Maxine was slowly pouring a fruit juice into a wooden barrel to ferment while she grumbled to herself. Only the wealthy had purchased her beauty products in the past few weeks and even they seemed skeptical until they saw the flawless skin that Maxine and the rest of her family possessed. Unfortunately, everyone else thought they would be absurdly expensive, but in truth, they were very affordable. None of the materials were that expensive. It barely cost the average worker more than half a day worth of work for a month's supply. I should've seen this coming. Oh, well. At least, when I'm able to distill this stuff into a proper wine, I'll sell it to a tavern for a bit of extra spending money. I wish I could sell it off myself, but the prices for property that are suitable for being a tavern are insane. Even after clearing out a dozen bandit hideouts, I still couldn't afford an abandoned tavern a good distance away from the main roads.

  Hellen walked in as Maxine was adding a blend of fermenting yeast to the barrel before sealing it. "You have a patient," Hellen told her.

  "I know," Maxine said, "I'm controlling Thera to see to them. Although, I'm seeing far fewer men than women and children."

  "Well, can you blame them?" Hellen asked, "You all but hit any man enters your clinic."

  "That's because they can't keep their damn hands to themselves," Maxine growled, "And the few that do, are constantly flirting with me or asking me out on a date. They're annoying." That's not entirely true, but it is when most of the men that come to see me are either wealthy and/or powerful. Those pricks just don't take no for an answer.

  "Why don't you take one of them up on that offer?" Hellen asked, "Perhaps, it will discourage the rest."

  "Because I don't want to go through dating and rejecting them when they ask me to marry them," Maxine replied, "I may not like men in that way, but I will not toy with their emotions like some heartless bitch for the sake of appearances. If they're decent human beings, I'll accept their friendship, but nothing more."

  "Then, you'll just have to put up with their antics in the meantime," Hellen said bluntly.

  "I'm aware," Maxine replied, "By the way, how much of that youth retaining cream have we sold this week?"

  "Twenty five gold pieces worth. I believe that's enough that we can feed our family with purchased goods for nearly a year without a single trip to that toxic waste facility," Hellen said calmly, "And, those managing that facility seem to be in good spirits. They're finally making some progress in lowering their stockpile of that filthy stuff with your help." I consume all the toxic elements in a full fifty gallon barrel once a week per body. Lucas and Reena consume one in the same time span when working together so that's four barrels a week. The wizards working together convert another twenty barrels into something useable and non-toxic. And this city only produces 80 barrels of toxic waste a month. So, yeah, we would be helping them lower the overall stockpile and eventually, give those wizards a lighter load.

  "Good," Maxine said, "On that note, I'm going to go with Thera and Reena to go for our daily 'bath' in a few hours. Although, I don't like it when Lidia watches us. It creeps me out a little bit with how fervently she stares at us."

  "You know she's just trying to figure out the chemical process that your scales use to change the toxins into nutrients," Hellen pointed out, "And it was you that insisted that only another woman could examine the process while you 'bathed.'"

  "I know that, but it feels like I'm being stared at by some kind of pervert," Maxine replied, "It makes me feel like I'm being violated by her gaze alone."

  "You'll just have to put up with it," Hellen said and added, "I almost forgot. There is a group of officers from one of the neighboring nations visiting this city. You might want to avoid them if at all possible. I believe they're group is extremely hostile towards shifters of any kind."

  "I do my best to avoid them, but if they come to me to start trouble, I'll retaliate in kind," Maxine said calmly, and frowned the next moment, "By the way, were are Reena and Lucas? Shouldn't they be home right now?"

  "They're playing near the clinic with their friends," Hellen said calmly, "They're quite popular with the other children."

  "I can imagine so," Maxine said with a smirk, "Although, their parents would probably have other ideas."

  "I had to reassure them repeatedly that Lucas and Reena are very safe to be around," Hellen said.

  "Yeah, those two are more likely to protect their playmates than hurt them," Maxine agreed, but frowned when she felt agitated for no real reason. It confused her for only an instant before she realized where she felt this exact sensation before.

