I could recall the day that he died better than I could ever recall any other. It was gallant, brave, heroic. I can remember his last words the pain of them audible through the tone of his voice. The croaking as he said them told us that he knew they were his last and such as he knew it we did too. But I couldn’t have saved him if I tried; none of us had that strength, that ability, that stupidity. If we had tried to save him then we all would’ve died, then he wouldn’t have fallen as a protector, a hero in our broken hearts.
His jaw had trembled as he opened his mouth, “I’m going to save you all” He begun, as a true hero, “I’m going to hold them, and if it takes everything I have, I’m going to stop them” He finished. The three of us did nothing but stare for a second, terrified, shocked even. In the wake of death he stood tall, he stood strong. I stayed quiet, but my cousin could not, “You’re not strong enough to hold them back” for a second he paused “Hell. None of us can stop them” He choked, knowing that in truth he couldn’t stop the king protecting the last of his kingdom. The kings last words echoed within my mind for the rest of that night.
“I wasn’t appointed my role because I had the body of a soldier, I got where I was because I have the heart of a warrior, and because I care” He turned away from us, not wanting our pity. He did have the heart of a warrior. As me and my brother fled to safety in the barracks my cousin stayed, watching our king halt the horde of invaders. My cousin said the king was dead before he killed half of them; but even then his lifeless body continued until every last one had fallen before he stopped.
My cousin came and informed us when the king had passed away; it had been around an hour of him fighting. We mourned him, there was nothing more that we could do. We burnt his corpse at the top of the tower, and let his ashes blow into his kingdom. We knew that it wasn’t really over, the hordes would come again soon, and now there were only three of us. We missed him.
~S
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