"Dhaara…" Foxen said softly.
The name slipped from his lips like water over stone, natural and unforced.
"It sounds like a pleasant flow," he added. "It suits you."
A faint shimmer passed through Dhaara's liquid form as she smiled, sunlight refracting gently through her translucent body. The river beside them hummed quietly, its surface rippling as if acknowledging the name.
"That's a good interpretation," she said. "Thank you. Did you like it, Bleca?"
Bleca laughed, her voice bright and unrestrained. "I love it!"
Foxen felt a warmth bloom in his chest.
It wasn't power.
It wasn't pride.
It was the warmth of comfort.
And that unsettled him.The feeling lasted for a few moments until suddenly certain realisation hit him and his mind was engrossed in pile of questions.
"So.....now that you trust me–" he began,then stopped.
He hesitated.
"You want to know about my history with thr tentacles.Isn't that right? " Dhaara said in a calm and serious tone.
"Yes,you are right." Foxen replied firmly."I have been used by them again and again"he added.
His hand pressed against his abdomen where the pain still lingered "I have been used–Mentally,physically and suffered."
Dhaara's gaze sharpened "So you have been to Arcanum ?"
"Yea...how do you know that?"Foxen asked being completely startled by her words.
"And those wounds that means you met that man too,I assume" Dhaara said restraining her tone "He had come here before,asked the same questions and..."
She got interrupted.
She looked down as Bleca suddenly held Dhaara's legs.
"...he never returned back " Dhaara added comforting the little child.
"I never liked that man though he was sweet to me" Bleca said in rather unsettling tone
"He felt scary"Bleca added, holding tightly to Dhaara's legs.
Dhaara's legs though liquid–solidified at the moment Bleca touched them.This caught Foxen's attention and he gazed at her.
"What do you think about this gentleman here? " Dhaara asked looking towards Foxen.
Bleca looked at Foxen,studying him with unsettling clarity.
"I love this man" She said "He feels–"
she hesitated.
"He feels what? " Dhaara asked Bleca looking down at her eyes.
"He feels lost" Bleca answered looking towards Dhaara.
Those words hit Foxen.He didn't argue neither did he deny it.
Questions arose in his minds but he felt unworthy of asking any–
the tentacles.
the powers,CE.
the man.
Foxen lowered himself onto the ground,his palms met the cool grass on the ground.The questions still rallied in his mind–
the mere tools of superior being.
being used by them.
His fingers traced the soil absentmindedly.The noise inside him grew louder and suddenly –quiet.
He leaned on his back and stared at the vast blue sky above him.
Nothing chased him there.
Bleca walked over and layed beside him,copying his posture,eyes fixed on the clouds that floated lazily.
Dhaara watched them both.
"So,Foxen" She said at last "Choose."
"My history with the tentacles or the man that you fought.What do you want to know?"
The river beside them softened.Foxen sat up slowly.
Bleca climbed onto his lap.He rested his hand on her gently.
"Would knowing any of it," he asked quietly,
"actually take me anywhere ?"
He turned his palm upward and the eye appeared on his palm.
"I've dealt with something in the past which still haunts me," Foxen continued,
"This eye....I found it on the dome where Achinos sent me.It showed me something–the memories of the past wielders and....he warned me to stay away from tentacles."
Then Foxen pointed towards his abdomen.
"The scars, I got on Arcanum still ache.Everything we found–the sword,the stone was take by them."
His fist clenched.
"Me,Mahnstin and Sana fought keeping our lives on stake"
He exhaled sharply,
"And all we got was....some borrowed time for being their tools."
He carefully set Bleca down and stood up.
Dhaara listened all of it without interrupting him.Then she asked steadily
"So..what is it that you want...Foxen? "
"Peace,"Foxen answered without a second thought "for once in my life,I want to live peacefully."
A tear slipped free through his right eye.
Bleca noticed it then hugged his legs tight.Foxen patted her head.
Dhaara stepped forward plucking a small flower from the bushes.
"I will answer every question you have " she said gently "Just....stay here longer.As this place–we–love you."
Foxen picked up Bleca and hugged her.
"Sure" He answered.
End of chapter 18.