Rain turned to Erica and let go of the woman's grip. Then she turned to Ben. Now, Rain looked at Ben seriously and said something only they could hear.
"No one knows how to cure it," said Rain. "Jace has been injured by a powerful ripping demon. No mortal doctor knows how to treat a wound like that."
Ben had already opened his mouth and was about to issue words to refute Rain's statement. Ben thought he had many different ways of treatment that may be Rain didn't know about. But, suddenly, Ben chose not to speak and fell silent. Ben realized it would all be in vain. Because Ben knows that when Rain has made a decision, the girl will not turn away from her commitment.
Erica felt disappointed, and she thought Rain would instead join Benjamin. Erica did not blame the girl's decision. Because of the situation, if you look at it from anywhere, Jace looks really detrimental to Rain. Thus, Erica turned around and returned to her friends.
"She doesn't want to come with us?" asked Samantha disappointedly.
"Of course, I'll come with you!" said Rain, who suddenly stood behind them.
Erica, Samantha, and Randall turned and looked together. There were gasps of relief from the three of them. Randall immediately carried Jace's body which was lying unconscious. Together they ran to Jace's car in front of Rain's childhood home.
Erica spread a blanket on the back seat, and they laid Jace on it. Rain sat beside Jace with Jace's head on Rain's lap.
Erica sat in the front beside Randall, who was driving. Erica had to ensure their safe passage to Darkwood Palace. Samantha immediately turned herself into a shadow to cover the vehicle so that it would not be detected by any creatures that might harm them.
"Drive fast, Randall!" said Erica. "Drive like hell is after you!"
Randall drove without saying anything. Even if he had to be thrown into hell, he would do it as long as he could bring Jace back safely to Darkwood Palace.
They shot through the residential area and onto a bridge. They chased a subway train roaring over the blue water. The bright sun enters the eyes, splashing heat on the river. Rain kept Jace's body tightly in her lap as Randall took a swerve off the bridge at nearly 100 km/h.
Rain remembered the bad things she thought about Jace. How Jace threw his body at the ripping demon and his triumphant face. Rain stared at Jace's face, which looked sleepy but pale in his lap. Blood seeped into the blanket. Rain was reminded of the strange words of the ripping demon when he possessed Adaline. "Love makes things complicated."
Rain facing forward. She no longer knew where they had reached. However, she stared at Randall's face, which was pale and as flat as paper, through the rearview mirror while focusing on driving the car with Erica, who was panicking to death sitting beside him.
"How much further?" Rain can't wait to see Jace's condition.
"Maybe 20 minutes?" Randall drove as fast as he could.
"It's so long! Isn't there an easier way? Don't you have super abilities? You guys can fly, move around, or whatever in the blink of an eye, right?"
Erica clenched her fists impatiently and smacked the dashboard. Finally, she explained briefly to Rain.
"Our strength is weakening as Jace's is weakening. Especially now that the monsters in his body are increasingly dominating. The last ritual we performed in the city of shadows had no effect other than hastening his death."
"What do you mean? Dead? What rituals?" Rain almost screamed.
They had already reached the boundary of the Darkwood forest region. Instantly the sunlight was removed from the edge of the forest. A dark fog suddenly enveloped their journey. Mist is a magical enchantment from the Darkwood forest due to a curse inscribed by the sorcerer for the kingdom. There will be no sun and bright light in the woods and the empire until the king, and his descendants break the curse.
When they reached the boundary of the Darkwood forest area, dozens of other forces of darkness came to greet them in the form of rolling shadows. They all flew through the air together with the dragon. In the twinkling of an eye, they enveloped the car so that it lifted and flew away like an ordinary stagecoach. Next, they arrived at the Darkwood castle grounds.
"Twin trees!" Randall said as they reached the palace grounds.
Randall quickly opened the door. He returned to his form as a shadow in a black robe with a hood on his head. Randall grabbed Jace in a sling.
