Chapter 381 - 349: Where Are Tigers... Imbalance Of Eco-System...

(A/N):

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The forest spirit remained silent for several moments, her green eyes drifting toward the endless valley of white flowers.

There was a strange sadness within them, as though she had been carrying a burden for a very long time and had grown accustomed to keeping it hidden.

Devara waited patiently.

Finally, she turned toward him.

"There are no tigers left in the forest," she said softly.

The tribe leader lowered his spear slightly, already knowing what she was about to say.

"They are here."

Devara’s eyes narrowed.

"Here?"

The spirit nodded.

"They are beneath my protection."

She extended her hand toward the valley, and the white flowers began moving gently even though there was barely any wind.

Beyond the first layer of blossoms, Devara suddenly noticed several enormous shapes lying beneath the flowers and thick grass.

His eyes widened.

There were tigers.

Not one. Not two.

Dozens of them.

Some were fully grown males with enormous bodies and powerful limbs.

Others were females resting beside their cubs.

Some were old, their fur faded with age, while others appeared to be young adults.

Every single one of them was sleeping peacefully.

They were scattered throughout the valley, hidden beneath the white flowers and surrounded by lush vegetation.

Their breathing was slow and steady, their bodies completely relaxed.

The sight left Devara stunned.

For years, the tribe had believed the tigers had vanished.

But they had never left.

They had simply been removed from the forest.

Devara slowly turned toward the spirit.

"You brought all of them here."

"I did."

"Why?"

The spirit looked toward the sleeping animals.

"Because they were no longer safe."

Devara’s expression changed.

"Not safe?"

The spirit nodded.

"I sheltered them here. They sleep beneath the flowers because this valley protects them. They are fed by the forest, and nothing comes here to hunt them."

Devara looked around the valley before looking back at her.

"But by removing the tigers from the forest, you disrupted the entire balance. The boar population exploded. Smaller animals disappeared. The people living near the forest are now being attacked."

"I know."

The calmness in her voice made Devara’s brows furrow.

"You knew?"

"I have watched it happen."

Karna and Ashwatthama exchanged a glance.

The tribe leader looked almost speechless.

Devara took a slow breath.

"Then why would you do this?"

The forest spirit lowered her gaze.

For the first time, her expression revealed something deeper than simple sadness.

Fear.

"Because of humans."

The words fell into the valley like a stone dropped into still water.

Devara froze.

Karna’s eyes widened.

Ashwatthama’s expression hardened.

Even the tribe leader looked stunned.

"Humans?" Devara repeated.

The spirit nodded.

"The tigers were being hunted."

Devara remained silent.

"They were not hunting the humans anymore. The humans were hunting them."

She walked slowly among the white flowers, her fingers brushing against their petals as she spoke.

"At first, it was only a few hunters. They entered the forest seeking tiger skins, bones and other parts of their bodies. They killed without hunger. They killed because there was value in the bodies of these creatures."

Her voice became quieter.

"Then more came."

The flowers around her seemed to tremble.

"They began setting traps. They poisoned water sources. They followed mothers back to their dens. Cubs were taken because they could be sold. Tigers that defended themselves were called dangerous and killed for it."

Devara’s jaw tightened.

The spirit continued.

"I tried to protect them. But every time I drove the hunters away, more returned."

She looked toward the sleeping tigers.

"Eventually, I realized that keeping them in the forest meant allowing them to become targets."

Devara looked at the animals.

"So you brought them here."

"Yes."

"You hid an entire population of apex predators inside this valley."

"I did."

"Without considering what would happen to everything outside."

The spirit lowered her head.

"I considered it."

Devara’s expression softened slightly, but his voice remained serious.

"And you still chose this."

"I chose the lives I could save."

Silence followed.

The words carried no arrogance.

Only exhaustion.

"I am a spirit of this forest," she continued.

"My duty is to protect the life entrusted to me. I could not stand and watch the tigers disappear one by one simply because humans wanted their bodies. So I brought them here. I placed them under my protection and allowed them to sleep."

She looked toward Devara.

"I knew the forest outside would change."

Her eyes became sorrowful.

"I simply believed that the humans would eventually stop hunting them."

The tribe leader finally found his voice.

"But we never hunted them!"

The spirit turned toward him.

"I know."

Her answer surprised him.

"I know your tribe did not."

She looked at Devara, then toward the distant forest.

"But not every human who enters these woods belongs to your tribe."

Devara’s expression became thoughtful.

Suddenly, several pieces of the mystery began fitting together.

The tigers had not disappeared naturally.

They had been deliberately sheltered.

