Chapter 37 (Julias POV) Oh my god!

I sat there for just a few moments, as I took in what the man had just said to me. Surely he was joking right? The dragons were not real, surely they were just some weird dreams that Joseph had been having, and his father had just been going crazy.

I knew it for sure, there was no way that it could be real. Every person in the world knew that it was just some sort of fairy tale, right? I just stood there for a bit longer, as I then moved back just a little, from the peep hole.

I began to shiver just a bit, were these his lawyers? If so, than it was just a bit too late, they had been gone for nearly an hour already... No one believed his father, so every person that they had tried to be a lawyer for him had all told him no.

I stayed there for a bit longer, as I heard the man and the woman begin to talk quietly to each other for just a few moments, as I did not try to peep a word of what they were saying to each other, due to the fact that I was lost in some deep thought at the moment.

I suddenly then heard the voice of Mariah, as I had just about forgot that she was with me in the house in the other room. They had not said anything about Joseph, nor his father... They had said something about dragons however. There was something quite strange going on right now, and I just could not quite get a grasp on what it could possibly be.

I did turn my head away from the door, and over to the other room, poking my head past the wall that was the kitchen on the left side of me, to see Mariah's face, and to let her know that I was in fact listening to every word that she had to say to me.

I also happened to notice that she had a bit of a scared, and somewhat worried look on her face at the moment. I knew that she must be worried about why there were random people coming up to our doorstep, especially the day that Joseph was in court...

At first I had thought that maybe a man had found out that there were 2 girls alone in a condo, and they might be trying to rape us, but it was a man and a woman, and not just that, they were for some reason dressed up nicely as well, almost making it seem like they were in fact lawyers.

I shook my head though, trying to shake out all of those thoughts, as I just listened to what it was that Mariah had to say to me. I knew that she must be scared for her brother right now, all that he had been telling her. I knew that both Joseph, and Mariah loved each other deep into their hearts. I then heard her as she began to speak finally as it broke my train of thought.

"What is going on? I heard someone say my name... I don't hardly know anyone here though." She said to me. She had every right to be asking questions right now as well, as I just stood there for just a few moments, as I was not quite sure how to respond to her question.

I tried not to burry myself in thought as I knew that I could not just leave her with no response. I did my best to think of something to say back to her, as I saw the brown couch that she had been sitting on, begin to shift a bit, as she waited for me to respond.

I just stood still, as I tried my best to think of something to say to her real quick, before she began to get too worried. I just could not think right now, it was as if I was having a massive brain fart right now. But finally after a bit longer I thought of a few words to say to her, as it relaxed her once I had finally managed to speak to her.

"I think these are Joseph's lawyers, but they are just too late." I said over to her, loud enough for the other 2 to hear me speak as well, as they then went silent. I turned my head over to the door, as I then began to speak to them in particular. "You guys are too late, the trial has already started."

I sat there for a short period of time, as I then began to hear them talk quietly to each other for just a bit longer, I was not too sure what was going on right now. I had heard something about dragons, which meant that there was someone else that believed in them.

I began to get a bit scared at the same time as well, as I was not sure what to do now... If they were real, than that meant that all of what had happened to Mariah and Joseph's mother was true as well... They said something about the city being in danger. I then shook my head out of those thoughts, as I heard the woman begin to speak this time.

"Look... We are not lawyers... I know this might sound crazy, but the dragons are going to attack the city, and they are looking for 2 of you in particular. One of you being Mariah, and the other being Joseph... They know that the trial is set for today. I have a friend already going to help Joseph..." She said back to me.

I did not dare look through the peep hole, I still wanted to shake this off, like it was just some big joke, I knew if I looked through it, and I saw the look on the ladies face, that it would prove that all of this was in fact real. I still did not want to believe it.

I turned my head over to Mariah, as I knew that she had heard for sure what the woman had said this time, as the woman had spoken up even more loudly this time, now that she knew that Mariah was in the room with me.

