The Manshrew Alliance was on the run and the morale of the soldiers was low. Dearon was dead and Serala hadn’t been seen since the Lanistarks charged into Patrick deceptive maneuver. Andrew was tired he had not slept properly for three days and as he turned to look at what was left of his ‘Alliance’, he could see that everyone was as tired as him. They needed sleep. Andrew stopped as did the rest, he slowly raised his hand with most of the strength that he had left. 

He shouted “We rest here tonight!” 

As he said this most of the soldiers collapsed to the ground with relief. But Andrew could not rest just yet he need to see what the path ahead was like, so he could prepare. But before he could he heard Maror calling for him. Andrew turned to see what he wanted.

“Andrew what are you doing?” said Maror. 

Andrew could see that Maror’s was struggling to stand. “What do you mean Maror?”

“The enemy lies in the other direction. Why do we run from them? We should make our stand and die in glory.” Maror replied as he continued to walk to Andrew. As he did, his foot was caught be a rock. Maror who was so exhausted at this point began to fall. Andrew with what little strength he had managed to catch him. The two of them steadily sat on the ground to catch their breath.

Andrew who was struggling to catch some breath replied “Maror, I understand your need to fight, but with the numbers we have and the state that we are all in, we wouldn’t last two minutes against the Concord. That is why we are heading to Uzgob. I told Lady Neptuna to take her fleet and meet us at Fort Scarab. If we can get to Uzgob then we can hold the advantage.”

“And do what?” as Maror snapped back “To die in the desert all so you can get back to your castle.”
“If we have to!” Andrew shouted “It’s been weeks since I’ve heard from Alun. I left him in charge before I left to fight this damn war. If somethings happened to him, then Uzgob might be in danger. Also, if we get to the city we might have a chance to plan a counter attack against the Concord.” 

Andrew started to see that Maror was starting to fall asleep. “Go, get some rest and we’ll talk about this later”.
Maror nodded and slowly got up and walked off back to his soldiers. Andrew sighed he knew that he was delaying the inevitable. The Alliance was over, and Andrew had lost the war. The only thing that he cared about now was getting home and seeing his family again. As he thought about Diana and seeing her beautiful face again he slowly began to fall asleep.

 “Lord Andrew?” a voice whispered, but it was enough to wake Andrew up. He had no idea how long he had slept but the slowly rising sun soon answered his queries. He looked up to see Lady Grim standing over him.

“Lord Andrew? Are you awake?” asked Lady Grim. 

“I am now” replied Andrew as he got up. 

“Good” she said “I need to tell you that I am taking my company away from here before you meet the concord for the last time. I am sorry for your losses and I hope the best for you in the future.” Lady Grim started to walk away but Andrew quickly pursued her and grasped her shoulder.

“Wait!” yelled Andrew. “My men need your mages.” 

“You have plenty of men in your army that are capable of tending to your injured.” Replied Lady Grim.

“Yes but the injured will never survive the journey through the desert” said Andrew. 

Lady Grim turned to face him. Andrew continued “With your mages they stand a chance and that is why I need you. Once you help me get my men to Andromeda I will give you a year’s worth of pay in hand and then you and your company will be free to do as you wish.”

Lady Grim thought over this offer. That was too much money to turn down, she would have to be mad to reject it. She also respected Andrew’s admiration for his men even though most of the injured may not survive the journey even with the help of her mages. But the thought of a big bag of coins in her hand was too tempting to turn down.
 
“Very well.” Said Lady Grim “I will help you but as long as you hold your end of this deal.” 

“I promise you Lady Grim, I never back down from a promise.” Said Andrew while holding out his hand. The two of them shook hands to confirm the deal. Lady Grim walked off to reconvene with her company. Andrew looked over his Alliance and as the sun rose he began to feel the warmth of it on his back he turned to look at the path ahead. It wasn’t going to be easy but soon Andrew would see his home and family once again.