Tiaan scrambled off the seat. 'N-Nish hunted me there. I meant no harm.'

'Be calm, child. You could do no harm there, though it might well have harmed you. How did you get into that place? It should not have been possible.'

Tiaan explained what she had done, and why. Coming up close, the Matah lifted the hedron on its chain but let it fall. She put her palms on Tiaan's cheeks, thumbs resting on either side of her nose, the long, long fingers wrapped around her head. She stared into Tiaan's eyes for a good while, then let go, shaking her head.

'There is something about you, Tiaan…'

'What?' Tiaan said uneasily.

'I cannot say, though it rings alarms. You are in peril. Either that, or you are peril. Come, I will take you to the Well.' The Matah dissolved the re-formed cubic barrier with a gesture and they entered the tunnel. Tiaan had forgotten the cold of that place, even worse than outside. The smooth-as-glass walls of the tunnel were networked with feathery patterns of ice crystals. The whole tunnel felt to be breathing cold, for little whooshes of wind would rush past, ruffling her hair, only to turn and blow down the back of her neck.

Even when the breeze blew from behind, Tiaan found it difficult to move forward. Each step proved more difficult than the last. How had she entered so effortlessly the previous time? The Matah, who had been only a few strides ahead, had now disappeared around the corner. Tiaan forced herself on. It felt like the time she had tried to put the crystal into the port-all, before she opened the gate and brought her world to ruin.

She had done too much and could do no more. When the Matah came back, Tiaan was on the floor, hunched up against the cold. The Matah lifted Tiaan to her feet, taking her hand, and at once the opposing force was gone. Tiaan followed her to the room and the Well.

Though the room was a simple cone of rough-cut rock, its magic was manifest. Deep blue light from the shaft cut through the dark space, highlighting mist that drifted in lazy coils centred on the Well. The air was so fresh and crisp it tingled with every breath. Scattered snowflakes floated above the shaft. One landed on Tiaan's sleeve and it was a perfect, six-pointed star, a crystal so lovely that she wished Haani could have seen it.