Mariah as I saw, was now walking over to the door, as I saw quite the worried look on her face right now. I wish that I could calm her down, and to tell her that none of this was real, but I was not even too sure what to believe was real and what was fake right now.

I tried to think of something to say to her, to calm her down, and relax her, which I was normally good at it with this girl, but for some reason, I just could not think of anything to say to her at the moment. I knew why as well, it was because I could not think of anything that would even calm myself down right now.

I sat there, as Mariah then walked past me, and she went right over to the door. I thought that she was going to open it for just a second, and I would not have had time to react and stop her, but thankfully she just stopped, and she stared through the peep hole on her tippy toes.

After a few more seconds, she then put herself down, as she turned her head over to me, with a bit of a confused look on her face. I just shrugged my shoulders, as I could not think of what to say to her right now. She then turned her head back over to the door, and then she began to speak to the man and the woman, which I was fairly sure was a husband and a wife now, which also relaxed me just a slight bit more.

"You said dragons? They might attack the city? How do we know we should believe you? Julia always tells me that they are just a myth that you read in stories..." She said over to the 2 people that were at rhe door. I nodded to her, it was a good question for her to ask, and I was sure that they would not know how to answer it.

But what if dragons were in fact real? I was beginning to get a bit worried about it now, as I could now no longer just push all of that off any more. There seemed to be a fair amount of people believing that they were real, it was getting me to even question it myself now.

I stayed still, as Mariah had her eyes squinted at me, I knew what she was thinking about, surely she would get a bit angry with me, if the dragons were in fact real, and I had been telling her this whole time that Joseph had only been having those dreams because it was normal after you had just suffered a tragic loss.

I did not even think about Mariah not having those dreams, and she was closer to her mother than even Joseph was. I gulped, as I now was beginning to feel a bit bad now... I lowered my head to the ground, as the woman finally decided to respond back to Mariah's question. I kept my head to the ground as I listened to what it was that she had to say back.

"Yes... It makes sense for her to believe that, as it is what everyone believes. But where do you think those stories came from? You think someone could make up something like that?" She said back to Mariah. I then began to question the woman once again.

I did believe that someone could make up a story like that in fact. But then my mind came back to what it was that we were talking about in the first place, and I did not say a smart remark back to the woman, that I was thinking about saying to her.

Mariah kept her eyes on mine, as I could see when I lifted my head a bit, I dipped my head back down again, as I was beginning to feel a bit guilty now. I had been telling her that none of it was real for quite some time now, and I had been the one that had been wrong, which was one thing that I did not like to admit to.

Mariah then rolled her eyes at me, as she then turned her head back over to the door. Now that she was not looking down at me with such scorn, I then lifted my head up to her, and I listened to what it was that she had to say to the other 2 that were behind the door.

"I don't know... It just sounds crazy to me... Why do I not have those same visions that Joseph has? Is it because I am a female?" She said back to the people that were behind the door. I knew that Mariah was always worried about being weaker because she was a woman, and I always had a remark to her, but this time I could not.

Maybe all of it was true, if all of this was real, than that would be a bad look for me for sure, I was not even sure if I could even forgive myself for that one. If Mariah lost her brother and her mother to something that I had been telling her was not real, I would blame myself for it.

I sat there for just a bit longer, as I was now beginning to hurt myself over it, as I could not get all of those thoughts out of my head. I knew that Joseph did not like to see when me or his sister were like that, even if he knew we were in the wrong. I carried those thoughts with me, as I then lifted my head up once again.

Mariah was looking at me dead in her eyes, and I now could tell that she did not have a look of anger at me for me telling her that none of it was real, but she had more of a bit ot a scared look, and a look of fear on her pretty little face.

We sat there for just a bit longer, just staring at each other. Finally the woman decided to respond to Mariah, as I had heard the man and the wife talking quietly to each other for a bit. It made sense as to why that was so as well.

