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

As the fort came into view, Fleuri was already feeling quite uneasy.  The means by which the message was conveyed- by a hysterical man who then dropped dead before he could elaborate on anything- was both very strange and very suspicious.  The fort might be a rather mundane fortification that any defender of Thaln would be familiar with, but with the circumstances of the message, they were more or less going into this ordeal blind.  Even so, it was the Roses' job to investigate and deal with whatever threat had come up, and he was going to do just that.

In the time since the last mission, Fleuri had focused almost entirely on training.  There had been plenty to take in from the dream, particularly the techniques and moves that Florian had used against him, but he had also made a considerable effort to obtain instruction from Rui.  He didn't know how long the foreign swordswoman would be here before being recalled back home, so he had been keen on learning as much as he could from her.  The language barrier was still a bit of a problem, since Rui spoke very little of the language of Thaln, but communication had become slightly easier when he realized that Rui some of Talderian.  Not quite the same dialect as what he had learned from the priests and priestesses that educated him, but it allowed for somewhat better verbal communication than in Thalnish.

He wasn't sure if his skill and lethality with a sword had improved by any measurable metric in the short time between the last mission and this one, but learning took time, and perhaps some more experience in the field would do him some good.

The first thing he noted as they arrived was that the fort didn't appear to be under siege.  The relief from that first observation quickly died when he made his second observation- there didn't appear to be anyone on the walls.  No sign of a battle on the outside, either, just an eerie nothing.  Just what could have happened here?  And was it [i]still[/i] happening here?

Fleuri followed behind Amy as he had approached the fort.  It was good that Fanilly had opted to take a cleric on this mission, even if Amy's repertoire of spells was not exactly the standard array of magics expected of a devotee of Mayon.  A dedicated user of magic, even somewhat unconventional magic, could greatly aid them.  Her partially-demonic heritage was very odd for sure, but what did it matter?  The church saw only good in her, and if it was good enough for them, it was more than good enough for Fleuri.  If anything, he was glad that they had another pious devotee of the goddesses accompanying them.

He wasn't the only one afflicted with an oppressive discomfort with this mission- Amy's ominous words suggested that she was even more at unease.  In fact, she seemed quite certain that there was something terrible here.  Fleuri wasn't sure what sort of senses that Amy possessed to pick up such things, but between being a cleric and having demonic blood, it stood to reason that she'd be more attuned to this sort of otherworldly stuff than the more mundane knights like himself.

[color=A0A0A0]"Steffen's right, you've got us watching your back,"[/color] Fleuri assured the horned cleric.  Once they reached the courtyard, he would stick close to Amy- it was imperative that the Roses stuck together, because Sir Rickert was grim proof of what happened when a knight was cut off from his brothers and sisters even for a moment.

[@6slyboy6]