  Instantly, she spread out her spiritual sense and found the cause a short distance away. Reena and Lucas were in their hydrakin states and Reena was hiding behind Lucas while rubbing her cheek. The cause of that minor injury was clearly a large man that was looking at them both with undisguised disgust and hatred. And what's worse, he was reaching for his sidearm. Why does every world have prejudiced assholes? It's like it's wired in human biology for these fuckers to exist!

  She didn't even pause to tell Hellen what was going before she rushed out of the building and had transformed into her battle state just as she entered the street. To avoid running into anyone, she ran up the side of a building and continued to run towards Lucas and Reena while moving just slow enough to appear as a blur to everyone watching. It took her only a moment to reach Lucas and Reena. She leapt off the side of the building and spun mid-air before slapping the offending man across the face with her tail just in time to throw off his aim enough that he shot the ground rather than Lucas. She saw blood spray out of the man's mouth as well as what she thought was a tooth.

  Maxine stood defensively infront of Lucas and Reena while using her tail to make sure they stayed behind her. "Kill that thing!" the man roared. She only noticed at that point that he had a posse with him. All of which were wearing military uniforms, but were not from this city.

  "You will not!" Melvin Temmil shouted.

  "It attacked me!" the man growled and spat out a globule of blood.

  "She was defending her younger siblings after YOU attacked and were about to kill one of them," Melvin Temmil countered, "And you should be lucky that she only hit you once with her tail when she could have more easily spilt your entrails onto the ground with a simple swipe of her claws."

  "Remind me if I'm wrong, but isn't this area clearly designated as a shifter residential area with easily readable signs?" Maxine interrupted with a question and saw Melvin Temmil look at her before nodding his head, "Then, this man is either an illiterate fool or he came here to intentionally cause trouble to see how far he could push a neutral territory." In fact, the residential buildings closest to the outer walls are where most of the shifters are located. Well, that and the poor. In some twisted way, it makes sense. If the shifters are closer to the wall, they can more easily aide in the city's defense in the event that the wall gets breached. Any unwary soldier rushing in will get torn apart by angry shifters whose homes are threatened.

  "Your logic is sound, young lady," a more senior wizard said as he joined them, "I will bring your argument before the council, but before that, I'll have to ask you and your men to return to the embassy, captain. I'll be having words with the ambassador of your conduct."

  "Oh, and it seems he dropped his firearm," Maxine said as she spotted the captain's gun on the ground and picked it before aiming at her palm, "You could've accidentally shot me and put me into a killing frenzy." Everyone froze as they gave Maxine an incredulous look. "Just kidding. It's not like you could hurt me with this useless thing. Case in point," Maxine said with an evil smirk as she pulled the trigger and watched their horrified expressions as the bullet flattened against her hide before falling harmlessly to the ground, "As you can see, I'm quite bulletproof as are a few of the more durable shifters and the rest heal fast enough that most firearms do not pose that much of a threat, at least, to an adult shifter. It might be a good idea to remember that little detail when you go looking for trouble with them." She handed the handgun back to the captain, whom refused to even look at it. Maxine shrugged and set it down next to him before taking Lucas and Reena back home. The locals that had come to watch the show parted as she approached to let her pass. I probably shouldn't have done that, but god, it felt satisfying. Hrm? What's that?

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Maxine turned her head to look at a man holding a small smoking device. After scanning it with her spiritual sense, she discovered the remnants of a formation array on it, but it had been overloaded well beyond what it was meant to handle. So, she had no idea as to what it's purpose was from the few surviving fragments. That's suspicious. Although, I don't see any identifying insignia or anything else to indicate who he works for. With a thought, she snuck a construct into his shadow. It would record and relay information to her directly and with any luck, that man will go to his superior within the next day or so. After a moment of hesitation, she did the same to the captain.

  "Are your siblings okay?" Melvin Temmil said as he caught up with them just outside of her new home.

