Dawn of Vengeance

Chapter 30 - Secret Ways

Jake's POV:

Jake ran through the streets of Aeria dodging every single person that stood in his way while trying his best to find even the slightest sign that Rex had come through this way. Lance said that he caught the freshest scent in this direction and Jake noticed a small mark that had been drawn onto the road with a piece of charcoal which was something Rex did to tell him where he was going whenever they played tag and Jake fell too far behind. Of course how he spotted it was out of sheer luck and even so he wasn't quite sure if Rex was still even in this direction but Jake needed to find him because as far as he knew the dark elf was the only other person who knew how to get out of Aeria in a hurry. At least he hoped there was some secret way because if there wasn't that Jake was screwed out of any chance he had of catching up to Father Matthew in time to talk him out of going after Stark.

The way he figured it Father Matthew would've taken at least ten hours give or take to successfully disable every single globe in Aeria, and who knows how in the hell he pulled off jamming the witches powers to transport everyone to Alcatraz. But why was he thinking of that now when Father Matthew was already gone? Jake was already ten steps behind his mentor and there was no time to play catch up he told himself scanning the road for another mark shaped like a crescent moon. Rex was his only hope no matter how he sliced it and if he found another moon symbol anywhere he'd know where to go. The crescent moon was always a hint that Rex left for Jake whenever they were out playing a game of tag , though it took Jake nearly a week to figure out what he was supposed to get from them.

Several years ago when Jake met the shady and sometimes quirky dark elf that was Rex he was challenged to a foot race across LA. Of course Jake thinking nothing of it accepted but soon fell hopelessly behind once Rex explained to him that the only way for Jake to win was for him to physically grab the dark elf. It wasn't even a race for after the first block of running Rex had put his Shinobi training to use and lost Jake almost instantly. That was when he found the very first crescent moon drawn onto a handrail. At the time Jake had no idea what it could possibly mean until he finally asked Sister Mary what a crescent moon meant to the Shinobi faction in the east. He figured she'd know since she'd spent several years with them and undergoing their training--something that hasn't happened before or since--and it paid off. 

"It's an arrow." Sister Mary had said matter of factly looking at a then 14 year old Jake. "The visible part of a crescent moon points in the direction that you'll always find a Shinobi."

The next night Jake went back to that same handrail where the crescent moon had been etched and walked in the direction that the crescent was pointing to. Low and behold he found Rex leaning heavily on a chain linked fence playing his harmonica. As he approached the dark elf opened his empty blue eyes and looked at Jake before giving him an ear-to-ear grin. He'd expressed to Jake that he was just about ready to quit playing with him and running off to find a new playmate if he hadn't figured out his little hint. And from then on he and Rex had been playing tag whenever their schedules would allow and never once had Jake ever actually caught the dark elf.

That would have to change tonight Jake thought as he finally found another crescent moon drawn on a small waist high post that blocked off a street full of barrels. The moon was pointing into the blocked off street which Jake should've figured it would. If he followed Rex down the street he'd be breaking a rule of the Saint Shields by entering a storage space when the Saints were preparing for an attack on Stark, but he had to find him, he had to get to Father Matthew in time and stop him before something terrible happened. He hopped the small blockade and ran along the tops of the barrels.

"Jake wait!" Lance called out but Jake wasn't waiting, he had to find Rex.

He heard the sound of feet on wood behind him letting him know that the others were following him as he rounded a corner. A large moon was drawn on the side of a building telling him to cut across a large open area that was crawling with Saints getting their gear ready for the attack. Without a moment’s hesitation Jake threw himself amongst the crowd snaking his way through the people who were all giving him dirty looks. Clearly they knew he wasn't yet a Saint yet and that he wasn't supposed to be here but no one tried to stop him which he was grateful for because getting into another altercation with a higher up was the last thing that he needed.