"Iorin still hasn't returned?"

"Nope, he probably got lost. This place is the residence of a single person – and her household – but it's still big enough to get lost. It's like a maze..."

The door was opened and Senator Maian rushed into the room, her pale face blotched with red. The laguz messengers stared at her.

"Your friend – has been murdered. By the senate. You must flee at once, hurry!"

"What?! Why did they do that?"

The senator collapsed onto a chair, gasping for air, and tried to catch her breath.

"Your accusations made them angry. They killed him as a warning. Make haste, or you will be next!"

"Do you know what the consequences of this will be?", one of the hawks asked darkly.

"Yes. I have foreseen what will happen."

They stared at her.

"And you are still willing to let us go?!"

"Yes, because it is the right thing to do! Murdering the messengers of other nations is not. They need to be punished, but again, we lack any proof. They will simply pretend this to be an accident, tragic, but unimportant. Please, you must escape! Save your lives!"

"Right. Thanks for tipping us off. You know, I always thought all Begnions were arrogant bastards. But you seem to be quite all right."

She smiled weakly. "Thank you. Now, go!"

The Greil Mercenaries had joined the Gallian army in the woods bordering Begnion. The Laguz Alliance had declared war upon the Empire upon learning of the murder of one of their emissaries, and they were now preparing to strike. The mercenaries' numbers had been bolstered by Brom, Nephenee and Haar, as well as a thief named Heather. Those four had helped Queen Elincia in her struggle against Ludveck.

"Say, Ike, you sure you want to be on our side, and not Begnion's?", Ranulf asked.

"You are in the right, and Begnion is in the wrong. You offered me a job, and I decided to take the contract. That's all there is to it."

"I see. Well, I'm certainly glad to have you on our side. Never before in her history has Gallia invaded another country. We have no strategies for that. And then there's our general, Skrimir..."

"What's the problem with him?"

"You'll see. He is King Caineghis' nephew, and on track to becoming the next king."

"Ah, Ike, beorc hero!"

The two of them turned to see Skrimir striding toward them.

"Hello, General."

"My uncle – er – my king – told me about you. 'Observe Ike, and you will become even stronger'."

"He said that?"

"Yes. I intend to learn from you."

"Then I will use the opportunity to learn from you."

"Ike." Titania joined them. "All forces are ready to move out. Mugill is just ahead."

"Got it."

They took the border fortress Mugill by surprise. The Gallians simply wiped the Begnion soldiers out, the mercenaries didn't have much to do. Skrimir was very confident that their next battle would be just as easy.

However, the survivors of Mugill had warned the soldiers stationed at Flaguerre of their advance. When they arrived, the gate was closed.

Ike, Soren, Titania, Ranulf and Skrimir met to discuss what to do now.

"It's really simple, actually", Skrimir said. "We will issue a challenge, and they will meet it. End of story."

"Do you have muscles for brain?", Soren asked in disbelief. "They didn't build that fortress so they could stand outside ofit!"

"What? You mean to say they won't fight? Cowards! Argh! What do we do? I don't know how to fight cowards!"

"That's what we're here for", Ranulf replied. "Think, Skrimir! It's not that difficult."

"No, you're my second, that's your job. Find a way for me to use my strength! Everything else is just a waste of time. I'll be training outside. Come get me once you got a 'plan'!"

Skrimir stormed out of the tent. Ranulf covered his face with his hands.

"Why is that idiot in command of the army?", Soren asked.

"There is no-one else."

"What about your king?", Ike asked.

"We're not as mobile as the birds, we can't take our king away from his domain."

"And Giffca?"

"He has other things to do, so really, that only leaves Skrimir. I've had this nagging headache ever since I left Gallia along with that hot-headed lion... but it's not just Skrimir. Most laguz are like that. It doesn't even occur to them that they won't be able to power through the beorc forever. Without your help, the outcome of this war is certain."

"Come on, Soren, you're the strategist here!", Titania said.

"Right. I have an idea that just might work..."

Thanks to Soren's brilliant strategy, they managed to take Flaguerre, and move farther into Begnion, before the Empire had time to react. They set up camp on the slope of a hill in western Begnion.

"Ike." Titania came over. "I have been wondering... is this war really something we should be fighting?"

"What do you mean?"

"During the Mad King's War, things nearly went out of control. It was a very close call... And here we are talking about a war between the largest nation on Tellius and three laguz countries. Can we count on being lucky again?"

