Chapter 26 (Josephs POV) Joseph?!

I sat there for a few moments, as it seemed as if none of us were going to do a single thing, and that no one was going to make the first move. To be fair though, this was the mans place and we were all waiting on him to take us over to his home.

I shook my head though, as none of my thoughts were on any of that at the exact moment. My eyes were gazed on what was in front of me, and so were my thoughts as well... I thought she was gone, but here she was... She looked better than I had ever seen her look before.

My heart fluttered for a few moments, as my mind was just lost on her. Our eyes were locked together, and it all felt not real. I thought she was gone, and I had put it deep into my mind that she was as well. Now I felt sick, and I felt bad, because she was here still.

I went up to her, and I put my hand into hers, as it was quite a bit soft. It was just what I needed to feel though, as it was not just soft, but it also felt warm at the same time as well, as it gave me hope. Something that I had not felt in quite some time.

We sat there for a few moments, our eyes were just locked on each others. I could see the pain in her eyes as well, as she must have been worried about me from day in and day out. I was here now though... None of that mattered anymore, all that mattered was us.

I then turned my head over to where I heard someone begin to speak up to everyone, after the moments of silence that had unfolded in front of us. I looked over to see who it was, and then I nodded as I noticed that it was Padre, and I then listened to what it was that he had to say as well.

"Well... I am glad that we are back together, but I am thirsty, and hungry, and so many other things at the moment, so can we go ahead and go over to your place? Is there even enough room for all of us?" He said, asking the man at the same time.

I looked at him and nodded, I had seen the house from quite a distance away, and it looked quite a bit larger, but I was not so sure if 5 grown men wanted to share a room with each other or not. I could tell you that I did not, and I was sure that I would not have to worry about that as well.

As long as Julia was still in love with me at least, than we could share a room with each other, and Mariah as well if there was not enough space for all of us to fit in all of those other rooms. I looked at the man for quite some time, as he had his head to the ground.

I was a bit confused as to why that might be so, maybe he was trying to do math, and see if there would be enough room for us to fit. I shook my head, as it was not really my problem, nor my business... We could just camp in the woods for all that I cared.

The man then lifted his head up, after the few moments of silence that had passed upon us once again. He then lifted his head up, as he realized at the same time as well, that all of us were looking up at him at the same time, and we were waiting for him to speak as well. He then nodded to himself, and he finally decided to speak up.

"Yes... We have got room... But for the thousands of others that are coming, they'll have to camp out in the woods." He said to all of us. I looked at him for a few moments, just taking in what it was that he had just said to all of us. I then realized what it was that he had just said in fact, after I had time for my brain to comprehend those words.

I then began to stroke my chin, as I then also began to realize what it was that was about to happen. We were about to enter the final phase, the phase that John had been telling us about for quite some time now. It was time for us to start our training...

I shivered at the same time, as I saw that somehow John had noticed it at the same time as well. He squinted his eyes at me, almost as if he were reading my thoughts. I looked away from him, and then I looked over to Uncle, as he had finally decided to speak up for the first time, and add his piece into all of this as well.

"So this is it huh? This is really all that we have been waiting for?" Uncle said to all of us. I stared there for a few moments, as I knew if there was anyone that should respond to it, it should be John. I looked over at him, as I saw he had his eyes squinted on me still.

He then noticed that everyone was looking at him at the same instance as well, as his eyes lost focus on me, and he was a bit embarrassed as he was not sure what to say about it to everyone, and I was not sure if he had even heard what Uncle had just said in the first place.

But then I saw him turn his head over to Uncle, as he squinted his eyes then at him. It always seemed as though he heard what you had said at any moment that he was near. It kind of freaked me out at times, and sometimes I really did wonder if he could in fact read peoples minds.

I shook my head though, as I kept my eyes on him, as he then looked to the ground for a few moments. He then spit on the ground, as he then lifted his head back up to Uncle, and then he nodded to him. After a few more moments as well, he then decided to respond to him.

"Yes... You are about to enter the stage of your training... But lets not worry about all of that at the moment, first we need to get shelter for the night... I can feel a storm coming through the air, and it is about to get dark." He said not just to Uncle, but to all of us as well, as he then looked around to make sure that each one of us had heard it.

