Rosa had rummaged through the cupboard of Mother’s magical items, supplies, and books, and brought up a circular black plate of what looked like glass, like the one Giselle had seen in her trunk, but much more refined. “It’s an obsidian mirror,” Rosa explained to Giselle, as they went up the stairs to join the others. “It’s just about the only way an Earth Magician can scry.” Giselle examined it with curiosity; the back was still rough rock, though flat, but the stone was highly polished on the other side, and slightly concave.

“How are you going to find them?” Giselle asked, handing it back to her. They joined the others who were all sitting in a circle on the floor, as they had last night. Rosa placed the mirror in the middle, then took her own place in the circle. “They could be anywhere out there.”

Rosa frowned. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I suppose I’ll just have to search until I find them . . . I can’t think of any other way.”

“You couldn’t get my sylphs to budge out of the rafters,” Giselle told them all. “They’re terrified. I think that Air Master out there has them near hysterics.”

“I have a suggestion,” Fox put in. “My spirits are all birds. None of mine seemed frightened, not even at the height of the storm. I believe this Air Master does not realize that they are spirits of the air. I believe a raven is common enough that no one would notice it even if it ventures quite near. I will send out a raven to search for them. It will not take long.”

“Oh that would be splendid!” Rosa said, her shoulders sinking a little as she sighed in relief. “If we link the raven to the mirror, we could even see and hear what it does, which would eliminate a traditional scrying spell altogether. If we can do that, a witch would not be likely to take notice.”

“I reckon the less we do stuff they might know, the better off we are,” Cody observed. He rubbed his hands together to warm them; despite the stove, the room was cold and all of them were draped in blankets now.

Fox closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment; there was a fluttering of wings over their heads, and a handsome, glossy raven descended from the rafters and landed next to the mirror. He seemed entirely solid and real, as did the sylphs when they wanted to fully interact with objects like ribbons. He eyed Rosa and tilted his head to the side, then looked at Fox. Fox nodded. Rosa put one hand gently on his back, cupped the other over the mirror and muttered something under her breath. When she took her hands away, the raven shook himself and uttered a thoughtful-sounding quork.