The man probably knew more about what it was that must be said, but he also knew that if we heard the voice of another woman, than it would be a lot more soothing that hearing the voice of a grown man. I shook my head as I listened to what it was that the mans wife had to say.

"No... That is not the case at all... Your Uncle had those visions, and he went to go lead a legion that went to go find, and kill those dragons. Once he had been killed, your mother then had those same visions... It is done based off of age in your blood line." She said back to Mariah.

Now hearing the woman say that back to her, it began to relax Mariah quite a bit I could tell. I always knew that she did not want to be told that she was useless. She would always do her best to help out, even when there was no help that was needed.

I just stood still, as I felt like I should say something, but the only things I could think of were some smart comment, and I knew that now was not the time for that at all. I just stayed still, as I could tell that Mariah was still just as surprised as I was hearing the news. She did turn her head back to the door, as she kept on talking.

"So if Joseph were to die? I would have those visions? Why did our mom never tell us about all of that?" She said back to them. I nodded to her again, though I knew that she could not see it. She had her eyes focused through the peep hole, as she waited for a response.

I waited to hear the man and his wife talk to each other in private once again, but this time that was not the case at all in fact. The man went ahead and finally decided that he was going to step up, as it seemed as though he felt like he had something that he felt was important for him to say. I listened to him as well as Mariah, though she did move back quite a bit surprised by the look on the mans face I would assume.

"Your mom wanted to hide you, which was fair enough at your guys age... But she was supposed to tell your brother on his 18th birthday... Which did not happen clearly, now we do not have much time, so please open the door before we are forced to do so..." He said to Mariah. It was now all coming together now, as that seemed to be the finally click of the piece of the puzzle.

It now was beginning to make sense. I did not want it too though, I still had a thought in my head that it was not real and I should keep thinking that way. I knew that it was though, and it all was making sense now. I shivered, as Mariah then suddenly opened the door.

I saw the look of surprise on the face of the man, and the woman had a bit of a smile on her face, now that we had finally come to terms on all of it. I thought for just a moment that the man would lunge at Mariah, but I could tell by the look on the face of the man, that he was a good man.

I calmed myself a bit, as we all just sat still for just a few seconds, as no one said a word, as clearly everyone was surprised that Mariah had opened the door, Mariah herself including. I stayed still, my head was just so lost in thought right now.

The woman seemed to be the one that was the quickest to gather herself, as she nodded. She then decided that she was going to be the one that was going to break the little spell that was on the rest of us, as she then began to speak to all of us.

"Come on quickly, I know you do not have clothes, but we do not have time for all of that... We need to go, we have clothes and food for you in the carriage." She said to us. We sat there for just a few moments, still not quite taking in what she had just said. She squinted her eyes and she spoke a bit louder. "Come on, lets go!"

I looked at her, and then I began to realize what was going on, and I remembered what this was all about. I nodded to Mariah, as I saw that her eyes were focused on mine, as she was waiting for me to make the final decision clearly.

I nodded to her, and she then quickly nodded back to me, as she then turned her head over to the husband and the wife. She then took the first steps out of the house, once she was out, she turned her head over to me, as it was clear that she was now waiting for me.

I stood still for just a few seconds, still having a part of me that was telling me that it was not real... I shook my head, removing that thought now, as I knew that it was real... I was wrong for telling Joseph and Mariah that none of it was real...

I then followed Mariah out of the place, looking back on it one last time a bit sadly. I was going to miss that place... I wondered where it was that we were going now. Surely we were going to some place that was far away from the city... If it was to protect Mariah... I looked away from it and then I walked down the steps with the rest of them.

I shook my head, trying not to think, nor to worry about any of that just yet, as we just needed to be thinking about getting out of the city first. Once we were down the steps, I spotted the carriage, and we all began to quickly hurry over to it.

