Silphen, once morning had risen again, set about trying to decipher the strange texts in the back of his book. He picked out the words "Displaced" and "Token", but couldn't figure out what they meant. He sighed and flipped his book over and opened it again, facepalming when he saw the words "Healing Touch" in green at the top of the page.

"Why did it have to be so damn simple…?" He groaned out before reading how to do the spell. After a few minutes, he had managed to heal Jade, but only just barely.

He sighed and flipped back to the Token spell again. He hums thoughtfully as he reads what he can understand, grunting as he picked up a few pieces of grass, fiddling with them idly as he read.

"'Put some of your energy into it…?' Weird but…" he cleared his throat and said in a calm voice, "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"

He chuckled a little as he looked down at the little grass sigil he wove, only to stare in surprise as a portal opened up and sucked the Token he had made into it. "What the hell!?!"

"Language!" Aurana snapped at him from the earthen hut nearby.

"Erm… Right… sorry…" he said, cowering slightly. "Well, that was… something."

Silphen shook his head as he turned back to his spellbook, flipping back once more to the front, skipping a few pages as he tried to find a better healing spell. He growled in frustration after a few minutes and slammed the book closed, shoving it back in his bag before getting up. He turned to the river they had followed for the majority of the last couple days, and saw Aurana already heading out to take a bath, bringing a rosy color to his cheeks despite himself. He'd been trying to properly heal Jade the whole time they've been running, clearly mispronouncing something in the spell since it wasn't taking properly and was only able to make her better for about a day or so before she needed to be healed again. He knew he had to either find a stronger spell, or figure out what was wrong. Either with his pronunciation or with her specifically.

"Hey, Jade? Do you know anypony by the name Chrysalis?" He asked her, causing the filly, who had just woken up, to freeze.

"I don't know who that changeling is. I'm not a changeling, not at all. Totally not a half breed," she said, trying her best to lie and failing horribly, causing Silphen to chuckle as he sat down beside her.

"Don't worry, Jade… I won't tell anyone, ok? You can trust me," he said while watching Aurana swim in the river with a smile. He almost envied her, since the deepest part of the river only came up to his waist, and couldn't really swim in it like she could due to it.

Jade shuffled nervously, glancing at him for a few minutes before finally gathering her courage. "H-how did you know…?"

"Hmm?" Silphen asked, only partly paying attention to her.

"How did you know I was a half breed…?" She asked again, looking up at him in fear.

"I heard you and your sister's conversation when we first met. So I decided to try and take a guess as to how much you knew," Silphen replied as he turned back to the little filly with a faint smile on his muzzle.

A few hours later they finally saw the walls of a village. Silphen was wary, believing it to be a bandit camp, but Aurana ignored his concerns saying, "If they are bandits, you can just get us out again, right? Besides, those are ponies on the walls, and these woods have a few Timberwolves in them. They're probably up there to keep watch!"

After that, Silphen, rather reluctantly, agreed to spend the night in the village. "At least we can sleep on actual beds and get some supplies…"

"And food," Jade says, poking him with her horn.

"Heh. That's what I meant by-"

"Not that part. We can get some actual food for you, Silphen," she said as she cut him off. "Think I haven't noticed the way you try to catch rabbits when my sister has been swimming each morning?"

"I… what…? But you've been asleep in the huts!" Silphen countered, clearly confused by this development.

"Duh… you think that if I'm a halfbreed I can't fully shapeshift? I've been that bunny, Silphen, so I know you eat meat. Or you're at least omnivorous," Jade said quietly, now that they were getting closer to the gate.

He sighs and nods his head briefly. "Yeah… ok, I admit, I'm omnivorous. Or at least, I was when I left my world. Not sure I still am, but I haven't really been sick from eating anything we've had yet. Though I think you've been getting faster, haven't you…?"

"No… You've been getting slower, Silphen… by a lot… Are you sure you don't need to eat meat?" Jade asked him, clearly concerned for his health. But as Silphen went to tell her that he'd be fine, his stomach growled loudly, causing him to snap his mouth shut and look away, a faint blush of embarrassment on his face. Jade simply giggled and shook her head before rushing to catch up to her sister.

"Damned filly knows me better than I do…" Silphen said as he took a few long strides to catch them both and pull them up into his arms.

Unbeknownst to them, the guards were watching the trio, making sure they would know where they were at all times. After all, their boss wanted that mage for himself, and nothing would stop him from getting him. Not even a simple thing like foalnapping.

