Teacher Ot summoned us before dawn. Not an hour for stories or ceremonies. An hour for secrets. An abandoned library, he said. Retrieve these books. Simple. Nothing at the Magaambya is simple. The library was built into a massive treehouse, ancient and sprawling, its branches heavy with the weight of forgotten knowledge. We climbed winding stairs that groaned under our feet, passed shelves thick with dust, entered rooms where the air itself felt startled, as if surprised to be disturbed. It was abandoned in a hurry. Books left open on desks. Quills still resting in their inkwells, the ink long dried to powder. A meal half-eaten on a table, the bread now fossilized, the cup holding only the ghost of wine. Scholars simply… left. And never returned. The Magaambya presents itself as pristine, eternal, unshakeable. But this library tells a different story. The Academy has wounds. Secrets. Chapters it has cut from its own history. I found myself touching the spines of books as I passed, murmuring apologies. They deserved better than to be left behind. The gremlins found us, of course. Scrits, these ones are called. They feed on writing—not the paper, but the ink, the words themselves. They consume knowledge to fuel their petty magic. A more insulting creature I cannot imagine. They were not resilient. Tewodros’s spear made short work of them. But their presence confirmed what I had begun to suspect: the gremlin taint is not random. It is drawn to something. Places of power. Places of neglect. Places where the Academy has turned its back. Why do the gremlins hate the Magaambya so? And why does the Magaambya refuse to speak of it? The books Teacher Ot asked for were intact. We brought them to him, and I waited for answers. None came. He spoke instead of the Festival of Leshy, an old tradition. A tournament of magic and brawling with the leshies—those small plant-beings who serve the Academy. He told us we should join. It is tradition. And we are Magaambyans now. The shift was so abrupt, so deliberate. He was not going to discuss the library. Not today. Perhaps not ever. I held his gaze for a long moment. He did not flinch. Very well, I thought. Keep your secrets. I will find them myself.
Belesh Note: She has taken to following me around the dormitory. I woke to find her perched on my chest, staring at my face. I asked her what she wanted. She tilted her head. I still do not know, but I appreciate the curiosity