Aaron was politely trying to escort the three ethereal beautiful men to the cabin but the kept looking over the crowd, refusing to budge. Aaron could not speak elvish, so they were speaking ancient Smyrnaean.
"The spirit, where?" Demanded the only elf who could speak. He then waved to the crowd, "Spirit. Here? Spirit gone?"
"The dragon? Fire spirit?" Aaron asked trying to understand what the much taller elf wanted.
"Greetings to the High Elves of Cerulea, please excuse our poor manners, they call me Ashton Reece." Ashton greeted in the common fae tongue. His elvish was barely passible so he opted for their version of common speak.
The guards were quickly forcing a path, literally shoving some nobles to the side for Ashton. "Make way, make way." They shouted.
Ashton stood before the three tall elves and gave an elven gesture of greeting by tapping his heart twice with his right hand, then holding it out as he gave a bow.
"We greet the great spirit." All three elves returned the gesture.
As Ashton looked around, he scratched his chin, "Ah, well I am not exactly a spirit. Today I am just a man." As big as the disturbance had been, for the fae to come out was rather worrisome. Something more must have happened. Something he hadn't considered...
The three looked surprised as they shared a look... the power they had felt had not been from a mere man. "You defeated the corrupted one?"
"Yes, though I cannot explain here." Ashton apologized looking at the now silent crowd. "Perhaps we may speak inside? While my stay in the empire will be short, I should not ignore them completely." Ashton added waving toward the cabin.
The three elves turned a distasteful glare on the men who had approached, "If men die, with us." The first said deliberately. The Elf looked at the people as if they were already dead, the guards visibly tensed.
Ashton waved the thought away, "It would prick my pride if they died while I was here." Ashton said, "Please, this way." He added then turned to Aaron, "I think I would be a better envoy for this particular meeting."
Aaron hesitated, then nodded as Ashton led the way into the cabin. When two toddler-sized black-clad figures, still fully armed, started climbing from the ground Aaron almost screamed.
Ashton made a crown and cloak of leaves sprout from the miniature golems. They each pulled out a bag and started spreading the leaves in front of the group. "While it is no procession fitting such esteemed guests, please accept the gesture in the spirit it is given." Ashton added as the elves watched the golems with avid interest. A sharp contrast to all the people who backed away in horror.
"They are yours?" The second elf asked watching as waves of mana poured off the small creature. They were practically... living mana hearts.
"I am still in need of such helpers." Ashton admitted as they entered. The two golems set to making fruit tea as they pulled sweet bread pastries out setting the table.
Lucian watched as the elves seemed... enamored by the tiny creatures. No elf in its right mind would dare be caught near a demon of its own free will. Lucian raised a brow to Devlin who was narrowing his eyes at the tiny things darting around.
The elves' faces remained stoic but their eyes were glowing with fascination as one of the creatures finished making the tea, then walked around the room with a tray carrying four cups. It gave an opulent bow while holding up the tray to the leader elf.
The second one followed with four plates of pastries. Each elf took a cup and plate. Then the golems returned so Ashton could have the remaining set, Ashton couldn't stop his smile as the elves continued to watch the golems. He tapped the table and five hand sized golems pulled themselves out of the table. One pulled a full-sized mana stone out of a thumb sized bag and proudly walked to the center of the table before it started patting it. The other four held hands as a soft ethereal chant echoed throughout the room. Within seconds the stone started to glow, silver and red archaic characters danced, then settled on the stone.
A barrier encompassed the table as the golems started darting around the table gathering up sugar, napkins, spoons, then passed the items to the elves. The last elf took the proffered spoon and couldn't help but pat the tiny creature.
Everyone stopped when the tiny figure looked up and grabbed a finger, then started to shake it.
"My apologies," Sawein apologized bowing his head for the younger elf, the spirit only smiled. Even with a mask on, his eyes were kind, much too good for these humans.
"Peace, it is not offended." Ashton explained as the tiny golem then directed the hand to the spoon then pointed at the tea, then held out its hand.
Lucian jolted, he'd understood both of them speaking, he looked again at the now glowing mana stone. "Now We can understand each other?" He asked.
Sawein also realized what the spell had done, "My name is Sawein Woldstad, this is Bahr, this is Grau, we come to pay respects to the young Spirit. We were also tasked to see if the young spirit would return with us." Sawein explained only glancing over the full table of humans. Sawein tried not to be distracted as Grau scooped up the tiny creature of pure mana and brought it to his face.
Grau couldn't resist holding the tiny creature, while the weapons were prickly the soft energy it passively gave off was almost as soothing as the mother tree during ceremonies. The small creature then patted his face. Grau almost melted into his seat, if he could just keep it...
Bahr's hand twitched when two small mana creatures sauntered up to him, then each held out a tiny hand. Bahr restrained himself as he looked at Sawein who was also having a standoff with the last two.
Sawein stared at the two tiny, outstretched hands, then glanced back to the spirit. "Spirit?"
"They are sentient, the fae aura is... rather appealing." Ashton explained with a wry smile as he let the last two golems escape Serafin's and Natasha's shadow to leap up on the table offering themselves, the fae aura was tuned more to nature, which would help circulate and refine their raw mana. The overflow would flow into the elves which was also beneficial for their healing or growth.
The two toddler sized golems shrank then occupied Sawein's lap as if they owned the territory now. Sawein had to fight not to cuddle the tiny creatures like Grau. "They are powerful, especially for one so young to command."
"They are a great help," Ashton admitted, still smiling as Sawein had four golems, Bahr had three, and Grau had three all claiming territory contentedly. Ashton was glad their sentience was not affected by long years of isolation, they were like curious sparrows exploring their new world.
Sawein kept a straight face as two occupied his lap, one was on his shoulder, the last one was hugging his left hand. Sawein pulled out a first-tier mana core and handed it to the tiny creature. It clapped in delight as it used both its hands to hold the core the size of its head, it then lifted its tiny mask just enough for his mouth to be revealed and... bit through the clear mana core.
There was an audible crunch that startled even the elves, who all shared a glance then each pulled out a small pouch handing out the mana cores as if they were candy to the children.
The delighted creatures gave small chirps of joy as they started rapidly consuming the mana cores. Ashton's lips twitched, "They act as if I starve them..." He complained dramatically, the mood had lightened considerably with the golems distracting the fae.
Sawein gave a short cough, "You are clearly generous with them, their aura is almost as pure as the mother tree."
Devlin gave a short cough as well, "What are they?" he asked watching the little things nibble through cores which were usually impossible to break until the mana was exhausted.
Sawein glanced at the human, then pretended not to hear, "Young spirit, this is not a place for your kind, they are... tainted." He reminded fishing out a second mana core for the first little creature.
Ashton sighed, "For now they have not broken the contract. I am also not a spirit in the traditional sense." Ashton guessed these fae, like the previous elf he'd met, could sense his soul. As it was trapped in a human body, they probably believed he was a spirit guardian, extremely rare beings who had the power of legendary beasts trapped in human flesh. Unlike ascended who were offspring between a human and beast, who ascended into beasts, spirits did not typically change form. Their lifespans were also only that of a human.
Ashton was a beast trapped in a human body, with a mostly human mindset... he would ascend back into his true form. Though he wasn't the offspring of a beast, his human body would burn as the fuel like an ascending beast.
Sawein and the others looked horrified and disgusted, "You have not even matured." Sawein argued, turning to the humans in disgust. "Contracts? Of children?" He deliberately used the ancient Smyrnaean tongue to convey his disgust for such appalling actions.