Inside the World-Tree, Ryan felt Scarlett start to fade. Her fiery, defiant presence in his mind, which had been a blazing bonfire, was now flickering like a candle in the wind. He could feel her weariness, her struggle against the Silent Minister's slow, gentle poison of peace. She was losing. And if she lost, they all lost.
He was still wrestling with the immense power of the Forge, his will a dam holding back an ocean of creative energy. He couldn't interfere directly in Scarlett's soul-duel. It was her fight, a battle of one idea against another. If he tried to jump in, he would be like a third person trying to help in an arm-wrestling match—he would just get in the way and mess everything up.
He couldn't help her fight. But maybe… he could change the rules of the fight itself.