As we got to it, I watched as the wife got in first, the the man helped Mariah get up on to the quite big stool that they were going to make us sit on. He then got on to it, I just sat there for a few moments, my thoughts then began to trail over to Joseph, I loved him... What was going to happen to him?

I stood there, not moving, and I could tell that it was starting to annoy the hell out of the man. I just could not get on to the carriage knowing that Joseph was in danger, and he could probably die. I still wanted to tell myself that it was not real, but it was beginning to hit me even more now that it was in fact all real.

I looked up at the man, as he nodded to me to go ahead and speak what it was that I had to say, that was holding us up fron getting out of the city right now. I nodded back to him, as I blinked my eyes a few times, before I then began to speak up to them.

"What about Joseph? Should we not go and try to help him?" I said to all of them. I saw the look on Mariah's face, as she nodded to me, clearly agreeing on what it was that I had just said. The man looked at me, and then he squinted his eyes at me.

It did not make me feel any better about all of it. I was so worried for him, what was going to happen to him? I stayed still, not willing to move until the man answered my question. He rolled his eyes at me, and then he began to speak to me.

"John will find him, and he will save him... Now get in the carriage, they could come at any second now." He to me. I looked at him for a few moments, as it still did not really answer the question that I had asked... How would 1 man save him? What was so special about the so called, John?

I shook my head though, as I was beginning to realize that I was wasting time, and that they were all waiting on me now. The man had clearly already made his decision, and there was no changing it now. If I waited any longer, they might leave without me.

They were here for Mariah, not for me. I then nodded and then I hopped onto the carriage with the rest of them. The man then whipped the horses that were in front of us, to get them to go ahead and go. The horses looked a bit confused for just a few seconds, until he whipped them again, and they began to go.

The horses were fast as well indeed, as it did not take long for us to get out of the place that we lived at. I looked at Uncle and his wife's place one last time, as I then sadly waved goodbye to it. As I watched it seem to disappear it the distance.

I then turned my head in front of me, to see where it was that we were going. I noticed that the man had chosen to take us down the side roads, clearly not wanting to go down the busy streets on a day like today. I did not blame him for that at all, as I knew how busy the roads were on a day like today.

We kept on moving, as no one said a word to each other for quite some time. We just kept on riding to get out of the city. I stared at the beaten down side roads a bit sadly, and a bit in pain. I tried to shake it all off, but I was just so worried about Joseph.

I loved him so much, I did not know what to do if I lost him. I looked away from the rest of them, as I just looked past the beaten down buildings that we were going past, trying to shake those thoughts off... Whoever this John guy was, he better be someone important, Joseph was deep into the downtown part of the city.

I closed my eyes, not even wanting to have them open right now, as I just let the wind fly across me, and I tried not to think about it, as we went across the bumpy roads in the carriage. It did at least a little bit to help me, but it did not do enough.

I opened my eyes however, as I heard the voice of the woman begin to step up, and she spoke, clearly with the intent that she could tell that me and Mariah were very worried, and she was trying her best to relax us, and to calm us down a bit. I turned my head over to her, as it was a bit hard to hear with the loud wind, but I listened to what it was that she had to say.

"We are going to go somewhere a long ways away from here, and we will be safe there... Your Uncle cast magic on to the place, so that it is damn near impossible for a dragon to find it..." She said to us, but mainly to Mariah, as I could tell that she was even more scared than I was right now.

I wanted to laugh at the fact that I had just heard the word magic used. As if it were something that they were used to as well, it was just a bit funny to me, as I had always heard that it was just some word that religious folk used to scare people.

But I could not do so, as it was not the first thing to surprise me today... I lowered my head to the ground. I was not quite sure what to believe anymore. What if these people were just here to kidnap us. I looked over to the couple, and then I shook my head, that story just did not add up.

They knew who Mariah was, and they knew about the dragons... It did not make sense. I closed my eyes, I did not want to think about any of that any more. I then opened them just as soon as I had done so, as I heard Mariah's voice on the far side of me as she began to speak to them.