They watched as the mage and the mare argued for a few seconds before agreeing with him and the duo set about trying to find ways to help around the village. They watched as one of the more… idiotic villagers tried to attack them to drive them out of the camp, only for the mage to slam him into a wall and, supposedly, growl a warning that he would kill him if he tried again. Several hours later, and the solar whorse's sun started to go down, and the two that were working gathered the bits they had made and purchased a room and about a week's worth of supplies for the three of them.

The guards, who had changed shifts twice now, smirked darkly as they watched…

Silphen closed the door behind him, tossing his bag onto the small bed that took up most of the room. Sitting down on the edge, he double checked the bag’s contents, finding everything still inside. Satisfied, he put it onto the floor next to him, and laid back into the bed…

There was a sudden rush of air as he found himself on the ground, a large wall of fur rushing past him as he heard a woman cursing underneath him.

“Get off me you mangy mutt!”

"Fucking hell, what!?" Silphen cried out as he rolled over, trying to get off the female voice beneath him. When he looked over he saw the woman jump to her feet, tattered red robe fluttering in the wind. Her face was almost completely covered, some kind of toothy mask covering her face. In fact, he could only see a single silver eye glaring at him. The next thing he noticed was the archaic-looking pistol in her gloved hand, which was pointed unsteadily at him, her breath ragged. This, understandably, made him put his hands up in fear, before he tackled her once more as the other wolf sailed over them, blotting out the moonlight briefly. "Please don't kill me…"

“You do that again, and I will.” The woman growled, raising her weapon and firing as the giant Wolf attempted to lunge at them, a spray of pellets keeping it at bay as blood seeped from the fresh holes in its hide. “Listen, runt. You better use your powers and help me kill this thing, or we’re both wolf food. Especially if you keep pinning me to the damn floor!”

Silphen rolled off her again and got up, clearly confused as to what he could do against something like this beast. "And what do you expect me to do? Growl at it? I don't exactly have a weapon here, and I'm still new to fucking casting my spells! Fuck, this had better be a bad fucking nightmare…" The woman reloaded her weapon as she stood, her eye turning to look at him incredulously.

“Aren’t you some kind of Lantern?!” She asked as the wolf paced around them, growling angrily. “Bring out the fancy suit, make some magic sword or something, and do what you were summoned for!” She pulled out a long, well-used hand scythe from underneath her tattered hood and black garments, it’s blade still as sharp as the day it was made, before rushing the beast. “I’ll buy you some time!”

Silphen groaned as he pulled out his spellbook, hurriedly searching for something he could use as the beast roared in pain. He stopped when he came across the elemental magic section, quickly recognizing it as being written in Latin, a language he had been studying since he was little.

"Colligunt animae gelidae, morsus laminae!" He called out, summoning a blade of ice that seemed to give off a frosty mist that chilled his bones as he held it.

The red-hooded woman only barely landed on her feet next to him, her curved blade now nicely lodged in the side of the wolf’s neck as she pulled out another one. She glanced at his sword questioningly, having to turn her whole head to see him. “That isn't what I meant, but it’ll work,” she said, raising her pistol as the wolf growled at them, eyes burning with bestial hate. “Hope you’re ready, this thing heals quickly. Need to gut it faster.”

"Right… Little warning, not a Lantern," Silphen said in turn, preparing to slice it with the blade. As he charged at it, he got backhanded into the tree behind the Little Red Riding Hood cosplayer. He immediately got up and charged at it again. And again… and again…

“Clearly.” She said as he crashed backwards again, “Very stubborn though.” She raised her weapons, and seemed to simply vanish, a flurry of thorny vines surrounded by a gust of black flower petals flying through the air and wrapping around the surprised beast, thorns digging into its fur as she solidified above it, pistol already firing a slug as she descended. The wolf managed to avoid a fatal wound as the slug dug into its shoulder instead of its neck due to its struggling, but the gleaming blade in her hand struck true.

“Now, wolfboy! While it’s occupied!” She shouted.

Silphen grunted, rolling off the destroyed trunk of the tree as he charged once more, stabbing it in the gut. As he watched, the ice spread out from where the blade was stuck inside the other wolf, slowly turning it into an ice statue. "What…? W-well that's… something…" he heard a thud as the red-hooded woman fell to the ground, breathing hard.

“Yeah… guess it is…” She grunted, wincing as her pistol brushed up against her leg. Three long cuts arced across her thigh, leaking blood into the grass. “Agh… you wouldn’t happen to know any healing magic, would you?”

