But the figure at the door was not a shadow. It was Lea.

As soon as she saw my face, she burst out laughing.

"You scared the life out of me!" I said, letting out a nervous laugh. "Why were you so quiet?"

Lea shrugged, laughing. "Well, I was certainly not! You were too lost. You didn't even see me at the window."

"I was not." My heart was still pounding in my ears. I yawned and stretched, leaning back in the chair. The last person I expected to see was Lea, to be honest. She was to accompany Ascula today.

Yeah, she was to accompany Ascula today.

I almost jumped out of my chair. "Did Ascula come with you?"

She stepped inside and closed the door with a soft click, then slipped off her cloak and hung it on the hook by the door. Her face was illuminated by the light coming from the fireplace. Her eyes sparkled with warmth and joy.

"Oh, no," she said as she sat down in the chair next to me. "It was a difficult birth. Ascula felt that the baby had a rare gift. They took him to the Temple of Silla to bless him."

I listened as she spoke with the bliss in her filling the room. I, on the other hand, felt a cramp in my stomach. It was not often that one heard of such things in our land. A baby with a rare gift? He would be blessed by the Saintess of Silla? For what? Who was he?

"A rare gift? What kind of gift?"

Lea's smile widened. "Ascula didn't say exactly, but she said the gift was too powerful. The baby will need to be trained carefully."

"Oh? Trained by her?" A pang of guilty jealousy coursed through me. I leaned back again. "Ascula is very good in training people with rare gifts."

Lea looked puzzled for a moment, a small smile on her face, but when she realized the meaning behind my words, her expression shifted to one of surprise. "Fiera? That's really rude," she said, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"What's rude about it?" I retorted, my frustration rising. "Ascula has been telling me I had that rare 'gift' since I was a child, and now she compels me to be her cleaner.

"That was a bit your fault."

"How is it my fault? She's the one holding a grudge."

Lea took a deep breath. Her previous cheerful demeanor seemed to completely vanish. "You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes," she said. "Ascula doesn't bear any ill will towards you. You've done things that you shouldn't have done."

"Yes, Ascula should've done them but they were left to me."

Lea shook her head with a sad expression on her face.

"Sometimes good intentions can lead to bad outcomes," she said gently.

"But it did not. The woman didn't suffer any harm." I insisted. Why was she not able to see my point? "Ascula should have treated the woman with those medicines before I did. I'm sure she didn't forget."

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"Fiera, she's been doing this work for 40 years. You need to learn to trust and respect her judgment."

I looked down, feeling defeated. If Lea was so stuck on this trivial matter, there was no way Ascula could have forgotten. Ascula, who had once proclaimed that I possessed extraordinary abilities, had taken me under her wing, only then to restrict me to menial tasks around the hut, now found another "sacred baby" huh? Hopefully, for her, she hadn't made a mistake this time. Maybe this baby truly possessed the gift of foresight, elemental control, or healing? Or maybe this time, this baby wouldn't make the same mistake I did. He wouldn't disobey Ascula's orders by giving his own potion an old woman, suffering in pain, unable to sleep.

Whether it was out of jealousy or not, whether I was right or wrong, all my hopes seemed to have been extinguished. I looked down at my trembling hands. The effects of the dream I had seen were hanging over my head like the Spirit of Death. The walls seemed to taunt me with visions of bloody eyes.

Lea placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and saw her expression softening. "You have something else on your mind. What's bothering you?"

I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I wanted to share my inner turmoil. I gazed into Lea's warm, attentive eyes, uncertain if I should open up to her. Her gentle smile encouraged me, yet I couldn't shake off the feeling of hesitance. Was it appropriate to unload all of this after this conversation? Would she understand, or would she think less of me?

Well, I couldn't know without telling her. Maybe I could get Lea's opinion before telling Ascula.

"I had a disturbing dream last night," I confessed. "And I can't seem to shake off its effects. It's like a dark cloud hanging over me."

Lea's eyes widened with concern. "What kind of dream?"

I drew a deep breath and confided in Lea, recounting every detail I could recall. With a furrowed brow, I described how my fingers brushed against calloused hands, my feet carried me across a bridge suspended over a thunderous river, and a consuming sense of despair overwhelmed me. My memory seemed to sharpen as I went on, and I described the gruesome images that were etched in my memory like a scar. Bodies lying on top of each other, me cradling lifeless children in my arms, the blood and the bile they coughed up, flames licking at the sky, face contorted in agony.

As I shared these harrowing details, I could sense the warmth of Lea's gaze on me, urging me to continue. I recounted how I relived this nightmare upon venturing into the basement, and how I scurried back up to the upstairs and locked the door behind me, desperate to shut out the memories that threatened to consume me.

Lea gasped, her eyes widely opened. She regarded me intently. "It's a terrible dream, Fiera," she said. "You mentioned seeing it again when you went to the basement? Were you awake this time?"

I nodded, my heart racing. The way Lea considered her response, and took her time to think, made me realize the gravity of the situation. I scrutinized her face, searching for any sign of emotion. I hung on to her every word, eager for guidance and reassurance.

Lea took her time to consider her response, her expression thoughtful and serious. Eventually, she turned her gaze to me, her brow furrowed in concern. "In my opinion, a dream as dark as this could only be the work of an evil spirit. However, if that were the case, it wouldn't have been able to penetrate the protection of the talismans that guard this house, especially not in the basement."

"It was too realistic," I spoke with conviction. "What I saw wasn't just some random visions. The children were my children. I felt it."

"Dreams can be very vivid. They can feel real, Fiera," she said. "But they're still just dreams. They don't necessarily have any meaning."

"What if it's a vision?"

"A vision?" she asked.

"Yes. What if it is?"

Lea leaned back in her chair, lost in thought once again.

"It's possible," she said finally. "But even if it's the case, I highly discourage you to talk about it. Especially to Ascula."

"Why not?"

Lea's gaze shifted to me, and I noticed a glint of something ominous in her eyes that I had not seen all night. I was chilled.

She leaned in closer, her face illuminated by the moonlight.

"Fiera," She said, looking at me with determination. "Beware, o dear, for once fate is unveiled, it becomes forever sealed and therefore, should not be uttered."