“No one does,” said Call. Aaron laughed.

It was Jasper’s turn again, and in rapid succession he picked Gwenda, Tamara, and Kai, while Celia got two Gold Years named Malinda and Cindy.

“Well, this is going to suck,” Gwenda said cheerfully once they were all grouped together. “Jasper, what were you thinking?”

“He was being noble,” said Call.

“It’s because he wants someone on his team who’s going to make him look better,” Tamara said.

Jasper flashed her a look of vast hurt, but he didn’t contradict her.

“Teams,” said Master Milagros, drawing all of their attention toward her. She was carrying a basket. “I’d like for each apprentice to take one of these metal rods and enchant it to be able to find another metal. The Magisterium is rich with metal deposits. You decide which metal you want to detect. The team that has found the most metal deposits in the next hour wins.”

Looking over at Master Rufus, it seemed clear that their teacher was waiting for them to raise their hands and ask something, like, say, how to enchant the rods.

“Good luck!” Master Milagros said, and both teams rushed toward her to get their supplies.

Master Rufus shook his head and Call felt as though maybe he’d already failed some important test.

The metal was cool against Call’s skin and heavier than he expected it to be. “Okay,” he said to his team. “Now, uh, what do we do?”

Gwenda rolled her eyes and tucked a twist behind her ear. “See, Jasper.”

Call’s gratitude toward Gwenda for being willing to sit with him was swiftly evaporating.

“I was in jail and then kidnapped,” Call snapped. “Not lying around on a beach drinking root beer floats.”

“I heard it was Tamara who kidnapped you,” Kai said, turning curious eyes in her direction.

“For the good of our team,” Tamara said. “Just help us out.”

“Fine,” said Gwenda. “We’re basically making these into dowsing rods for metal instead of water. Reach into the metal and think of the properties you want it to find. These rods have flecks of all other metals inside of them, so you can make them look for gold or copper or aluminum or whatever.”

“Our best shot is to divide up the metals,” said Tamara, which was really smart.

Gwenda nodded. “I’ll take tungsten,” she said. “Kai, you take copper. Tamara, you take gold, and —”

“I am the team captain,” Jasper reminded them. “I will take gold. Tamara can have silver. The rest are fine. Call can have aluminum.”

Call wasn’t even sure what aluminum was except for the foil that his dad used to wrap up leftovers with. Still, there was nothing for him to do but agree. “Fine,” he said, and started concentrating on the metal rod in his hand. He tried to think of it as a wand. After all, while in general being a mage hadn’t been the way that TV shows portrayed it back in the regular world, those people often waved around wands and said abracadabra. He was going to wave around this one and it was going to lead him toward the most boring metal of all. Maybe he’d be able to wrap a lichen sandwich later.

Call concentrated, trying to find something that seemed like the foil he grew up with inside what he was holding. He concentrated on silvery, shiny light until he felt a resonance.

You’re doing it, Aaron encouraged.

Call felt movement in the metal rod in his hand. It rolled a little, then straightened, almost tugging him forward. He let it pull him, like Havoc dragging him on a leash. He could hear the voices of the others raised in excitement and dismay as they worked to find their own metals. Meanwhile, Call was being marched toward the lake. He wondered if the rod was going to drag him underwater. For all he knew there were aluminum deposits ten feet down. He shuddered a little and was relieved when the rod seemed to be maneuvering him around a large boulder.

He found himself squeezing along a narrow space between the boulder and the rock wall. Just when he was getting ridiculously claustrophobic, it opened out a little. He was in a space a little bigger than a telephone booth, the high cathedral ceiling visible overhead. Call glanced around. The rod had stopped twitching, but he didn’t see anything that looked like aluminum.

Watch out, Aaron said suddenly, and Call stepped aside just as something whisked past his ear and hit the floor. He stared. It glimmered lightly — a ball of what was clearly aluminum. He eyed it for a long moment. “Did that just …”

“Callum Hunt.”

It was a scratchy, half-hissing voice that Call knew well. He craned his head back and saw the fire lizard clinging to the rock above his head. Warren’s jeweled scales glimmered in the light, and his red-gold eyes spun like pinwheels. “A gift for you.”

Warren had dropped the aluminum? Call bent down and picked it up before straightening and eyeing the lizard suspiciously.

“Why are you helping me out?” Call asked.

Warren chuckled. “Old friends stick together, yes, old friends do.” He cocked his head to the side. “I did not expect two of you.”

I think he can sense me, Aaron thought, sounding a little nervous.

“Call!” Gwenda squeezed into the space beside him. Call nearly jumped out of his shoes. “What have you —” She broke off suddenly, staring up at Warren, her eyes widening. “Is that a fire elemental?”

“That’s Warren,” Call said. “He’s just a lizard I know.”

“Unkind,” Warren hissed. “We are friends.”

“And he talks,” Gwenda marveled. “How’d you find him?”

“I think you mean how did he find me,” said Call. “Warren shows up when he feels like it. What’s up, Warren? You need a favor or something?”

“I come to warn you,” Warren replied. “There has been much chatter in the elemental world. I have heard the water elementals in the river and the air elementals in the sky. A new great one has come.”

“A new great what?” Gwenda blinked.

“The metal elementals speak of the cries of Automotones,” said Warren.

“But Automotones is dead, or in chaos or whatever,” said Call. “Come on, Warren. You’re not making any sense.”

Warren made a frustrated hissing sound. “The end is closer than you think.”

Gwenda almost dropped her metal rod. “That sounds creepy!”

“Nah,” said Call. “He always says that.”

“Call!” It was Tamara, sounding worried. “Call, where are you?”

“So many friends.” Warren’s tongue shot out and licked his own eye, which was a habit he had that Call personally felt he should practice in private.

Tamara emerged from the crawl space, blinking at Gwenda and then at Warren. “Hey. I thought I heard you talking to someone and …” Her voice trailed off, probably because she realized how unflattering it was that Call talking to someone on his own was unusual enough to be a concern — although probably, sadly, accurate. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing much,” Call said at the same time Gwenda said, “Your creepy lizard friend was giving us a creepy lizard warning.”

Tamara folded her arms and gave Call a stern look.