Chapter 34: This is goodbye (Joseph's POV)

Me and Jim pulled my father out of the court room, meanwhile the whole time all he was doing was laughing. None of this was funny to me, the whole city was turning into mayham. The dragon's in that room had looked at me realizing who I was.

It all seemed so fake for a while, I always didn't want to believe any of it could be true. I wish I would have told everyone something sooner. Would they have listened to me though? Once we were through the halls of the court room we walked out of the entrance to it.

The streets were all going crazy, people were running for their life... They weren't even caring that their kids were following them from far away. It is what everyone told me would happen if something like this were to come to reality. People would pick themselves first over family, and friends.

I shivered, then I grabbed my father and Jim. I thought about grabbing a cab. But all the cabs that were going by would not pay any attention, they were too busy running away from the city. I watched as one cab was thrown down by a dragon, and the dragon laughed at the horses being torn apart by his claws and the kids crying.

"We have to go to the house and get Mariah and Julia." I said to the both of them. My father was in a whole different world but he was following us, and Jim. He just was staring at the ground sadly not even caring about what was going on around him.

I grabbed his shoulders and started shaking them, just to get his mind back on to what was going on in the city. But it seemed to do nothing, he looked at me with great sadness.

"You do that... I need to make sure the bar is okay." He said to me. I looked at him a bit surprised, that should be the last thing on his mind right now. It obviously was not going to be okay, in the end anyways after this was all said and done... If it ever was going to be, he has the money to go make a new one or just retire.

He began running off to his bar, I looked at him sadly. But it was his own decision, there was nothing I could have done or said to change his mind. I grabbed my father once again and began running in the exact same direction.

My father was following but not as fast as I could have liked. I held him to a stop and then I slapped him in his face, he looked at me a bit annoyed and upset about it. He did not do anything this time like he usually did if someone did that to him.

"Dad... Get your head in the game! The world is going to shit! I need you right now, just because mom is gone doesn't mean that me and Mariah are too." I said to him. He didn't seem to hear a single word I had said to him, he was stilling staring down with a weird smile on his face.

I slapped him one more time right on his face. This one was a good slap and he looked at me a bit upset. Then he looked around and he realized what was going on all around as and his eyes turned into a panic. He looked at me and then nodded his head to me.

"I'm sorry... You lead the way." He said to me. I nodded to him thankfully now that he was finally paying attention and we began running in the same direction that Jim did.

I wanted to catch up to him and make sure that he was still okay, he definitely was a lot slower than us, but that just came with age so you can't blame him. Me and my father began running as fast as we possibly could, I needed to make sure that Julia and Mariah were going to be okay.

After just a few minutes my body began to feel deteriorated but I knew that I needed to keep going. This was life or death for the last of my family, and a woman I loved so dearly. My father I could tell was exhausted already as well.

I could not blame him, he had been stuck in a jail cell for the last few weeks, I was in pretty good shape and he was not. But he kept going, he knew just like I did that we needed to save Mariah. I was happy that he was back to normal, at least for a little while. But the circumstances that caused it were not much to be desired.

I looked at Jim's bar, it was in ruins, I looked at it sadly as we passed it and then I saw Jim on the ground being held down by a dragon. I wanted to run over and stop the dragon, but there was nothing I could do except sit there and watch what was happening unfold.

I could here the dragon talking to him from not too far away, I could barely make out what he was saying. I sneaked around a hallway between 2 of the buildings to catch a glimpse of what the dragon was saying. I needed to save Jim, no matter what the cost. He had saved me, from giving up.

"Where is the boy?" I could barely here from not too far away. I watched as the dragon tore into his legs with his claws. I heard Jim yell in loud pain, I saw blood instantly begin to ooze down his legs.

"Go fuck yourself!" Jim yelled to the dragon. The dragon looked at him a bit confused but then he laughed at Jim. I walked a little bit closer, thinking if there was just some way I could get to the dragon's soft spot.

I saw a piece of glass from one of the windows of the burnt down building. My father looked at me when he saw what I was doing and he shook his head and tried to grab me to try and stop me.

It was too late though, as I grabbed it I felt sharp pain, the glass was on fire and I dropped it just as soon as I picked it up, I yelled loudly in pain and the dragon turned around and looked at me. I looked at my hand and saw a very large blister beginning to swell up from it.

"Well... There he is. I knew he would be here looking for his little friend." He said laughing as the began walking towards me carrying an unconscious Jim with him. Jim was bleeding out really fast, and if I did manage to save him I would have to not worry about Mariah and Julia in order to save his life.

If that is what it cost, by now they would be gone or dead... Surely right? All I could see was nothing but fire on all of the buildings around me. What was I to not think that theirs would not be like the rest? I did live in the middle of the city after all.

"Leave him alone and take me!" I said to the dragon. My father held me back as if I was crazy. Even though he was the one that had been going absolutely bonkers over the last few days.

