Coldwillow realizes that Larrikan cannot read pretty early, but says nothing, planning on addressing it in private. It is one of the student, Thim, who raises the issue. During a break, Thim asks, “Hey, fox-man. Aren’t you going to take notes? You’ll need this reading list.”
Larrikan looks at Thim, and replies, “Oh. Is it important?”
“Yeah,” Thim says, “We’ll have to read a lot. There are four books for this semester in this class alone!”
“That,” Larrikan muses aloud, “could be a problem.”
“What?” asks Thim, “Can’t you read?”
Larrikan answers, innocently, “Nope. I’ll have to do something about that.”
Thim begins to laugh, and says, “Wait’ll I tell the others!”
Coldwillow finally gets a word in, “That’s enough of that. Larrikan, talk to me about this after class. No need to spend more time on it now.”
Having finished with the administrative part of the day, Coldwillow begins to introduce the basics of magic itself. This holds Larrikan’s attention all afternoon. He listens intently, while the others take notes.
At the end of the class, having introduced the five elements, and having given several definitions for each, some apparently conflicting, Coldwillow tells the students to go and think about what she has said, and be prepared to discuss tomorrow what the elements might mean.
As requested, Larrinak stays after class. Coldwillow doesn’t say much, just, “You will need to be able to read and write. Go see Birkegeistezeder in the library and she will help you with this.”
Not being much of a reader, Larrikan has never been in a library before. He is impressed with what he finds. This is one of the largest buildings Larrikan has ever seen. It is made up of several dozen huge trees, whos spreading canopy leaves a green light to enter. Climbing those trees are several kinds of vines, most of them old enough to be woody and strong. The vines make a living latticework overhead, with panes of heavy glass between them, keeping the dew and rain out of the books.
Shelves of all sorts of interesting materials are build around the trees into great meandering drifts of books. Tables with chairs to study at take up the remaining open spaces. There are more books than Larrikan ever dreamed of.
Students – well, people, anyway – sit at the tables reading, or writing, or both. None of them notice Larrikan, as he stands and gapes quietly.
A gentle hand on his arm gets Larrikan’s attention. He looks down to see Birkegeistezeder looking curiously at him. She whispers, “Hello, Larrikan. It is nice to see you again. To what do I owe this visit?”
“Professor Coldwillow tells me,” Larrikan replies quietly, “I need to learn to read and write. Can you help?”