As Rayde vanished like a shadow, the three of them stood frozen in place. They scanned the darkness, but there was no trace of the assassin. Fast was the first to break the silence: "Damn it, where did he go?"
Sard remained on guard, checking the surroundings for a while longer before slowly lowering his stance. "I think he's gone, but only for now. We need to get out of here immediately; we must move further away from the city."
He stood still for a moment, thinking of a route. At that point, Fast spoke up: "I know a reliable place!"
Lena and Sard turned to Fast in surprise. They hadn't expected such a quick solution from him. Fast continued: "It's a very safe place, but you need to take me to the edge of the forest. We'll definitely be safe there, and we'll be away from the cameras. Can you take me to the forest entrance? From there, I can show you the way."
Sard looked Fast in the eyes. "Are you sure it's a safe place?"
Fast nodded firmly. Sard took a deep breath and agreed: "Alright. The forest entrance isn't too far; I can take you there, but we must be quick."
They set off immediately. They moved with hurried steps along the side of the highway. Sard took his place in the middle of the group, looking out for both Lena and Fast. Once they were well away from the gas station, the road began to curve toward a wooded area.
Sard suddenly grabbed both of them by their arms and lunged toward the trees on the right side of the road. Before Lena and Fast knew what was happening, they found themselves among the bushes. "What's going on?" Lena whispered.
"We might be being followed," Sard said, his voice low but firm. "We won't walk directly on the road. Let's follow the path through this wooded section to make it harder for them to find us."
Fast and Lena nodded in agreement. After walking through the trees for a while, they reached the forest entrance. Fast stepped forward. "Alright, it's on me from here."
They stopped running and began to walk. As they headed deeper into the forest, Sard asked, "Where are you taking us?"
"A friend of mine from middle school had a secret cabin around here," Fast said. "But I haven't seen him since we started high school."
Sard's brows furrowed. "So you haven't spoken since middle school? How can we trust this?"
Fast smiled slightly and spread his hands. "Relax, Sard. We're on great terms. Even if we don't talk, we always run into each other somehow; our bond never breaks." Then his voice grew a bit more serious. "But we have to be careful. Last time, he mentioned a booby trap to me; there's a trap on the path to his house."
At that exact moment, Fast felt himself step on something. Suddenly, a net sprang up from beneath his feet, hoisting him into the air within seconds. As Fast swung upside down inside the net, Sard and Lena stared at him.
Sard looked up at Fast and let out a soft sigh. "So much for being careful," he said sarcastically. He took aim with one hand and cut the rope in a single shot with the blue energy at his fingertip. When Fast hit the ground, he shouted, "That hurt!" Getting up, he turned to Sard and grumbled, "It wouldn't have killed you to be a bit more gentle, would it?"
They continued walking. A while later, Lena tripped over an invisible rope on the ground. Suddenly, a massive log began swinging vertically toward them at high speed. Within seconds, Sard took aim and fired an energy blast; the log shattered into pieces in mid-air before it could reach them.
Sard turned to Fast and asked, "Are you sure there's only one trap?"
Fast rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile. "I didn't know he had added more..."
"Let's be extremely careful," Sard warned in a serious tone. After walking a bit further, Fast said, "Alright, we're almost there. The cabin should be behind those two trees with the bushes up ahead."
As they walked toward it with ease, a very thin rope caught Fast's foot. Fast looked down at his foot and asked, "What is this?" Lena leaned over to look. "It must be a small trap for animals. At least it's not a human trap."
Just as Fast said "Well, that's good," with relief, the ground beneath the three of them opened like a trapdoor. They fell into a pit about three meters deep with a loud crash. Sard and Fast managed to stay on their feet, but Lena hit the ground hard.
"Are you okay?" they asked, leaning over her. Lena showed the palm of her hand; her arm and hand were scraped from the fall, and her palm was covered in blood. "I'm fine," Lena said, trying to hide the pain.
Sard asked suspiciously, "Can't you use your healing spell on yourself?" Lena shook her head from side to side, meaning no. Sard turned to Fast in surprise. "Had you seen her use this ability before?"
"Actually, yes, I had," Fast said, realizing the situation, and knelt beside Lena. He gently took her injured hand and brought his other hand forward, trying to use Lena's healing ability. He grimaced and strained, trying to force something to happen.
Watching Fast's comical display, Lena thought to herself, "I don't think he's succeeding," but then said it out loud: "I don't think this is a very successful attempt for you, Fast."
Fast made a face and lowered his hand. His left hand was still holding Lena's hand. "Ah yeah, I guess it's really not going to work. But how am I supposed to do it if I don't focus? Do I just look at it and wait for it to happen?"
As Fast stopped focusing and spoke to Lena, a bright light suddenly rose from Lena's bloody hand. Within seconds, the wound closed and healed completely. All three of them were in shock.
"How did you do that?" Lena asked in astonishment.
"I don't know..." Fast said, looking at his own hands. "I just wasn't over-focusing; I was just thinking about doing it and I was calm. I don't exactly know myself."
Sard said, "Alright, we'll handle the talking later. Let's get out of here now." Sard leaped up out of the pit on his own. Then he leaned down and reached out his hand. Fast provided a boost with his hands for Lena to climb up, and Sard pulled her out from above. Once Lena reached safety, Fast leaped, grabbed the side wall, and pulled himself up.
Stepping out and passing through the bushes, they reached the cabin hidden behind those two trees.