Regaining Glory

I was all alone in this dark room, banging my fists on the steel door. All of my friends were off fighting while I was here doing absolutely nothing. This is how our “adventures” often go. Everyone else fights and gets all the glory, while I was just the boy that tagged along. 

“Oh Raphael! You did such an amazing job fighting those dragons, how did you do it?” they’d ask. “Stacy! Stacy! Over here! Mitchell! James! Troy! Oh we love you!” 

Then there was me, just plain old Barnaby who was always left behind. 

They were taking way too long to get down here. Stacy was captured a couple of days ago and Raphael was furious. I was too, but that didn’t matter. He started planning on a way to track her down and get her out of there as soon as possible. His plan was fine, but not well thought out, hence the reason why they were taking so long. 

I know this castle head to toe, and they all knew that. But they never listen. Suddenly, a thought came into my head.

The tunnels.

How did I not think of it before! There are tunnels connected throughout the whole kingdom and one leads to the dungeon, I was sure of it. 

“Hurry up you idiots!” I yelled, but knew they couldn’t hear me. 

There was no way I was going in those tunnels. They are way too tight and small for me. 

I jumped back as the ceiling above me started shaking and crumbling. Time was ticking. 

If they had just listened to me, everything would have been fine—.

Instantly, the roof started crashing down. I had to get out of there. I ran as fast as I could up the stone stairs and down the passageways, going left to right, trying to find the others. Then a flash of orange caught my eye and I stopped. Troy was tied up to a chair, fear lingering in his eyes. Quickly, I grabbed an ax off the wall and flung it at the dark figure before him. The ax cut right through his skull and he fell to the ground. Troy looked up at me, astonished. 

“Thanks, Barns,” he said as I untied him. 

“Yep, now go find Raphael. I need him.” 

“Come with me,” he said, “We shouldn’t split up just yet.” 

“Alright,” I said, knowing he was still shook up. 

I pulled the ax out of the figure's skull and started jogging, Troy following behind me. I was taking the long way towards the tunnels, hoping I’d meet Raphael or one of the others along the way. He often executed the final battle or in this case the rescuing of the mission. He was also small framed and would easily shimmy down the tunnels. Plus, he wasn’t afraid of small spaces like I was. 

I wasn’t ashamed of pointing out my greatest fears or weaknesses, but now they were all people knew me by. I had plenty of strengths too. For example, my knowledge of different buildings and layouts around the city. I knew the back roads, passageways, tunnels, and paths we could take to make our mission much faster and easier to complete. Also, I was a natural at ax throwing. When I was little, I would spend everyday practicing my throws with this piece of wood and a little red dot. I wouldn’t stop until I hit that dot ten times in a row. I could easily take out any enemies with a simple throw of the ax. 

Yet every time we were interviewed from our latest missions, Raphael would take all the credit for what I had done. And I never stood up for myself. I guess you could say I was worried about no longer being a part of the group. At least I was a part of something. I didn’t know what I would do if I wasn’t. 

“Can— we— stop?” Troy asked, out of breath. 

How are you out of breath? I asked him silently, We’ve been running for five minutes. 

“Alright,” I replied. He put his hands to his knees and started heavily breathing. I looked around to make sure that we were clear. Then I saw Raphael sprinting down the hall. I was about to go with him until he stopped. 

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” he stated.

“Did you get Stacy?” I asked. 

“No, but dude, we need to go. They’re way too tough.” 

“Okay,” Tony said. 

Are they serious?

“What about Stacy?” I asked, starting to get angry. 

“Stacy? She got herself into this mess, she can figure a way out. Come on.” 

I was furious. I’ve always been frustrated with Raphael and his constant bossing around, but this was a whole new level.

“If you follow me, we can get her out.” I said, trying to stay calm.

“Hell no. Did you not hear me? We’re leaving.” 

“You’re an asshole, you know that? A complete asshole who thinks that he’s better than everyone else. 

“Well at least I’m not a complete idiot,” he replied. 

I was about to punch him, but then he and Tony left. I made my way to the tunnels. I wasn’t leaving Stacy behind. 

Running through the halls, I was always ready to strike. My knuckles turned white for gripping onto the ax. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw a figure. I turned around to find it directly behind me. Without a second thought, I threw the ax. It landed right on its chest. I pulled it out and continued running. 

The tunnels were only a few feet away from me. Quickly, I kneel to the ground and started moving pieces of stone which conceal the tunnels. They were heavy, but I managed to move enough of them to let me fit. 

Without thinking, I climbed in. It was dark but I knew the directions. After a hundred feet, there would be two paths. I would take the one on the right then the left. 

At first I was fine. I had plenty of room to move around, but the farther I went, the tighter it got. My heart started beating fast. It was the only thing I could hear. Sweat dripped down my face. My breathing got heavy. 

I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here.

I kept repeating the same thoughts, and suddenly, I stopped. I couldn’t keep going. The tunnel around me seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. I felt trapped. I wanted to get up and run, somehow wake up from this nightmare. I felt like I was going to die. 

My chest was in pain. My head was spinning. 

Keep going. Barney, keep going. 

My arms and legs started to move again. I could feel tears streaming down my face. My body turned right then turned left. 

Almost there. 

My mind continued to spin with different thoughts. 

