flowed into him as well, and Sela faded into the background. Faella. There were no words for her. She was simply Faella. That was all she cared to be, and no matter how much he had tried to deny it, it was all Silverdun wanted.
Faella stepped forward all at once and placed her palm against the door. Silverdun felt what she felt. It was torture, agony. For an instant they were all blinded by the pain, by the magnitude of the hurt, the relentless force of the iron's push.
But then, something changed. Dimly, Silverdun sensed a fleeting thought coming from Ironfoot: Just like Lin Vo. Silverdun had a little touch of Insight, and channeled a bit of it to try to figure out what Faella was doing, but he only caught a brief glimpse, and as soon as Sela noticed him channeling, she threw her own thought at him: Stop that!
There was a crackling sound and a burst of heat: real heat. It burned Silverdun's skin, but then was whisked away. With it went the force of the iron. The repulsion was still there, but much reduced. Tolerable. Silverdun looked at Faella's hand against the door. The hand was red and blistering. Her pain, which Silverdun could still sense, was more than he could have borne on his own.
Beneath Faella's hand, the door began to change. From the deep black of iron, it became lustrous and gray. The change spread out in veins from Faella's fingers, growing like the branches of a tree, each branch sprouting others. The branches grew and overlapped, and after a few moments the door was all gray, and Silverdun felt no repulsion from it at all.
Faella dropped her hand from the door and clasped it in her other. Silverdun looked at her face and saw that she was crying.
'I've started the change. I made it into a little binding-it's funny, once I started it, it sort of took off on its own; there was energy in the change itself, as the iron became something else.'
'What kind of energy?' said Ironfoot. He let go of her hand and touched the door, rapping against it.
'Oh, I'm sure I don't know,' said Faella. 'But I sort of nudged it a little and it turned into re. There's re here, lots of it. Everything here wants to become it. I don't know how to explain.'
A bit of the door chipped away in Ironfoot's hands. 'What is this?' he asked.
Silverdun took the chip and channeled Elements into it. 'Cobalt,' he said.
Ironfoot frowned at him. 'Geology was a required subject in Elements,' said Silverdun. 'Boring as all hell.'
It took all four of them, but with some effort they managed to pry the door open on its hinges. Silverdun looked at Faella.
'Your hand,' he said, pointing. 'It's healed.'
'Oh, that,' she said. 'That's not so hard.'
The door opened onto an entry hall with a pair of great doors just opposite the ones they'd entered. It was dark inside, but there were witchlamps on the walls, and Silverdun lit them. Once lit, they revealed the continuation of Faella's work; the iron around them turning slowly into cobalt, branches of gray flowing out in all directions.
'I suppose what we're looking for is through there,' Silverdun said.
After a moment, the second doors were changed enough to touch. They were even more difficult to open than the first, but they eventually gave as well. Beyond them was a great chamber, also dark, but there was a gray light flitting in the distant darkness. The slightest footstep echoed in the space beyond. From within came a quiet droning sound.
'I believe there's someone in there,' said Silverdun.
'How is that possible?' asked Sela. 'How could any Fae survive in there?'
'Let's find out,' said Silverdun.
He started through the doors and was immediately struck with vertigo. Waves of re reverberated through the chamber, condensed by the surrounding iron. It was like walking into water. It was a curious, warm sensation. Not unpleasant. Like being bathed in warm light. It took a moment for Silverdun to regain his bearings.
'I can't see a damn thing,' said Ironfoot. 'Should we chance some light?'
'Let's hold off for the moment,' said Silverdun. 'It might be best if we catch whoever's in there by surprise.'
They pressed forward. Silverdun could hear his companions' breath strangely muffled in the cavernous room. They were all breathing quickly.
The gray light beyond was still now, and as they approached it, the droning grew more intense. Not knowing what else to do, Silverdun led the way toward it. Whatever the source of the light was, it was hidden behind something massive in the room, something he could sense more than see
