Diary of the Shadow Queen

Maxine mentally complained as she escorted Hellen around while they were shopping. Someone had spread rumors that a shifter had been infected with the Black Rage throughout the city and now every non-shifter was keeping their distance. It didn't matter that they found, contained and cured the infected individual in time. People were scared of the shifter population. It's a nasty move, but an effective one. They're isolating and alienating the shifter population in one move. None of the upper-class people want a shifter anywhere near them and for good reason. Shifters are absolutely brutal in urban and forest environments. They wouldn't be able to stop one that goes feral without heavy casualties. At least, Clarice came out of it with most of her mental faculties. Her temper is a little shorter, but that's the best we could ever hope for. I also caught five others that were infected and treated them just as they began to show any symptoms. As a downside, though, my family has been marked as the family of the medicine maker since I'm the one with the cures for shifters.

"It's been three weeks and they're still wound up," Hellen said calmly.

"What do you expect?" Maxine asked, "That illness is something akin to a zombie plague. I imagine they'll keep us isolated for, at least, another three months. So, whoever spread those rumors should enact their real plans soon. Although, if I were a betting woman, I would say that something is going to happen in the noble quarter within that time frame."

"What makes you say that?" Hellen asked, but Maxine could tell she already knew the answer. She just wanted Maxine to say it.

"There won't be any shifter bodyguards to 'sniff' out people that don't belong," Maxine said calmly, "This will be the best time to make a move." As she was speaking, she sent out her spiritual sense to the richer sections of the city. She didn't see anything out of place, but she really didn't know what to look for either. For all she knew, her guess was completely wrong.

"That's not the only thing that they could do," Hellen remarked, "A simple act of sabotage could jam any one of the city entrances open or someone could sneak in some explosives to blast open a large portion of the protective wall. Or any number of other things with the shifter population isolated like it is. Or some really petty person is just doing their best to make life difficult for shifters for no good reason other than to satisfy their sadistic desires." Damn, I didn't think of those. With those intents in mind, Maxine extended her search to the entry gates of the city. She didn't find anything that jumped out at her as a red flag, so she decided to keep a portion of her mind to actively check anyone that was suspicious. She didn't want to be caught by surprise. Sadly, the only thing she found of note was a box full of sex toys that was headed towards the noble district.

On a whim, she scanned the area around herself and around her home. She immediately spotted someone two blocks away in a taller building aiming a rifle at Lucas, Reena and Emily. She wasn't sure whom he was aiming it at. Emily would be able to erect several weak shields in time to either deflect or stop the bullet, even in her weakened state. Lucas and Reena on the other hand could conceivably be killed by a lucky shot. She couldn't take that risk.

[I need to go,] Maxine said to Hellen via spiritual sense before walking into a shadowy alleyway and shadow-stepping behind the rifleman. Without skipping a beat, she kicks him in the side and snatches the rifle out of his hands. It was loaded with silverine bullets, but thankfully, the safety was engaged. He hadn't intended on shooting them, at least, for now.

"Who sent you?" Maxine asked coldly while the man nursed his bruised ribs. He just glared at her. She picked him up by his shirt and slammed him into the wall as she transformed into her battle form. Without breaking eye contact, she dragged her claws effortlessly against the wall beside his head. "Right now, I'm asking nicely," Maxine said coldly, "If you refuse to answer again, I'll start ripping off your toenails and fingernails one at a time. If you refuse after that, I have some coarse salt in my pouch and some other fun goodies that I can give you that'll leave you screaming for the rest of your days. Now, I'll ask you one more time. Who sent you?" He seemed unnerved and started to sweat. It wasn't until she started to reach into her pouch that he started to talk.

"Stop! I work for the Chanti Empire," the rifleman said swiftly, "I was only told to observe until ordered otherwise." With a thought, she isolated the room to prevent any sound from exiting it.

"You don't just observe with a loaded weapon. That can be done with binoculars are acting like an ordinary citizen," Maxine said coldly as she tore out his right thumbnail and waited for him to stop screaming before she continued, "This time don't omit anything."

"Fuck you, bitch!" he cursed at her and she ripped out another fingernail within a blink of an eye. He howled again and she waited patiently for him to stop.

"I didn't hear a valid answer," Maxine said, "I do not wish to torture you any further. So do yourself and me a favor by being truthful. Because after this, I'll just rip the information out of your head and trust me, you do not want that."