"Erm… sort of? Not sure how well it would work though, since I'm still trying to heal a pony back in the waking world…" Silphen said as he placed his paw-like hands near her leg, where she was hurt. "Dame… Dame tus heridas y toma mi salud, Sacrificando ¡Sana!" He shouted as he winced in pain, the wound disappearing from her leg, only to appear on his own leg as he did.

“I said heal me, not take my damn wound.” She growled, pulling herself to her feet and glancing at the wolf. “We’ve still got a hydra to kill, and all that’ll do is drag you down when we do.”

"Well I'm sorry! I've been trying to use this damn spell to heal a mare's little sister, but it hasn't been working! How was I supposed to know that it was going to do that?" Silphen snapped at her as he pulled out his spellbook. "Fuck, I wish this wasn't in Spanish. I think… Maybe it is something else…?"

“I’m of little help there.” She shrugged, dislodging her first blade from the sculpture. “At most, I can ask if my clients care about accidental casualties or not, and can only really understand yes or no.” She looked down at him. “Why’d you get a spellbook you can’t even read?”

"I can read it! Somewhat… There's some stuff that I can't actually understand, mostly because it's a weird language… Think I found it!" He cleared his throat, and set his hand on his thigh. "¡Rep… Repara la carne y repara los huesos, agarre de la salud!" A faint glow emanated from his hand and he sighed in relief as the wound closed.

“Well looks like that one worked,” She nodded, before turning and walking away. “Come on, the cave is about a mile from here and I’d rather kill that thing before it goes on another rampage through the client’s town.”

"Right. Um… Since this clearly isn't a dream… Where the hell am I?" Silphen asks, putting his spellbook back.

“My world.” She said, as if that explained everything. “I was in a bit of a tight situation, so I summoned you.” She checked her pistol as she moved through the leafless trees at a swift pace. “You can call me Red-Hooded Mercenary, or just Red. Your name?”

"Um… My human name, or the name of the guy I'm cosplaying as?" He asked in return, still clearly confused as they went.

“Whichever you prefer.” Red shrugged, ducking under a low hanging branch. “Haven’t met someone who actually differentiates between them anymore. Always just… one or the other.”

"What do you mean by that…? I… whatever, not like it's that important anyway… I guess… Silphen. I think Silphen would work for now. At least until I figure out how to get back home and out of this crazy Isekai like place," Silphen said as he barely avoided getting smacked in the face by the branch. Only to run right into another behind the tree as he did. "Ow…"

The mercenary stopped, turning to look at him quizzically. Somehow the combination of her hood and face mask completely obscured almost all of her face, except a circle of scarred flesh around her eye. “You’re… new, aren’t you? Like, you only recently turned into this.” She gestured to Sliphen’s fur-covered body.

Silphen rubbed his muzzle and nodded, still thoroughly confused. "Yeah…? I think… Why? Does it matter?" He then flicked the tree branch, half expecting it to smack him again.

“Gah, so you’re a newbie…” she groaned, holding the side of her head. “Look kid, you’re what’s called a Displaced now. You bought some junk from a shady vendor, or made some kind of deal with someone, and ended up in talking ponyland, right?”

"Yeah… Bought my book to complete the cosplay I was doing. Was of a Soft Metal Furred Wolf from a roleplay I did with some buddies on Dis-“ he found the barrel of her gun closing his mouth for him.

“I don’t need the full backstory, wolfie.” She pulled the gun back after a moment, holstering it on her hip. “Welcome to the hell that is the Multiverse, kid. Right now, you’re in what’s left of my Equestria, and you’ll be able to return to yours once we’re finished here.” She gave him another look. “We are all part of a bunch of different universes, with most of us sent here by that Merchant you met. Dunno what his deal is. You following so far?”

Silphen nodded, eyes scanning the treetops. After all, nobody ever looked up in the movies, and they almost always died…

Red casually whipped her pistol back out, briefly turning to the right as she shredded the body of a timberwolf about to leap from a nearby bush. “Damned vermin are everywhere these days. Usually hunt in packs of five or more.” She reloaded, giving Silphen a pointed look as more of the animated beasts emerged. “You got anything smaller than that ice stick? Or do I have to do all the work here?”

"I think I can create some armor! O-one second!" Silphen quickly flipped back to the Elemental Magic section. "Esto mihi custos aeternus, armatura sordium ficta!" He yelled at the book as the earth around them rolled and flowed towards him, creating armor around his body as one of the wooden wolves tackled him to the ground. "Motherfucking…!"