Adrian was the first one to nod back to what it was that he had just said. It was as if he was used to it, which did not surprise me, because if we had come here in the first place, than surely they must have known each other for quite some time.

After Adrian's initial nod, all of us then nodded back to John as well. We then sat there for quite a bit longer, as none of us now knew what to do, or what to add in to all of us this. I looked around, wondering who was going to make the first move, or who was going to step up and speak.

I then looked over to John, as I noticed that his eyes were now locked on to Adrian. I looked at him a bit confused, and then I looked over to Adrian to see what was going on. He noticed that John was staring him down as well, as he then lowered his head, as he then began to speak, with a bit of an embarrassing tone of voice.

"Sorry! Everyone follow me... I will take you to my humble abode!" He said, trying to get all of us a bit excited. All of us were too worn out for all of that though, as the intense walking, and the run up the hill from yesterday, had just about taken all of the energy from out of our system.

He did not look too worried about it, nor did he look disappointed either. I could tell that he knew that all of us were worn out to the brim at the moment. He then kept on going, as he moved his hands to us to go ahead and follow him.

I nodded to myself, as I followed him, behind the others just to make sure that they were all okay, and that none of them were going to trip and stumble upon each other on the way over to the mans home. I looked at the front, as I saw that John was just behind Adrian as well.

I could tell that he was a bit worn out as well, though I knew that he would not admit to all of that. I shook my head though, as I began to follow the man, as he began to walk through a line that was in his crops. The rest of us just followed where it was that he was taking us.

I had my hands still stuck on Julia's, as it still did not feel real to me that she was in fact actually here with me. It felt like I was in a dream still... Though that was what it had felt like for the last year for me. Maybe I was in fact, and maybe none of this was real.

I looked over at Julia, as she did not have eyes on me, but instead she was looking at the fields with a smile in her eyes. It felt so sweet and warm to have her back with me, even if she was paying me little to no attention. She was happy to have me back as well though, I knew it for a fact.

She was just lost in a different train of thought at the moment, as she was busy enjoying the scent of the crops that we were walking past, and I could not lie, I did enjoy the scent as well. The air, and the wind felt nice as well, as it was not often that I could feel that, since we were trapped in the woods most of the time.

I sky, I could see that as well in front of me, as I could see the sunset ahead of me as well, through the trees that were quite a ways ahead of me now. I could see a field of flowers ahead of us as well, that were right beside the mans house too.

It was so beautiful a sight to see, as it seemed as though it would be the perfect place to retire, and a place to lay to rest for the rest of your final days on this world. I smiled, as I it felt like it was all gone now, and that the dragons had never came through.

I shook my head though, as I knew at the same time as well, that I simply could not think like that either. The dragons were still amongst us, like it or not, you could not just pretend that they were not here, and that they were not real.

I then began to question myself on all of this, as I then turned my head over to Julia at the exact same moment as well. She noticed me look over at her too, as she then nodded to me to let me know that she was listening, as she knew that I felt like there was something that I must say as well.

I did not know how she could read me like that, all of the time. It was completely different than the way that John seemed to read me. It kind of made me nervous, and a bit scared when he did that. When Julia did it, I just felt nothing but love and compassion.

It stopped my for a few moments. She was so smooth, as so soft, I loved her so much. I kept my hands on hers at the exact same time as well, as after a few more moments, I then went ahead and began to speak to her, a bit quietly as well, so that the others could not hear it, as I just wanted it to be between me and her.

"I... I cant believe it... I thought you were dead. This doesn't feel real, I think I am in a dream..." I said to her. She looked at me for a few moments, and then she nodded, letting me know that she had heard what I had just said to her as well.

She then lowered her head to the ground, as I could tell that she was thinking about what it was that I had just said. I looked away, and just kept on looking at the crops, as I did my best to keep on enjoying the scent of them as well.

I then heard Julia begin to speak back to me after the short period of silence as well. I turned my head over to her, as I listened in on what it was that she had to say to me too. As it felt nice to hear her voice once again, as it seemed so smooth and silky.

