"Claire!" As she came down the steps -- the only thing in the shack itself were the steps leading down -- into his main chamber, he flashed across the room in a blur and stopped just an inch away from her, close enough that she flinched back into Sam's broad chest and he steadied her. Myrnin's eyes were wide, blazing with enthusiasm. "I've been waiting! Late, late, late, you're very late, you know. Come on, come on, we haven't got time for nonsense. Did you bring the books? Good. What about Last Will and Testament? Are you familiar with the symbols? Here, take this. " Chalk, pressed into her hand. Myrnin moved again, fast as a grasshopper, and rolled an ancient stained chalkboard closer. He had to shove over some stacks of books to do it, which he did with cheerful disregard for how much of a mess he was making.
Sam, almost inaudibly, whispered, "Be careful. He's dangerous when he's like this. "
Yeah, no kidding. Claire nodded, swallowed, and smiled as Myrnin turned toward her with those crazy, delighted eyes. She wanted to ask what came after the manic phase, but she didn't dare.
"I'll be in the other room, " Sam said. Myrnin waved him off impatiently, barely sparing him a glance.
"Yes, yes, fine, go. Here. First let's start with the Egyptian inscription for asem. Asem. You know what element that represents?"
"Electrum, " Claire said, and carefully chalked the symbol. Sort of a bowl, with a big staff through the middle. "How's that?"
"Excellent! Yes, that's it. Now, something difficult. Chesbet. "
Sapphire. That was a hard one. Claire bit her lip for a second, getting the order in her mind, and then drew it out. Circle above a double-slashed line, next to a leg, next to a thing that looked kind of like a car with no wheels over two separated circles.
"No, no, no, " Myrnin said, grabbed an eraser, and rubbed out the car. "Too modern. Look. "
He drew it again, this time more roughly, and it still looked like a car to her. She copied it, twice, until he was satisfied.
There were a lot of symbols, and he quizzed her on just about all of them, growing more and more excited. Her arm ached from holding up the chalk to the board, especially when, after she screwed up the symbol for lead, he made her repeat it a hundred times.
"We should do this on computer, " she said, chalking it carefully for the eighty-ninth time. "With a drawing pad. "
"Nonsense. You're lucky I don't make you inscribe it with a stylus on a wax tablet, like the old days, " Myrnin snorted. "Children. Spoiled children, always playing with the shinest toy. "
"Computers are more efficient!"
"I can perform calculations on that abacus faster than you can solve them on your computer, " Myrnin sneered.