The sound of gryphons wailing in agony as a knife is jammed into their already injured bodies were prevalent within the area. I glanced towards the area that the gryphons are centered in, those that weren't able to regroup with their fellow mercenaries had no chance of surviving.

Just away from me, I saw a lone gryphon being stalked by three tonberries. The gryphon scanned the environment frantically for his hunters. With uncertainty, he readied his spear as he heard a rustle originating from the bushes.

With a lunge, he stabbed the bush. Much to his dismay, he simply struck nothing and he was unable to dislodge his spear as he appeared to strike something.

A group of three tonberries emerged from the shrubbery and slowly approached the gryphon, their knives pointed at them menacingly.

The gryphon attempted to flee, but he then realize that he was cornered as another group of tonberries swarmed him from every single direction. I was more than aware what will happen next.

I took cover behind a tree as a stray arrow bolted just beside me, striking an adjacent tree behind me with a resounding thump. Concerned about my personal safety, I managed to acquire a rather crudely made bow, along with a few arrows.

"Remember, do NOT injure them, or at the very least, don't kill them!" I yelled out to my tonberries that were stalking through the foliage, surrounding the cluster of gryphons.

"You do know that this entire conflict was a result of your idiocy, correct?" I heard a familiar, condescending voice from behind me.

I responded, not even bothering to face the one berating me, "Well, I am at fault here, but my sleepless state also contributed much to the cause of this avoidable confrontation."

I added, "Yes, perhaps if a certain someone didn't wake me up from my peaceful slumber?" I said, finally facing Chrysalis with a mildly irritated look.

"Dammit, the number of troops this 'army' possess isn't even slightly intimidating, I'd say that there's a measly twenty to twenty-five of them here." I stated. "I see no reason for bringing me here, you know, considering that your troops are so 'superior' in comparison to mine."

"Tch, I'd rather not sustain too many casualties than need be." Chrysalis said in defense.

"Well, isn't that such a staunch defense, clearly, you contradict me." I said in mockery, "Alright, do you still think that there's a possibility of them surrendering?" I asked.

"Hm, considering the fact that they're cornered, they're either going to yield, or simply retaliate like cornered beasts." Chrysalis stated. "I doubt that you could successfully reason with them, but I suppose it's still viable." Chrysalis remarked.

"Well then, I suppose I could launch an attempt." I muttered, merely audible enough for Chrysalis to hear me.

My gaze was fixated onto the battlefield before me, the griffon mercenaries were all enclosed to a very confined area, rendering escaping an invalid strategy.

The majority of them sustained wing-related injuries, rendering them incapable of flight, thus they have to resort in non-aerial, ground combat. Peculiar, their wounded wings appear to be still bleeding and un-bandaged.

And their brethren still able of simply retreating via flying are not relinquishing their comrades, instead they chose to fight further. How valiant.

How baffling, it's been what? A couple of days since my previous encounter with them, I've expected them to bandage their wings by now, or at the very least, ceased bleeding.

It seems that the assumption of them encountering another combative party is probable, if not obvious at this point. But the conundrum is, who did they encounter?

Right, right. Must refrained from being sidetracked, my main concern for now is on subduing them without the need for violence nor unnecessary fatalities.

The griffon combatants were surrounded by my, and Chrysalis', tonberries and changelings. At this point, I am certain that the griffons are aware that once you pass through the foliage surrounding them, you won't be returning.

So that is why they resulted in blindly shooting at the foliage for what they deemed to be a threat, so far, they've struck nothing but the shrubbery and trees. I suppose paranoia is getting the best of them, considering the amount of arrows stuck into the trees is rising steadily.

Then I noticed, the barrage of arrows abruptly halted, and with that, the annoying, repetitive sound of arrows hitting the foliage around me.

I presume that they've depleted their entire arrow supply. Now's the recommended time to converse with them, and hopefully, persuade them to surrender. But I doubt I could succeed in that task... but screw it, I suppose.

"Well, are you done yet?" I yelled out to the gryphons, "Or do you still have a few remaining trees that you have a grudge with?"

"Vile beast, stop your toying and face us!" one of them shouted in response.

"I recommend against that greatly, my troops outnumber greatly, it would be rather disreputable for me to just simply slaughter all of you, then again, I don't have much of a reputation here." I replied.

"So, how about you simply discard your weapons and we converse like mannered, cultured individuals?" I added.

"Surrender? To you? We'd rather fade away in the bloodied honor of a clash." the same gryphon responded.

"I am aware that we harbor rather spiteful sentiments towards each other, but I can assure you, we will not massacre all of you, should you choose the option of capitulation." I stated.

"That is no more than a promise of cowardice. You aren't even fighting your own battles, you stand behind monsters that you conjure and let them do the work. That alone makes you even more of a coward!" the Gryphon shouted, most likely out of prejudice.

How adamant, I thought to myself, "Hm, technically, I do not conjure them, I summon them. Hence the title, the Summoner." I corrected, "But that is irrelevant, think about all of the lives that are going to be simply ceased early."

"Ha, my men are more than prepared for a worthy death!" the gryphon, who at this point I assume to be their leading command, roared, causing an uproar of cheers from the other gryphons.

"Do they now? Nobody wants a pointless death, and don't you think that they deserve to live on a bit longer? I mean, life promises much more than an untimely death after all." I stated. At this point, I have no idea what I'm spewing out. Oh wait, I'm spewing out nonsense. That's what.

