Hezron panicked when he realized he had stopped playing the flute. He scrambled to put the instrument on his mouth, but then he stopped. After looking around, he noticed that the wolves were no longer attacking him. This was quite weird. Everyone else was dead, and he was looking at a pack of six feet tall wolves with two tails. Life couldn’t be better.

“Interesting...” echoed the voice again.

“Who said that?” asked Hezron, aloud.

As he was looking around, he saw a gigantic tiger descending from the sky. He rubbed his eyes, to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. The tiger was real, and it was flying! It had eagle-like wings, and a whole lot of tails. Well, it had ten but he didn’t have time to count them. Its front legs were like very furry human arms. This was a bizarre sight; anyone would’ve fainted upon witnessing it. After the tiger landed, two other beasts arrived at the scene.

The beasts were gigantic! One was a fox with really large ears, and again, front legs that looked like human arms. The other was a bear, which had horns like those of a bull, four arms and six eyes. Talk about bizarre! That would’ve been an understatement! And then there was the significant number of tails each one had.

“It seems... I have been quite hasty...,” echoed the ancient-sounding, gruff voice again, inside his head.

“Who said that? Show yourself! I’m not afraid of you!” shouted Hezron, with knees literary shaking.

The ten-tailed tiger moved until it was right in front of him. It gave a loud roar that caused Hezron’s hair to fly backwards. It was still raining, but the rain didn’t seem to be important currently. Hezron couldn’t take it anymore; his knees gave, and he slumped down. His body betrayed him, showing that he was really afraid.

“Oh... I thought you said you were not afraid of me?” said the voice, with a slight chuckle.

“I-imp...impossible!” said Hezron, with a voice full of fear. He continued, “H-how are you... how di... you’re talking...”

The tiger looked at the other beasts and then issued a slight growl. They seemed to have understood something, since they left soon afterwards, leaving the ten-tailed tiger alone with Hezron. This didn’t seem to have helped, Hezron was still shaking in fear.

“You can relax, we are now alone. I am not going to kill you or eat you”, assured the voice, sighing.

“It’s you, isn’t it? How are you talking to me?” asked Hezron, looking at the giant tiger in front of him.

“Remember how I said you are just like us. That might have been a gross oversimplification of how the matters are currently fashioned”, said the Beast King.

Hezron scratched his head; he hadn’t understood what the beast in front of him had just said. The beast seemed to understand what he was thinking, if he was thinking at all.

“I mean, basically, you and I are the same”, it explained.

“Th-they killed my family!” Hezron spoke, with tears streaming, but then it was raining so it was difficult to distinguish between tears and rainwater. He continued again, “Y-your friends killed my family.”

“Look, let me ask you a question. When your hunters went into the forest, and they found rabbits, did they spare them? Or did they try by all means to capture them?”

Hezron could not offer a retort. He knew in his heart that hunters would definitely capture the rabbits. It was just how nature was, with humans at the top of the food chain. Right?

“They did not spare the rabbits. No, they did not. Instead, they captured them, happy that they had caught food. Now, let me ask you another question. When your hunters found our cubs, do you think they spared them?” continued the tiger.

“But you’re talking about the hunters! The women and children have nothing to do with this!” shouted Hezron.

“You are absolutely right. And yet, what do you think the children will do when they grow up? Will they completely stop hating us? When they see us, will they not fight us?”

Hezron dropped his head, looking downwards. Again, he could not retort. This issue was a recurring issue. The humans hunted wild animals, well, so did the wild animals themselves. They hunted each other! However, humans killed young ones of all the dangerous animals. When the young ones that survived grew, they’d hate humans. When they met, something or someone had to die!

The tiger continued, when it saw Hezron didn’t reply, “You see. Humans generally see us as enemies, and so do we. And what happens when enemies see each other? They fight bitter, deadly battles, do they not?”

“B-but you’re talking to me. Why didn’t you try to talk to them too? Why didn’t you try to make them understand your feelings?”

“You think we have not tried?”

“...” Hezron had a blank expression on his face.

“Humans cannot understand us. Unlike you, humans cannot speak our language. They can understand each other, but our differences are plain irreconcilable”, responded the Beast King, with a sigh.

“What do you mean unlike me?”

“Tell me something, how do you think you can speak to me right now?”

“I don’t know. Would you mind explaining?”

“You are different from the rest of the humans, for some reason. Maybe it is because you were living closer to the forest, I do not know. However, I was observing you. I noticed you have the power to influence emotions, with that funny-looking instrument in your hands. That was why the wolves did not attack you”, the tiger explained.

“Is that why you didn’t kill me?”

“Partly. Well, you see, whatever you did back there had no effect on me. But if you can control emotions of people, animals and us, then what value do you think you have to the entire ecosystem? You might be able to bring some sort of balance, but honestly I do not believe that is even remotely possible.”

