Siqxhe scribbled letters, words onto paper and thought, Laeo watching over his shoulder like a thundercloud. A threat of rain, water and wind and anger- letters. They fell like water onto the page- numbers, cataloging what he had, what he could do. There were injuries he could treat with his eyes closed, and then there were… others.

Injuries beyond the physical. Disease. Mental and mentality- there were some things he could help with, but only the will of god… He glanced out of the window, towards a skyscape that stretched on forever, twisting darkness and orange patterns, eye-killer, mind bending. Stare at them too long, and order became disorder. Nothing made sense…

A knock- a pounding against the door, three times so sharply and demanding. Whoever was there- Soshyetay, Laeo assured him- opened the door, slipping into the room with a disapproving glare fixed across his face. "Follow me. The lord Ididirchi summons you to the pinnacle. You may bring your assistant."

"He's more of an… associate." Siqxhe glanced over to Laeo, who nodded slightly. As far as he knew, Laeo had been a surgeon in training when he'd been asked to come along with him on the trip for reasons Siqxhe didn't know, but could guess- that he knew the Sakaxhy well. "We'll be there immediately." He slid the loose papers into a nearby drawers, leaving the general list atop his desk next to the laudanum while he grabbed his notebook.

Laeo had disappeared into his dressing room, emerging a minute later dressed in much finer clothes than Siqxhe had thought they'd had- a neatly cut satin vest in the Sakaxhy style. They met eyes for a second, and Laeo tossed him an equally ornate jacket. "Put this on. It's better than nothing, at least." A moment, beneath the watchful eyes of God and Soshyetay, and they were walking through the bright hallways of Laytaihishu toward the pinnacle of fortresses, anticipation and all secrets.

As they ascended through the palace they started to notice… more. Bare stone walls were replaced with long tapestries and wrought iron lanterns, silence for whispers and the quiet pad of feet against stone. Servants dressed in simple white ducked away as they came, wide Ilyaochi eyes looking on with emotions he couldn't fathom. The occasional soldier wandered the hallway or stood at attention, watching them suspiciously.

Knowing what to look for, he saw- distinctions. Most of the servants were Ilyaochi, though some were Sakaxhy as well. A few of the soldiers were clearly of Ilyaochi descent as well, but they were by and far the minority.

Siqxhe glanced over at Laeo, who shrugged. "They're not from here. This is- and always has been- Ilyaochi land." Sosheytai looked over at them, and Laeo pursed his lips and looked innocently forward.

Eventually they reached two sets of doors. A first made of dark wood, intricately carved and stained a deep black that reflected lantern's light, orange on black, an image of sky. Second were those sharp metal, silvery dark and glittering, set over thick stone that moved back with the ease of maintenance.

Golden light, sharply contrasted against the darkness beyond twelve massive windows. Two bright hearths burnt cheerily, ominously- an orange-black carpet ran like blood, ascending a stairs to the dias fit for kings, a throne of jagged silver and ostentatiously impressed gold, yet still somehow imposing. A lean man sat atop it, dark eyes staring down toward them with something that wasn't quite malice-

"My lord Ididirchi." The servant bowed low, glancing at them only long enough to impress the foolishness of not following.

"Lord Ididirchi." Laeo bowed, a curt, Sakaxhy sort of movement- hands clasped, curtly, Siqxhe followed- not quite as smoothly, but smoothly enough. "The doctor Siqxhe has arrived, as per your request."

"Good." His voice rang through the hall, reverberating with a power born from years of authority, petty strength made all the stronger because of it. "I would ask- are you trustworthy?"

Siqxhe blinked, startled for a second, then nodded. "Yes, lord."

His eyes narrowed. "Swear it." Ididirchi's voice was hissed, almost strained. A deathly silence had fallen across the room, a fear in the chest of the servants and soldiers, Soshyetay and Siqxhe. Only Laeo and an old yet strong man behind the throne seemed unaffected. "Swear it beneath the eye of God!"

"I… swear. My assistant and myself will not betray your confidence." There was no confidence to betray. They were, after all, trapped in this bright fortress…

A few seconds passed, and Siqxhe began to fear his response hadn't been sufficient until Ididirchi nodded once, softly. "Very well. You are a doctor of the highest caliber, as requested and as provided for?"

"I graduated from the university in Abōeo, and have served nobles and clergy alike for years. There are few problems I cannot solve." It was his pride, his greatest joy and the work he'd dedicated himself to, time and time again. So much so it'd brought him to the farthest north before the lord of bright fortresses and cold.

The lord leaned over, whispering something to the man behind the chair, who nodded and whispered something back. After an eternity of waiting, Ididirchi beckoned for him to approach the dias. A soft whisper of feet on cloth, black steps approaching a dais of shattered steel and old stone… then he was standing before him, deep beneath oceans of trepidation. Ididirchi clasped his hands, darkly gazing. "Hope that you know enough, doctor. Hope with all the immensity of god- you have offered service, and I will see it completed."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

………

Ididirchi led them back down through the fortress, passing through narrow hallways and places where the ever-brightness seemed like a faint dream. At some point in time Siqxhe was sure that they'd descended beneath the earth, but it was impossible to tell- everything was made out of the same white stone, the same dim lights.