  "Reena is a little worse for wear, but she'll be fine," Maxine replied calmly and ruffled Lucas' hair, "Lucas was a brave little warrior to come so quick to his sister's defense."

  "That he is," Melvin Temmil said in agreement, but he still appeared to be concerned, "Might I ask why the three of your are still in your shifted state?"

  "Oh, thanks for reminding me," Maxine said to herself as she transformed back into her base form, "I simply forgot. These two on the other hand seem to have lost control of themselves due to a moment of fear and anger. It'll take awhile for them to figure out how to unwind and change back."

  "I see," Melvin Temmil said as if he was making a mental note, "And you don't need to worry about getting into trouble. Captain Morgan was at fault for attacking a shifter child. We made it clear on his arrival that such behavior would most likely get him killed. And now, he'll most likely be confined to the Chanti embassy for the remainder of his stay. However, it is concerning that he would behave like that in the first place." Yeah, it is and that guy didn't threaten us with action from his government before we left. That's practically a classic move for guys like that.

  "It is, but I'll leave the politics to you and your fellows," Maxine said, "I'm more concerned about my younger siblings and how to keep them fed. As you've most likely noticed, they can consume vast quantities of food if we are unable to get our daily 'baths.'"

  "You're not much better," Melvin Temmil pointed out, "It's a small wonder that you're not fat."

  "You have to remember that shifters require huge stockpiles of energy to transform," Maxine replied, "What little fat we do put on, we loose during our next transformation. It's a rare thing to see a 'fat' shifter."

  "When you put it like that, I see your point," Melvin Temmil said, "Now, I best get back to my job. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

  "Take care," Maxine said as she walked inside.

  "He's a good man," Hellen said as Maxine closed the door.

  "He's been a good friend so far," Maxine agreed, "Although, I think he's still hopeful that I'll take him up on his offer for dinner."

  "That much is obvious," Hellen said and she added via spiritual sense, [That situation wasn't staged, like you are thinking, but it was anticipated by his superior. I believe they're trying to estimate the strength of the local shifters by encouraging that 'captain's' prejudiced behavior and after your little display, they may be rethinking whatever plans they have for this city.]

  "I should look at Reena. She got hit by that vile man. Hopefully, it's nothing more than a bruise," Maxine said and added via spiritual sense, [I figured as much. I have a construct in the captain's shadow and one other person that was following him. I'm waiting for one or the other to report to their superior.]

  "Alright, I'll make myself something to eat," Hellen said and added, [I'll keep an eye on both of them and their ambassador as well. You're already occupied enough with controlling two additional bodies and you might miss something.]

  [Fair enough,] Maxine replied as she found Reena in the room she shared with Maxine and Thera. She quickly examined the spot where Reena got struck, but there was barely any sign she was hit at all. "You're fine," Maxine said to Reena, "Just a small bruise that will be gone by tomorrow."

  "I don't like that bad man," Reena said.

  "Neither do I," Maxine agreed, "But there are people like that in this world. So, you just leave him to me and mom."

  "I liked how you hit him with your tail," Reena said with a small smile.

  "He would've shot you or Lucas if I hadn't," Maxine said bluntly, "Still, I would prefer it if you and Lucas tried to solve problems diplomatically. You can't just go around punching your problems away. While it might be fun at first, it'll just result in a lot of problems later. Understand?"

  "Yes," Reena said.

  "Now, after Thera is finished with patients for the day, we'll go for our 'feeding' bath," Maxine said with a smile.

  "I like those baths," Reena said.

  "So, do I. In the meantime, you can do your chores," Maxine said and swiftly added before Reena could complain, "And don't complain. I have chores too. Or do you think I enjoy making a cosmetic cream that only makes women look young? Because I don't. It's so ... tedious. But it makes it so we have good food on the table and I don't hear you complain about that."

  "Alright," Reena said sadly as she walked off to go clean. Really? You're upset about having to do some light dusting? That barely takes you half an hour. It's not like we're asking you to clean out an outhouse.

