Chapter 4-Irrregulars

In the wee hours of the morning, I stirred awake, too wired up by the fact I had finally set foot outside of my domain for the first time ever. I saw Finchson and his family peacefully slumbering under the cart. Siffra, Ronna, Raskin, and Xolette were curled up on mats near the fire. The dark mage tossed restlessly, and moaned softly in her troubled slumber. Iniabi was on the ground, far away from everyone else. The horses were tied up to nearby trees, and I caressed my mare Slate due to her grey blue and white hairs in her pelt. She nuzzled me happily as I fed her an apple.

"Good morning, Milady." I turned to see Bhavin perched on the cart seat, scanning over the nearby road and around at the dense woods all around us. "Can't sleep?"

I nodded and stretched out, "I'm taking a short walk. I'll sleep better if my body is a bit more fatigued."

He stood up, "I'll wake up Siff early for her shift so I can go with you."

I waved him off, "I need a little time to think, alone. Besides, I'm not unarmed."

He looked at me with a concerned face in the bright moonlight, "But…I-I understand Mimi. Please be safe."

I gave him a reassuring wave and walked through the dense forest, compelled by an inaudible whisper in my brain. I heard the chirping of crickets and the singing of frogs in a nearby pond, and after a short hike I soon reached a clearing that looked like it had once been a farm. There was nothing left of the house except a cobblestone floor, and a collapsed chimney. The fallow fields were covered with tall grass and saplings slowly reclaiming this sad estate back into the clutches of nature. Based on the scorch marks I could only guess that this homestead had been razed during the Ylissian-Plegian war nearly a decade and a half in the past. My heart sank as pushing back some shrubbery I exposed a small stone marker inset into the ground inscribed with five names. I was standing on a grave. I slumped to my knees and although I had no faith in the power of prayer, I closed my eyes hoping that the hapless peasants would be granted some peace along with the dozen of my people who had been lost two days prior in the risen undead attack.

Just as all the chirping sounds abruptly cut out, a soft, sorrowful male voice spoke up, "I pray also for all that were needlessly lost, Lady Mimika. And there were countless thousands."

I jolted to attention as I had stupidly let my guard down. I saw the black-robed Kasrin standing before more in the moonlit field next to a short girl dressed in a similar hood, and I went straight for my ancestral sword only to find to my shock a warm, monstrous serpentine tail embraced my body in a crushing embrace, pinning my arms to my side. So Kasrin had shown his true colors by siccing his pet giant snake on me to snuff out my life. Much to my further surprise, the 'head' of the snake turned out to be the upper body of a waifish girl, with an explosion of unruly hair, pale skin, and dark scales covering her lower arms, neck, and cheeks. She wore a dark cloak over her chest, and a silly-looking starfish accessory adorned the side of her head. She leaned in an inch away from my face, and I felt the tickle of her breath on my nose. Although I couldn't make out any colors in the monochromatic moonlight I could still see her reddish-orange eyes glowed faintly, looking at me with impish interest. She reached out and traced a black taloned finger along my chin as she giggled, "Gocha' milday!"

That was too close in my personal space. Way too close. I stammered, "Ummm…m-miss please s-stop!"

"Hey boss, ya' never said your darling pure-hearted mistress was such a cutie!" She clapped her scaled hands together with an expression of pure glee, as I was unnerved to see she had pointed ears and needle-tipped canines, "Maybe I should bear her hatchings!"

Kasrin sighed deeply, "Lilith, prioritize please! We need to talk with Lady Mimika, not seduce her."

The lamia pouted like a petulant teenager, "Aww, ya' never let me have any fun, Master Kasrin."

A sharp thwack to her head made Lilith wince and grouse, "Hey sis, don't hit the hair dec!"

I groaned as I realized even thought that things couldn't get worse; of course they immediately did. Another half woman-half snake lamia slithered into view. Unlike her sibling, this larger one was a lot more muscular and maturely built; her fearsome taloned hands looked like they could squash my skull like a melon. Her wild hair was tied into messy dreadlocks, giving her the look of a barbarian brawler; which I suspected she was. She had the same sharp-edged ears and prominent fangs as her sister, but she curiously had ugly twin scars on her scaled neck. She wore a dark cloak, and she crossed her arms as her luminescent amber eyes with green irises regarded me with wary suspicion. "Lily, uncoil your prey so she can breathe."

