Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

'A day more, huh?' Showing no signs of aging from when he was young, he had everyone fooled into thinking he was still as youthful. But with every passing day, he could feel the mistress of death extending her claw towards his beating heart. 'I wonder how my children will fare? I've given them every resource to succeed, but an untimely death might brighten out the worst in them.'

Despite knowing the consequence of what could happen, the King of Crows kept his dark lips sealed. Running a hand through his silver hair, he moved his crossed leg to the other side and cast his gaze around his assembly. With light seeping from the back of his throne, the halls were cast in a shade of gray much like the very king it served.

Peering back at their feather king, the attendants took comfort in his shadow, for they knew their lord would never bring them or their children any harm.

"My lord…" Picking herself off her seat, a councilwoman stepped forward. Slightly lifting her skirt in courtesy, she bowed to him before addressing him further. "A clan of monsters has made an alliance with others in its vicinity and they've been massacring our children on the southern front! Elanria's own elves, and humans alike are being tortured! Chased out of their homes! Murders and even…"

Covering her mouth with her eyes drenched with tears, the mature human girl cast her gaze down in pain. She'd seen it with her own eyes, centaurs crushing the skulls of their children, dark elves raping every single one of the victims, and not to mention the Arachne clan's torture by laying eggs in the bodies of conscious citizens of their kingdom.

Soon those eggs would hatch and the monsters would eat their way out of their bodies, that is unless something could be done about the alliance of these clans that seemed to be getting more and more rowdy with every action.

"Fear not my child," stretching his colossal hand towards the woman, the king held his own tears as his fingers brushed her hair to comfort her heart. "I shall…"

He wanted to lie, to say that he could take care of it as he'd done every time some monstrosity had tried to claw its dark hand at the citizens of Elenaris. But this being his last day, his lips quivered while trying to make a false promise.

"M-my children will take care of it," he whispered, pulling his quivering fingers away from the woman.

His words were often a beacon of hope, a light shining under the darkest of time, but for once they felt hollow, for even the king knew that his children were far from competent to deal with such a task.

"B-but my lord!" Pleaded the woman, wiping her tears. "They'd never been to a battle, while you! There's no blade more radiant than yours in battle!"

Getting off their seats in solidarity with the women's words, the council got to their knees to convince their king. His eyes wide with disbelief, the king of crows stretched his arm before addressing his council once more.

"If it is the will of my people, then I shall sunder their race fr–" However, before he could finish talking, attempting to get up his feet gave in and he fell back into his ivory throne. Staring at his hand, still quivering, his legs refusing to move an inch, the king gritted his teeth in frustration as his body refused to listen to him.

"M-my lord? What happened?" Witnessing the king's fall, the woman moved closer to him with her hands folded and squeezed against her chest in worry.

Just as shocked as her if not more, the others simply watched as their beacon of hope slowly withered into nothing. His silver smile crooked into a grimace, and that charming humanoid face was scrunched up with frustration for the first time.

"I…I'm fine," said the king, leaning back into his throne.

For a while, not a word was spoken by anyone, but then lifting his head slightly, the king broke the silence himself.

"My son shall be my heir, and my daughters placed on the council," a moment of silence lingered in the halls, however, the moment everyone realized the meaning of those words, a flood of horrified gasps rippled throughout the dark castle.

Soon enough, the gasps turned to cries, the troubles of the councils washed away in fear of losing their guiding light, and the only reason they even calmed was when their king held his hand up to demand silence and whisper his last words before going quiet until he died.

"You have served me more than I have you, now forgive me for demanding one last wish…" With a deep sigh, he leaned all the way back on the Ivory throne. "Mourn me in silence, for in my last moment, I wish to be surrounded by hope and not the cries of my children."

It was the first thing he'd ever wished from them, and yet the dying king felt like he was being a burden, but the silence following his wishes proved otherwise, as nobody wanted his heart to ache from their cries in his final times.

The kingdom and the council mourned their king until he took his last breath on his throne and joined the skies of Stellaris as a star brighter than any other. Then came the burial, but just like it had been prophesied by Elenaria–their goddess, the body of the king of crows scattered under the light of the sun into a horde of a thousand dark ravens.