Jake sat at the table he was alone his sister and parents had gone to bed but he was frustrated and angry no matter how far he ran from them the Hunts clan had tracked him down and they threatened the lives of his family and Rose she was his to protect and the fact that he failed angered him he was marked for the clan he starred at his mark on his hand identical to that of Roses mark on her hand

It was then that he saw his face appear on his palm taunting him hunting him he grabbed a knife and began to repeatedly stab himself trying to rid himself of the mark and the hunts clan he soon collapsed unconscious from blood loss

Rose raced down the street she was worried about Jake wasn't answering her calls he always did even if he was asleep he would wake up and answer it she finally reached his house opening the door and racing into the kitchen she screamed at the sight of Jake lying in a pool of his own blood "Jake" she screamed her voice getting hysterical she heard footsteps as his family came down stairs "you bitch" said Susan Jonathan raced for the phone Haley broke down to tears and Rose couldn't comfort any of them Susan had thrown her out of the house yelling that she'd kill her if she saw her again

"How is he?" asked Susan
"he's lucky if you were any later he would've died" said doctor VarkenSnooze Haley looked up she had long since stopped crying and had curled into a ball of despair "can we see him" they all asked
"of course right this way" as he led them to his room

Jonathan looked down at his son as he slept Susan had taken the chair and Haley was sitting at the end of his bed it was early in the morning they had stayed with him for about an hour and nothing was said why would Jake do this thought Susan the doctor had confirmed that the wounds were self-inflicted and she had called Rose with many apology however Rose wasn't answering not that Susan blamed her she had said horrible things to her and kicked her out of the house it was six when they left the Hospital

Rose sat crying in her room she had told Lau Shi what had happened she had received Susan calls multiple times however she had just let the message play she could fathom why Jake had done this he had slashed his mark multiple times probably trying to rid himself of the hunts clan mark he had to know he would never get it off like that she understood why he did it there were times when she was tempted to slash her own mark

Jake stirred as he came round he could tell that he wasn't alone "hey Rose" he said
"you idiot" she shrieked as she punched hard in the chest "don't you dare do that to me again" she screamed with each word she had punched Jake as he attempted to retreat "Rose I'm sorry" spoke Jake
"That's not going to cut it Jake" she cried "I don't want to lose you you're the only thing I have left" she sobbed Jake put an arm around her to comfort her she leaned into it "I don't ever want to see that again" she said
"I'm sorry I should have known it wouldn't come off" said Jake as he examined his scared hand with the mark still clearly visible

"What did you think would happen?" asked Rose
"I don't Know" confessed Jake he began to cry why he had done it was stupid of him he knew it wouldn't come off so why did he do it the answer remained hidden from him Rose kissed him "you'll figure it out" she said as she left Jake nodded as he remained deep in thought

Eighty eight entered the hunts lair he had agreed to spy on them for the dragons it was going to be dangerous he couldn't let anyone suspect him of treason he would have to be careful not to get caught all though he was looking forward to seeing his friend Eighty nine the Huntsman wouldn't be easy to fool however the dragons had taught him many new things he wouldn't break down when they integrate him

"Master Eighty eight has returned" said Hunts boy
"send him to the integration chamber I shall do it myself" he Replied "as you wish" said hunts boy

The hunts master left the chamber he was impressed Eighty eight didn't break down he answered his questions and remained calm there was no doubt in his mind that Eighty eight was still loyal to the clan he wondered what other skills the boy had picked up on he wanted to test him now however he knew that it could wait till tomorrow at least

Eighty eight knew he had fooled the huntsman but the harder one to full would be eighty nine his old friend he knew he was now the enemy for he was a spy everyone in here was an enemy and he would have to be manipulative and cunning if he was going to succeed in his goal

Lau Shi sat he was frustrated and angry at the hunts clan they had taken his grandson from his family razed him to fight and slay dragons and even after he had escaped from there clutches they loomed out of the darkness and still threaten his grandson he needed to end the ternary of the clan if Jake was to ever be free from their grasp he would not rest until he found a way to find there lair the dungeon Jake was kept in was not in the hunts lair no their leader was not that foolish he knew dragons could be quite cunning

"Detention Mr long" said Rotwood
"what for?" asked Jake
"your late" Answered Rotwood
"oh man" said Jake ever since they had escaped from the hunts clan Jake had been acting strange he was paying less attention in school and focusing more on training he had quit the fencing team so that he could train more and Rose had confessed she was worried it wasn't like Jake to spend so much time Training as he had said you couldn't prepare for everything and by doing less training he was more resourceful in an unexpected situations and as of such he was more flexible with handling these problems when they occur

The Huntsman was surprised Eighty eight's skills had gone through the roof he had beaten every challenge the huntsman had put him up to and now he had beaten Hunts boy and had taken his own name Hunter it wasn't in the database and he said he didn't want to be connected to that weakling hunts boy he had already made a move to help the dragons he had bugged the system that transmitted data to the dragons on hunts clan activity and no one suspected a thing

Mercer smiled so far he needn't do a thing as he observed Jake and Rose using his magic however he knew he would have to take a hand soon Eli body had taken some getting used to but now he was confident that he could cast the complex magic he needed to "it's time" he said to himself knowing that he would have to interfere in the upcoming conflict

In truth he was worried that he would fail and another Dark Dragon would rise he smiled to himself he had his suspicious as to who the Dark dragon was however that isn't the problem at hand he could not allow Rose to die even if costs him his own life "I can't magically observe them anymore" he would not allow the clan to make the first move as he transformed himself into a boy his plan was simple become friends with Jake, Rose now all he needed was a name Nigel he thought