Dragon Wars: Destined Through Fire (Book 2)

Chapter 14 (Joseph's POV) You Could Say That

John sat there for a few moments, just ignoring Padres question completely, as if he was pretending that he did not know that it was meant towards him. I knew he had heard what Padre had said, and I also knew he was smart enough to realize that the question was directed towards him as well.
He kept on writing for just a few more moments, then he put down his quill on to the side of his ink ring. He then looked up, and looked at the both of us as if he did not remember what Padre had just said to him. Padre was starting to get a bit worried about all of this as well.
I could tell, I could slightly see his body shaking, which was a sign of him being afraid of what was about to happen to all of us. I felt a bit bad for him, his life had been pretty shitty, and it felt like it was going to stay that way for him as well.
He had told us his story, and it seemed like I was the only one that felt bad for him. I get why Uncle did not feel bad for him, but my father showed 0 emotions whenever he had told us that. I hated being around this group of people if I was going to be honest with myself.
At least it was safe... So there was no reason for me to complain I suppose. I sat there as I expected John to tell him what it was. I should not have that sort of hope when it came to him I suppose though. Besides, I was pretty sure I already knew what it was, that we were doing of course. I was pretty sure we were meeting up with the legion, after the long period of time that we had been pushing this off as well.
Now it was time for us, the humans to fight back against the dragons. I had heard the government had been recruiting people to join the army, but they were not going to be anywhere near as heavily trained as this legion that I was about to join.
I had to be ready, and I had to be strong. Everyone was looking up to me, and it made me so nervous as well. The humans were the only ones that were fighting back against the black dragons as well. The red dragons were supposed to help us, but it did not seem as though they were making any effort to help us at all.
They were hiding like cowards... They were stronger than humans, faster than humans... So why could they not help us? They did know that their species would become extinct, just like ours would... So there was no harm in at least trying to fight back against them.
I shook my head though, as I looked back up to John and Padre... As I realized as well that John was finally responding to the question that Padre had just asked him a few moments ago. I turned my head to John to hear what it was that he was about to say back to Padre.
"Well... Lets just say... You wont be the one making the food for us soon... But hell... Your life is certainly going to get a lot harder." John said to Padre. Padre looked at him a bit confused for a few moments, which also surprised me a bit as well. I knew that Padre was at least some what of a smart guy.
Surely he realized that we were going to go meet up with the legion. John had been signifying it to us over the last couple of days. I guess I could some what understand why Padre was a bit confused as well though. It came as a bit of a surprise to me last night, even though I had seen it coming.
We had just been sitting here for the last year, just hiding. Wondering when a dragon would come into our camp, and it would be our last day. He had his legion mates come and visit him from time to time, though it showed nothing of us actually meeting up with the legion at all.
After a few brief moments of silence, finally Padre got the nerves to finally respond back to what John had just said to him. Though I could still read a bit of a confused look on his face, as to what it was that was about to happen to each of us.
"So... Is it time?" Padre asked John. Both of us knew what he had meant when he had said that as well. I actually saw a brief few moments of the look on Johns face as well. It showed a small amount of emotion... It was a grin, but it looked like more of a grin of him being a bit afraid.
It made sense as well, though he pretended to never be afraid, I knew that this next part of our journey was going to be scary, and I figured that he knew that as well. It made me feel a little bit better, and I felt a faint glimmer of hope as well, that maybe not everyone had given up, and that maybe not everyone had just lost all of their emotions either.
I knew that John had gone through some scary shit in his life, and my uncle had also been practically a father to him as well, throughout all of that. It made sense as to why it seemed like he always had no emotion... My Uncle was all that he had, and when he lost him, he had felt like he had lost the world as well.
John, though my mother and my Uncle had never told me about this... Had been like a big brother to my cousin. So he had also lost my cousin as well... They had grown up together, and I felt like I remembered John a bit when I was quite a bit younger as well.
My father had recognized him right away as well. Though I had not noticed that because my father was so broken, it was nearly impossible to get any reads from him as well. I shook my head, trying to take all of those thoughts from out of my head at the same time as well.
