Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 3: Family

"This guy ain't worth it," Miguel said, towering over me as I lay on the ground. "Just look at him."

I stayed silent as both of them laughed, but after just a minute, they fist-bumped, and I watched as they both started to walk away, leaving me alone on my back, on the ground, beaten and bruised, and with two stupid bullies laughing.

"Yeah, you'd better run," I muttered as I wiped the blood from my chin.

Thankfully, neither of those idiots heard me, and I watched as they rejoined up with Tania on the other side of the street, and they started to walk off as Tania nursed her hand, leaving me alone on the ground. I laid there for a minute, just trying to regain my bearings, and once the shock of what happened began to wear off, I placed my hands on the ground and hoisted myself up, the crisp cold of the night now starting to get to me as I shivered. I looked around, trying to see if any of my friends were still around, but to my surprise, there was no one in sight. It was the dead of night, and there weren't even cops or homeless people around, just adding to the silence and the anxiety that was slowly creeping in on me.

I shivered again, then started on my way home, trudging through the now rather brutal snow that bore down upon me. The wind picked up, howling through the air as it carried the pelting snow with it, and I pressed on, trying to get to my house before I froze to death. The wind suddenly changed direction, blowing straight against me, and I steeled my muscles as my eyes fell upon my house, knowing that I only had a little bit more to go before I would reach the safety of my home. I stumbled my way up the driveway, holding onto my dad's car for support, and after going over to the porch, I forced open the door, swung myself inside, and shut the door, finally basking in the shelter and warmth of my home. I leaned back against the door and sighed, but it was cut short when I heard my father's voice from the dining room echo throughout the house.

"Trevon?" He called. "How'd the dungeon go? Did y'all slay that ogre?"

I didn't answer at first, just wiped my nose with a sniffle, and I heard my father's chair scrape across the floor, and following that were his footsteps as he rushed into the foyer where I was. The moment I saw my dad, I knew that I'd be alright. He was much, much taller than me, being about six and a half feet tall, and over four hundred pounds of muscle. So, so much bigger than me, and truthfully, what I aspired to be one day. I wanted to be that big and strong, but, being only 128 pounds and 5'6, it wasn't too likely to happen.

"Was it Brennon and them again?" He asked, his kind voice being lowered to nearly a mutter.

"Yeah, I made them focus on me so that my friends could get away."

The moment I said, that my father's warm smile resurfaced, and he patted me on the arm.

"That's my boy." He said. "But it looks like they kicked you up pretty bad. I got something for you if that happens again."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I figured you were old enough for it at this point."

"What is it?"

"Here, just sit for a minute, I'll go and get it and be right back buddy."

I sniffled again, hating the fact that I was 19 and still crying, but I sat down on the couch as my father went back into his room. He began rifling around, making thumps and grunts, and eventually, he came back into the room, holding a rather large, narrow, rectangular box in his hands.

"This was from your mother. It's been passed down in her family for generations." He said, then a rather sorrowful look came over his face. "I know she would have wanted you to have it by now. It was her dying wish for you to have this and keep it safe."

He handed the box over to me, and he patted me on the arm again.

"Just keep it safe, okay man? And listen, before you open it, I wanna let you know a few things. You need to use this only if everything else has failed. Like any other weapon, this should always be your last resort, okay?"

"Got it. Thank you, Dad." I said, wiping some of the dried blood off of my chin.

He patted my arm again, and I heard him yawn, a product of another hard day at his job, and he stood back up.

"Listen I'm off to bed. Keep this on your person when you go out with your friends, but don't bring it into school, okay?"

"I got it. Thanks, Dad."

"No problem, Trev. Have a nice night. Love you."

"Love you too Dad," I said, then got up and we both headed towards our respective rooms.

When I got in my room, I sat down on the edge of the bed, then finally opened up the box, staring down at the contents inside. Inside it, there was a rather large dagger, with a gilded golden hilt with strange patterns and symbols on it. The handle was wrapped up with leather, making for a rather comfortable grip that I could get used to. I unsheathed the blade from its leather cover, and I saw that the actual blade was black, and the very top of the blade, the dull part, was gilded with more gold, adding to the style of the knife.

"Oh wow," I said, breathlessly. "Jeez, this thing looks awesome."

I sheathed the knife, then set it on the nightstand next to my bed, then laid down, not even bothering to get out of my clothes for the day. I just laid there on my back, thinking about the fact that I had gotten myself into even more trouble with the bullies. Tomorrow at school, they would take me for another beat down, but if I could just avoid them, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

And honestly, just like every other kid on the planet I'm sure, I wanted to escape to the fantasy world of our D&D, where heroes fought dragons, cyclopes, sea serpents, and trolls. Where people saved the innocent from marauding barbarians, and where I could be more than what I was now. As I sat there, thinking over my lifelong dream, I felt myself slowly falling more and more asleep, and finally, I felt my eyes close as I drifted asleep.