"What do you mean rip it out of my head?" he asked fearfuly.

[I mean I would literately rip it out of your skull in the same way that I'm talking without my voice and in doing so leave you a blubbering idiot for the rest of your days,] Maxine said via spiritual sense and added verbally, "Now answer my question."

"I was told to observe and wound one of the children when the time was right," he said in a terrified tone.

"When would you know the time is right? And were you working with others?" Maxine asked.

"I don't know, but my superior said I would know when and I'm working with two others," he admitted, "I don't know who. I never saw their faces. They even wore baggy clothing so I give you an accurate description of them. Hell the only reason that I know their women is from the brief moments that they spoke."

"What were their hair colors?" Maxine asked.

"Both are brunettes," he answered without delay. That doesn't narrow it down much. Brown hair is the most common hair color.

"What about their height?" Maxine asked.

"Shorter than me," he answered. That's basically every woman in the damn city. But considering this man's incompetence and ease at which he broke, he's clearly not a high ranking spy. He was probably sent here as a distraction while the more competent and dangerous spies gather more important details.

"You're useless," Maxine said with distain as she released him, "I want you out of this city by nightfall and if I see you again, I'll rip off your manhood. Understood?"

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"Understood," he said fearfully and ran for the door while cradling his injured hand. She observed him as he immediately went to some kind of inn, swiftly bandaged his wounded hand and grabbed his things before leaving. Now, who could the other two spies be? She thought on that and suddenly froze. Clarice fit that criteria and if they had one of her relatives, it would ensure her compliance. Fuck.

[Sorry, mom. I found someone aiming a gun at Lucas and Reena and now, I have another problem to deal with,] Maxine said to Hellen via spiritual sense, [I'll see you at home.]

[See you at home, then,] Hellen replied, [You should really let the local government deal with whatever you found out.] Before Maxine could answer, Hellen severed the spiritual sense connection.

With a thought, she located Clarice. She was walking home and she looked worried. Maxine shadow-stepped to an empty alleyway ahead of Clarice and waited for her. When she spotted Clarice, she said, "Hey, Clarice. How are you feeling?"

"Oh! Maxine," Clarice said in surprise, "I didn't see you there. I'm feeling fine."

"That's good to hear," Maxine said calmly while subtly observing Clarice's reaction, "I wasn't able to ask you any questions earlier about where you contracted that illness, especially since I didn't find any bite or scratch marks on your body. So, it's rather odd that you contracted it in the first place."

"I rather not say out here," Clarice said nervously. Nothing outward suggests that she's hiding something. Still, I hear something slightly off in her voice. It could be nothing. Afterall, I literately appeared out of nowhere. I should've been waiting at her house. No, that's not a good idea. There's someone else inside of her house waiting for her. That could easily backfire.

"Of course," Maxine said calmly, "Perhaps, we can discuss it inside your home?"

"If you don't mind," Clarice said.

"Not at all," Maxine said as she gestured towards Clarice's home.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive at Clarice's home and once inside, Clarice practically slammed her forehead on the ground as she begged, "Please, share the cure to the Black Rage." I did not expect this.

"Get up," Maxine said in an exasperated tone, "And tell me how and where you contracted that in the first place."

"I ... yes," Clarice said uncertainly, "I contracted it when I killed one of the infected and some of their blood got into my eye. I came here based on a few rumors that this city had a medicine maker. You were literately my only chance at a cure."

"And if there wasn't a cure?" Maxine asked, "What then?"

"I ... I was supposed to spread the illness as much as I could," Clarice answered.

"And who put that idea into your head?" Maxine asked in a cold tone.

"A Chanti inquisitor named Pax," Clarice answered, "He has my family."

"Now, finally, why should I convince the medicine maker to share that knowledge?" Maxine asked.

"Because ... the Chanti Empire is suffering from an outbreak of the Black Rage. Several cities have already fallen to madness," Clarice answered, "They're desperate for a cure and their records indicated only medicine makers know how to cure it." That was certainly not what I was expecting. No wonder they were so eager for peace. They have enough problems as it is. Still, I don't like their attitude. What kind of assholes decide that if they're going to die that everyone else does as well?

"Then why the fuck didn't they just ask for it?" Maxine said coldly.