To my surprise, the gryphon leader actually hesitated. Am I actually swaying them? Although, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he was simply too stunned by my folly to respond.

I turned to face Chrysalis, "Well, am I doing well so far?" I asked.

Chrysalis replies by simply shrugging with a face that basically said, "I could care less."

Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I continued blindly reasoning, "And it appears that you and your men have suffered a number of injuries, and I can discern that they're fresh, so they couldn't have been inflicted by my own troops."

"Who did you encounter?" I asked.

For a moment, there was nothing more than silence, save for the exception of the leaves of the shrubbery and trees rustling due to the chilling breeze of the forest.

Then finally, there was a response, "Ha, why should we tell you when you already know who attacked us? It's your damned allies, the changelings. We barely escaped from those bastards."

The answer thoroughly bewildered me, I turned to face Chrysalis once more, "Uh, mind explaining? I'm quite confused here."

Unfortunately, the changeling queen was just as perplexed as I was, "I am unsure of this. I do not recall ever launching an attack directed at them... unless."

"Do you suppose that there was another hive was responsible for this attack? I mean, that seems like the most reasonable explanation for this." I stated. I was genuinely concerned by this.

Chrysalis grew a blank expression on her face, "Ask them about the changelings' appearance."

I nodded, "My changeling allies had never once attacked you, perhaps the changelings did not belong to her. What did they appear like?"

The gryphon answered, astonishing me slightly, "They, they were far too quick. They struck from the shadows, it was hard to even take a glance of them, but I do know this, they had a red color scheme, in contrast to the usual green."

I looked back at Chrysalis, who had a facial expression of someone that just has seen a ghost -- that is, if the ghost was a particular two-legged, pale, humanoid-esque creature that is heaving a large, metal blade.

She then clenched her teeth, visibly frowning. Her sudden shift of mien, along with the revelation of these red changelings, caused me to grow even more worried.

"We have to go. Now." Chrysalis said, the last part sounding much more serious.

"Right now? That seems rather sudden, certainly that this is a rather urgent discovery, but do these red changelings really pose that much of a concern to you?" I asked.

"They... they are the reasons why I am here in the Everfree, they evicted me from my previous home." Chrysalis stated, "Of course, I took that rather bitterly and decided to launch an assault at them. Clearly, that failed, considering that I'm here." Chyrsalis clarified.

"Oh, and they want me, along with my hive, eradicated." Chrysalis added, "No doubt that they finally located me here, though, I didn't expect them to find me this shortly."

"So, I guess we don't have much time to spare for dawdling?" Regardless of obvious the answer was, I still inquired.

"No, none at all. I don't even know how long they have been in the Everfree, but I am certain that it won't be long until they finally discover the location of my hive." She said resentfully.

I sighed, "So I guess I'll have to end this earlier than I have expected then, great." I said, "Hold on, let me just say one last thing to the gryphons before we depart." I said as I turned to confront the gryphons... from the safety of this tree, of course.

"I see. Well now, I have much more urgent troubles plaguing me, so I will leave, feel free to take a rest from all of this madness once I'm gone. Farewell, my adversaries!" I shouted. Honestly, I regret saying that as a farewell.

I faced Chrysalis, "So, are going to have to walk all the way-"

I was interrupted as green fires enveloped me and Chrysalis entirely, obstructing my vision entirely. Suddenly, the green flames were extinguished, thus I was capable of seeing things once again. Albeit, I was extremely disorientated.

"Oh- oh for." I staggered as I was forced to cope with the side-effects of teleportation, "Chrysalis, I thought I told you to at least warn me when you decide to do that!"

"Hm, oh, well apologies if I made you somewhat troubled." Chrysalis said dismissively, "Hm, it seems that we aren't too late, they didn't appear to have arrived here yet."

I noticed that Chrysalis teleported the both of us not outside of the entrance of the hideout, but apparently within the secluded outskirts of the hideout. Clever.

As with Chrysalis' statement, the adverse hive did not appear to have arrived yet.

"Well, I suppose we should set up some defenses-" Once more, I was cut off by Chrysalis, much to my annoyance

"Wait- I can't feel the rest of my changelings within the hive, wait, no, I can feel only a small amount of them in there." Chrysalis stated, her tone devoid of any emotion.

I responded by retrieving the Summoning book from my robes. Noticing the fact that my tonberries were not within the vicinity of me, I decided to summon another batch of minions. Regardless, I doubt that the tonberries would be effective against swift combatants against these changelings.

I flipped to the page describing the tonberries and subsequently chanted, "Disperse. Disperse. Disperse." thus causing the book to shift into it's unsummon phase.

The book shone the usual bright red aura. After a few seconds, the aura died out, "Well, hope for the best that I manage to summon something competent." I said to Chrysalis.

She responded with a simple nod, with a gulp, I flipped to a bank page and chanted.

"Ruination. Ruination. Ruination."

Author's Notes:

An update? Already? That was awfully quick.

Did it all in one night while playing a song on loop. Yes, it's still stuck in my head.

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Pre-readers:

FtDlulz (He da best)

AdmiralPopeye

Marx T (He also da best)

Mimic Kairatta (He da best too)

ForeverADraconequus (He pre-read this story since chapter 2 :D)