It took them what seemed like forever but eventually they reached a holdfast, a shadow that clung to a door set deeply into the stone. Two guards stood beside it, attentive to the approaching party. "Who goes there?"

"Ididirchi, Eye of God. Stand down." The guards stepped neatly aside, revealing that recessed portal, a doorway into wherever they were meant to be. Siqxhe gave Laeo a long glance, and got pursed lips in return- this wasn't an honored guest. Deep beneath the palace rested only the damned. Or, perhaps, the dead-

The door swung silently open, revealing a brightly lit barennes, a warm chamber of cold stone arches. His eyes immediately gravitated to the cabinets- drawers filled with every sort of medicine, surgical tools on racks, some things he'd never even seen before. It must have cost a fortune to supply this room, and the stock he'd brought with him suddenly felt small in comparison.

Then he saw the figure, perfectly still beneath a blanket of infinitely fine steel links- no, a cape of steel connected to the shoulder-

He paused, watching with a half-horror, mostly fascination. There was no skin- it just continued as metal, sweeping, jagged facets that defied the imagination, angular features that were distinctly not human… Cast in the warm hearth-light, it was an impossibility, a figure out of the darkness of night and terror.

Siqxhe stepped forward, looking- staring deep into the thing's face, looking deep into two bright orbs that blazed with incandescent fury so far beneath the glossy metal exterior… he couldn't drag his eyes away from them, for through those orbs of brightness he could see eternity-

"Eidolon of Steel…. " Ididirchi's voice cut through the moment, and the brightness was rendered merely light, and the metal just… metal.

Siqxhe drew in a shaky breath, claiming himself. This wasn't… normal, but little here had been normal. Instead he tried to look at the… eidolon… in a more impassive light. He might be able to do something, if he knew what the problem was… "I… what do you want me to do? Tell me more about its condition. I'll need to know everything I can."

"The eidolon is in a… mostly comatose state, and we only know its life from the occasional mumble. My physicians have tried everything in the physica, yet most of the treatments have either proved impossible or ineffective." Ididirchi motioned to a soldier, who handed Siqxhe a folded piece of paper, and when he spoke again it was laced with a subtle pride. "We've ordered the highest quality instruments from across the realms of man, and now those instruments are yours to use."

"The physica?" Siqxhe hummed softly as he inspected the creature for puncture signs on the arms or legs, but luckily those treatments had fallen into the range of the impossible. That worried him, but not as much as if they'd been able to go through with it. "Coma is difficult to treat, and what the physical describes is rarely the best treatment. Most of the time, it's harmful." Are the pupils dilated… he looked back into those orbs of feverish incandescence, searching for pupils that were not there. "Has anything changed since it first came under your care?"

"...Not that I can remember." Ididirchi waved to the paper Siqxhe had forgotten he'd been holding. "That should tell you everything you need to know. Either way, there's more important things to be taken care of" Ididirchi graced them with a curt nod, then swept out of his rooms with the bodyguard in tow, leaving Laeo and Siqxhe alone with the creature of silvery facets and glittering shadows. Siqxhe laid a finger on the eidolon's neck, feeling for a pulse that wasn't there…

In all aspects he'd ever known, it was dead… but there was something he couldn't quite put off. He felt it as he worked, a chill in an otherwise warm room, memory… eventually he was left alone with the creature, Laeo having long since returned to their rooms to get some much needed rest. Siqxhe, framed by the darkness beyond the door and the light of a hearth, hands over an eidolon of steel, watching those burning, ever-bright eyes…

Watching- if just.

Surviving.

………

Siqxhe stared out of a window, deep forests of shattered wood below him, unseen peaks behind. He was tired… "I don't understand it, Laeo. It's unlike… anything." He thought of those eyes- "It must be something beyond value for Ididirchi to spend so much effort on it."

"He's… odd." Laeo wasn't staring across the shadow-choked landscape, but rather at the paper Ididirchi had given them. It spoke of extravagance in the material, but even Siqxhe had managed to notice the fact that he was the first true doctor to be called on. Not even one from Ilaial or Tasadir, despite those cities' relative proximity to Laytaihishu. Close, at least compared to Abōeo and its university half the world away. "Did you notice his advisor?"

Siqxhe snorted softly. "That he existed? Yes. He didn't seem very important."

"He was Ilyaochi." Laeo was silent for a moment as Siqxhe processed. "...I was wondering what might have made that steward mad enough to snap at a guest for something as inconsequential as being called steward. An Ilyaochi advisor might explain that."

"But…" Siqxhe frowned. "I'm not sure I follow."

Laeo tapped the paper, far more contemplative than Siqxhe had ever been on the matter. There was something there- Siqxhe was starting to see that. An Ilyaochi advisor over a court of Sakaxhy- "Ididirchi is working on something… toward something that requires the support of the Ilyaochi." Laeo held up a hand, curtailing the questions that were boiling beneath Siqxhe's skin. "Don't bother. It probably isn't important for what we're doing… Just remember. Ididirchi is more powerful than his location gives. There's something more..." Laeo sighed, pushed the paper back over to Siqxhe, gazing once more unto expansive darknesses, cold forests and skies speckled with orange infinities.