Maxine wiped the non-existent sweat from her brow as she ground the herbs for a anti-biotic healing salve and only spared a quick glance at her assigned helpers to make sure they weren't making any mistakes. The infected that she freed from the control of the drow hadn't torn into each other for long and had, instead, followed the fleeing refugees. There were literately thousands in that horde and they were now assaulting the city gates. Which wouldn't have been a problem, if one of the gates hadn't jammed at the worst possible moment.

Many of the injured soldiers and militia were in desperate need of healing medicines and Thera was using magic to heal the worst of the injured. While she didn't like doing that, it was still way better than letting Emily go out to do it. The stress of healing that many people could cause her to go into labor and that's the last thing they needed right now. On the plus side, they had plenty of the cure for the Black Rage in stock, so she didn't have to make more of that.

"Cara, when you're done with that, have George deliver the finished medicines to the field hospital," Maxine ordered, "And remind him to bring enough containers this time. We wasted too much time waiting for him to fetch that stuff for us last time."

"Right!" Cara, a red-haired girl, said in a meek voice. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but she is a freaking were-tiger. Those things are rare even amongst shifters and one of the most physically powerful type of shifter too. It's too bad she's a terrible fighter, but thankfully, she's got extremely dexterous hands. It made teaching her how to make basic salves a breeze.

Through Thera, Maxine was treating the worst of the injured and glanced up to see more coming. Shit, how much longer is it going to take them to fix that damn gate? They're getting torn apart out there.

She switched her focus to Kai, whom was on the walls shooting his heavy bow at the amassed infected below. Each of the arrows he shot resulted in a kill. However, out of the corner of his eyes, she spotted several workers switching out various gears that were responsible for moving the massive gates. Fuck, it looks like they're going to be at this for at least another fifteen minutes. If they hadn't asked Kai to man the walls, I wouldn't have him up there. It's the same deal with Thera. I'm starting to wonder if they'll ask me to fight the infected directly. I would be able to tear through them with impunity. Although, I doubt that they'll even bother asking me that. Afterall, I've almost certainly been labeled as the medicine maker for the shifters, or at the very least, the medicine maker's apprentice. There is no way that Darzog would let me go on the front lines. Not to mention, Melvin Temmil would raise a huge fuss, if it was even suggested. And if that gate isn't fixed, those infected will overwhelm the city's defenders. At that point, I'll have a legitimate excuse to wipe them out since they would pose a threat to Reena and Lucas. But I really hope it doesn't come to that.

With a thought, she sensed one of her constructs signaling her. She focused on it and saw it was the one in the governor's shadow. He was having a meeting with several others. One of which she recognized as the highest ranking wizard of this city. I believe that wizard's name is Dylin.

"When's the soonest we can expect reinforcements from the Lentil Republic?" the governor asked.

"A week at the earliest," wizard Dylin replied, "And that's if they send anyone at all. I'm afraid that they're more concerned about their own hides. We need to plan around the assumption that is the case. I suggest we draft the entire shifter population to our defense. Their combat abilities are sorely needed to fend off the infected at the West gate."

"Has it really come to that?" the governor asked.

"It has," a man in bloody armor said.

"They'll refused to allow their medicine maker's apprentice to be placed in danger," wizard Dylin stated, "The same could be said about her family. However, I've already sent someone to request that she join in the fighting. You've all heard the rumors about her absurd durability. Not even high penetration silverine rounds can penetrate her hide. I doubt the infected will even be able to hurt her. Unless, of course, they strike a soft spot like her eyes, but with her speed, that will be highly unlikely."

"And if she refuses?" the man in bloody armor asked.

"She won't," wizard Dylin said mysteriously, "She's already proven that she and her family operates on rather strange rules. Which they have proven multiple times. For instance, when we asked for the recipe to cure for the Black Rage, she only charged us a meager price in comparison to it's worth. She could've easily asked for a fortune, but didn't. Another such thing happened when we asked her sister to tend to the wounded. That girl didn't hesitate to reveal she could use healing magic to save the most severely wounded. And their brother, Kai, is a peerless archer and only got on the walls once we asked. Thus, if we want her to fight on the front lines, we have to be direct and ask."

