(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
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Eventually the eagle took flight once more.
Its wings beat powerfully.
Monts later it disappeared into the sky.
The villagers slowly returned to their activities.
The old woman imdiately resud trying to sell her "family heirloom."
Unfortunately for her, Shakuni wasn’t listening anymore.
His attention remained fixed on Devara.
The mont the villagers drifted far enough away, he stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Devara looked toward the flower fields again.
His expression remained thoughtful.
Then he answered quietly.
"The story is true."
Shakuni’s face imdiately lost its amusent.
"...."
The minister glanced toward the fields just want to make sure what in his mind.
"The sleeping asura?"
Devara nodded.
"Most likely."
That alone was enough.
Shakuni trusted Devara’s instincts.
"...."
"...."
If the king said "most likely," then the danger was real.
The minister lowered his voice.
"How bad?"
Devara remained silent for a few monts.
The system window briefly appeared before him again.
The ergency task still glowed.
Waiting.
Watching.
Almost as though it knew events had begun moving.
Finally the king spoke.
"Soone is trying to destroy the flower fields."
Shakuni frowned hearing him.
"Why?"
Devara looked toward the distant horizon.
His green eyes reflected the sea of flowers swaying in the breeze.
"To wake up sothing that should remain asleep."
The minister’s expression darkened.
For several monts neither spoke.
The festival preparations continued.
Children laughed.
Villagers worked.
Flower growers proudly admired their crops.
Nobody noticed the danger approaching.
Nobody noticed that the first move had already been made.
And sowhere beneath the earth...
Far below the roots of countless flowers...
Pushpasura slept.
But unlike before...
His dreams were becoming restless.
Devara’s eyes remained fixed on the distant flower fields.
"...."
The more he thought about it, the less he liked the situation.
Destroying flowers was one thing.
Destroying entire fields was another.
But releasing such enormous numbers of insects...
That was sothing else entirely.
The king slowly looked toward the sky.
Then suddenly whistled.
A sharp, clear sound echoed through the village.
Several villagers looked up in confusion.
Monts later, a familiar screech answered from above.
The eagle had not gone far.
Its powerful wings cut through the air as it descended once again and landed on a nearby wooden post.
The bird tilted its head.
"Forgot sothing?"
Devara chuckled hearing it.
"In a way."
The eagle hopped closer.
Its golden eyes watched him curiously.
Devara folded his arms.
"Can you ask your kin and the other birds around these lands for help?"
The eagle puffed its chest proudly.
"Of course."
Then it paused.
"Help with what?"
Devara pointed toward the distant flower fields.
"The insects."
Imdiately the eagle’s eyes sharpened.
Birds loved simple solutions.
And eating insects was a very simple solution.
The king continued.
"Those insects aren’t just destroying flowers."
"They are threatening the balance of the entire region."
The eagle blinked. Then blinked again.
-Blink! -Blink!
"...."
Clearly confused.
After several monts it finally asked,
"What is balance?"
Devara couldn’t help smiling.
The eagle sohow managed to ask questions exactly like a curious child.
He sat down upon a nearby stone.
The eagle hopped closer.
Even a few sparrows landed nearby.
Clearly interested.
The king pointed toward the sky.
"If suddenly there were ten thousand eagles living in this village."
The eagle imdiately looked pleased.
"Good idea."
Devara laughed hearing how proud the eagle was.
"Not for long."
The eagle frowned hearing his response.
-Frown!
"...."
Devara continued.
"Those ten thousand eagles would eat all the rabbits."
The eagle nodded.
A reasonable outco.
"Then all the mice."
More nodding.
"Then all the snakes."
The eagle’s enthusiasm slowly decreased.
"And when the food runs out?"
The eagle froze hearing him.
Its eyes widened.
"The eagles starve?"
"Exactly."
The bird looked horrified like a child who heard a horrer story.
"...."
Devara pointed toward the fields.
"The sa thing happens with insects."
"If too many appear..."
"They eat everything."
"The flowers die."
"The plants die."
"The crops die."
The eagle stared toward the horizon.
Then back at Devara.
Then toward the horizon again.
Slowly realization dawned.
"No flowers ans fewer insects later."
"Correct."
"Fewer insects ans less food."
"Correct."
"Less food ans hungry birds."
"Correct."
The eagle suddenly flapped its wings angrily.
"Those bugs are criminals!"
Several nearby sparrows chirped in agreent.
Who joined the conversation half way the story.
Which they first thought were interesting.
One of them sounded particularly offended.
Devara nearly laughed.
"-Pfft!"
The eagle imdiately straightened.
Its expression had beco serious.
Or as serious as a bird could look.
"Leave it to us."
The king nodded.
"Gather every bird willing to help."
The eagle puffed out its chest.
"We shall comnce Operation Bug Feast."
Devara stared at the eagle for so reason resembling a odd figure from his previous life who was with love called by as Adolf Hitler by his beloved Jews.
The eagle stared back proudly.
Apparently it had been spending too much ti around humans.
Before Devara could comnt, the eagle launched itself into the sky.
Its screech echoed across the village.
Monts later, other birds answered from different directions.
Sparrows.
Crows.
Mynas.
Drongos.
Even a few hawks.
The call spread rapidly across the skies.
The old farr nearby looked upward.
"Strange."
Devara smiled innocently.
"What is?"
"I’ve never seen so many birds gather at once."
The king rely shrugged.
Nature worked in mysterious ways.
Beside him, Shakuni watched the entire exchange.
"...."
Though unlike Devara, he understood none of it.
To him, the scene looked absurd.
A rchant talking to an eagle.
The eagle responding.
Then flying away.
Then half the birds in the region suddenly becoming excited.
The minister stared. Then stared harder.
Finally he asked,
"What just happened?"
