[color=A0A0A0][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

The mercenaries finally broke under the knights' assault, fleeing into the woods.  The Iron Roses were victorious once again.  With the darkening sky and the unknown question of what lay deeper in the woods, they wouldn't be able to pursue, but like he had noted before, the deaths of the Golden Boars weren't their objective.  Either way, however, between their attempted infiltration of the fort, their attempt to kidnap a noble, and their attempt to kill several Iron Roses, they won't be welcome anywhere in Thaln anymore.

The next step would be to attend to the wounded, but it seemed that their order's attached healer, a boy named Martin, had already attended to that and retrieved Haelstadt's head.  Seeing the headless knight becoming whole again gave Fleuri some concern.  If they were to go up against something like that, he didn't think they had no way of putting them down.  Between the necromancer in the tomb, the shard that could drive an entire garrison mad, and now with this, Fleuri was becoming increasingly worried that there were some foes in Thaln that the Iron Roses might lack the necessary skills and expertise to deal with.

Fleuri looked at Veileena, who was now being questioned by the other knights.  They were entirely justified in doing so- it was the Iron Roses' duty as servants of the crown to find out whatever they could about this dangerous shard of a literal doomsday weapon.  But, hypothetically, if Veileena got tired of the knights and decided to sic her undying bodyguard on them, Fleuri didn't think they'd be able to slay Haelstadt.  They could probably [i]win[/i] such a fight since it was evident that Veileena's mute black knight wasn't invulnerable, but Fleuri didn't like not knowing the full limits of such magic that could make someone able to keep someone alive even without a head.

"I'm fine, no wounds," Fleuri replied to Gerard's query.  The perceptive former mercenary might note that Fleuri's tone was a bit worried, but the reason for his worry would not be evident.

The knight didn't participate in the questioning of Veileena or pester the Captain with his concerns, but stood back and looked around at the bodies of the fallen, hoping to find a fallen Golden Boar who was still breathing.  He'd have to put his worries about the Order's capabilities into the back of his mind for now, because the situation at hand demanded that they keep their attention focused, in some way or form, on the very dire matter of the shard.

[@HereComesTheSnow]