Welcome back to Lap Of The Gods, everyone. I'm glad everyone enjoyed the chapter. Please remember to COMMENT and VOTE; it means a lot to me. Plus, I like talking to you guys and hearing your opinions. The song is Error by cillia ~XOXO BUTTERBALL~.

________________________________________________________________________________

-Sorey-

It was the middle of the night when I returned to the house where Lila stayed. As I entered the ramshackle building, soft snoring met my ears.

Lila had fallen asleep in an odd position, with her feet propped up against the cracked wall. Her wings, tail, and head dangled off the bed; truthfully, it looked uncomfortable.

I watched her for a moment before I carefully approached the bed. Slowly I sat down on the small space next to her, doing my best to keep noise to a minimum.

I reached out with my left hand and wrapped it around the front of her throat. Despite my intentions, my touch was gentle.

Kindred always did have fragile bones. If I apply a bit more pressure, it would be a clean, easy kill.

I frowned, though, as I noticed something missing from beneath my hand, a pulse.

"What in the world?" I whispered to myself.

Did she...die in her sleep?

Slowly I adjusted my fingers, and it was then that I found her pulse, a gentle thumping underneath my fingertips.

I'm so used to taking lives that I may be forgetting how to find one.

I let out a soft chuckle retracting my hand as Lila began to stir in her sleep.

She slowly opened one blue eye and yawned softly.

"I'm okay, Varuun, go to sleep, boy," she mumbled before rolling over onto her stomach.

My eyes widened as I turned my attention to the large hole in the roof. A large orange eye the size of a boulder stared back at me.

The beast let out a huff causing the house to creak before the large eye disappeared.

Nearby I could hear ground shaking as the beast walked away.

How did it get so close without me noticing? Especially with it being the size of a small mountain.

I frowned as my right eye began to itch and water. Lately, it had been irritated.

That stupid beast kicked up all that dust when he walked away.

I rubbed my eye; for a second, my vision on my right side blurred, then exploded with color for a brief second. Then my eye was no longer irritated.

From what both Lila and Marta told me, this is the eye that was replaced. She said that she used her blood to heal me, and then she wove ether into my body. She's definitely some seer or priestess. It's the only logical explanation.

I sighed as I walked over to my bed on the floor. Lila had offered me her bed but gave up when I told her this was how I usually slept.

Something about this job doesn't feel right. From both the accounts of Lila and that idiotic village elder, she left that village years ago. So why kill her now...

I let out a huff as I laid down and tried to focus my thoughts.

Unless she committed some crime against the Maker itself, there shouldn't be any reason to want her death now.

I sighed again.

Well, at least this job will be a bit easier. After it's done, I'll return to Olakator and rest for a bit. I need to replace my equipment.

I glanced over at Lila again, but I couldn't find anything strange about her appearance-wise.

In her sleep, she let out a soft giggle, and a smile spread across her face.

I frowned as I continued to look at her for a few moments.

She claims to know me, but I've never met her. Maybe she was one of my family's slaves. Her face isn't ringing any bells.