"No... We were okay... We got out before it was too chaotic. They told us all about you, and about your Uncle, and the powers that you shared with him... I am not going to lie, I was not sure if you were hallucinating for a short period of time... I now know that it was all real, and I am sorry for not listening." She said to me at the same time. I nodded to her, as I accepted her apology at the same time too.

But that was not what my mind was focused on at all at the exact moment. I was more or less confused as to how she had made it out of there in the first place. I was damn sure she had been burnt to a crisp in our home, but here she was somehow.

I looked up at her, as she could see the confused look on my face as well. As she it seemed she knew exactly what it was that I was confused about as well. She then nodded for me to go ahead and speak again, just as she had done a few moments ago. I nodded back to her this time, as I did in fact decide to speak back to her.

"So... I am just confused... I thought you had been burnt in our home... How did you get here in the first place? What are the odds of all of this?" I asked her. She looked at me for a few moments, as she then nodded to me, but she then lowered her head to the ground at the same time as well.

Was there something that she was not telling me? What was it? I was quite a bit confused about all of what was going on right now, I was not sure what to believe. She then finally then lifted her head up to me at the same time as well, as she then began to speak.

"I will tell you all about that tomorrow, I can tell you are a bit tired, and I want you to be able to hear, and the correctly listen to all of what it is that I will say to you." She said to me. I looked at her for just a few moments, and then I nodded to her.

I wanted to hear what it was that she was going to say right now, but I suppose that I would wait for tomorrow, as I knew that she was right as well. I was so tired, and I knew I was going to stay that way for quite a long time too.

I looked down at the ground, as I kept on walking. I was a bit scared as to what it was that she was going to tell me as well. I did not know what had been going on with her in the last year either, I wanted to at least find a little bit of it out before I went to sleep.

I looked up at her once again, as I went ahead and then began to speak to her, as it seemed as though something was taking over me, and I was not able to stop myself from saying what it was that I was about to say to her as well. She looked over at me, as I could tell she was paying full attention to what it was that I was saying.

"You... Haven't met anyone else right? I still love you..." I said to her. She looked at me for a few moments, and then she grinned at me at the same time as well. I could not tell if she was grinning at the fact that I had said I was still in love with her, or if she had thought that it was a bit of a silly question for me to ask.

She looked away from me for a few moments, which also kind of scared me as well, though I could still feel her hands locked on to mine about as heavily as I had ever felt before. She then turned her head over to me, and then she shook her head, as she decided to speak.

"No... I haven't, it has just been me and Mariah, and Adrian in his wife. I knew you were still out there, and not that I did not love you a lot before... But I have been missing you, and I love you even more now." She said to me. I looked at her, and then I smiled at her.

I then went right up to her, and then gave her an extra long lasting kiss, and it made things feel all the better, and it made things feel a whole lot more simple as well. It was good to take my mind off of all the other things from time to time as well.

I knew it was important, but it was also quite a bit stressful, and quite a bit depressing. We kept on walking, with our eyes still locked on each others. Then after a few more moments, I looked over to see where we were walking at right now.

I saw that the house was still a bit of a distance away, at least 300 meters, but we were finally down near the bottom of the hill, and we were near the flat land. This was going to be a lot easier than having to walk down the hill, which felt quite a bit uncomfortable on me feet.

I was happy that we were close now, as I was so tired, but not to mention the fact that I also wanted to hear Julia's story tomorrow as well. My eyes for starting to blur up a little, as it seemed as though I had gotten little to know sleep at all last night.

I hated having to wake up early in the morning every morning. I knew it was about to get a lot worse as well, with John being the captain of our legion as well. I shook my head, and then I kept on walking, just trying to shake off all of those thoughts.

I did not need to worry about that yet, as it was a bit stressful to think about, and I just would rather not. I closed my eyes and just kept on walking, letting the hand of Julia guide me so that I did not walk into any of Adrian's crops either.

I then opened my eyes after a few more moments, as I saw that we were close to his house now, and that we were just about out of crops, and nearly into the field of flowers. I had opened my eyes for a different reason though, as that reason was because I had heard Adrian begin to speak to us. I looked at him as he was a bit of a ways ahead of me, but he spoke up loud enough for me to hear.

"Alright! Before we get out of the fields! You guys get some berries! I wont be needing them, can't sell them this year obviously." He said to all of us. I looked at him for a bit longer, and then I nodded to him, as I realized just as to what he had said.

