and sighed. The mana in the air was actively attacking the essence that tried to change their skin. "Focus more on your skin," Maxine admonished them and nodded in satisfaction when their scales retracted before taking on a more typical color of a human. Oddly enough, Lucas had a nice copper tan while Reena had rather light complexion. Huh, I didn''t see that coming. I thought they would have similar skin tones after using the humanizing technique. Maybe, it has something to do with their individual perception of beauty. Or it could be something completely random like a tiny variation in the technique''s use.


    "Good enough," Maxine said, "How long can you two maintain it?"


    "A day," Reena answered.


    "A little more than a day," Lucas answered.


    Maxine frowned and scanned them with her spiritual sense. This technique really did use up that much energy, but only because the mana in the atmosphere in this world was very aggressive towards any other energy type. If they were to use this technique on Earth, they could maintain it indefinitely. Well, shit. That''s a problem that I didn''t see coming. I never thought the mana would be this aggressive towards essence. But that would most certainly explain why most worlds only have one energy type though.


    "Work on making it last longer," Maxine told them, but she didn''t have high hopes for it. They were still young and didn''t posses the most refined control. So, as a precautionary measure, she spread out her spiritual sense looking for a city that specifically had both beastkin and humans living in it.


    She found one after searching for nearly twenty minutes and thankfully, it wasn''t part of the current conflict. However, this city had it''s own problems. The crimes directed at beastkin were far higher than they should be, but that didn''t matter to her. The locals committing the crimes were non-cultivators and they posed little threat even to the weakest of their group. Although, after our baby is born, there will be someone that would be threatened by them. We''ll have to garner a vicious reputation to avoid that shit. Although, since Emily is human, it''s highly unlikely that she or our baby will be targeted. Still, that''s only if we need to stay here.


    She spent the next few hours giving Lucas and Reena tips on how to control their energies better while occasionally checking on Guan through her construct. So far, he hadn''t encountered the deity yet, but she still intended to wait at least a week before even asking him if it was okay to return.


    [The deity has finished their descent,] Guan said to Maxine via spiritual sense, [I can feel their gaze on me. I''m quite certain they have hostile intent. It won''t take them long to reach me. A day or two at most.]


    [How long did you know that I was watching you?] Maxine asked.


    [Ever since you planted your little construct on my left leg,] Guan answered, [It''s also quite fragile.]


    [I know and I doubt it would survive more than a nanosecond if you were to start fighting,] Maxine replied, [I just attached it to you to find out the intentions of that deity.]


    [Is that truly the reason, though?] Guan asked calmly.


    [Fine, you got me,] Maxine admitted, [I also did it so mom can talk to you one last time. On that note, here she is.] With a thought, Maxine passed her spiritual sense connection over to Hellen. She gave Maxine an appreciative smile. After that, Maxine was officially kicked out of the conversation. She wasn''t sure how her parents had done that since they were literately talking through her constructs, but guessed it had something to do with the finer applications of spiritual sense.


    "How''s your progress?" Maxine asked Reena and Lucas.


    "Not good," Lucas replied bluntly. Maxine checked him with her spiritual sense to confirm it and sighed in frustration. He had improved, but he still couldn''t maintain it longer than two days. Reena was only doing slightly better.


    "You''re getting better. Keep working on it," Maxine said encouragingly. It looks like I may have to maintain my full-hyrbid form for ten years to pose as Lucas and Reena''s mother, if daddy looses. I mean we could show up with these two in two with me in my normal state, but from what I''ve gathered by watching with my spiritual sense, it would be practically unheard of for humans to have taken in beastkin children as their own on this world. Hell, I''ve only found one that did so and while they are feeding the poor thing, they''re treating him like a servant rather than a son. Still, it''s better than not having anyone at all. At least, it wouldn''t be uncommon to see beastkin traveling with normal humans. Still, it would better if it appears as if a parent was looking after them rather than strangers.


    "Okay," Lucas and Reena said almost at the same time.


    Maxine continued to observe their progress over the next few days. While they got better, it wasn''t good enough to maintain their transformation indefinitely like Silkie could. It was starting to look more and more like Maxine was going to need to act as their mother. Before she could get too upset over this, she sensed something change from the construct hiding in Guan''s shadow.


    She swiftly sent her spiritual sense through it and saw what changed. A blonde woman was floating in the void infront of Guan. [I''m impressed that you didn''t run or hide,] the woman said, [Anyone else would have.] Maxine realized that Guan was allowing her to be privy to their conversation.


    [I am not just anyone,] Guan stated calmly, [And it wouldn''t have mattered much if I had. You would''ve caught up to me regardless.]


    [True,] the woman said, [But you still sent your family into hiding. Are you hoping that I will be satisfied with just your death?]


    [I wouldn''t know,] Guan answered, [Still, it''s always wise to be prepared for the worst.]


    [Fair enough,] the woman said, [Do you have anything else to say before I kill you?]


    [Nothing of importance,] Guan said calmly as his war scythe appeared in his hands, [I''m ready whenever you are.] That was a surprisingly civil encounter considering what Guan''s done.


    However, before Maxine could ponder any more on their encounter, the connection between her and her construct blurred for an instant before it was completely severed. She checked three times before she confirmed that her construct was utterly annihilated.


    Almost instantly, her dimensional ring started vibrating and she withdrew her communication disk. ''Alert: Poison Emperor Guan has engaged the deity in single combat approximately 2 lightyears from Sol system. It is recommended that everyone at and below false immortal stage to maintain a minimum distance of 1 lightyear. The battle is estimated to take approximately 4-6 standard hours. The exact coordinates are-,'' Maxine stopped reading at that point and put her communication disk back into her dimensional ring.


    Maxine glanced at Hellen and saw her staring intently at a glowing green pendant within her grasp. She was slightly curious about it until she sensed Guan''s energy within it. A life-link pendant? When did he give her that? Those things are rather rare. At least, she knows that he''s still alive as long as it''s still glowing, but if it goes out, it''ll be heartbreaking for her.


    Maxine got up and sat beside Hellen before wrapping on of her arms around Hellen''s shoulders. Silkie followed suite by sitting on Hellen''s left side. Reena and Lucas picked up that something was wrong and quickly moved over and sat down in Hellen''s lap before snuggling up against her. However, Hellen showed no reaction to their efforts.


    "Mama, don''t be sad," Lucas said as he looked up at her face. This snapped Hellen out of her stupor and she looked at everyone around her before she started crying. Everyone hugged her in an attempt to comfort her before they collectively watched the life-link pendant for any changes. I wish there was something more that I could do besides comforting mom, but there isn''t.


    Over the next few hours, the life-link pendant was slowly loosing it''s light until it was a mere flicker. It stayed that way for hours before it finally winked out. Maxine felt a stab of pain in her chest and looked to Hellen. She had brought the pendant closer to her face as she desperately peered into it with a look of despair. A moment later she tilted her head back and released a painfilled howl as tears streaked down her cheeks.


    Maxine felt tears of her own fall down her cheeks as she hugged Hellen. She felt Emily hug her from the right as everyone else was trying to comfort Hellen. Even in her current state, Maxine felt her dimensional ring vibrate, but she didn''t care. Her father was dead.
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