“The Crows”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Write a story titled “The Crows”.

Twice, the crows will caw,
To signal the end of time.
And when the crows take flight,
The hero of myth shall rise.

I used to scoff at that prophecy. Crows always cawed and flew about, so how could it possibly be of any use to us?

Of course, only the wise old witch truly believed in the prophecy. And, of course, only she was right.

The crows did, in fact caw twice. And they did take flight, bringing about the rise of the ‘hero of myth’.

Now, there were a few things to note about this prophecy. First of all, the crows were not live birds. They were the collection of statues adorning the roof of the king’s castle. Crows had always held significance to our kingdom, so no one paid much attention to the prophecy.

However, people did notice the ear-splitting, grinding sound of stone against stone as the statues opened their beaks for the first time and released their cries.

But the real surprise came when those very same statues spread their wings and, one by one, jumped from the height of the towers they had called their homes. They plummeted toward the ground before pulling up at the last moment, deaf to the screams of the people below.

They flocked together, circled the castle thrice, then disappeared into the night.

As was foretold, a hero did rise that night. But it wasn’t a hero for our side of the war.

This hero was a dark knight of myth, awoken and summoned by the calls of the crows. Even though centuries had passed since he had last been sighted, none dared speak his name, for it was said that even the thought of him would result in instantaneous spontaneous combustion.

That very night, he took over the castle. The guards joined his ranks and he became the new king.

The crows returned three days later. They resettled in their proper places, reunited with their true master. However, they never returned to statues; to this day, they are still sentient. They are the eyes and ears of the dark king.

Now, we can only hope that a new prophecy will arise, one that will foretell the arrival of our saviour.

Final Comments: I really liked writing this one. My only problem with it is the narration style; I think that it developed while I was writing and I much prefer the protagonist’s voice at the end than at the beginning.

Overall Rating: 😄