"What are you doing?" My father said to me. I pushed him off of me and walked towards the dragon who was looking at me a bit surprised that I would just give up so easily. Then he smiled at me and then he began laughing. I looked at him angrily, I wanted to kill this dragon... All of the dragons.

"Oh... No... Im not sparing any human today, you're all going to die anyways." The dragon said to me. He then began laughing and he stabbed his claws right into Jim's chest. I looked at Jim as he layed on the ground, I had some hope that maybe he was alive. But there was blood coming from everywhere, he was gone...

"You'll die for that." I said looking at the dragon angrily. He looked at me a bit surprised but then he began laughing once again and he threw Jim's body far away. He then began walking even closer to me and I pushed myself back and fell onto the wall. I looked at my father, he looked at me sadly, he knew I was about to be gone.

I was going to be gone just like my mother, and I was going to be gone just like Mariah was... I looked at the dragon, right in his eyes, and he moved back a little bit as if he was a bit scared. Then he realized that I did not have a weapon so there was no reason to be.

"Goodbye... Joseph..." The dragon said to me and then he ran at me. I didn't flinch, I wasn't scared... I was ready to die, I was ready to go see my uncle and my mother up in heaven.

Suddenly I heard a loud ghasp of wind zip right past me and the dragon fell to the ground looking a bit surprised. I looked at his soft spot, there was an arrow pointed directly at the spot, the dragon began laughing one last time, I thought maybe that it had actually not stopped him but his head fell to the ground and he was dead.

"Hmm... Lucky shot." Someone said from the right of me. He was standing on the street and I realizing that it was the guy that had stood up for me in the court room. He had a bow in his hand and he was smiling at me, he then nodded to me once I acknowledged that he was there.

"Who are you?" My father said to the guy. The guy nodded to me and then he pulled out a bow that was on his back and a couple of arrows. Then he gave them to me. I shook my head and he rolled his eyes and then he nodded to me.

"Me... I'm one of the last guys in your stepbrothers battalion... Just not an important one." He said to me. I looked at him a bit surprised, it was all coming to me now. My brain was in so many different places, but I nodded to him accepting the fact.

"I'll take that arrow if I do say so myself. I used to be good at hunting." My father said to the guy. The guy him for a few seconds and then he looked at me. He had this weird look on his face and I could not quite catch what he was thinking about.

"Are you okay with this kid? This is your uncles bow." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, I grabbed the bow and smiled as I remember just how amazing that my uncle truly was. I then looked at my father he was staring right at me and then I nodded.

"Take it, I wont be much use with it." I said to my father. He nodded to me thankfully. Then I looked at the guy that was with us. I wanted to ask him so many questions, but I would save them for later. If there was a later of course.

Everything came back to me, the city was burning and there were dragon's everywhere. There were guards and army men trying to stop them, but when they shot they completely missed or didn't get anywhere near the soft spots.

"Alright we have to go, we need to make sure that your sister is okay." The guy said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, then I realized that he was right... The world was going crazy and I was sitting here pretending that it wasn't.

I nodded to him, it was about a mile away now, at this point they would be gone or dead, but you never know if they could be hiding out somewhere. We began running, even faster than I was before. I was beginning to know that this was life or death, for the rest of the people I cared about.

I shivered, as I was running down the sidewalks of the streets of the city, Jim was gone now... There was no going back, I felt sick, I had seen it happen... Now I just wanted to die. But I knew that I couldn't, Mariah and Julia, I loved both of them so much, I needed to save them.

Even if it meant sacrificing my life for them, I knew it. I was running faster than I had ever run before. Everything was going slow like that night at the bar. I saw the apartment place from not far away.

I passed through the battalion guy that was with me very fast. He looked at me very slowly and he did not look surprised like my father did. I knew this was not normal anymore it was a special gift I had gotten from my uncle.

The apartments, they were fine! Hopefully that would last up until I got up there. I wonder what Mariah and Julia were doing right now. They were probably in there insanely scared, now realizing that all that I had said had been true, they now knew that I was not just going crazy.

As we were almost there I saw Pop, he was crying there was some there standing in his arms. He was down on the ground just staring at her and failed to notice as I walked past. I turned around, I knew that I needed to save Pop.

He was another person I cared about so dear to my heart. I grabbed on to him, I realized that the body sitting there with him was Susan. She was gone too, her skin was pale, and there was blood all over her and her clothes. I looked at Pop sadly, he was gone and I knew it.

I grabbed him anyways and he pushed me off of him and just began crying even louder on his wife's body. I felt bad for him, but I needed to save his life, I had already saved my fathers and I had lost Jim's...

I couldn't bare losing another person I cared about. I sat down beside him and I put my arm around his shoulder holding him close. I knew that he needed it. It wasn't just Susan, it was all going to shit.

