The Young Warrior: Eternally Paternal

As Pharynx followed his mother into the sky, he watched Metamorphosis with a stiff gaze. If the changeling realized he was being stared at, he made no efforts to react to it. They took shelter higher into the air, hovering silently so they wouldn’t be seen.

Soon, they heard shouts, watching as the guards at the doors had their attention diverted by bouts of flame and crossbows firing. The decoy was working.

“Dive, now!” Fortuna commanded.

The changelings flew down, instinctively preparing themselves to dive through the hatch and spread out once inside. Fortuna and Pharynx hit the wooden hatch first, breaking it with their powerful hooves, allowing entry.

The second the hatch broke under their hooves, the changelings flew down into the warehouse, ready to fight. Pharynx hit the ground and tackled the first griffon he saw, catching glimpses of the others doing the same out of the corner of his eye. Thorax was holding his own rather well, Apex staying near his father to provide backup if needed.

Fortuna and Metamorphosis had begun tag-teaming a larger group of griffons. Pharynx noticed them as he pinned a griffon to the ground. The two were in perfect sync — leap, slash, retreat, leap, slash, retreat. He supposed it made sense, they had been working together for years now. It still hurt, though, seeing how close his adoptive mother had become to the changeling that was apparently his father.

Griffons continued to barrage them on all sides, slashing out with their sharp beaks and talons, but the changelings were ready for each attack. Bite, punch, kick, repeat. Even without half of their group – who were likely now defending themselves against the griffons that had followed them – Pharynx could tell they were holding their own well enough.

The battle continued, as the changelings fought back griffon after griffon. Every time one was knocked down, another three would be in their place, each enemy that wasn’t completely unconscious rejoining the fray. Pharynx noticed that Thorax was getting backed into a corner, and lunged to defend him. He snarled, barreling into the griffon’s side, sharp horn piercing flesh, sending the griffon flying as he jerked his head. Thorax approached him, panting slightly from exerting himself more than usual.

“S-Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Pharynx wiped the blood from his horn. “Just fight. Where did Vertex go?”

Thorax looked around, before pointing. “There.”

Apex was standing atop a crate of what had to be the grains the griffons were after. He let out a loud war cry before leaping down onto a crowd of the griffons. The young deputy clutched onto one’s back, making the others have to jump at their fellow in order to grab at him. He laughed as he spread his wings, lifting off and hiding behind the crates as the griffons continued to thrash around for him.

“Grub’s got a tactic figured out, good.” Pharynx glanced at Thorax. “You figured anything out yet?”

“N-Not yet– ah!” Thorax yelped as another griffon began flying towards them. Pharynx whipped around, hissing, and lunged at the griffon, fighting them off easily with a few well-placed venom nips. “Thanks.”

“Alright, clearly this isn’t working.”

“Wait, I think I have an idea!”

Thorax dashed off to the crates where Apex had jumped the griffons. He quickly pried the lid off one, just as the griffons spotted him. They lunged, claws outstretched, making Thorax yelp loudly before shoving at the crate with all his might. It tipped over, crashing to the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor. Grains scattered at the griffon’s paws, and they had to dodge out of the way to avoid getting pierced by the sharp slivers.

Pharynx nodded in approval as Thorax began to open the other crates, ready to repeat the process. He then spotted Fortuna helping Metamorphosis to tie up some griffons using a rope, and jealousy burst up inside his chest. Trusting Thorax could handle the griffons without his supervision, Pharynx dove back into the fray.

The battle was slowly creeping into their favor, but there were still plenty of enemies. As Pharynx bit down on a griffon’s neck to inject them with a dose of paralysis venom, another leapt onto his back, pinning him to the floor. Pharynx hissed loudly, biting down on the griffon’s claw, but they just laughed, pressing their talons into Pharynx’s chitin, trying to break it. As Pharynx writhed and struggled to get out from under the griffon, Metamorphosis came running towards him, blasting the griffon off with a spell from his horn.

“Are you alright?” Metamorphosis asked as Pharynx stood back up.

