The smith watched the color climb through the steel. Cherry red crept upward from the coals, each row of the billet darkening in turn as the heat rose through the metal. When the whole piece glowed, she pulled it with the tongs and plunged it. The water screamed. The surface cooled instantly — the part farthest from where the heat had entered went dark first, the way a candle dies from the tip. Only the base, the part that had been closest to the fire and held the heat longest, still showed color when she lifted the piece from the quench. By the next heating it was all cherry again.