Once again the horn echoed across the field, and the shifters leapt into a flurry of motion. The avian shifters burst into flight and wrapped figure eights and loops with each other overhead. The reptilian shifters sprang into the air and rolled on their way down, only to have another line of them jump up over their heads as they tucked down into a crouch on the ground. Then several of both varieties piled on top of each other armed with swords and swung them around to make a graceful patterns of light from the reflection of the still glowing lanterns. Then all of their procession took a knee as a formal sign of respect to the delegation.
The wizards scoffed at the display and mocked the presentation. The elders tried to hide their laughter but still some chuckling escaped them. "What a ludicrous display," Brietsch, one of the elders leading their procession, said. "We have come here to discuss important business, and it is not appropriate to have this playing and roughhousing going on right now," he added.
A crow shifter with feathers that had gone gray with age hissed at them. "You dare to insult our ceremonial display of friendship in honor of our alliance? Be careful, humans. One might suspect that this is a sign we should call the entire alliance off and bring our parcel back with us. If you cannot respect our friendship, then maybe you don't deserve it, or the benefits it brings."
"No, we never intended you to think that," Gruzelvelt said dryly. He stood next to Brietsch and held up his hands in a show of apology for his group's actions. "We were just surprised to see such a, well, exuberant display at a formal gathering," he added.
The shifter leaders and the wizard elders looked at each other across the clearing. The apology had sounded insincere to those on both sides, and the shifters did not appreciate the rude words which were as good as a personal attack against them. Some of the younger shifters growled and raised their hackles. The elders warned their members to keep a polite face and let negotiations continue, however, as they still had something to gain from this alliance even though it seemed clear they weren't gaining any friendships through it. Still nothing more was said or done as the shifters refused to speak and carry on the meeting by themselves.
Finally, the wizards managed to quiet any other signs of mirth from their side. Gruzelvelt pushed his beard over his shoulder to get it out of the way and once more stepped forward to address the other side. "I assume you came prepared for our meeting?" he asked them.
The old bird finally gestured to the leader of his procession. A woman with dark spots covering her still slightly-furred arms shook her head at him, but he insisted. She sighed and reluctantly moved forward, brandishing a small wooden crate with thin plastic sides. Lights came forth from the blinking bodies inside.
"We have fulfilled our end of the bargain. We have them in here," she said. "We will need to see proof that you have done the same before I will pass this over," she added.
Her leader frowned at her for speaking out of turn, but she was clearly determined to hold off until her requirement had been fulfilled. The rest of her people growled their agreement so that their elder was forced to accept the will of the majority. He was not truly upset by her requirement after all and had merely been ashamed at her speaking without first seeking approval for her words. They all had new doubts over the trustworthiness of their so-called allies and needed their fears assuaged before they would break the law for them.
"How do we know you have provided what was required? We see you have a package over there, but we need to see proof that this package is as requested before we can uphold our end of the bargain," Gruzelvelt said.
The shifters growled again at this added rudeness, but their elder quieted them and gestured for the girl to reveal her burden. She held the crate up and yanked open the top to plunge her hand in and grab one of its occupants before she shut it again to keep the rest trapped inside. She held her prize between two fingers and held it up for them to see it flicker light.
One of the younger wizards in the back of the procession scoffed audibly. "You've got to be kidding. We requested a deadly poison, and all you scrounged up was a little snack for him? How are some lightning bugs going to do serious damage to anyone, let alone a lizard person?" The middle aged wizard next to him slapped him so hard on the side of his head that his ears rang. The other wizards around him hissed for his silence and scolded him for his outburst, conveniently forgetting they were about to do the same before he spoke up. The boy quickly scowled back at his elder, but he also slunk back so that he was out of view or notice during the rest of negotiations.
A man stretched out on the ground, wrapping his scaled tail around himself. "Oh yes, I can see you've got a genius tucked into the crowd. Tell me, who would best know what was poisonous to a reptilian race like the dragons than a lizard shifter." He pointed at himself, and then he pointed at the novice. "You think a stupid human child who has the sin of being incapable