What will happen if the tunnels collapse? How will you escape? Is Stacy dead? What if this is the wrong way? What if I’m lost? 

I was grateful when I saw the end of the tunnel. All my thoughts disappeared and I moved my arms and legs as fast as possible. When I got out of the tunnel, I felt like I could breathe again. 

I grabbed the ax and started banging on the metal bars. Stacy jumped. 

“Raphael?! Oh thank God— Oh, Barnaby?” 

I felt embarrassed, but I continued to swing at the bars. Once a couple of them collapsed, Stacy slipped through. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked, “Where are the others?” 

“They left,” I said, plainly. 

She started to frown, “Oh.” 

“Okay, let’s go.” 

“Aren’t you claustrophobic?”

“Yeah.” 

She was silent as I climbed into the tunnel. Stacy followed and I went the same way that I came. 

I thought it would be easier, but it wasn’t. My heart heavily beat against my chest and my eyes stung with tears. 

Stacy touched my back, “Are you okay?” 

I was silent for a moment then said, “Let’s just get out of here.” 

We were both silent as we climbed through the tunnels. Finally, after what seemed to take forever, we made it out. 

The whole palace was on fire.

Stacy started crying and smoke started to fill my lungs. I pulled my shirt up and told her to do the same. Grabbing her hand, I started to run. 

I didn’t dare to look back. I could hear the castle crumbling down upon us.

As we ran, my hand hit a piece of metal that was hanging on the wall, I groaned and could feel the blood start pouring down my hand. 

The exit that laid before us was on the brink of falling apart. I launched Stacy forward and followed right behind. She was screaming. I was crying. Then the cool air hit my face. 

The second we were outside, the ceiling came crashing down. Stacy and I were still running. We made it about a half mile away from the castle before I had to stop.

I examined my hand. Grabbing my bag, I found a rag and started to wipe blood away from the wound then applied pressure. 

“Are you hurt?” Stacy asked, alarmed. 

“Just my hand, but I’ll be fine. There’s an apple in my bag, you should eat something.” 

She didn’t object and took a grateful bite of the apple. 

I cleaned my wound and wrapped a bandage around it. It would be fine. 

“You know, you always have everything you need. None of the others pack anything but weapons.” 

“You can’t always rely on weapons to survive,” I replied. 

She nodded then said, “Thank you... for not leaving me.” 

I nodded in reply and took a sip of my water. I offered it to her, and she took it. 

“I’m done with the group after this,” I stated. 

“I don’t blame you,” she said and I looked up, “I would be too but... I can't leave.”

“Why can’t you?” I asked.

“They’re all I’ve got.” 

“I guess.” 

“But... but, I think that I’d rather be alone than with them. Especially after tonight.” 

I nodded. 

We sat there silently for a few moments then started walking back to the cottage. 

Stacy and I walked inside and saw the others laughing and drinking as though none of this ever happened. I was furious.

“Don’t,” Stacy whispered but I ignored her.

“Hey assholes, guess who's back?” All of them looked up and were shocked to find me and Stacy. 

“Stacy,” Raphael said and walked towards her. 

“Don’t you dare touch me,” she said, “How could you just leave me there?” 

He stopped, “Well, Barney was the one that volunteered to go. We were going to, but he—” 

“Oh, shut up!” I yelled, “You’re a liar and always have been. You think you’re the hero, but you're not. You’re not a leader, you’re a coward and a hypocrite. You always want people to treat you like a God, but you end up treating others like crap in return."

His face turned bright red, “Do you want to settle this outside?” 

“No. I don’t want to waste any more of my time dealing with you.”

I went upstairs and shut my door. I was done wasting my time on these people that don’t give a crap about me. I am worth way more than that. 

As I packed my things, I started to reflect on the fact that I faced my biggest fear. Would I do it again? I hope not, but it was still something that astonished me. 

You are much more than you give yourself credit for. 

A knock landed on my door and I was about to yell at Raphael when Stacy walked in.

“Um... Barns?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Wherever you’re going… Um. Can I come with you?” 

I was silent for a moment. I never despised Stacy, but she was always bragging on the others. But when I came to think of it, she tried to give me credit from our different missions. 

“You know… Barnaby made an awesome kill with that ax,” she’d say, “It’s like his secret weapon.” 

I guess I was too busy focusing on what the boys would say about me rather than her. 

“Sure,” I said, “Leaving in five.” 

She smiled and walked out of the room.

We walked downstairs to find the guys still drinking. They all jumped back when they saw us. It was as though they forgot we came. 

“We’re leaving,” I stated. 

The boys mumbled one thing or another, but I didn’t care. 

Stacy and I walked outside. The night air was cool and dark. It felt good. 

“Where are we going?” she asked. 

“I’ve got a cousin in town, we’ll just crash at her place.” 

She nodded, but looked like she had more to say, “What?” I asked.

“Just… Thank you for what you did. And I’m sorry that you’ve had to put up with us so long. I hate them for not treating you fairly and I hate myself for not standing up for you more. You just deserve so much better.” 

I continued walking and she fell silent, “Well,” I replied, “You did give me much more credit than anybody else did. Even me, so… Don’t hate yourself.” 

She nodded and neither of us spoke the rest of the way. 

Life now has changed in an instant. I’ve finally regained my freedom. My dignity. My glory. And that’s all I've ever wanted.