"How would they know if it wasn't legitimate or not without proof?" Clarice retorted, "They wanted the real thing and the only way to be sure was to purposefully send someone that was already infected." Complete and total assholes. No wonder they're despised by nearly every nation on this continent. The only reason they havn't been ground into oblivion is due to the difficulty of invading them. They're whole nation is literately on a huge plateau with only a handful of roads leading into it.

"Fine," Maxine said angrily, "I'll talk to the medicine maker, but no promises. It was made to cure shifters, not normal humans." That's a blatant lie. It can cure everyone of that filthy virus, but she doesn't know that.

"It's better than nothing," another woman said to Maxine's left from Clarice's bedroom. I was wondering when she was going to make an appearance.

"What are you doing?!" Clarice practically shouted.

"What are you getting so worked up about?" the woman said, "She already knew that I was here. You would've realized that if you were paying attention. Didn't you notice how little she reacted when I spoke up?"

"She's not wrong," Maxine pointed out, "In fact, I knew she was here before I even entered your home. I could smell her."

"I'm certain that I have no scent whatsoever for you to track, not with the precautions that I took," the woman said suspiciously.

"True, but the vinegar you scrubbed yourself with leaves a very faint yet distinct scent," Maxine replied, "A normal dog would ignore it, but a shifter would notice something was off, especially with that scent coming from a bedroom. Now if you have hidden yourself in the kitchen, that might have worked better."

"Thank you for the tip," the woman said, "Now, on the chance that your medicine maker won't give us the recipe, can you give me a vial of the cure?" Smart. She could reverse engineer it. Its not like I refined it using flames. The cure was made from a primitive form of chemistry. If I had tried anything other method, it has a strong chance of killing the patient rather than curing them.

"I don't see a problem with it," Maxine said as she handed a vial of the cure to the woman and as the woman took it, Maxine added, "You should stay here for now. It won't take me long to ask the medicine maker for the recipe." She didn't wait for their response before she pulled the surrounding shadows around herself and shadow-stepped back to her room at her home. I know I shouldn't show off like this, but they already know that I can use magic. So, there's really no need to hide it. Anyways, this isn't even the scariest thing that I can do.

Maxine looked around her room to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be before laying down on her bed. I think I'll let them sweat it out for awhile just for doing this shit in a roundabout manner when they could've just asked for it. Perhaps, they've schemed and plotted so much that they simply forgot how to ask someone directly. It's also possible that Clarice was working up the courage to ask me directly or she was waiting for it to come up in conversation organically. Still, while she hesitated, people were dying that could've been saved.

After laying down for fifteen minutes, she got up and shadow-stepped back to Clarice's home. Clarice was sitting at her table with her companion sitting across from her. "You casually use teleportation spells that powerful wizards are still trying to figure out," the woman with Clarice said calmly.

"That wasn't teleportation," Maxine said bluntly.

"Uh huh," the woman said, "Anyways, what did your medicine maker say?"

"They said that you could have the recipe. They said something about treating the sick regardless of their race is what a healer should do," Maxine said as she placed a small book on the table, "Like I said, it's not very difficult to make, even an unskilled alchemist can make it as long as they follow the recipe."

The woman gently picked up the small book and began reading it. "You weren't kidding. I think even I could compound this medicine," the woman said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Maxine said calmly, "Just be sure to start producing that stuff quickly. We do not want an epidemic of Black Rage. If it gets bad enough, it could put the whole continent at risk."

"What?!" Clarice said in surprise and fear.

"She's right," the woman said, "Our nation is already struggling to keep it contained within our borders. With this, anyone injured by the infected will no longer face a death sentence. And now, I must take my leave. I need to make sure this gets to my people and have it tested at once."

"Of course," Maxine said as she stepped aside before the woman swiftly ran out of the door, "Now, I need to head out myself. I have other things that I need to do today." Such as prepare for contingencies in the event that those idiots from the Chanti Empire can't contain the spread of the Black Rage. I need to immediately make copies of that recipe and spread it to the other nations just as a precaution. At this stage, it's best to be prepared than to hope that the Chanti Empire can keep it in check on their own. In fact, I should act as if they are intentionally spreading this plague since they've already demonstrated that inclination.

Maxine sighed at how complicated everything has gotten in the short time that she's been on this planet. Is it too much to ask for a little bit of peace once in awhile? Just one or two years of peace is all I'm asking.