"There holes in your reasoning," the governor said, "It could be something as simple as self-preservation. By providing the cure, she was limiting the number of new infected. By healing our people, her sister put them back on the battlefield sooner and as for Kai's assistance, he's protecting his family."

"Still, it doesn't hurt to ask for her aid?" wizard Dylin asked.

"No, it certainly does not," the governor said.

"That's where you're wrong," the man in bloody armor retorted, "The shifters are very protective of her. If she refuses, there won't be much to worry about. But if she agrees and gets severely injured, the shifter population could easily become hostile."

"If that happens, I'll take responsibility and step down from my position," the governor said calmly.

"I'll send one of my juniors to make the request," wizard Dylin stated.

"Do it yourself," the man in bloody armor demanded, "Melvin's judgement is most certainly compromised. It's obvious from the way he looks at that girl. He may report her answer as no without mentioning it at all to her."

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"Very well, Commander Grimes," wizard Dylin said in resignation, "I pray that she agrees or at the very least, convinces more of her brethren to joined on the front lines."

At this point, Maxine withdrew her senses from her construct and audibly sighed. It's about damn time that they got around to talking to me. I much rather be fighting than stuck in this place making medicine all day. Although, I am a little surprised that they didn't ask me to be one of the healers tending to the soldiers. I know my bedside manner is quite frankly terrible when it comes to treating men. At least, I'm able to keep it mostly cordial when I'm controlling Thera.

However, after a few minutes, Hellen walked past her alchemy workshop's door and appeared to be heading towards the local marketplace. What's mom up to? Did she forget to buy something at the market earlier or it is something else? No matter.

But just as she heard the front door open, she heard Hellen roar at someone, "I will not let you send my daughter to the front line. I only tolerated my other children going because they very specifically wouldn't be engaging those infected people directly. I've already lost a husband. I WILL NOT loose one of my children!" By this point, Maxine had already gotten to her feet and was on her way to the front door.

"Then I won't fight them directly," Maxine chimed in as she got a better look at Hellen. While it didn't show on her face, Maxine could sense her mother's worry. This isn't an act. She genuinely doesn't want me to face those things in close combat.

"You will not be fighting anything," Hellen said firmly as she glared at Maxine, "I will."

"What?" Maxine and wizard Dylin asked at the same time.

"It seems you've forgotten who taught you how to fight with steel and magic," Hellen said calmly, "It'll only take me a few minutes to thin out their numbers enough for the city defenders to manage the rest." She didn't even give Maxine a moment to argue before she floated off of the ground and flew towards the western gate.

"Shit," Maxine said in frustration, "I was really looking forward to venting on those things. Oh, well. Back to making medicine."

Maxine turned around to return to her alchemical workshop, but was interrupted by wizard Dylin, "How is she able to fly?! And what did she mean it'll only take a few minutes?"

"It means exactly as it sounds," Maxine answered simply, "My mother is powerful sorceress. I've never once beaten her in a sparring match."

"But why didn't she act sooner?" wizard Dylin asked.

"She didn't want to reveal our location to my father's enemies for one and for another, you never asked for her help," Maxine said bluntly. At that moment, she saw flashes of light in the direction of the western gate. Yeah, that seems about right. She is bombarding them with firebombs. If they weren't so feral, I'd feel bad for them at how badly they're overmatched, but at this point, killing them is a mercy. So it's no surprise that I can see it from here, but where's the sound? Just as she thought about it, she began to hear the explosions. Next, she felt wizard Dylin extend out his spiritual sense.

"By the goddess, you're mother is amazing. Such beauty and power," wizard Dylin said softly before he regained his composure, "Wait, what was that about us not asking for help?"