  Maxine mentally shrugged and went to make more of her cosmetic beauty cream when one of her constructs pinged her. It was the one in the captain Morgan's shadow. He had returned to the embassy and he was approaching his ambassador. With a thought, she covertly observed.

  "Report," the Chanti ambassador demanded.

  "I did as ordered and went for a patrol in the lower districts. I encountered a pair of shifter children in their beastly forms and took it upon myself to discipline them for their lack of control," Captain Morgan reported, "I struck the female of the pair and was nearly attacked by the young male. I was forced to reach for my weapon, but I was viciously struck and disarmed by their mother. Then the creature proceeded to mock me by using my weapon to demonstrate how impervious her scales were. Afterwards, I was denounce by the locals and ordered to return here."

  "While your actions aligned with your report, your intentions were another matter," the Chanti ambassador stated, "My spies told me you had every intention of killing both of those children. Your hatred for them was evident from your body language and expressions. And that woman wasn't their mother. She was their elder sister and she wasn't mocking you. She was stating a horrifying fact. Regardless, you've brought our nation great shame with your actions. I have every right to see you demoted."

  "I request the use of silverine bullets to eliminate that creature," captain Morgan said humbly.

  "Denied, not that it would do you any good," the Chanti ambassador stated, "The bullets in your gun were already made of a silverine alloy and they did nothing to her. This only confirms that she is an original shifter, not one cursed with it."

  "I don't understand," Captain Morgan said.

  "It's well known that most shifters were created through a potent curse," the Chanti ambassador said calmly, "What isn't well known is that they based this curse off of an original being. These original shifters have greater control over themselves and are generally superior in every way. They even lack the vulnerability to silverine that their cursed brethren share. In fact, the vulnerability to silverine was only one of the engineered weaknesses to keep them in check. The only way to kill an original shifters is to destroy either their heart or brain, and considering her impressive durability, we lack the means to do so without employing a particularly powerful wizard. But we can keep her and her siblings occupied by targeting the weaker members of their family, but measures will have to be taken to ensure we don't accidentally kill one of them."

  "That seems cowardly," Captain Morgan retorted.

  "Perhaps, but it's vastly preferable compared to a trio of rampaging shifters tearing a part hundreds of our soldiers," the Chanti ambassador stated calmly, "It's far easier and cost effective to simply keep them distracted and contained by forcing them to protect their own."

  "Still, if it's possible, I would like to kill the one that struck me," Captain Morgan said, "It shouldn't be that hard to kill her while she's in her human state."

  "I doubt you will ever get the chance," the Chanti Ambassador replied, "She's already marked you."

  "What do you mean?" Captain Morgan asked.

  "Although uncommon, original shifters can be capable magic users," the Chanti ambassador explained, "And that young woman is quite the capable one from the looks of it. Just look at your shadow if you don't believe me."

  Captain Morgan looked down and recoiled when he spotted Maxine's construct. "What in all that is holy, is that?!" Captain Morgan demanded.

  "A tracking spell from what I can tell," the Chanti ambassador replied calmly, "And be grateful that's all she placed on you. It should disappear once you go outside of a certain distance. On that note, I'm sending you back to the front lines as both a punishment and to deliver a report." You wish it was a tracking spell. I could easily kill both of you with that tiny construct.

  "As you command," Captain Morgan replied as he bowed his head, "Will we be taking this city, then?"

  "That isn't for you or I to decide," the Chanti ambassador replied calmly, "Now, go rest. You'll be leaving at first light tomorrow."

  "Yes, sir," Captain Morgan said as he bowed his head once more before leaving.

  Maxine retracted her spiritual sense and mentally sighed as, yet again, she complained. Why?! Why can't I for once just find a place without some bullshit going on? Am I cursed or something? Still, it could be a lot worse. It's not like their weapons can hurt Lucas or Reena all that much. Emily, however, would definitely be weak enough to be easy prey during the later stages of her pregnancy and if they're dumb enough to target her, they deserve every bit of my wrath.