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Schooling
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The cold was breaking as the dormant season waned, and the air was finally becoming less harsh and bitter. On a mild morning the herd of boar were poking around the thin woods behind the house, hunting feverishly for such hidden gems of food that could be unearthed from beneath the winter's blanket of dead leaves. After the men of their people left with their friends the elves, the enemy's wildfires came following through, by the time it reached them it was a smoldering line of ashen gray rolling along over the hills, leaving behind it a land of blackened char wreathed in a thin haze of reeking smoke, whose evil air steadily turned the trees to dark and dreadful twisted monstrosities. But despite the devastation to the broader region, the people hastened to thwart the fires as best they could with earth and water, so in these parts there were still swaths of tree and bush and grass that strove to stay strong and green, and the soil still fed them well from below. The leaves had not yet begun to grow, and the pale winter sun showed diffuse through the overcast sky and bare dark arms of the and bleak it lit the dried leaves on the woodland floor, along with the creatures rooting their noses under them, and the pair service hounds doing the same alongside. The young boy puttered about nearby, lightly kicking up dirt and leaves and the larger roots in his frustration. He was nearly fourteen now, but his father had barred him from joining the men in the war effort, and so here he was, helping with the day's homesteading duties as always, surrounded by the women and the children doing their part here and there around their village. He had a shepherd's crook in his hand, and began rehearsing his swordsmanship moves, eventually ending up in a duel with the nearest tree.
"Mind the height of your reach when you block!" a voice suddenly called out from behind him. He turned in surprise. It was his mother, walking up from the house with a smile. "Ensure you hold the weapon high enough, that your enemy's strike not reach your head," she said, gently moving his arm and his stick into the proper position. Then from the back of her belt she pulled out two wooden swords. "Come, and we shall practice," she said. "That is, if you desire to improve."
He paused in hesitation, wondering if he would lose esteem among his peers by accepting. But, they were not here, he thought, and she was well trained and skilled in such work - even they could not deny that. He put the crook down and accepted the offer. And so he picked up where he had left off with his father, discovering that he still had much to learn that she could teach. They spent a good while at this, and the afternoon was waning away when some of the younger children noticing them came forth to watch. The lady offered the older ones a lesson, also, and so began their class instruction on defending themselves and their homes.
The next day his mother had called for some of the older maidens (who were joined by some of the interested younger mothers), bringing them into the schooling as well. Then they all spent the morning practicing their archery. And in the early afternoons if the wind was not too strong she was overseeing their learning in such weapons as swords and knives and axes. The boy could not help but feel impressed, and proud, that the people left in the rear were now led by such a lady, and that she was his own mother. Before long she set him in charge of instructing the younger ones, which did much to boost his morale and improve his confidence. Then for a while he was content, as were the others, now growing more confident in their ability to fend off attack should the need arise.
Soon enough the lady even began organizing drill maneuvers and team contests, so as to prepare them all for keen management of the defenses for the region. The young lord especially was delighted by these exercises, imagining he would put them to good use one day soon enough. But for a good while their little corner of the pine-covered hills was calm, with no visitors other than the refugees out of the north trickling through on their way to find harbor with other elf realms in the south.