"Oh no, of course not. We can certainly trust that this is an honest and true poison that will do the job. We had just hoped for a more... reliable solution. I do not think it would be very easy to hide a squirming bug in his steak in such a way that he'd still actually eat," Gruzelvelt said. "If this is what we have available though, we'll gladly accept," he added.
The wizard elder went forward to accept the proffered poison, but the shifter line quickly bulged to form a wall of bodies hiding the precious goods. "You haven't seen all we have yet, impatient humansss," another in the crowd hissed at them. "Look here at thisss," she said. They obediently looked and saw a different shifter, a bird this time, come forward to show a bag filled with leafy fronds. "It may be difficult to smuggle little buglies into his food, but anyone could manage to hide dragons bane. It has no odor or taste, and the oil it secretes is easily hidden in the rich foods often served at the palace. You'll be guaranteed a death," he said.
The human's eyes lit up at the sight of it, and this time old Gruzelvelt moved as fast as he could to try to snatch the leaves, but the shifters simply bunched up once again so he couldn't reach it.
"Naughty, naughty little humans, don't you want to play nice?" A green-skinned man with a scale stuck on his scalp came forward; the kappas had clearly teamed up with the other shifter misfits. "We have such pretty little presents here, but there's no sign that you intend to fulfill your deal and give us what we've been promised. If that doesn't change, we might have to give you bad boys a scolding." A crouched toad girl on the end smirked at them all and licked her lips. Her hunger clearly conveyed that they would all happily eat the humans--magical skills or not--if they did not bring to the bargaining table what they had promised, much to their discomfort. Gruzelvelt grimaced and snapped his fingers, ordering the chastised young wizard to come forward with his own parcel.
"Kraelek is not the wisest of our kind," he again looked at the boy with a sneer, "but he carries something of great value. Show them, child," he ordered.
Kraelek came forward as he pushed a small handcart, rather like a wood version of the ubiquitous shopping carts found in the Original. It was filled with a tower of burlap sacks stacked above his head. Each sack was marked with a logo that showed an encircled howling wolf's head. "We've provided the wolfsbane that was requested. Of course," the wizened old man added, "we'll be more than happy to hand them over as soon as we receive our payment." His voice was oily, and it may have fooled some humans, but the shifters could smell the insincerity dripping off of him.
The method of exchanging goods was less than ideal, but the offerings themselves were dubious as well. Dragonsbane was banned in their dragon-ruled world. Wolfsbane was perfectly legal and not too terribly difficult to get your hands on, but the shifters had agreed to receive it in this manner to be sure the wolves wouldn't have their guard up against them or target them in a preemptive ambush to prevent their using it. Some of the shifters were now starting to wonder if this exchange had really been worth initiating at all. But, of course, it was not just poison on the line, but the promise of support if they went to war that was the main trade being made. The question, still, was whether that was worth their efforts either.
Neither group moved to let go of their cargo or to steal the other's offerings. They stood, staring at each other. "Why again are we helping these people?" Kraelek muttered. He was again slapped for his vocalism. "Well, they clearly don't want to work with us, or us with them!"
He was cuffed again. "Because we may not get along with each other, but both of our kind need something from each other. Their kind has been poorly done by after generations of prejudice from other types of shifters like the wolf tribes, and even from the dragon clans and the Fey before them. Our kind has been poorly done by the leaders who all prefer the other species and hate and distrust humans of all kinds even after all these years of living in the same realm. We have a lot to offer each other." Gruzelvelt was now addressing the shifters and ignoring the boy once again, "If we can only cross this final hurdle of trust."
Finally the emissaries from both sides met in the middle to exchange their packages.
"We've made a deal, wizards. Do not forget that both of our peoples have agreed to working together on this. We will trust you, for now, as we will go into battle together. Together, we'll fight the dragons and their suppression," the shifter said.
Gruzelvelt smiled. "Oh, certainly. We promised we'd meet on the same grounds for a shared battle against those who have done us wrong, and we will. We'll join our power. Animals and humans, we'll do it together." The shifters' hackles raised at this. Being called an animal was one of the worst insults he could have said to them, and saying it had made them further doubt his group's sincerity. He saw that he'd messed up his approach and worked quickly to minimize damage.
"Shifters, I meant shifters, of course." He paused. They clearly were not buying his hasty attempt to mend the situation. "Besides, we aren't just meeting as allies. We are together in this as mutual victims under the tyranny of the dragon monarchy and their stupid princes. We're helping each other as we've both been