Lilith stuck her pointed tongue out, "Nyaa! Whatever, Jezzy!"

Her constricting coils loosed enough for me to catch my breath. I panted hard, partly from being crushed, partly because of Lilith's overbearing flirtation style. "W-what…what do you want, Kasrin?"

"To apologize milady. After all, I failed you and your retinue all those years ago, and their deaths eternally weigh on my mind."

"Do not put the blame entirely on your shoulders," the calmer lamia commented coolly. "Do not forget that we all lost irreplaceable loved ones, Master Kasrin."

"Yeah, ya' rock, boss", Lilith cheered in enthusiastic agreement.

The short girl glanced to the mysterious Myrmidon and shook her head and added with a slight yawn, "Master Kasrin, we believe that you can help Lady Mimika avert the catastrophes of our doomed fate. Your Irregulars are all behind you."

"While your glowing praise is appreciated Misses Lilith, Jezebel, and Mika you know that I must bear the mark of shame to display my failures." He gestured to a girl who was standing by his side carrying an egg-shaped azure gemstone.

I was completely baffled, "Y-you failed me years ago? My retainers died because of you? Your future is doomed? None of this makes any sense! I don't even know who any of you are! You have never been in my service, ever. D-did you work for my father?"

"All I am allowed to do is give you a warning." Kasrin gestured to Mika who hoisted her gemstone up and it bathed his face in an eerie, ethereal blue light. I gasped as I saw he had a handsome face with long dark hair, a stylish goatee, black-lensed goggles covering his eyes, and horrific striated burn scarring covering both of his cheeks. He waved the light away, and noted firmly, "No, milady. I now serve his Highness the Hero-King, but before that I only lent my loyalties to you and you alone. Although I would like to nothing more to aid your cause now and avert your untimely and tragic demise, I must refrain on my Exalt's order."

"Wait Kasrin, please listen to me! Please explain the situation to me. You trust me, right?"

"I'm so sorry, but King Marth's orders are absolute. Mika, please blank out her memories."

The little girl sounded deeply apologetic, "I'm so sorry Lady Mimika, but I was the one who used my telepathy to lure you here. And now I must hypnotize you so you will think this encounter was a bad dream."

I started to back up futilely, but Lilith's firm hand on my shoulder made me quickly realize that there was no escape. If I tried to yell for help, I would be incapacitated in under a second. I slumped my shoulders and stopped resisting as Mika's gemstone filled my field of view and I soon felt incredibly drowsy.

Out of nowhere, an arrow struck the gemstone knocking it out of the startled girl's hands. She cursed, "Wyvern plop!"

All turned to see a Pegasus alight in the nearby field and an archer co-rider instantly took cover behind the chimney. The Pegasus knight pointed her shaky lance as Kasrin's Irregulars as she spoke in a wavering voice, "Great shot sister! B-b-brigands, unhand the lady at once!"

The crouched archer also had a feminine voice, "Lady Mimika, are you unhurt?"

The small girl retrieved her gemstone and it pulsed in a bright blue flash of light. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness again, I saw my strange stalker and his ragtag retinue had already vanished into the black woods.

…

As my retainers ran into the field with brightly lit torches, I snapped out my daze. I was surprised to see the Pegasus knight dismount and give me a soft hug. "Milady! I'm so sorry we were delayed!" My ribs protested in pain from my recent serpentine embrace, but I didn't have the heart to dissuade her.

Her Archer sibling strode confidently over and giggled, "Revellia, always the mother hen."

The Knight pointedly ignored her sister's teasing, "Thank Naga that you're okay, Lady Mimika! We were so worried about your safety!"

"You were worried, you mean."

"Raquelle, please!"

"Um, ladies, pardon my interruption. First, thank you so much for saving me. Secondly, who are you?"

Siffra leveled her lance at the green-haired sisters, "Yeah! Spill it!"