"Pop... I'm sorry. Susan was an amazing woman, she will be with you up in heaven." I said to him. He looked at me sadly and then he nodded. He was thankfully accepting the fact that she was gone now.

"She was... I want to be there with her! Take me with you! The gods above! They hate me!" He yelled loudly. I grabbed him and then I pushed us between some walls as a dragon went past. My dad looked at him sadly as well, he knew Susan too.

The battalion guy looked as if he wanted to get this over with and just leave. I couldn't blame him, but first I needed to make sure that Pop was going to be okay and that he was going to be coming with us.

"Pop... We need you. You still have us and you can still save us." I said to him. He was still staring at Susan's body as if he had not heard me. I nudged him to make sure that he had heard me. He looked at me for a few moments and then he nodded.

He then layed Susan's body on the ground. Then he made a cross gesture and then we began heading over to the apartments.

That's when time stopped for me, I saw a black dragon fly past. At first I did not think anything of it. Then as it was flying past it began scorching the apartments that were right where I lived with my sister and Julia. Everything stopped for me at that exact moment in time.

The battalion guy grabbed me trying to stop me but I then began running. Every second mattered... I then ran up the steps and walked to the door. It was unlocked but when I touched the door handle, it burnt me even worse than I had been burnt by the glass earlier.

I fell down being absolutely scorched in pain and I heard my father, Pop, and the guy running over to the door. My father instantly began kicking the door trying to break it down. But it was a strong door and it would not budge.

"Help me on!" My father yelled to all of us. I looked at him and then nodded, I looked at pop and the guy and they nodded as well. Pop was the one that stepped up this time.

"On 3! 1... 2... 3!!!" He yelled we all slammed into the door but it did not budge at all. "One more time! 1... 2... 3!!!" This time it was a bit of a weaker effort. The first one had hurt all of us when we slammed into the tough door.

My father ran to the door and began yelling and crying hoping that Mariah or Julia were in there and maybe the would respond. But with all the fire all around us, they would be dead at this point. The glass from the window randomly exploded and that's when I knew that we needed to go.

"Dad it's no use... We just have to hope that they are gone already and that they are still alive out there somewhere." I said to him. I wanted to believe that they were not in there, maybe they were actually alive out there somewhere. But when I looked at the city the odds were slim to none.

By now, there were few people running down the streets. They were all further out of the city out this point, or they were dead. It was cold but it was true, I wish that it was all fake but I knew that it wasn't. Pop grabbed on to me and then he nodded to all of us.

"Guys... Open your eyes. I have a cab with some horses... We need to get in that and we need to get out of the city." He said to us. It was funny that he was the one to say that when he was the one just sitting on the ground broken a few moments ago. At the same time though, it was not funny at all.

This was all real, I wanted to punch something to test if it truly was but I knew that it was already. We all nodded to him, and then we began running down the steps as they were burning down. We began heading to Pop's place.

On the way over there someone walked in front of us and stopped us. I knew who it was right away. It was Padre, he had a look of fear in his eyes and then he looked at us and nodded to us.

"Help me please, I tried telling you! I tried helping you!" He said looking right at me. Pop walked over to him and shoved him to the ground. They all began walking past him but then I yelled at all of them to stop them.

I looked at Padres sad body, I wanted to just leave him here to die. But there could still be a lot he could tell me about my uncle, and with him being friends with my cousin I could not just leave him here to die.

"Guy's stop, take him. I will tell you about it later." I said to all of them. Pop looked a bit upset but he did not say anything about it, he just nodded and I grabbed his hand and picked him up from off of the ground. He nodded thankfully to me and then we all began running to Pop's cab.

Once we were there I realized that there was only room for 3. I looked at all of them, we would have to make do with what we had. Pop grabbed 3 of his horses from his stable and he pulled them over to the cab and then set them down.

I nodded to him, and then we all got into the cab and Pop began flying off, whipping the horses as much as he could to get them to go as fast as possible. Once we were on the street, there was a cab ahead of us that was going a bit slower, they were slowing us down.

Suddenly a dragon crashed into it, and Pop somehow managed to turn the horses to where they did not crash into that, he was a master at this and I always knew it. It was what he did before he owned the big complex, racing and cab driving.

We spun out of the way and kept on going. I saw dead bodies lying all in the streets, there were more dead bodies on the street than I had seen actual people on the streets on a busy day of the week at a busy time.

I closed my eyes not wanting to think about it, I kept them closed for a while longer. I wanted to make sure that Mariah and Julia were okay. But something was telling me in my head that they were gone and to not worry about it.

I hated thinking like that, I opened my eyes once again to try and get my mind off of those things. I realized how long I had my eyes closed, at this point we were at the outskirts of the city, and there were less and less dragon's around us. There were less and less people as well.

All of this had probably killed more people than the people that had actually gotten out. The bodies in the street told me that it was true. I looked back at the city as we past through the final large building that was ahead of us. I said quietly to myself.

"Well... This is goodbye."