[color=ed1c24][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

Fleuri breathed a sigh of relief as he looked over the aftermath of the battle.  The trolls had been felled, the surviving orcs had routed, and he didn't see any of the Iron Roses among the dead.  His armor was splattered with blood from head to toe, but the important thing is that none of it was his blood.  It was another successful mission in the order's long and glorious history, and further proof of the worthiness of its young captain.  Tragically, it seemed that a number of the town guards had been killed, but fortunately the fiends had not made it into the city, he assessed as he looked up at the battered walls that had protected the city.

Now that the battle was over, the question in his mind was why and how this happened.  The raiding party somehow slipped deep into Thaln undetected, yet they had foolishly opted to beat their heads against a fortified town not far from where the Iron Roses are headquartered.  They certainly weren't greater fighters than a typical orc.  Fleuri wasn't an expert on this sort of matter, but the seeming inconsistency in the orcs' competence suggested to him that they had help, he thought to himself as he listened to the captain address the knights.  

[i]So this magical attacker is indeed an enemy.  Whoever they are, they probably had something to do with these orcs making it this far into Thaln.  Trick these dumb brutes into making trouble, wait for us to respond, and then ambush us.  But who? [/i] There were probably many evildoers who held a grudge against the Iron Roses.  Perhaps someone knowledgeable in magical fields could narrow it down; surely there couldn't be a great many people capable of such a deadly spell, he guessed.  Regardless, what was important was that the orcs were stopped, the people were safe, and it this was a trap, it had failed.

When the gates opened and the locals emerged to congratulate their saviors, Fleuri opted to step away from the crowd.  As much as he craved attention, it was best if he didn't partake in it, not anymore.  Not since he gave himself to Reon and to the Iron Roses.  He needed to find his horse anyway- hopefully it hadn't been stolen or killed, because he didn't want to have to explain that he lost two horses in a row.