Fanilly's sword flashed, and yet another orc fell dead, her blade piercing the front of its head and protruding through the back. She drew her blade back and it toppled to the ground in a splatter of dark red blood. The remainder of the orcs had fled, or died on the battlefield. She noticed some of the fleeing beasts hit the ground as arrows pierced their dark armor and flesh. Undeniably, victory had gone to the Iron Roses.

Any orcs that remained on the battlefield were soon struck down, and a troll fell with a thud, dead. Soon the others followed, leaving a battlefield littered with dead orcs. There had not been a single casualty on part of the knights, but she could see there were some injured... and that was not to say the fight had no claimed any lives on their side, either. Towards the wall she could see a few bodies of the dead soldiers, the bodies of men and women who had been stationed to defend the town with their lives. The orcs had claimed the lives of several of the defenders prior to the arrival... the blonde girl gripped her sword more tightly. All she could hope for is that their intervention had prevented those sacrifices from being in vain.

"... Iron Roses," she declared, raising her blade skyward, "We have taken victory! But do not let your guard down. There was a magical attack from the forest, until we're certain there won't be another we must remain vigilant!"

Indeed, they had defeated the orc forces. And yet... something still felt strange to Fanilly. Regardless of how it felt to her, however, the gate in front of Brennan, tall and made of dark wood and steel, slowly creaked open as the relieved defenders made there way out. They wanted to congratulate the Iron Roses, it seemed.

[hr]

"A-ah...?"

Lyrie trembled. On... on her feet... shuddering and taking a deep breath, she tried to remember what she was. If she panicked her healing wouldn't be as good, if she panicked then she definitely wouldn't be able to help anyone at all. She didn't respond to Tiral, fearing that it would make him yell more, but instead she stood up and clutched her staff in both hands. It was hard but... she had to keep it together. She had to focus. She didn't feel any particular confidence boost, but at the same time Lyrie didn't want to let anyone down... so she had to try and focus.

And it was only a moment later that she got a chance to put her skills into practice, as the blood-soaked Tyaethe deposited Avlin before her. The knight seemed more embarrassed then in pain.

"She's got the right of it," he said, with an awkward laugh, "I can't stand on it. Ah, and against a rabble of orcs, too. How does a knight end up like this?"

Lyrie didn't respond for a moment. His leg. It was his leg. Which was currently armored. Taking a deep breath, she knelt down beside the injured knight.

"P-please, lay down," she began. Sir Avlin followed her request moments after. "N-now... I... maybe need help removing the armor from his leg, er..."

[hr]

When the sword pierced the heart symbol on the tree, it suddenly blazed a brilliant shade of purple. The air was abruptly filled with an overwhelming, overbearing feeling of power, and the symbol itself ignited and erupted outwards.

There was a rush of noise and heat, but an instant later it was gone.

In front of the knights stood the third of their number, the [url=https://safebooru.org//samples/1698/sample_a652d44cddb3811bdcf7d2b1c02afa1e246ff488.jpg?1776991]shield-bearing Angeline[/url]. The silver-haired knight panted, her shield smoking. Any investigating would reveal that the outer side of it was glowing white hot. At some point before the explosion, she had managed to force herself between the blast and the others.

It was likely that the only reason they were not dead now, however, was the capabilities of Indrau's sword managing to dampen the strength of the trap. The tree had been blown completely in half.

[@PKMNB0Y][@Raineh Daze][@Crusader Lord][@TheFake][@Noodles][@Crimson Paladin]