Brandt was breathing heavily, his mind a blur. He heard the sounds of shouting and clashing blades behind him. He had taken a few wounds, but he shrugged it off. [i]I have to keep fighting![/i] He thought to himself, over and over again. Slumping against a nearby tree, it seemed he had escaped the chaos. After hacking his way through a couple dozen Ylisse soldiers, watching comrade after comrade get cut down, he sighed heavily. "Gotta...keep...going..." He muttered to himself as he stood.

Brandt stopped dead in his tracks, and instinctively raised his axe when he saw a person. He squinted, his vision already becoming terribly blurry with his amount of exhaustion. "Bones! That's no soldier." He said staggering towards the young girl. He stopped as soon as he realized she was covered head to toe in blood. Was it hers? Was she wounded? He quickly ran to her and fell to one knee. After examining her, he figured that she was not critically wounded. "That's good..." He trailed off. He had already figured she was a survivor. He tried to ask her a few questions, but she was silent. "Alright, no matter. We need to get out of here. Can you walk?" It seemed the girl nodded in response. He halted a moment, hearing shouting not too far behind them. "Blast! Well, guess we'll have to make a run for it." He then grabbed the girl's hand and broke out into a full on run. The wind brushing against his face, everything a blur as he dashed madly away from their pursuers. 
---
Brandt squinted up at the sun, then looked back to the girl behind him. [i]Oh dearest Naga, why did it have to be a desert. My own personal hell.[/i] He thought grimly, he was already fed up with the sweating, and the heat. After they had escaped the Ylissean soldiers, they had a small chance to rest. And then, they made for Plegia. He had heard somewhere along the way that a small group of surviving Shepherds had headed into Plegia. So, he had decided to see if he couldn't track them down. Perhaps they had information on the mass assault against the Shepherds.

Brandt trudged along for a bit, occasionally glancing back at the girl. They hadn't spoke much. And from when they had, all he learned was that her name was Karina. And the fact that she was indeed a Shepherd. Frowning, he looked back at her. "How you holding up back there? Need to take a break?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes. He wanted to rest, more than anything.