When Randall got out of the car with Jace in his arms, it suddenly became dark, like a total solar eclipse. Strong winds blew, and lightning occasionally flashed across the sky of the Darkwood Kingdom.
The entire army of darkness that Rain had never met before lined up in an entirely elongated formation. When Rain finally got out of the car and stared at them intently, she suddenly shook violently. Rain's legs felt weak. She had seen the complete formation before but had never realized they were the actual rangers of darkness guarding the forest.
They are all in different forms. Most of them have human bodies but animal heads. Their sizes also vary, from the largest to the size of a bison to the smallest. Even the smallest human is the size of a dwarf. They wear black hooded robes. The dwarves are tasked with carrying the lantern, whose fire is made of firefly light.
"Who are they all?" Rain was completely confused.
Jace was carried by Randall. On Randall's left and right sides, another pair of dark troopers are physically identical to Randall. It was as if Randall was splitting into three parts.
Behind Randall was another line of dark troopers. They all wore dark cloaks to cover their beast heads. Although their bodies are partly human, some have the body of an animal with a human head.
Rain saw that in the middle of the line was a black horse but a human head. He was a handsome man with waist-length curly hair instead of a horse's mane.
Erica stood beside Rain and patted the girl on the shoulder. "We have to perform a ritual to neutralize the excess runes in Your Majesty's body. We have to go around the Darkwood forest and ask the forest to neutralize the bad energy from his body."
"Is this what I saw back then?"
"Yeah, that night when you first came here, you saw us. Even His Highness knows, but he's trying to restrain himself to preserve your life. Supposedly, any mortals or beings outside the Darkwood Kingdom who witness His Majesty's monster form should be eliminated. However, Jace extends his compassion to you and all the inhabitants of the Darkwood forest."
"Let me tag along!" asked Rain.
Erica shook her head. "Wait here. You will only hinder this ritual. Wait and pray to your God. So that all will end soon, or the witch is quickly found, and His Majesty is free from the curse.
When the group started to leave the boundary of the palace gate, only Rain was alone, standing in the middle of the twin trees. The courtyard became dark and smelled of Rain. There is a pool of water collecting near Ralph's tree.
Suddenly the giant twin tree branches crackled. The leaves are falling. Ralph then spoke and moved his branch towards Rain.
"Too bad you lost the clue to get to the witch." Ralph's voice echoed. "You didn't find Warlock Markus."
"Not! I've managed to find his hiding place," Rain said. "It's just that he was kidnapped by the ripping demon. I don't know where he's gone now. But, at least we managed to get him out of his hiding place."
"Don't think about it now," said Ralph.
The old tree moved its branches again and dropped a few leaves on Rain's head. Ralph bent the branches like a human figure bringing his face closer to Rain. A small branch held onto Rain's shoulder.
"Rain Orwell, do you know what you have done?"
Rain looked up in surprise at Ralph's twin trees as alive. Rain couldn't even tell which was Ralph and which was his brother. Rain even forgot the name of his twin brother Ralph. Rain only remembers the name, Ralph.
"I don't understand what you mean," Rain said.
A gust of wind rumbled through the branches and twigs of Ralph's tree as if it were puffing and hissing sounds.
"You look a lot like her." Ralph's voice echoed in Rain's head.
"Like who?" asked Rain surprised. She had never heard Ralph speak like this before. The last time they said, Ralph didn't seem to like Rain.
"You look just like the witch!" said Ralph.
Then, the tree stood straight back into place with stiff branches that didn't move. The cold wind was still swirling around the tree and blowing the fallen leaves off the ground.
"Alyssa…"
The sound that travelled through the air was like a rush of wind. He came from a distance and caught Rain's ear. The girl gasped in surprise; she realized she was alone there.
Ralph's tree was not moving, and not talking to her. However, the last name Ralph mentioned gave Rain chills.
"Who is Alyssa?"