Everyone here was broken, and now personally, I could not wait to meet the legion crew. It would be a nice change of scenery to be away from all of this depressing lifestyle. I began to realize that I was becoming less and less scared of all of this, and I was in fact becoming a bit more excited by each passing moment.
I knew that things were going to be rough for me... But it was better to be hard on me than to be stuck here, and just be depressed all of the time. Hell, even his legion mates had told John to lighten up... Though it did not seem to mean anything to him.
I looked back up, as John was looking at Padre, with his eyes squinted at him at the same time. I wondered if maybe he was thinking that Padre must have read his mind. Though I knew that John was smart, and he also knew that he had made it fairly blatant as well.
John blew some air onto his book, to dry out the ink that he had just written his book with, and then he shut the book closed and tossed it into his 1 big bag, that I wondered how he could fit all of his stuff in as well. After he was done with all of that mess, he then stood up, and then looked at the both of us and then nodded.
"Yes... You know what is about to go down. Now... We need to hurry up, and get the hell out of this camp site, and then meet up with the others." He said to us. I looked up at him, and then I nodded. He nodded back at me, and then he turned his head around, before he finally then walked away from me and Padre.
Me and Padre were once again, alone. I looked at Padre, and I could see him shivering a bit. I could tell that he was quite a bit scared as well. We always hid from the dragons, and now we were about to be fighting them. Let me tell you as well, that they were in fact quite a bit scary.
Not nearly as big as the books would say that they were, but they were much stronger, and much faster than even I could imagine. I wondered how I was possibly going to make a shot on one of the dragons, if I could not hit a buck that was standing completely still.
The dragons were going to be flying around us, and the small gap that might be just a few centimeters that I was supposed to hit, that was going to be insanely tough. I certainly needed quite a bit more training if I was going to possibly hit a small little window like that.
Now, John had told me that you could kill a dragon with nearly 30 or more arrow shots to the rest of the body, but that was going to be nearly impossible as well. I could only imagine trying to hit a dragon 30 times before it got close enough to you for simply a quick little blow that would at least knock you unconscious.
I shivered thinking about that way that Pop had been killed in front of me... Maybe you did not need just 1 small blow to knock out a human... I shook my head though, trying to clear those thoughts from out of my head in the exact moment as well.
I would worry about all of that when the time had come. We had not even gotten to the legions camp yet, so I was not quite sure how I was thinking about all of that, when I had not even started the 2nd part of my training yet.
I looked back up, as I saw that Padre still had his head to the ground as well. I could see the look on his face, and I could tell that he was quite a bit scared of all of this. I personally did not blame him for it as well, he was strong enough as is to actually show some sort of strength to not just give in, and to give up.
I went up to him, and then I put my hand on his shoulder, just hoping that it might make him feel just a slight bit better as well. He still had his head to the ground, but after a few moments, he lifted his head up, and then gave me a smile. Though I could tell that it was a fake smile, at least it was a smile to see in the first place.
Padre sat there for a few moments, and I could see some real fear in his eyes. It was the same look that I had seen from him, when I had first met him such a long time ago at Uncle's old place. I knew that he was scared, and he was just doing what he could to make it in this cruel world.
Uncle did not realize the shit that Padre had been through in his life. And trust me, I knew that he had gone through a shit storm in his life. I felt bad for him, for both of us as well. It seemed like not very much good, was ever going to come our way.
After a few more moments of us just sitting there, looking at each other, though I could tell that he did not have his thoughts stuck on me. He had so many other thoughts that were rushing through his head at this exact moment.
He did however finally look me right in my eyes, as just before he was just looking at me and thinking, and I could tell that he was thinking of something, and something that might be important to him as well. After just a few more seconds as well, he then spoke up to me at the same time.
"So... We are going to go to your Uncles legion... After all this time... I had always heard some crazy stories about it from your cousin, though your Uncle did not want him to tell me... Is it true that you have the powers to see the dragons in your dreams? Is that why you said you had an important dream last night?" He said, asking me that, and it was a lot to take in as well.
