Once they were outside beyond the sight of both Mertul and Harley, the fairy returned to her true form, "Okay. A few things to know before I take you there, Serna. The Elder does not speak common, he understands it quite well but he finds it distasteful and degrading. If you are asked a question by him, you must answer him no ifs, ands, or butts. Two, we will be SWARMED by more than just Kurori there. Some of the older fae and sprites are down right mean, so watch what you say. They get offended easily, and just because you're brave, it won't save you from them trying to steal you away. Okay? If you need someone to translate, Willow or myself can translate for you."

"Okay," Serna nodded as she kept her shield close, "All of this is good to know. But I never thought visiting a tree full of fairies could be so dangerous."

Caliaphy grabbed a hand from the ranger and the shield maiden and the three vanished in a ball of blue light and reappeared on a massive branch half way up inside the colossal tree. Exactly to what Caliaphy just told Serna, the three of them were swarmed by all manner of fae and kurori. Some of the older fae towered over the main mob, looking more like trees than fae. They were all curious about who Caliaphy's new friends were when the sound of something wooden tapped a few times causing the crowd to split down the middle.

This one was among the Sidhe. He walked up to the kurori and her friends. He was tall and slender build in simple garb of the forest with greens, yellows, and brown. He wore no shoes on his feet and his eyes were pure white. Perhaps he was blind or ascended to a higher level of sight beyond that of the norm. Stopping no more than ten feet from the trio, he said, "Mae govannen."

"Who is he, Caliaphy?" Serna whispered to her friend, "What is he saying?

"He is our Elder. His true age is ancient. Even I don't know how old he is and I'm only five hundred years old. Anyway, the Elder says well met."

"Good day to you to sir," Serna replied with a curtsy, "I am Serna the Shield Maiden."

The Elder turned to the ranger, "Mani naa essa en lle, Taur'ohtar?"

"Vedui', elder, amin naa taren tathar en' i' house en' bark, fourth e' teema a' i' oaken mahalma, utinu en' aran sunrider tenth en' ho essa, taurn heru en' i' kingdom en' northaven," The Ranger gave a short bow to the Sidhe, "amin naa glad ar' late a' be sinome sina re."

The Elder was impressed with the ranger's etiquette and nodded in kind. Had the Elder been younger by a thousand years he would of bowed but sadly his body was not as youthful as it once was.

He then turned to Serna, who should of waited to be asked instead of announcing herself, "Na lle eua paladin ri eua otar?"

Caliaphy looked up at the shield maiden, "He's asking if you are a paladin or warrior because you have a shield on your back."

"I am neither," Serna declared proudly, "I am a Shield Maiden. I use my shield to protect people--mostly."

The Elder raised an eye brow, "Either lle na ri lle na ila. Mani un lle sa, mostly?"

"He says either you are, or you're not." Caliaphy scratched her head, "What do you mean, mostly, Serna? Okay, I admit, I'm lost on this one too."

"Well, Caliaphy, I also use my shield to bash people in the head," Serna confessed rather sheephishly, "So, sometimes I use my shield in defense to protect people, other times I use my shield in offense to attack people. But mostly I use it to protect people."

The Shield Maiden turned towards the Elder, "I'm sorry if I'm confusing you, sir, I didn't mean to."

Willow placed his hand over his heart and spoke, "Elder, saesa forgive Mellonamin. Re naa nessa ar' ilya too Edan."

At this point the kurori fluttered up in the ranger's face, "As much as he might appreciate you
defending Serna, I don't. Let her speak for herself. Now, I know why Alyson gets mad when people interrupt her."

Caliaphy settled back down on the other side of the shield maiden, "So, are you going to ask him the same questions you asked Mertul and the beholder, or what?"