Devara stood up.
Brushing dust from his clothes.
"I asked for help."
Shakuni blinked hearing him.
"From the eagle?"
"Yes."
The minister looked toward the sky.
Then back toward Devara.
Then toward the sky again.
So questions were no longer worth asking.
Experience had taught him that.
For several monts neither spoke.
The sounds of the village continued around them.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Children laughed.
rchants traded goods.
Villagers prepared for the upcoming festival.
Unaware of the danger creeping toward them.
Shakuni folded his arms.
"What now?"
The answer ca imdiately.
"We investigate."
The minister sighed hearing the answer.
Of course they did.
That answer was inevitable.
Devara looked toward the flower forest beyond the village.
The sa forest where the suspicious group had been seen.
"If we are lucky..."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...we might catch whoever is behind this."
Shakuni adjusted his fake moustache.
"And if we are unlucky?"
A faint smile appeared on Devara’s face.
"Then we find sothing far more interesting."
The minister imdiately regretted asking.
Because whenever Devara described sothing as interesting...
It usually beca everyone else’s problem.
A short while later, the two disguised rchants left the village.
Behind them, hundreds of birds were already taking flight across the skies of Mallikavana.
As Devara and Shakuni made their way out of Mallikavana, they quickly noticed that sothing unusual was happening.
The sky above the flower fields seed alive.
Birds.
Hundreds of them.
Perhaps even thousands.
Sparrows darted between flowering bushes.
Mynas swooped low across the fields.
Crows gathered on branches before taking flight again.
Even eagles and hawks could occasionally be seen circling above.
The sight was so unusual that it had drawn the attention of the villagers.
Several flower growers had already left their work and gathered near the edge of the fields.
Children pointed toward the sky.
Won shielded their eyes from the sun while looking upward.
The older farrs looked particularly worried.
One elderly man picked up a stick.
"This isn’t good."
Another nodded.
"Too many birds."
A third imdiately grabbed a handful of stones.
"They’ll ruin the flowers!"
Panic spread surprisingly fast.
Several villagers began waving sticks.
Others started shouting.
So even prepared to throw stones into the air to drive the birds away.
The birds themselves seed too focused on hunting to care.
They continued diving into bushes.
Landing among flowers.
Taking off again.
Clearly searching for sothing.
Seeing this, Devara imdiately stepped forward.
"Stop!"
His voice was loud enough to make the villagers pause.
Several turned toward him.
The old grandmother who had given them shelter frowned.
"rchant?"
Devara quickly walked toward them.
"Don’t throw those stones."
The villagers exchanged confused looks.
One farr pointed toward the sky.
"But look at them."
"They’ll destroy the fields."
Several others nodded in agreent.
Devara looked upward.
"...."
A crow had just proudly flown past carrying a large insect in its beak.
The king nearly smiled.
The operation was already working.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t exactly explain that.
Not without raising far too many questions.
So he did what every good king occasionally needed to do.
He lied. A little.
Well... Perhaps more than a little.
Devara folded his arms thoughtfully.
Then spoke with confidence.
"I know why they’re behaving this way."
The villagers imdiately beca attentive.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Even Shakuni glanced at him.
The minister already suspected a story was about to erge.
The old farr stepped forward.
"You know?"
Devara nodded his head seriously.
"Of course."
The confidence alone reassured several villagers.
The old grandmother frowned.
-Frown!
"Then what’s happening?"
The king pointed toward the flower fields.
"Insects."
The villagers blinked hearing him confused clearly.
"Insects?"
Devara nodded again.
-Nod!
"The number of insects around the flower fields has increased significantly."
That part was true.
Mostly.
The villagers exchanged looks.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The explanation sounded reasonable.
The king no now a kind rchent continued.
"The birds have noticed."
He gestured toward the sky.
"So they’re hunting."
One of the younger farrs frowned.
"Then why so many birds?"
Devara imdiately answered.
"Because birds are greedy."
The statent earned several laughs.
Even Shakuni nearly smiled.
The king continued his performance.
"If one bird finds a large food source..."
"Soon ten birds arrive."
"If ten birds arrive..."
"Soon a hundred arrive."
The villagers slowly nodded accepting his reason.
That sounded believable.
One elderly flower grower scratched his beard.
"So they’re eating the insects?"
"Exactly."
The king smiled.
"In fact..."
He pointed toward a nearby myna that had just caught another insect.
"...they’re helping you."
The villagers followed his gaze.
The bird swallowed its catch.
Then imdiately went searching for another.
The old farr slowly lowered his stick.
Another villager lowered his stones.
Then another.
And another.
The tension gradually disappeared.
Children began watching the birds with excitent instead of fear.
Several villagers even started cheering whenever they saw one catch an insect.
The old grandmother looked impressed.
"So the flowers are safe?"
Devara nodded.
"As long as the birds continue hunting, the flowers should be fine."
That was partly true.
At least for now.
The villagers visibly relaxed.
The old farr sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness."
Another laughed.
"I was about to declare war on the birds."
A nearby crow imdiately cawed loudly.
Almost as though it had heard him.
The villagers laughed.
Even Shakuni found himself smiling.
Once the crowd began dispersing, the minister moved closer to Devara.
His voice dropped low enough that only the king could hear.
"That was a convincing explanation."
Devara chuckled hearing him.
"It wasn’t entirely false."
"No."
Shakuni nodded.
"But it wasn’t entirely true either."
The king smiled.
"That is usually how good lies work."
The minister shook his head.
So days he genuinely forgot that the man beside him was a king.
Other days he rembered far too clearly.
The two continued walking deeper into the flower forest.
Behind them, the villagers returned to their work feeling relieved.
Above them, countless birds continued their hunt.
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(Author note:)
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