The dust settled, and Connor pierced the ground with his sword and leaned on it. Its red jewel glew less vigorously with each passing moment. He heard the wailing cries of the wounded around him. He saw vultures peck and tear on carcasses. Some have started piling the monsters into a heap to burn them. Men came in and carried the wounded to get them treated.
Connor took his sword and started walking back slowly. He saw Wyot lying on the floor, tired. He saw Radcliffe polishing his bow. He saw Blake and Ealhstan mourning the dead. He crossed the gate and was flooded by the screams of the wounded and the footsteps of the nurses. He saw Haywood running between tents, with his vessel in hand.
Connor walked to his tent. On the way, a man in white robes; a nurse, bumped into him. He said his sorry, bowed and hurried along.
Normally, Connor would have shouted at the nurse for his lack of awareness. But now, Connor did not care, for he was tired.
In the tent, he sat on his chair and leaned back. He was tired, but he had a job to do. He took out a parchment from his desk and started writing, asking about the casualties and the lords that sent them. He called out his steward and handed him the parchment. The steward went away bowing.
"And this was only the beginning." Connor gritted his teeth. Slowly after, he fell to a slumber in his chair.
Connor woke up to the smell of fire in the air. He got up groggily from his chair and went outside.
Something white started falling on his skin.
'Snow in summer?' He thought to himself.
On closer inspection, it turned out that the snow was not snow but ash. He saw swirling and spiraling smoke clouds kissing the sky beyond the border.
'How many more bodies do we need to burn?' He thought grimly.
Back in the mansion, Channing Grahams was leaning on his chair with his eyes closed. In his visions, he saw the battlefield far and wide. He saw the burning mountain of corpses. He saw the wailing soldiers. He saw Connor in his tent.
"Teacher. . ." A call came from the world outside.
"Teacher. . .?" A sudden jerk came after the next call.
Channing woke up sweating profusely. His pupils dilated. He had seen many battles, but that didn't mean he was ready for more.
"What did you see teacher?" Osmond asked curiously.
"Horror," Channing answered without thinking.
"Horrors?" Osmond was confused, then he remembered the horrors that he had seen.
"You don't have to worry about them now child." Channing said and tapped on Osmond's shoulder.
"The boy will see them anyway." Channing thought feeling sorry for the boy.
"I am a bit tired today, so will finish with a small lesson," Channing said, his face showing exhaustion.
"So what are we learning today?." Osmond leaned in.
When Channing first saw the boy, there was no light in his eyes. But now, only sometimes, Channing could sense it.
"He is improving," he thought.
"Today we will learn about money and measurements," Channing said.
"That doesn't sound fun," Osmond said frowning.
"It is not fun, but it will be useful if you don't want to be tricked." Channing smiled.
Osmond didn't want to be tricked.
"We will study the measurement system for length and weight. We will also study the currency system of Pemphredo." Channing explained his lesson.
Osmond nodded to Channing's words.
"First we will learn about the measurement system of weights. The smallest measure is the rock, the higher is the stone and the highest is the boulder."
"One stone weighs ten rocks and one boulder weighs a thousand stones," Channing said counting in his fingers.
"Do you know how much should you weigh?." Channing asked.
Osmond nodded saying no.
"A normal seven-year-old boy should weigh about twenty stones," Channing replied.
Osmond wrote down what he had learned, muttering to himself to keep it in memory.
"Next I will be telling you about the length measurement system. The smallest measurement is called the finger, the larger one is the arm, and the largest is called the horseday."
"A finger is a bit longer than my finger," Channing showed with his finger.
"An arm is almost the same length as my arm," Channing explained extending his arm.
"And a horseday is the length a horse can travel in a day. It is about thirty thousand arms." Channing said pointing with his finger.
"Did you get everything I said?." Channing asked.
"Yes, teacher" Osmond nodded showing that he understood.
"Finally, I will explain the currency system. The smallest coin is called the pemphs, the next largest called the pemphro, the next called pemphredo, and the largest of them all is called graeae," Channing said and put down coins one by one from his pocket.
"One pemphro is ten pemphs," Channing said taking the pemph and pemphro in his hands.
"One pemphredo is ten pemphro." He did the same with a Pemphredo and pemphro.
"And the largest, the graeae is worth a hundred pemphredo." Channing picked up the graeae, showing its value.
"So son, one graeae is worth how many pemphs?." He asked.
"Ten thousand," Osmond said calculating proudly.
"Good." Channing complimented him.
"Now, you can one or two stones worth of potato and other similar vegetables for about ten pemphs or a pemphro. You can get a room in an inn for about twenty pemphros." Channing explained.
"This is important when you grow up and start going out on your own, so get it in memory fast," Channing advised.
Osmond went to the book room and started studying. He reviewed what he had learned in the morning. Sometimes, he wished that he could sit in his mother's lap and learn, but that will remain as a wish.
At night, he had chicken and peppered mushrooms. He ate them silently and went to sleep.
Morning came and today was a day for physical training. Osmond was doing his pushups, sweat dripping down his forehead.
It was then they came.