It shattered into pieces as her pistol barked again, and he saw her hand scythe decapitate a second that had been lunging for her throat, it’s corpse toppling to the ground before being crushed underfoot by her boot. “Either punch the wretched things or get back!”

Silphen growled as he got up and grabbed the nearest one and plunged his fist into its chest. When he pulled back he was surprised to be holding a green orb, but rolled with it. "Kali-ma… Kali-ma!" He shouted, shaking his fist that held the orb at another in an attempt to scare it off.

Before it could run, Red’s scythe ripped through its chest cavity, and Silphen turned to see Red had thrown the blade while another of the wolves died under her. “Those are their cores. Dunno how these vermin work in your world, but mine die when you destroy them!” She pulled out a small dagger from her robe, ducking down as yet another wolf leapt at her. As it passed over, she thrust upwards, burying the dagger squarely in its chest and letting it tumble to the ground, before disintegrating.

The fighting continued for a few more minutes, timberwolves coming out of the shadows by the dozen in a pitiful attempt to skewer the two in their teeth. By the end of it, the ground was littered with twigs, branches, and green wood cores.

"So…." Silphen started, panting heavily. "Mind letting… me take… the cores…?" He let out a groan as he stood up straight. "Fuck, this sucks…"

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Red shrugged. “The things are hardly worth a bit here, but they might be useful.” She gestured up to the mountain looming above them. “We’re headed about a fourth of the way up there. There’ll be a hydra squatting in a cave, and we have to kill it. It’s a younger one, so at most it’ll be worth a couple hundred bits.” She looked back at Silphen. “Assist me, and we’ll split it fifty-fifty. Deal?”

His eyes widened and he nodded, briefly forgetting about the cores before he almost tripped over one. "Deal! With any luck, it'll be a fairly easy fight, yeah?"

“Like hell.” Red scoffed, resuming her walk and breaking several twigs as she did. “If killing a hydra was easy, I wouldn’t have been hired to kill it in the first place. The client’s people just don’t think it’s worth as much as an adult one.”

Silphen whimpered faintly as his ears folded back. He couldn't die here, he still had to heal Jade. Instead, he opened his spellbook again and cast the spell that created the Ice Blade again. "If I'm reading this right… a single cut should doom it to a slow death… And if it would kill it… I think there's a mistranslation, but it says it'll trap the soul to be prepared for… consumption or… golem creation?"

“Good, then I’ll make an opening for you.” Red replied, double checking that she reloaded her gun. “Just stay back until then, and watch out for the acid. Rows one to five are a splash zone, after all.”

Silphen blinked, looking up to her back as he recognized the poor joke she had made. "Really…? Sea World…?" He just sighed, a small smile on his muzzle beneath his dirt armor, and got ready with her, reading his book as he followed. "I'll dash in when you give the signal."

“No one ever finds my jokes funny.” Red groaned as they reached the base of the mountain, wilted grass turning to raised rock. “By the way… how the hell did you make a Token, when you clearly haven’t met another Displaced before?”

"It's in the back of the book, see?" Silphen says, flipping to the end of the spellbook and turning it so she could see the vaguely described process of making a Token. "Didn't realize what it was, because it's so damn vague and such a weird fucking language…"

“Huh. My Displacer didn’t leave me with anything but my gear, the greedy bastard.” Red grumbled, looking over the book. “The Token is what allowed me to summon you.” She pulled out a small, familiar grass sigil. “Though I hope that book of yours knows how to change the message, or you’re gonna meet a lot of somewhat disappointed Displaced."

"I… Don't think so. But I can imagine it being even funnier than the idea of being confused for a werewolf or a Diamond Dog. Plus, I can make them think about it too. Because why wouldn't a proper GL not send a Construct or a Battery for their Token?" Silphen asked in return.

“I guess,” Red shrugged, putting the sigil away before tossing Silphen a rolled up paper. “Here’s my Token. Just point it at someone you want me to kill and agree to the price. Even a picture will work.” She explained as she climbed her way over a small cliff.

"Right… Do you know if… No, you probably wouldn't…" Silphen hummed as he checked his book, smiling as he cast a spell to simply raise the ground around him to the top of the cliff. "Magic does solve everything."

“I’ve been living in this hellhole for twenty years now, kid.” Red spoke up as they spotted the lip of a cave at the top of another cliff face. “I’ve seen a lotta shit in that time, so it’s possible I’d know about what you want to ask.” She pointed to the cave entrance. “Just up there.”