"It's a restriction that the more powerful members of my family are under," Maxine replied, "Let's just say your earlier guess was very close to how my family operates."

"But I didn't mention...," wizard Dylin began to say and his gaze went straight to his shadow as a huge spider crawled out of his shadow before crawling up Maxine's leg.

"My pets keep me informed of such things," Maxine said with a smirk before controlling her spider construct to climb into her hair, "And don't worry, they're all perfectly tame. Although, this one thinks my hair is it's nest. It's part of the reason why I don't let just anyone touch me. They tend to get very defensive around strangers."

"I... I need to go," wizard Dylin said and he began to swiftly walk away. She kept catching him examining his shadow and looking at her over his shoulder. I can't blame him for the paranoia. Humans have this innate fear of anything that even resembles a spider. Although, it's still kind of funny such a powerful cultivator would be afraid of a spider. it would take at least a dozen spiders of that size to pull it off and they would each have to bite him multiple times.

Maxine watched him leave and walked back to her workshop after closing the front door. Her mother would join them soon enough. It looks like mom is enjoying herself. She needed this kind of stress relief after daddy died. It's too bad that she can't go all out. It would be better for her mental wellbeing. Hmm, at her current pace, she should be home in another hour or so. After that, there will probably be roughly one hundred of those infected left without hurting those soldiers at the gate. Which should be well within the capabilities of the city guard to deal with. Although, it still bugs me that mom reacted the way that she did. Those infected would at most be able to scratch my scales and what little of that virus might enter my body would be swiftly annihilated by my acidic blood. She knows that.

Maxine was genuinely confused at Hellen's sudden overprotective behavior until she remembered something. Mom never properly mourned daddy. I hear her crying once in awhile and she barely talks about him. That's not grieving that's avoidance. I need to talk to her about this.

Maxine looked through Kai's eyes and saw the fiery landscape just beyond the city walls. Her mother was still hurling fireballs down at the infected that were rushing forward. There were still around one hundred infected near the gates, but their numbers were swiftly being picked of by the archers and guardsmen around the gate itself. A few of the archers had stopped shooting arrows sometime ago and where watching Hellen with pure awe.

"She destroyed them so... easily," she heard one of them say, "Why didn't she help before?"

A lot of the archers turned to look at Kai. After loosing another arrow, Maxine replied through Kai, "My family is hiding from some rather powerful and unscrupulous wizards. So, if my mother is this powerful, how powerful do you think those wizards after us must be to send us into hiding? She just took a massive risk by 'helping' a city that might stab us in the back if and when those wizards show up." The other archers immediately looked embarrassed and began loose arrows at the surviving infected. There. Now some rumors will start to spread about why mom hadn't acted before now. Thankfully, Thera is being questioned in a similar fashion. No way those ungrateful pricks in the noble district will have a chance to spin it. Not to mention the fact that I'm the one providing the most healing salves and Black Rage cures out of any other alchemist in this city. If they run a smear campaign against us, I'll just return the favor. Turnabout is fair play afterall. I've gathered some rather nasty evidence of their more illegal and unsavory activities. Just off the top of my head are those poor girls that Thera patched up a few days ago. Those fat fuckers gang-raped them and threw them into a ditch to die. They were barely alive when their families brought them to Thera for treatment. It makes me so angry that I want to murder the lot of them. Then again, I don't have to do a thing. An angry mob is just as capable of dragging those fuckers out and brutalizing them. Hmm, that gives me an idea.

Maxine smiled maliciously after retracting her focus from Kai. Several of her helpers glanced at her fearfully, but before she enacted her plans, she needed to have a chat with her mother about Guan. It was long past due that they held a funeral for him to say goodbye. I need to talk with Emily about this as well. I think the local government will give us a few days to get it done. Afterall, mom just saved their asses. If they had any sense, they would do their best to leave us alone at least for the time being. Who am I kidding? They still have nobles. Of course, they'll try to mess with us in some idiotic plan to either force us to leave out of fear or try to win us over due to greed.

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