"What happens to my brother? Where is he going?" She said back to the woman. The woman looked at her for just a few moments, and then she looked away, as it was clear that she did not have an answer to that question at the moment.

That began to get me even more worried than before, if he did make it out alive, would I ever even get to see him ever again? If we were going a long ways away... How far away was that going to be? Did that mean we were going to go to another nation?

Where was Joseph going to go? I closed my eyes, I wanted to keep telling myself it was not real. Maybe it was not, and maybe they were just lying, I still was yet to see a dragon myself... It still seemed like 1 big joke to me... If it was, than it was a fucked up joke.

I turned my head over to the man, which was right beside me, as he then began to speak up to her. I squinted my eyes at him, still not too sure if this was real, but I listened to what it was that he had to say back to her anyways.

"I am not going to lie to you... John told us to tell you that he probably will not make it... He is doing the same for us, but our odds of making it are a lot higher than his... The next time you might see your brother could be up to several years..." He said back to her. I looked at him, now in even more pain than I was before...

Why did this have to happen? Why did the dragons so badly want to kill Joseph and Mariah? I had so many questions, and I was not quite sure how to ask any of them. I kind of just wanted to sit there in silence, but I also knew that I could not just let this all play out without saying something about it.

Luckily I had a bit longer to think, as I saw that we had just passed the final building to get out of the city. It had been a long time since I had done so as well, the last time I remember leaving the city I was a young child with my mother and father.

My mother was killed, and my father became an alcoholic... He drank at Pops bar, which was the reason I had found out about that place in the first place, and I had begun working there. My father ended up dying from drinking too much.

I ended up having to move in with a terrible step cousin, who ended up forcing me to be his girl friend. I had no other choice though, it was either that, or go live out on the streets... I was lucky for Joseph, he had really saved me, and he had helped me a lot through those times.

I never told him about all of that, and I now wished that I kind of could, I knew that he did not trust me as much as he used to. I closed my eyes, if Joseph was dead though, none of that would matter anyways. I shook my head, trying not to think about it.

I looked over at the rest of the group that I was with, as no one said a word to each other, they all just had their eyes on the road right now. A thought finally decided to pop in my head, as I thought of what to ask the man and his wife finally.

"So... I still have not seen a dragon... How do I know that this is still not just some big joke..." I said, for some reason still trying to keep telling myself that none of this was real. I so badly wanted to believe that was the case for some reason.

The man looked at me for a few moments, as he squinted his eyes at me. He must think that I was really dumb, which if the dragons were in fact real, he had every reason to think that. Right now it seemed like he was the one that was dumb however.

The man then rolled his eyes at me, I was still a bit confused, he still was not answering my question at all. He turned his head over behind him for some reason, and then he scoffed at me, as he then turned his head back over to me, as he began to speak.

"Why don't you go look for yourself?" He asked me. I looked at him, a bit confused for a few moments as to what he had meant by that. It then hit me, as I turned my head, just as he had done a few moments ago, and I looked at what was behind us.

I then saw it, I blinked a few times, just to make sure that my eyes were not deceiving me... But it was as clear as day... Though it was now a long distance away from us now, I could still clearly see all of it... Buildings were in flames right now.

I saw these things in the sky, they looked like birds from the size of them, but I also knew that they were so far away, it made sense as to why they looked like that. There were hundreds up to maybe even thousands of them in the sky as far as I could see.

Yes... I was wrong... They were real... Dragons... So many of them as well. I felt sick to my stomach now, as I turned my head away from them, and I looked over at Mariah. I saw that she had her head in that direction just as I did as well.

I saw quite the scared look on her face, as it was clear to me that not even she was ready to believe that the dragons were real yet... It was true though, and I was wrong in fact, I hated to admit to that, but it was true... Mariah turned her head over to me, and she spoke quickly, but loudly to me.

"Oh my god!"