The Apprentice's Companion, Book the Second
With regard to summons, their uses are uncountable. This mage's preferred utilisations include as intrepid scouts and what I call wasters in battle. Summon your noble friend to your side, and send them into the fray to tire your foe. Do not develop an unnatural attachment to these summons; they are magical, not actual, in form, a fiction of Weave and air and light.