"Well, you do have a point..."

"Excuse me." Ranulf appeared next to them, followed by Skrimir. "I overheard your conversation, and I just wanted you to know that there's no need to worry. The Fire Emblem is under the protection of the Serenes Royal Family. Even if the Dark God were to break free, the herons could control it with their galdr."

"Reyson, Leanne and – Rafiel, was it? Well, it's certainly a relief to hear that."

Ranulf grinned at Ike. "Yeah, so, relax. We only have to worry about our position. But it's looking good so far... it appears that each Begnion noble is interested in his own success more than anything else. Each force is fighting separately, which makes defeating them easy. If they don't bring in a real commander soon, it's only a matter of time 'till they'll be waving a white flag."

"This is starting to get boring", Skrimir added. "At this rate, this war will be over too soon."

"Skrimir, the war's just begun. And we haven't met the Begnion Central Army yet."

"Is the Central Army strong?"

"Yes. And the strongest units will be waiting at the capital."

"Great! Anyone could defeat weaklings. I itch for a real fight!"

"We should better hope we don't meet the Central Army too soon, for we lack the numbers to take it on", Soren replied.

"Ah, don't worry about that, we have a plan this time!", Ranulf said cheerfully. "The birds are going to attack their supply convoy. The soldiers of Kilvas and Phoenecis are good at that, they aren't called the 'shipless pirates' for nothing! It takes a lot of food and water to keep an army that size running. Once they're done, they will join up with us."

"Coming from laguz, it's not bad", Soren admitted. "It might even work – provided everything goes as planned."

"Ike, what about the Black Knight? Are you going to abandon your search for him?", Titania asked.

"Yes, at least for now. If it's really him, I'm certain we'll meet again."

Ilyana and her convoy of merchants arrived the same day. Ike was glad to have them by his side again, the mercenaries would need new weapons now and then. Ilyana herself wasn't as powerful as Soren, but she would be a great help in battle, especially against the wyverns.

Ike stopped his sister, who was just on her way to see Boyd.

"Mist, you know I'm not too happy to have you on the battlefield..."

"Do you have to start this argument again? We're one big family. We live together, fight together, and die together. So, don't tell me to stay behind! The thought will always haunt me – that father died while I was somewhere else, and not by his side. I don't want this to happen again, I don't want you to die while I'm somewhere else..."

"All right. I give in. But promise me you'll stay safe."

Mist smiled. "Well, I got you and Boyd to look out for me, so, I will be fine."

They reached the tent Boyd shared with his brothers to find him having an argument with his younger brother, Rolf. This was nothing new, those two always butted heads whenever they could.

"Boyd, here are your clothes. I've made them wider."

"Thanks, Mist, you're the greatest!"

"I always thought Oscar mended our clothes", Rolf said.

"Yes, but he's always so busy what with cooking and stuff, so I offered to take some of his chores. Boyd is just like Ike – he just keeps growing. If we wouldn't constantly make his clothes wider, he'd run out of things to wear. I could do yours, too, if you like."

"No, thanks, I can sew myself."

"All right. By the way, Rolf, I heard your mother was in camp the other day."

"Yes, she recognised Oscar and Boyd when we fought at Flaguerre. But I didn't want to see her."

"Why not?"

"She left our father for some other guy when I was just a newborn. And then, our father died... The Royal Knights allowed Oscar to come home, but the two of them could hardly get by... if your father hadn't taken us in, we'd probably have died."

"I see... What happened to your mother, Boyd?"

"She died... I can hardly remember her."

"Sorry..."

"Don't apologise. We still have each other."

"Right!"

"I don't like this! I don't want to go to war with the Laguz Alliance!", Sanaki shouted.

Maian and Lehran tried their best to calm her down.

"We know that. But overruling the senate will not be easy – especially since the Gallians invaded, the people demand that the army is deployed. If we do nothing, we risk an uprising", Maian pointed out.

"Fine", Sanaki growled. "Fetch me Zelgius. We need to end this as quickly as possible, before the birds join the fight. And the medallion..."

"What if someone is trying to free the Dark God again?", Maian asked, biting her lip.

"We cannot know if that is the case", Lehran replied.

"But it's a good thing that it is with the herons right now", Sanaki said. "Nothing should happen that way."

"I would not be so sure about that", Maian answered. "If enough chaos spreads across Tellius, even they might not be able to restrain the Dark God any more. You are right, we have to end this as quickly as possible."