I was quite a bit hungry, and a bit thirsty as well. I could already see all of the others running over to the berries and eating them all up. I could see that John was doing that as well. I looked over at Julia, as she then nodded, and let go of my hand.

I did not want to let go of her hand, but she clearly wanted me to get something to eat and drink. I was very worn out, and I did not even hesitate to run over and get some strawberries, and some raspberries. They were my favorite type of fruit, and it felt so amazing when I bit into them.

I had not had anything like this in quite some time. I had strawberries a few months ago, but those were frozen strawberries, and they were used to make some sort of desert. It was nothing compared to a new, and a ripe fresh strawberry.

I bit into a few more, as I then stopped myself, though I knew I could eat more, I knew that I shouldn't. That was more than enough, and I needed to stay in shape, though it felt like it was going to be hard, now that there was going to be plenty of food to come by.

I shook my head, and then began to walk back over to Julia. I saw that my hands were covered all in berry juice, and I felt a bit bad for trying to get Julia to grab my hand, but she did not seem to mind at all, and she went ahead and grabbed onto mine.

It felt sweet once again, as I smiled at her again, and she did the same for me. I then turned my head to the rest of our group that was in front of us. I could see that Padre was the only one that was still eating the berries, as I had remembered that he had in fact enjoyed berries quite a bit, even if they were frozen.

He then looked around him, as he realized that all of us were looking at him, as he then dropped the berries, quite a bit embarrassed that he was the one that all of us were waiting on. I rolled my eyes, as it was a bit funny to me, and it felt good to finally let out a bit of humor as well.

He then nodded to all of us, as Adrian then went ahead and took the lead for us again, to head over to the house that was directly in front of us, that we were clearly going to stay at for the next few days. My eyes were still a bit blurry, but I shook it off as I knew that it was not too far away now.

I kept my hand close to Julia as we kept on walking, and I closed my eyes at the same time as well, as the closer and closer we seemed to get to the place, the more and more it felt like I was going to pass out. I kept on going though, as I suddenly felt a random boost of adrenaline, and I opened my eyes and then kept on going.

We quickly caught up to the others, which had gotten a far bit ahead of us, and Padre nodded, as he noticed me, though he did not say a word to me, as I could tell that he was still a bit embarrassed to be in the presence of a women that he had once threatened to kill.

He had his head to the ground, as he went ahead and then let us walk past him. As we were just about at the front steps to the house. Once we were there as well, I then looked at Adrian, as I expected him to pull out a key, but instead he just went ahead, and he opened the door to the quite big house that was in front of us.

I looked at it for a few moments, and I just stared at it. As it was bigger than the house that my father had bought in the city that we had lived in. It was nearly as big as the mansion that we had gone in on the vacation that we had went to a random summer a few years ago... Back when my father was still sober.

I shook my head, and I felt someone nudge into me. I turned my head around, and I noticed that it was John, and he rolled his eyes at me at the same time. He then spoke to me, as I still had just been standing there with Julia in my hands.

"C'mon kid! Go! You can stare it this tomorrow..." He said to me. I looked at him for just a few more moments, and then I realized as to what it was that he had been saying to me. I then nodded to him, and then I began to walk ahead through the front door, to where I could see Adrian standing at the doorway to the hallway that was beside another room.

He was looking at someone else clearly as well, as I was not too worried about it at the moment either, as I heard the door close behind me, as Uncle, Padre, and my father were just behind us. I turned my head over to Adrian though, as I heard him begin to speak to whoever it was in the room beside him.

"Someone is here to see you..." He said to whoever it was in the other room. I was a bit confused as to what it was that he was talking about for just a few moments, until it hit me, and I felt a bit dumb at the same time as well, as I heard the footsteps of a lady begin to walk to the doorway.

I stood there still, and I just waited, as I saw my father through the corner of my eye, as it seemed clear to me that he was thinking the same thing that I was. The lady that had been walking over to us, then popped her head into the room, a bit confused as to what Adrian had meant... Until she saw who it was.

"What? Who?" The voice of the woman had began to say... Then she saw who was waiting on the other side. "Dad?! Joseph?!"