“I had it handled.” Pharynx snapped instead of answering, turning away to dive back into the fray. Metamorphosis looked confused, but didn’t have time to do anything, as another griffon was quick to replace the one he’d blasted.

“How many more are there?!” Pharynx shouted to Fortuna, who scanned the crowd of griffons.

“More than I expected!” She shouted back with a cheeky grin. Pharynx rolled his eyes and lunged at another griffon, only to wind up surrounded by three at once.

“Trachus!” Thorax raced over, performing the same sliding motion that he’d used on Ember, sending a griffon collapsing to the ground. Apex dashed up beside Thorax, running over to the griffon and injecting them with venom to ensure the enemy stayed down.

“Cleft, take Vertex and go!” Pharynx snapped at him. “There’s too many for us to handle!”

“No, we can help!” Apex protested.

“Ap– Vertex, he’s right.” Thorax cut in while Pharynx kicked off one griffon to launch himself at another. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I can’t fight very well normally, and in this other form…”

A griffon tackled Pharynx from behind, abruptly drawing his attention from Thorax as he staggered under the weight. He let out a roar of frustration even as he flipped the larger creature over himself, sending them sprawling onto the floor.

“Alright, that’s it!” Pharynx snarled, kicking the griffon in the head to knock them out. “Time for these griffons to get a taste of what a real changeling can do!”

In a flash of green flames, Pharynx was in his signature monstrous bug form. He roared loudly at the griffons, swinging his insectoid leg out, knocking enemies away as though they weighed nothing. Now rising higher than anyone else, Pharynx let out another roar, taking down any griffons that were stupid enough to fly over, trying to fight him from the air. But Pharynx couldn’t hold the form for long, already feeling himself losing energy after holding up his unreformed disguise on top of this much larger form.

As Pharynx was mentally preparing to switch back, readying his unreformed disguise in his mind, a strange glimmer caught his attention. Using one of the many eyes of his monster form, Pharynx zeroed in on the cause of the gleam.

Metamorphosis was being backed up against a wall by a griffon who had somehow procured a farmer’s scythe. Fortuna was in a tussle with another griffon. Thorax and Apex had teamed up again, tripping up griffons by popping out from behind crates. None of them noticed Metamorphosis needed help. Pharynx was the only one who had, the only one who could step in.

But it was more than that. As Pharynx watched his father being backed up against the wall, blade lifted against his throat, something clicked into place inside him. Pharynx let out a feral roar, buzzing his giant wings as he stormed towards the griffon and Metamorphosis. He dropped his monster form with another dark hiss, standing firmly between the two creatures, fangs bared. Slamming his hoof against the ground, Pharynx growled menacingly at the griffon, lifting his head high as he could to push every amount of fear into the enemy as possible.

“Try me, fowl.” Pharynx snarled, baring his teeth.

The griffon slashed the scythe at Pharynx, causing him to hiss in pain as the blade slashed against his cheek. But the second the blade passed by his muzzle, Pharynx grasped it by the edge of his teeth and pulled. The movement successfully yanked the scythe from the griffon’s claw, allowing him to toss it up into the air. Pharynx then caught it in his aura, pointing it directly at the griffon’s chest.

“If you want to keep your life, leave, and take your friends with you.” Pharynx snarled, holding the blade against the griffon’s throat as he bared all his teeth, revealing the pointed fangs containing his venom. “Now.”

The griffon stared for a moment, then scampered, calling out for all the other griffons with a screeching bird’s call. Those who could still stand abandoned their own fights to run after him, those unconscious or tied up left behind. The rest of their team spread out to handle the griffons still unable to run. Pharynx, tasting blood dripping down his cheek, just turned to face his father as he wiped it away.

“That.” He spoke sharply, staring up at Metamorphosis’ shocked face. “Is how you chase off a griffon.”

It was then that he finally took a minute to properly scent Metamorphosis’ emotions. Confusion– wait, why was he confused? Pharynx had just dropped the monster form. Unless– Pharynx looked at the scythe in his aura. His red aura. Yep. Another quick glance confirmed it. When he’d dropped his monster form, his magic-exhausted body had reverted back to his true form, not his disguise.

“…Well, shi–”