Silphen nodded, gazing up at it with a touch of fear… and resolve. He had to get back to Aurana, no matter what. "Right… So the plan is for you to distract, then I stab it in… what, the heart? I have a spell that would create a wall of fire that we could try and drive it towards…" He didn't seem to want to try and ask her a question about his own Equestria, since she likely wouldn't know.

“Since half the stuff in your book is unreadable, we’ll stick with my approach.” Red replied, reaching underneath her cloak and withdrawing a somewhat familiar metal cylinder. “Once I go in and get it’s attention, I’ll lure it out and drop this smoke grenade. Get that sword ready, put as much power as you can into it, and when I give the signal, stab it in the belly. That should be the easiest spot to hit for a novice fighter.”

"Right… Charge underneath a giant multi headed dragon that can't breathe fire or fly…" Silphen closed his eyes, trying to keep his nerves under control.

“Yep. Welcome to the life of a Displaced, kid.” Red nodded, giving him a brief pat on the back before leaping up the cliffside. “Just don’t be stupid and shout out some battlecry and you’ll be fine. You really don’t want to get its attention.” Hanging from the edge, she motioned with her free hand for him to get up to her.

Silphen did so, not using the spell this time as he felt tired. More tired than he thought he should've been. "You see it?" He whispered to her once he got up there.

“Yup.” Red replied, pulling herself over the cliffside. “A few yards into the cave. Looks like the info was good; this one’s only the size of a tank. Should only be able to spit a small amount of acid.” She pulled out her hand scythe, eyeing the beast warily. It had its back to them, it’s heads bobbing up and down with the sickening sound of torn flesh. “Guess we caught it while it was feeding…”

Silphen gagged a little, but managed to hold his lunch back. "Wh-what the hell is that stench…? Is it just the body, or how a hydra smells…?" He covered his nose with a hand, trying to block the smell.

“Both.” Red replied, and Silphen wished he had her mask on. “Keep that sword ready. I can probably cut off a head before it realizes what’s happening…” Before he could respond, she ran forward, dropping the smoke grenade behind her with its pin pulled. She pulled out a second hand scythe, and dispersed into that familiar wave of petals and vines. She rushed up and over the beast as it raised its heads slightly, likely hearing the odd sound of vines creaking.

She reformed above it, kicking off the ceiling and putting both blades before her. The blades cut clean through its green scales, biting into flesh before she ripped them out. She swung rapidly as the creature began to screech, cutting a deep, consistent gouge into its flesh before dropping to the side, putting away a blade and pulling out her pistol as she barely avoided losing an arm as one of the heads snapped at her. She fired point blank into its eye, the force behind the blast shoving her, and her blade, down its neck be several inches, her blade digging into its bone before she hopped back.

“Now he’s pissed!” Red cackled, reloading as its heads turned along with the body, with the wounded one hanging lifeless around the belly. Smoke billowed behind her, concealing Silphen. “Come on, ya big, ugly lizard! Let’s dance!” She rushed it as it hissed angrily, globs of acidic bile billowing from the other four heads that she ducked out of the way of with surprising speed.

Silphen took the smokescreen as his cue and rushed in, low and fast, with his ice blade to the side with the edge pointed downward for safety. He heard the globs of acid before he saw them, dodging to the side just in time. He grunted and closed his eyes, focusing more on his hearing than his sight, since it wouldn't help him right then. He took a deep breath as he heard the hydra step nearby, and lashed out, feeling the blade catch and let go. He quickly summoned a second blade and kept running underneath it, out to the other side of the smoke…

And nearly collided with Red, who only barely leapt out of the way. “Watch it!” She yelled, pulling out a second pistol and firing behind her as the ice began to spread. The sudden propulsion sent her flying towards the beast, who’s heads had turned when Silphen had stabbed it. She buried her blade deep into its body, pulling down on the blade before stowing her pistol. Instead, she pulled out another cylindrical device, this one purple in color, and stuffed it into the foul-smelling wound. She kicked off the beast and dislodged her blade from it, four heads bashing into each other and rushing down the place she had just been.

As she landed a few feet away from Silphen, the grenade detonated in a flash of light, a chunk of its torso vanishing in a burst of blue energy as the Hydra roared in agony.

“Now!” Red yelled, and Silphen rushed in, leaping into where the hole was and screamed as he channeled all the rage he'd been bottling up into the strike. He struck true and ice practically exploded out from the second blade, having pierced it's true brain, located just above the heart.