Raquelle chuckled and bowed, "We are reinforcements sent by Prince Chrom, milady. He knew you would be near or in Vicateria, so we searched the western road, stopped by 'The Lady's Favor', and finally swooped in to this field to the East of town once you saw that you were in trouble. I noted that she was a comely if not stunningly beautiful maiden with long forest-green hair swept back in a sensible ponytail, and amused chocolate brown eyes. She was attired in a baggy pair of navy trousers tucked into a pair of knee-length boots, a tan tunic with a leather bodice, a steel plate covering her left arm, and doeskin Archery gloves.

Iniabi had his Thunder tome out and interjected coolly, "Considering tonight's events, if you don't mind, please prove it."

"Sure, Revellia, you have it in your saddlebag."

"Huh? Oh sure! Just a second!" The other sister rummaged in her mount's leather bags and quickly pulled out a scroll with a hastily scribbled note with the Ylissian crest embedded in the wax seal and handed it over to me.

I broke the seal and read over it quickly only to find out that I could only make out about half the words due to the Prince's awful penmanship. It did support their story, however. I spoke in a weary tone, "It's legitimate, stand down Arrowheads. No one else but Prince Chrom would have cursive this bad."

My Scouts complied and put away their weapons.

Revellia's hazel eyes shone brightly as she giggled behind her hand and curtsied. I noted that the Pegasus Knight was more cute than pretty, but she had a wholesome beauty nonetheless. She had similar pine-green hair like her sister, but her bangs were cut straight across, and her waist-length hair billowed freely behind her. Her standard armor consisted of a modest sky-blue dress held in place with a leather belt at her hips, thigh-length boots, and steel armor consisting of gauntlets, pauldrons, vambraces, and a breastplate. "It's honor to fight at your side ma'am."

"Thanks, but calling me Mimi will do, and milady in formal situations. Calling me ma'am makes me feel old."

She started to flush in her cheeks, "Oh! Of c-course! Whatever you want, ma'a- I mean milady!"

As I shook hands with the newest two Arrowhead Scouts, Siffra finally relaxed and broke out into loud chuckles, "Good to have that sorted out!"

The teen Xolette looked at me with deep concern in her amber eyes, "Who were those villains, Lady Mimika? They did not have Casval's evil aura."

I leaned against the crumbling chimney, "They were Kasrin's Irregulars, Miss Xolette."

Bhavin's tan face turned a few shades paler, "Mimi! You met that mysterious figure from the Evonrue forest again?"

I nodded with my head spinning. "He's just as insane as ever, but he has powerful backup now. He had two half-women and half snake sisters, and a short girl with an egg-shaped gemstone and telepathic powers." Suddenly I realized something, "Raquelle, how far off were you when you loosed your arrow at us?"

She did the mental math in her head, "Hmm, about 250 yards."

What? "Seriously? You shot at that gemstone at that extreme distance with a longbow from a flying Pegasus at night? You could have skewered me through the heart at that range!"

Raquelle shuffled her feet, "Well, I've never missed when it counted. I knew it would hit."

Revellia have her sibling a warm half hug, "Don't be so modest! You have Naga's luck on your side!" She turned to me and beamed, "Her shots never miss!"

I felt cold sweat trickle down my back as I remarked, "Ummm…good to know."

Iniabi shook his head with grave concern, "That was no ordinary gem, milady. Telepathy magic and dragonstones are abilities only Manaketes can employ."

I had to prop myself up to prevent from sliding down the wall. That insane Myrmidon had two Lamias and a Divine dragon at his beck and call? Horse dung!

"You have us to protect you." Ronna gave me a smile to encourage me, "What did he want, milady?"

"I…uh…where to even begin? I'm not sure. Half of what he said were insane rants. He claimed to serve Hero-King Marth, he was my retainer who saw all of us die. He spoke of the death of countless thousands that he was on a mission to prevent." I looked at my squad with a pleading expression, "He was badly seared by a fire attack, and he wore black goggles, like he didn't want anyone to look him in the eyes. He sounded so…sad, like he has suffered unthinkable pain." And one of the Lamias apparently wanted to bear my children, although I didn't see fit to mention that mortifying detail. I shook off my overwhelming sense of futility and ordered, "We must break camp and make haste to Ylisstol at once! The Prince and the Exalt must hear of this dire news at once!"

"Aye milady," the Arrowheads spoke with enthusiasm.