The air still carried the charge of the spells cast only minutes before the knight and the skald emerged from the smoke and the shade just behind the Chantry. Hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as Talfryn carefully brought himself and Vienne into the firelight. Magic still made him uneasy, but it had made quick work of their enemies, charred by lightning and sliced by blades. He could barely look down over the Warden's prone form to his feet, though he saw enough to navigate a clear path between fallen bodies -- mostly darkspawn, though there may have been a few other casualties on their side -- to the clear center in front of the largest building in town. The armored defenders stopped what they were doing, whether it was catching their breaths or tending to wounds, to look upon him and the burden he bore. Everyone was silent.
All of them were witnessing one of their intended saviors already fallen far before the real battle was at hand. For such a small victory, a great price had already been paid. At least two dozen men and women stood stock still, moving only to part the way for them. Talfryn didn't look upon their faces for long; he was barely holding back his own distress from overtaking his stoic expression. He made his way up to the steps of the looming worship hall, where the doors had been pushed open now that the siege had ended. Two priests and a male chanter rushed forward in his direction in a flutter of coral and gold-trimmed robes to tend to the fallen bard. The Chanter, a large man, likely some kind of very reformed thug, held his arms out to accept her body, while the two women spread out a clean blanket on the stone landing. The exchange went smoothly and Vienne was laid out neatly, extra care made to fold her arms over her still breast. Had one been moved to the side, she would have looked eerily like one of those statues of Andraste.
The knight took a few steps back to let the clerics take care of the body, making his way down to the dirt floor of the square. He looked around for the members of his party -- the young templar wasn't still there, and presumably that meant Loïc and his charge had made it up to their posts in the tavern. Hilda had been right behind him when they left the shore, and he could see the other mage, the Enchanter, looking battle weary, but uninjured. He wasn't sure where the other templar was, and presumed that the old elf was still fast asleep given how late the hour was now. More importantly, he didn't know where the other Grey Warden had gotten off to, as he desperately needed to have a word with the man about what they'd seen. Talfryn felt a sting of irritation that the absence of his intended superior had left him to be the figure of authority by default. He turned to the nearest knight, the rook and red cliff heraldry of his arling emblazoned on his shield, stating firmly, "There are two bodies by the water that need to be removed before their blood poisons the lake. Set the hurlock aside. Have your other men begin a pyre for all of the remains."
The latter order didn't really need to be made -- ever since the undead had walked the soil and taken the castle fifteen years ago, the denizens of Redcliffe were very careful about the disposal of the dead. The soldier saluted and marched to forward his orders on to the others standing by, while Talfryn rallied the rest of his party. "Miss Aelricsdottr, Enchanter," he dipped his head at both of them in polite greeting, though his focus was more on the dark-haired mage, "Are you uninjured?" It looked like it would just be the two women -- and that yapping little dog -- until he saw the small, lean form of the elven assassin step back into the light, weapons drawn and soaked in black blood. So he hadn't gone off to hide. Talfryn felt slightly guilty for misjudging him, and in spite of his personal grudge, was eager to relent command over to the Warden. "Ser," he said clearly to draw his attention, "I have...bad news, about Warden Reyer." He turned to look behind him, where the Orlesian lady had another blanket drawn over her body now. The knight paused, waiting for a reaction from Savio before speaking further. It would probably be best if they convened over the matter of the talking hurlock in privacy, anyway.