Chapter 379 - 347: Elephant Knows The Cause?...

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

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Devara did not reach for any weapon. Instead, he calmly stepped forward, leaving Karna, Ashwatthama and the tribe leader a few paces behind as he walked toward the enormous elephant standing in the clearing.

The great beast immediately turned its attention toward him, its trunk slowly rising as its small eyes fixed upon the approaching man.

For a brief moment, the tribe leader’s heart tightened.

A wild elephant separated from its herd was an extremely dangerous creature, and even experienced hunters preferred to keep a considerable distance from one.

Facing a lone tiger was one thing, but confronting an isolated adult elephant was an entirely different matter.

One mistake could send a man flying through the air or crush him beneath its tremendous weight.

Yet Devara showed no fear.

He simply continued walking.

"There is no need to be angry,"

Devara said gently, his voice carrying a strange calmness through the clearing.

"They are only animals trying to survive in a forest that has changed around them. You have nothing to prove to them."

The elephant’s ears slowly stopped flapping.

Its trunk remained raised.

Something about the man standing before it felt different.

The elephant could not understand Devara’s words in the manner a human could, yet it could sense the emotion behind them.

There was no fear in him.

No hostility. No intention of dominance or violence.

Instead, there was an overwhelming serenity surrounding Devara, an aura so peaceful that the great beast’s instinctive aggression gradually faded.

The elephant’s eyes widened.

For reasons beyond its understanding, the creature suddenly felt an immense respect toward the man standing before it.

It was not the respect born from fear.

It was something deeper.

Something instinctive.

The elephant sensed something divine within Devara, something that made the ancient instincts buried deep within its mind tell it that the being standing before it was not someone to challenge.

He felt like something that belonged above the natural order it understood, a presence worthy of reverence rather than confrontation.

The elephant slowly lowered its trunk.

Devara stopped several feet away from it and gently extended his hand.

The enormous creature took a cautious step forward.

Then another.

Its trunk moved toward Devara’s hand, stopping just before touching him as it seemed to study his presence.

Devara allowed it to examine him without moving, his expression remaining completely relaxed.

Then something happened that left everyone behind him stunned.

The elephant lowered its massive head.

Its front legs bent.

And with a deep, resonant trumpet that echoed through the surrounding forest, the enormous animal bowed before Devara.

The sound rolled across the trees like a declaration.

Karna’s eyes widened slightly.

Ashwatthama stared at the creature in silence.

But the tribe leader looked utterly stunned.

He had lived in this forest for decades.

He knew the behavior of elephants better than most people. He knew the difference between a domesticated elephant and a wild one.

He knew that an elephant separated from its herd could become unpredictable and exceptionally dangerous.

Yet the creature standing before them was completely wild.

There were no ropes around its neck.

No mahout.

No markings indicating that it had ever belonged to humans.

And yet it had just lowered itself before their king.

The tribe leader slowly lowered his spear.

"I have never seen anything like this," he whispered.

Karna glanced toward him.

"You said a lone elephant was more dangerous than facing a tiger."

The tribe leader swallowed and nodded.

"Yes."

His eyes remained fixed on Devara.

"And now I am watching one bow before him."

Devara gently placed his palm against the elephant’s trunk.

The elephant remained completely still.

For a moment, the forest itself seemed to fall silent around them.

Devara could feel the enormous creature’s calmness, and his heart inside him softened.

He could sense its exhaustion and irritation, the result of constantly being challenged by the rapidly multiplying boars and being forced to defend its territory and food.

"You have been fighting them because there is no longer enough food,"

Devara murmured.

"You are not the enemy either."

The elephant gave a low rumble.

Devara smiled faintly.

"I understand."

The tribe leader watched the exchange with an expression that slowly changed from disbelief into awe.

Until that moment, he had thought of Devara simply as a powerful king who had entered their forest to investigate the strange events occurring within it.

Now, for the first time, he began to wonder whether the stories surrounding this king were far closer to the truth than he had ever imagined.

The elephant lifted its head after a moment, but it did not move away.

Instead, it remained beside Devara, calm and peaceful, as though it had found something familiar in the presence of the man before it.