Normally, quite a while ago, I would have thought that he was crazy with what he had just said to me, but now it was perfectly normal, not just for me, but to everyone... This was life now... It was hell... I knew already that millions of people had already died...
I also knew as well, that a lot more than just a couple million were going to die. I had this bad feeling that very soon, there might not be another person left alive on this planet, to tell the story about all of this in the first place. I shook my head, I could not think like that though.
I looked back over at Padre, as I saw that he was looking at me right in my eyes, and it kind of made me feel a bit nervous as well. Even though I knew why he was looking at me like that. I knew that he was just waiting for me to respond to the questions that he had just asked me.
I focused my eyes back on Padre, and back on the present, as I tried to remember what it was that he had just said to me at the same time as well. It then clicked back into my head as to what he had just said, and then I finally responded to him.
"Yes... I did not know about all of that, but I do not want to lie to you anymore, those are in fact the dreams that I have been having... You were going to find out soon anyways." I said to him. He looked at me quite a bit surprised to hear that as well for just a few moments.
It was as if he had not actually believed what he had just said to me. Which made sense as to why he had just asked that from me as well. He was probably still questioning a lot of things... And he was not getting very many answers from people as well.
Padre had become a bit of a friend to me in a strange sense through all of this though. Not that there was very many friends for me to be making in this new world that we were in. I always kept an open mind, when it came to all of the stories that he had told me about his past.
He had been through hell in his life, and he and I both knew it. I no longer blamed him for what he had done to Uncle, and I wished that he could do the same as well. I did not really blame Uncle as well for not forgiving him for what he used to do to him though.
I closed my eyes for just a few moments, but just as I did that as well, hoping that I would find a bit of some sort of peace in my mind... Padre then began to respond to what it was that I had just told him. I opened my eyes to let him know that I was listening to him as well.
"Wow... I did not actually believe all of that... That is crazy... You must be brave and strong for all of that. I would hate to have to see dragons in my dreams... I use my dreams to get away from life in general." He said to me. I looked at him with a bit of a smile, and then I nodded to him.
I appreciated the complement that he had just given to me. It made me feel a lot better about all of this. John did not seem to act the same way that Padre was with all of this. I had thought that maybe I was being a slight bit weak, but hearing Padre say that made things feel all the better.
He nodded back to me, and then both of us turned our heads around, as suddenly John stepped up, and began to yell loudly in the middle of the clearing for everyone to hear him. Uncle and my father were already standing beside him, and they had everything packed up, and ready to go.
I did not understand why he did not just yell to get me and Padre to come over to him, or at least walk over to us with the other 2, to try and get our attention. I never would understand why John always had to be so extra with all of this.
After he made sure that Padre and me were both listening to him. He then looked over at Uncle and my father to make sure that they were as well. They both nodded to him to let him know that thet were paying attention. Once John knew that we were all there and ready to hear what it was that he was about to say, he finally decided to speak to all of us.
"Everyone! I hope you are all ready... It is time to get the moving on... It is going to me a long walk for the next couple of days. So I hope everyone is ready, and I hope that each one of you is prepared both mentally and physically for what is about to go down..." He said to all of us. He knew that Padre and I already knew what was going on, so he looked at Uncle and my father to see if they had gotten the jest of what he had just said to all of us.
They both looked at him, quite a bit confused as to what it was that he had meant by that, as they looked at both of each other, and then they shrugged. I saw John roll his eyes, wondering how they could be so stupid. I shook my head as well, though I knew that neither of them could see it.
Uncle just had his head down at the ground, as if he did not care about any of what was going on. It sure did seem like he had been hurt a lot more than my father through all of this. At least my father was still able to talk, as I looked at him as he began to speak back to John.
"Are we going to a new camp?" He said to John. John looked at him for a few moments, and then he squinted his eyes at him. Wondering how he could be so dumb, which I often wondered as well at times, as my mother was the complete opposite of my father in all aspects.
John got down from the table that Padre had made, and then he looked at my father for a few moments, as if he was about to laugh at him. He then looked over at me and Padre, as he shook his head, wondering how my father could be so dumb. Then he spoke looking at us, even though he meant it towards my father.
"Well sure... I guess you could say that."