He sobbed slightly as he knew that, no matter how much he hated himself for being tricked, how much he hated Celestia for trying to kill him, or how much he hated the knowledge that he was never going to get back home, he knew he wouldn't have changed it.

Red gave him a few minutes to himself, reloading her pistols and checking the state of her blades, before eventually approaching him. “Hey, we ought to get going. We’ve got payment to receive, after all.” She glanced at the one hydra head she had killed, it having fallen off when the plasma grenade detonated. While she let Silphen get himself together, she removed a scale from it. She had already recovered a piece from the wolf earlier, so she had everything she needed for proof. “You ready to head out?”

He nodded, standing up and looking at her as the armor melted off of him. "Indeed, Miss Red. Shall we?" He motioned for the exit, touching the ice statue of the hydra, causing it to vanish into… somewhere.

Red’s pistol was out in a flash, her single eye narrowed. “Not until you leave his body, whoever you are.” She growled. “I’ve dealt with my fair share of possessed allies, and you are definitely not the kid.”

Silphen smirked. "Then you're aiming your… primitive weapon at the wrong half, child. Ashton, the other one, is who stole my body. Not the other way around."

“Well, I’d say you should let him keep it.” Red replied, her pistol unwavering, “The kid is definitely more polite than you are. Doubt he had a choice, anyway.”

"And you believe we, who must suffer in silence as someone else pilots our body, have a say in this treatment? Miss Red, I will not argue with you. I am heartless. For a similar reason as you, no doubt, but you would not be capable of carrying my body back to town. Malnourished or not, I still weigh several kilo," he explained, showing off the silver gleam in his fur.

“…tch, fine.” She lowered her pistol a fraction. “You will only stay for as long as it takes to get back to town, and to get paid.” Red did not holster her weapon. “I'm not interested in wasting bullets on you, but if you try anything… well, I’ve already seen what this baby does at close range.”

He chuckled as he nodded. "Very well then. Miss Red, I thank you for protecting my… other half, if you will. I hope, during our next meeting, things are different." He then bowed slightly before following her back to town.

Silphen woke to find himself leaning against a wall formed of wooden poles, their tops shaved until they ended in a lethal point for any would-be trespassers. He looked around in confusion before getting off of the wall. "How did I…?"

He looked around a bit more before calling out to a passerby, briefly forgetting he wasn't on Earth due to them being humans. "Hey, how did I get here? Was just stabbing a hydra a second ago…" He trailed off as he realized how crazy he must sound to them as the words left his mouth.

“Oh, you came in with Little Red.” The young man replied, raising an eyebrow. “She said you two got rid of the Hydra that attacked our town, ye?” He shook his head as he resumed walking. “Small mercies like that are real appreciated.”

He nodded dumbly, leaning back against the wall and staring off into the distance as the realization sunk in. She had to have carried him here… Meaning she was far stronger than she looked. 'She could tear my arm off without a thought…' he thought to himself.

“Ah, good, you’re awake.” A familiar voice called out, causing him to jump as he turned to see Red walking up to him, twin bags jingling in her hands as she approached. “You should really look into an exorcist, you know.” She tossed him the slightly smaller bag, and he was surprised at its weight. “A little extra for the assistance with the wolf.”

Silphen looked back up at her, a look of shock on his face. "But… No. I can't accept that. Take the extra coins, Red. I don't need that much," he said as he stood up again, having slid down the wall in his daze.

“I still took the bigger bag.” Red replied, “And you dealt the final blow to the Wolf. The extra coin is yours, and if I have to say it again then I’d be happy to take both bags. It was my job originally.”

Silphen winced, his ears folded back and his tail curling around his leg as he backed off. "O-ok… I just feel bad for disappointing you when you first… summoned me? Right?"

“Shouldn’t affect your cut of the profits.” Red replied. “It’s about time I send you home then.”

He nodded and took a small step back, not sure how this worked still.

“Normally, in order to send someone back to their universe, it’s just…” She cleared her throat slightly. “Your contract is complete.”

As she said that, his eyes clouded over and he mumbled something as a portal opened beneath him and took him back to his own world.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that it was still night in the room. He knew he wasn't gone for a full day, but what else could it mean? Just then Aurana opened the door and smiled at him. "Hey. Mind healing Jade a little? She can't get to sleep…"

Silphen stared for a moment… then nodded as he got off the bed and followed her to Jade's room. A quick spell later and she was able to rest for the night, leaving him even more confused than before...

Author's Note

Red is owned by this amazing person! Currently awaiting a proper story for them, but they are a fully fleshed out character, so please go give Warmaster some love!