The boars had multiplied because their natural predator was gone.

The smaller animals had been displaced or consumed as the ecosystem changed.

And all of it had begun because humans from outside the tribe had been hunting the tigers.

Yet there was still something that bothered Devara.

He looked toward the sleeping animals.

"You wanted to protect the tigers."

The spirit nodded.

"But by protecting one part of the forest, you unintentionally endangered another."

The spirit lowered her eyes.

"I know."

Devara remained silent for a moment.

Then he looked toward the valley and the countless sleeping tigers.

"This is not simply a matter of choosing humans or animals."

His gaze moved toward the forest beyond the flowers.

"The entire forest is suffering."

The spirit nodded slowly.

"I know."

Devara’s eyes hardened with determination.

"Then we need to find a way to protect both."

For the first time, the forest spirit looked genuinely surprised.

Because instead of blaming her, Devara was already thinking about how to repair the balance she had broken while trying to protect the creatures she loved.

Devara remained silent for several moments, his eyes moving from the sleeping tigers beneath the white flowers to the forest beyond the valley.

He understood why the spirit had acted.

She had seen creatures being hunted and had chosen to save them.

But understanding her intention did not mean he could ignore the consequences of what she had done.

He slowly turned toward her.

"I understand why you protected the tigers,"

Devara said, his voice calm but firm.

"You saw humans hunting them, and you could not simply stand by and watch them die. But you must understand what happened after you removed them from the forest."

The spirit looked at him silently.

"The tigers were the natural hunters keeping several animal populations under control. Once you brought them here, the boars suddenly lost one of the predators that kept their numbers in check."

He gestured toward the forest behind them.

"And they multiplied."

The spirit lowered her eyes.

"At first, that may have seemed harmless. But their numbers grew beyond what the forest could support. They began competing for food, destroying vegetation and entering territories they previously avoided. Then they started attacking other animals."

Devara’s expression became more serious.

"Not because those animals were part of their normal food chain, but because there were simply too many of them."

The tribe leader nodded slowly.

"We have seen it ourselves."

Devara continued,

"The boars began attacking creatures they normally would have avoided. They became bold enough to challenge elephants. They destroy nests, disturb burrows and consume whatever food they can find."

"They are no longer behaving like a population naturally controlled by the forest. They have become a force overwhelming everything around them."

The forest spirit looked toward the distant trees.

"I did not know it would become this severe."

"I believe you," Devara replied.

"But that does not change what happened."

His voice remained gentle, but there was weight behind every word.

"By saving one species, you unintentionally left an entire group of other species at the mercy of another."

The spirit looked at him.

"Every animal you see here is connected to another. The forest does not exist as separate pieces. You cannot remove one part and expect everything else to remain unchanged."

He pointed toward the sleeping tigers.

"You saved them from humans."

Then he pointed toward the forest.

"But outside this valley, the animals that depended upon the presence of those tigers were left without their natural protection."

The spirit’s expression slowly fell.

"And now the boars are destroying the balance."

"Yes."

Devara took a slow breath.

"The forest is suffering from a chain reaction. The tigers disappeared, the boars multiplied, smaller animals declined, vegetation was damaged, and now even creatures that once lived peacefully beside one another are being forced into conflict."

The forest spirit looked toward the flowers beneath which the tigers slept.

"I only wanted to protect them."

"I know."

Devara’s expression softened.

"But protecting them does not mean we can ignore everything else."

The spirit remained quiet.

Devara then looked across the valley once more.

"You did not become cruel because you made this decision. You made it because you cared. But compassion without understanding the consequences can sometimes create another form of suffering."

The forest spirit lowered her head.

For the first time, she looked less like an ancient guardian of the forest and more like someone who had realized that her attempt to save the creatures she loved had created a problem far larger than she had imagined.

Devara stepped closer.

"We need to correct this without sacrificing the tigers."

The spirit slowly raised her eyes.

"You would still protect them?"

"Of course."

Devara looked toward the sleeping cubs nestled beside their mothers.

"But we also protect the rest of the forest."

He turned toward the endless trees.

"The answer cannot be to simply kill the boars until their numbers fall. Nor can it be to release the tigers blindly and allow them to become targets for hunters again. We need to restore the balance."

The elephant standing nearby gave a low rumble, almost as though it agreed.

Devara glanced at it and then back at the forest spirit.

"You know this forest better than anyone. I know how to protect the people living around it. Together, we can find a way to repair what has been broken."

The forest spirit stared at him for a long moment.

Then she slowly nodded.

"Perhaps," she whispered, "the forest finally has someone willing to listen to all of its voices."

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(Author note:)

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