I let out a huff as I laid down, expanding my wings beneath me. "I haven't had the time to stretch them out lately. They're starting to get stiff." It took a bit of time but eventually, I was able to drift off to sleep.

~~~~

It was the early hours of the morning when I woke up. Glancing over, I couldn't help but notice that Lila was no longer in bed. In fact, she was gone. For a moment, I sat there listening. Outside I could hear the gentle chirps of the few birds that had also woken up.

She must be taking a bath or gathering food. Looks like that beast of hers is either asleep or gone too.

Rising to my feet, I walked over to the door. After I quietly opened it, I began walking towards the edge of this land that I'd run into the other day.

By the time I reached it, the sun had risen completely for a moment; I just stood at the edge looking down into the abyss of dark ether that was the frozen forest. I could see the white frost glinting beneath the dark ether that moved like slithering tendrils.

To leave, it looks like I would have to fly quite a ways. It would take a half-day trip that's only if I flew without landing. She fixed my wings, and I can move them just fine for now, at least. But that beast of hers poses a problem.

I let out a huff as my eye began to sting again. As I rubbed it, I heard footsteps behind me.

Turning around, I saw an excited and naked Lila holding something in her arms. "Sorey, I think I found your things!" She exclaimed as she ran up to me.

"My things?" I mumbled, frowning.

She nodded and grinned, her tail waving around like an excited animal. "They were in the forest,  were scattered everywhere. I'm guessing that Varuun scared your horse or something. But I made sure to grab everything when I went down there!"

"You know that that monstrous pet of yours more than likely ate the horse right. Also, why are you naked?" I pointed out.

"Well, it's so that my camouflage could work better just in case I ran into something terrible down there. I can't say it's my favorite place though that dark ether kinda stings." She told me.

"So, you didn't hear anything while down there?" I asked her as I recalled my experience of being in that forest after mere seconds.

My eye began to water and itch again. A slight throbbing pain seemed to settle behind it. I rubbed at it again.

"No, I didn't hear anything; it's like the forest is dead. Nothing likes being down there, and nothing except Varuun or me can stay down there pretty long," she said softly as she looked down at the ground.

Then she looked up at me. "Is your eye hurting? If so, Marta told me that you might have to try the other function."

"Other function?" I said slowly.

She nodded as she straightened up and looked me in the eyes as if a shift had come over her. "Close your eyes and picture the ether that surrounds us. The clairvoyant eye will activate on its own." Marta informed me.

"Clairvoyant eye? Do you mean like a Seer?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, that is Foresight, but as I do not have that power at my current level of strength, I could not give it to you. The clairvoyant eye does allow you to see many things and understand many things, but the future is not one of them. It allows you to see the ether of the creatures of Adonis and manipulate it to varying degrees. However, both Foresight and the clairvoyant eye are parts of my power, but since you are my familiar, I allowed you to borrow the clairvoyant eye." She explained thoroughly.

I crossed my arms as I let out a sigh. At the moment, my right eye was closed to try and lessen the pain it was causing.

Clairvoyant eye, huh? I suppose her instructions are worth the try. If it doesn't work well, then it just doesn't work.

I took a deep breath and closed my other eye. "Good now, picture the ether as threads flowing through the air like wisps of smoke. They curl traveling gently as they flow in and out of many living things." Marta instructed.

For a moment, she was silent; then, I heard her softly breathe out. "Now, open your eyes!"

My eyes snapped open as my body jerk at her command, almost as though I'd been struck by lightning. The right half of my vision was filled with a strange, almost grainy red covering everything. But as I looked around, I could see glowing white wisps flowing through the air from seemingly every direction.

As I slowly looked at Lila's form, my eyes widened. On my left side, she appeared normal on my right side though it was like her body was blotted out with white ink. I couldn't make out her features, but I could see that all the white threads of ether seemed to lead back to her. The plants, the birds, the thorn rabbits, all of the visible life forces tied back to her. It was like watching a spider make a web up close, fascinating, and, at the same time, strangely horrifying.

Marta smiled at me with a seemingly sad look on her face. "Judging by your expression, I'm guessing that you can see it. It's beautiful, isn't it?" Her usually soothing voice did little to calm me at the moment.

"What kind of monster are you?" I growled as I took a step back.

She looked at me, and at that moment, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up; every fiber of my being seemed to scream out to run. It felt like how a person would look at an ant as just a pest, not even worth their air. Then Marta crossed her arms and let out a huff.

"Well, aren't you rude calling the person who saved your life a monster. You really know how to hurt a girl's feelings, but I already knew that." She pouted as she turned away slightly.

I couldn't help but shudder as she broke eye contact. Almost instantly, the vision in my right eye snapped back to normal. "If you want someone to care about your feelings, then go talk to your monster pet," I said bluntly. I despised the way my voice shook slightly.

She shuddered, her tail standing straight up before she turned back to me with a large grin on her face.

Looks like Lila came back.

She walked over to me and grabbed my hand, placing a small glass vial of red liquid into it. "What's this?" I asked, frowning.

"My blood, Marta said to give it to you in case you needed it for something. You were able to survive drinking my blood the first time, so if you need it again, it will heal you if you're in danger." She informed me.

She didn't have that in her hand earlier. I'm assuming Marta did that. She already seems to know incredibly powerful magic. If I'm going to kill her, then a knife to the heart while Lila's in control seems like the best option.

"Hey, Sorey...I know that one day you're going to leave me. Everyone does eventually but will you let me come with you? Please, if even for a little bit...I have somewhere important I need to go..." she whispered, trailing off.

Oh, this option is even better.

"I'm leaving tomorrow early morning. If you want to come, you better be ready," I informed her.

She looked at me. Her entire face lit up as she smiled widely. "Thank you, Sorey!"

I just nodded as I began to walk away.

Well, she did make my job easier. Isolation does interesting things to a person.