Devara looked deeper into the forest.

His expression gradually became serious again.

"If even the animals are being pushed into conflict with one another," he said quietly,

"then whatever is disturbing this forest is affecting far more than just the tigers and boars."

He turned toward Karna and Ashwatthama.

"We continue."

The tribe leader nodded slowly.

But before following them, he glanced once more at the elephant.

The wild beast was still standing peacefully beside Devara.

For a man who had spent his entire life learning the dangers of the forest, that sight was something he knew he would remember for the rest of his life.

Devara kept his palm resting gently against the elephant’s trunk for another moment before looking directly into its eyes.

The creature remained remarkably calm, its enormous body no longer carrying the aggression it had shown only moments earlier.

Devara could sense that the elephant understood more than they had initially assumed.

Animals might not possess human speech, but they observed the forest in ways humans often failed to notice.

They followed trails, scents and changes in the land that could remain invisible to even experienced hunters.

"Tell me something," Devara said softly.

"Do you know what happened to this forest?"

The elephant raised its head slightly.

"Why did the balance change so suddenly? Where did the tigers go?"

For a moment, nothing happened.

The elephant simply stared at him.

Then its ears moved.

Its trunk rose toward the deeper part of the forest, and it released a low rumbling sound that seemed to vibrate through the clearing.

Devara watched carefully, trying to understand the creature’s response.

"Do you know where they went?" he asked.

The elephant suddenly nodded its enormous head.

Devara’s eyes widened slightly.

Behind him, Karna exchanged a glance with Ashwatthama.

The tribe leader looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe.

The elephant trumpeted loudly and turned toward the deeper forest before looking back at Devara, almost as if it were asking him to follow.

Devara understood immediately.

"You know where the tigers are."

The elephant nodded again.

This time its trumpet was louder, and it began moving toward the trees.

Devara stepped back and turned toward his companions.

"We are following it."

The tribe leader stared at him.

"Following the elephant?"

"Yes."

Devara pointed toward the creature, which had already begun walking slowly into the forest while occasionally looking back to make sure they were following.

"It knows where the tigers went. If it has been travelling through this forest while the balance was changing, then it may have seen something none of us have."

Ashwatthama looked toward the elephant.

"And you believe it will take us directly to the source?"

Devara nodded.

"I do."

Karna gave a small smile.

"Then I suppose our guide has already chosen the path."

The tribe leader was still visibly stunned, but after everything he had witnessed, arguing with Devara about following a wild elephant seemed rather pointless.

He tightened his grip around his spear and nodded.

"Then we should not waste time."

Devara turned toward the elephant.

"Lead the way."

The elephant gave another powerful trumpet and began moving deeper into the forest.

Devara followed first, with Karna and Ashwatthama behind him.

The tribe leader brought up the rear, his eyes constantly moving around the surrounding trees as they left the familiar portions of the forest behind.

The further they travelled, the more unusual the surroundings became.

The elephant never hesitated.

It moved with certainty, taking paths that appeared almost invisible to the humans following behind it.

Occasionally it pushed aside thick branches with its trunk or stepped over fallen trees, waiting whenever the others struggled to keep up.

Devara noticed something else.

The elephant was not behaving like an animal simply wandering toward another water source or feeding ground.

It knew exactly where it was going.

After nearly an hour of travelling, the forest became noticeably darker.

The trees grew closer together, their branches intertwining above them and blocking much of the sunlight.

The birds had almost completely disappeared, and even the usual sounds of insects seemed strangely muted.

The tribe leader slowed.

"I have never come this far."

Devara looked at him.

"Then stay close."

The elephant suddenly stopped.

Its entire body became tense.

Devara raised his hand, signaling everyone to halt.

The elephant slowly lifted its trunk and pointed it toward the darkness ahead.

A low rumble escaped its throat.

Devara’s eyes narrowed.

Whatever the elephant had brought them to was nearby.

He looked toward Karna and Ashwatthama before turning his attention back toward the path.

"Whatever is ahead," Devara said quietly,

"that is where we may finally find our answer."

The elephant released another deep trumpet and began moving forward.

And this time, the four men followed without hesitation.

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(Author note:)

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