Hezron looked at the flute in his hands. If what the gigantic anomaly in front of him said was true, he could basically control people and animals! Truthfully, it sounds a lot harder to believe. If anyone had told him this before this incident, he might have thought that person was crazy, or worse, drunk.

“Are you going to let me go?” he asked, in a lowered voice, afraid of making the tiger angry.

“I would like to, but the problem is not with me, it is the human beings. They discriminate what they do not understand. How do you think they will treat you when they find out about what you can do?”

“...” Hezron remained quiet, with a quizzical expression plastered on his face.

“I will give you a choice, you can come with me, and I will protect you. Or you can go on your own, and live with humans. Whatever choice you make, I will respect it, but I will also want you to learn to live with it.”

“How long do I have to think about this?” Hezron asked.

“Just tell me how long you need. However, I need you to know something. I will be attacking all the human settlements surrounding the mountain. It does not matter what you do to try to save them. If you side with us, they will hate you, and try to kill you as well. If you side with them ... Let us just say you will not live long enough to regret that decision, especially if you use your power against us!”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

“That will be your decision to make; I will not make it for you. Just make sure you make the right one. Or rather, make the decision you can live with...”

The tiger stood up, and then prepared to leave.

“Wait!” called Hezron.

It turned and looked at him, with a calm expression. Hezron hesitated upon seeing this expression. It was as if he understood everything, yet he didn’t as well.

“Humans are not weak, you know. Some are very strong. A long time ago, I heard a story from my grandfather. He told me that the power of the humans lies in their heads. He said they could come up with all sorts of ideas to solve the challenges they face. Fighting against the humans might lead to a very large-scale war in which you might be annihilated! Is that what you want?” asked Hezron, with slight determination embedded in his voice.

“It seems you have made your decision then?”

“Alone, I am weak. I cannot change the fate of the humans, or yours for that matter. But I can try to be the bridge.”

“Wait, the what?” This time, it was the tiger’s turn to be surprised.

“The middleman, the person who stands on both sides. I can help negotiate with the humans on your behalf. And I can help negotiate with you on the humans’ behalf. This way, I don’t have to pick a side. Everyone will be happy.”

The tiger laughed out aloud, well, inside Hezron’s head anyways. It sat down and rolled over in laughter. Hezron’s face turned pink from embarrassment. He wasn’t expecting to be laughed at by the tiger. Actually, it was strange to hear a tiger laughing. Gradually, he started laughing too, albeit, a nervous chuckle.

“I like how you think, human. Unfortunately, this will not work at all. Do you know why?” asked the beast, after it had finished laughing at him.

“No...W-why?”

“Tell me, how do you plan on getting rid of the arrogance that dwells in man’s heart?”

“I will talk to them, and make them listen to the voice of reason!” he declared with a firm, resolute voice.

“Fine. Hand over your instrument”, said the tiger, chuckling some more.

Hezron handed over the flute he was holding in his hand. The beast took it, and then opened some more holes in the bamboo instrument. After that, a small purple light appeared in the paws of the tiger. The light entered the flute, causing the flute to glow lightly. It then handed over the flute back to Hezron.

“Whenever you play the instrument, it does not matter where I am, I will hear it. We need to establish some rules. For example, when you are in trouble, you will play a certain tune. I might not be able to come in person, but I will send someone to assist you. Which tune will it be? Play it now, so that the deal will be sealed.”

Hezron started to think for some time. All his life, well up to now anyways, he had been taught by the village chief three songs. One of these songs was ‘The Calm Sea’, which was supposed to soothe souls, according to the chief. The second song was called ‘The Rage Within’. The third and final song was called ‘Heavens Hear’.

As for the reason why they had such weird names, he had never gotten the answer. The Rage Within brought out people’s anger, and he had been told that it would help to calm people who were angry, by bringing out their hidden anger. Heavens Hear was a song that made soldiers courageous. It was composed for war.

Hezron started playing Heavens Hear, which started with a slow tune, then moved to a fast tempo. There was something about the song, which made Hezron forget he was standing in the rain, in front of a gigantic tiger with wings and a lot of tails. Unfazed, he kept playing the tune. The tiger seemed to be remembering some aspects of the tune. After what seemed like eternity, but in reality was only five minutes, he stopped playing.

“That is your choice then?” asked the tiger.

“Yes”, replied Hezron with determination.

“I see. I have the tune stored in my head. Whenever you play it, I will send someone to assist you. Do not try to manipulate them, or use them for personal grudges. If you do, I will kill you myself! I hope I have made myself clear!”

“I understand”, he replied, nervously.

“Another thing, it does not matter how many people say they are happy with whatever you would have accomplished. Not everyone will be happy!”