Chapter 3 – Targeted

She loved Jake, she really did and she wasn't ashamed to admit it to herself – but there was still something inside of her that was loyal to her Uncle and Rose couldn't help that. All of her life, she had been expressly and singularly loyal to him, but that had changed the night she found out who Jake really was. Her personality, her loyalties and her beliefs were turned on their head that night and now that she was faced with a decision to let the Huntsman die or not, she didn't know what side to choose. If he died, then she'd by killing the only family that she had left – but if he lived, then the first person that she had ever felt some genuine love for would be at more risk than ever.

Taking a deep breath in outside of the briefing room – she straightened down the front of her crisp uniform and reached over to open the large blast doors to the conference room. Putting a scowl on her face, she watched as all of the Huntsman's lieutenants all stood up from rectangular briefing table and stood at attention for her. Now that she was older – the Huntsman had made it perfectly clear that she was the eyes, ears and will of the Huntsman when he was gone and she was to be obeyed. Striding to the head of the table, she held her hand up in a crisp salute and took a seat in the oversized chair that belonged to her Uncle, "At ease Gentleman, our Supreme Master is standing by for a live teleconference from the sight – he will demand all of our information that we've gathered on the structure, he will not be pleased if there are no answers and I don't have to tell you all what that will entail, understood?"

They all nodded, and Rose proceeded to nod once, before her hand went to the keypad next to her and a large screen began to lower itself from the ceiling of the large vaulted conference room. When it was finally completely lowered, the screen hummed to life and the intimidating face of her Uncle appeared on it. His piercing gaze could bore holes in everyone, but when his sights turned to the Huntsgirl, his gaze softened and he looked at her with a pleased expression, "You've done well Huntsgirl – I've received reports the Language Expert that the inscription on the tomb and that the carbon dating is back, care to give me a report?"

"There are no reports of the Dragon's ever having an Empire – much less an empire that controlled the entire world," Rose reported, although she knew that it was a blatant lie, "And our records do not go back that far."

"How old is this structure?" The Huntsman raised an eyebrow.

Rose looked down to the report in her hand, "From what we have, the exterior of the depository is over two thousand years old."

"Curious," The Huntsman whispered to himself, "We are having troubling breaching the contents of the depository itself – can anyone tell me why?"

Shaking her head, Rose set the paper down in front of her and crossed her hands together, "We are not able to find out yet, but I can assure you Master, we will find a way to break the field."

This was so torturous, she was going down a road in which there was no way to win, he would never be able to break it, she was sure of that. She wasn't going to tell him to try and touch the field, that would kill him, but she had to keep in mind that if he did go ahead do that that – it wouldn't be her responsibly, "See that you do – it will be your responsibility to oversee the operations of the Huntsclan while I am here in this godforsaken jungle. I will not be leaving this country until I get my hands on what is in that depository – I want every effort to be focused on breaking it, cancel all ongoing projects, every department, every resource, I want that field down, no excuses."

Rose sighed and nodded, "Yes Huntsmaster."

From this moment on, it was going to Jake and the Dragons problem to deal with the Huntsman – she would be able to handle things on her end.

Taking a deep breath in, she blew the layer of dust that had gathered on the large ancient tome – she had even touched this book in two hundred years, her families journals of all of the items that they pledged to guard with their lives and their power. Running her finger down the table of contents, she smiled as she laid her eyes on the page of what she needed. The Imperial State Crown and the Scepter of Power – they were symbolic manifestations of her family's power on earth, as well as a literal manifestation. The person who wielded both of those items had the power to rule the entire Earth and she could not let certain types have them. Her family had given too much of their own blood and their own treasure to restore the natural balance of things and if one maniac managed to get the crown and the Scepter, the price that they had paid would not be worth it whatsoever.

"No one must ever be allowed to even touch that crown or scepter," Majarhet said as she flipped through the pages of the large book, "All other concerns are secondary – do you understand me?"

She turned and smiled at her father as a look of recognition came over his face, she knew exactly what he was thinking. When he saw a picture of the crown and scepter, a fond smile was on his face, "I can still remember the feel of the jewels on the rim of the crown, the feeling of the scepter in my hand, so much power, such pure, unbridled and unlimited amounts of power at my disposal and our family's disposal, why did we ever give that up?"

"You don't remember don't you?" Majarhet asked with a raised eyebrow.

Her father nodded, "Flashes – however, the events surrounding your dethronement and our banishment from the Isle are still unknown to me."

Majarhet smiled sadly and shook her head before turning back to the book, "You need not concern yourself with that father, come we need to get there as fast as possible."

"This must be done in absolute secrecy," Lao Shi instructed his grandson as Fu Dog continued to throw ingredients into a bubbling caldron, "Word of this must not get out, it could lead back to the Dragon Council and when that happens, we face banishment, maybe even death if they feel that threatened by us."

Fu turned and looked a Lao Shi skeptically, "It's been thousands of years, you still think that they're that paranoid?"

"Of course," He nodded and suddenly glared at the dog, Jake looked up from the table and joined his grandfather in the expression, "And don't you go telling anyone about this either, if it happens, I'll know what it was you."

"And if that happens, we're going to offering the Dragon Council freshly filleted Shar-Pei on a silver platter," Jake added before looking back down to the table.