Believe in iron, Ironfoot told Faella. Something reached out of Faella, colorless color beyond sight, and twisted.
The truth is sharper than any blade.
-Fae proverb
ela watched Faella and Ironfoot think back and forth at each other, marveling at the speed and clarity of their thought. Sela understood almost none of it. It was all beyond her. Color without color? Belief in iron? It made no sense.
She looked away from them to catch a glimpse of Silverdun and Hy Pezho. Hy Pezho had Silverdun on the ground, kneeling over him, wrestling the knife from Silverdun's grasp.
She screamed 'Silverdun!' Oh, how she loved him. Despite all that was going on around her, all she wanted was for him to be safe. She knew he could never love her. It hurt, but it didn't change how she felt.
After all that Lord Tanen had done to her, after all that she had seen in her time with the Shadows, she wondered whether she could ever be whole. Lin Vo, in the time they'd spent alone together in the Arami's tent, had told her that she was like a bird who'd lived all her life with clipped wings. She was capable of flying higher and farther than other birds. She was capable of seeing so deeply into the heart that if Lord Tanen had nourished her rather than hobbled her, she might have ascended beyond what she was.
Sela had no idea what Lin Vo meant by 'ascended,' but it brought back memories of childhood. Memories of a feeling of wholeness, of a knowledge of things that now baffled her. It was something akin to what Ironfoot and Faella were now discussing. Seeing beyond. Seeing through. When she was a child she had known bliss.
And then Lord Tanen had come and taken that bliss away from her and turned her into a monster. That word 'ascended' also reminded her of the thing in her that she'd showed to Lord Tanen and the crones, to the doctor at Lord Everess's apartment, and to the Bel Zheret in Elenth.
She'd asked Lin Vo whether she could ever be whole again.
'No,' Lin Vo had said sadly. 'Not in this life. You will never know bliss. But you may find a way to live.'
She heard Silverdun grunt and Hy Pezho swear. She looked but couldn't see them anymore.
Ironfoot and Faella had reached some sort of understanding. Something flowed out of Faella, something that Sela could neither see nor comprehend, and everything began to change. Pain leapt up at her from the floor, a hot wind of re blowing up from beneath her.
Caught off guard, she lost the threads with Ironfoot and Faella, but it didn't matter. Faella already had what she needed. She was in rapt concentration. All around her, the floor was turning dark, becoming iron.
Unfortunately, Faella and Ironfoot appeared to have forgotten that they were now standing on it.
There was a violent crash, then a series of smaller concussions that reverberated in the chamber. Sela swayed and fell, scorching her palms on the now-iron floor. A chunk of cobalt landed on the floor next to her and she leapt onto it. Ironfoot was with her.
'Faella!' he shouted. 'A little help for the rest of us!'
'Sorry!' said Faella. She waved backward toward them, and a disc of pure silver flew from her palm and slipped beneath their feet. It rose up into the air and the pain withdrew.
Sela looked up and gasped. One of the bound gods, Ein, was bound no more. He was sitting up, stretching. He was impossibly large. Sitting up on the platform, his fiery red hair nearly brushed the ceiling. He looked around at the scene below him.
'What is this?' his voice boomed. So loud that Sela covered her ears. 'Awake, brothers and sisters!' he shouted, even louder. 'Awake! Our bonds are broken at last!'
'No!' shouted Faella. Sela could feel the re in the room swirl, faster and faster. Whatever Faella was doing, it was stirring the essence into a frenzy.
Sela looked around. 'Where's Silverdun?' she said.
'I don't know,' said Ironfoot, holding on to her. 'As soon as Faella's finished I'll go find him.'
'It's working!' shouted Faella. I got to the bonds before the other gods could move. They're still trapped!'
Ein looked over at her, his eyes glowing. 'They might be, little Fae,' he shouted. 'But I am not.' Ein lifted his finger and gestured, and Faella flew backward, halfway across the chamber, slamming into a wall that was now made of pure iron. She screamed.
