for the sake of insanity

i. d a u n t l e s s ;

"The King is working on a project. Something big. The shapeshifter serum will be of great use to him. Only, something went wrong and someone from the last group of test subjects escaped, led by a dangerous prisoner. I'll be needing you to find him, and bring him back to me."

Nevrone stands up and walks towards a chest of drawers, using a small key to unlock the top one.

Adelia takes a deep breath. "Very well. How will I know who he is?"

"You'll know."

His cryptic answer isn't reassuring in the slightest. "When do I leave?"

Nevrone closes the drawer and turns around. The hair on the back of her neck rises. He walks towards her, his palm cupping her elbow. Nevrone moves too fast for Adelia to see, and the syringe is in her arm before she can move back.

No. Adelia tries to pull the syringe out, vividly remembering the last time he had injected something inside of her, something that had morphed her body in incredible ways.

Her vision darkens at the edges and Nevrone eases her body to the ground, ensuring she is safe.

Even as the world darkens, the irony is not lost on her.

His wicked smile is the last thing she sees.

"Now."

___

Adelia's fingers curl slightly, grasping at the moist dirt between her fingers.

Her eyes flash open, her pupils adjusting to the freckles of light that creeps in between the trees above her. Adelia keeps her breathing steady as she sits up slowly, careful not to make a sound. She doesn't know who or what is near her.

Leaves rustle nearby and Adelia's wrists snap towards her back, grasping at air. She frowns, rising to her feet cautiously.

A quick inspection of her body reveals she has been left in the middle of nowhere, weaponless.

Adelia grits her teeth together, straightening up. Nevrone must be giving her some kind of test. Leaving her in the middle of nowhere, defenseless, with no idea how to return home, was exactly the kind of thing Amorus Nevrone would do.

It's dark. Adelia shifts her eyes, trying to change them to suit the darker climate, but nothing happens. She narrows her eyes, trying again. Nothing.

Nothing happens when she attempts to shift her skin colour, or extend the length of her hair.

The realisation causes her chest to become tight. Somehow, he had taken away her shapeshifting abilities or dulled them. Adelia hadn't even known such a thing was possible, and having a part of her taken away causes her to feel vulnerable in a way she hadn't felt in many years.

This is most certainly a test. And Adelia doesn't want to find out what happens if she fails.

She scans the nearest trees for something she can use as a weapon. Thinking quickly, Adelia scales the slim branches, thankful for her light weight. Being small often had its disadvantages in fighting, causing her to rely more on skill than body weight, but it did have its perks.

Balancing on the highest branches, Adelia takes in the view, frowning. She is surrounded by a sea of green, the dense canopies set closely together. The trees stretch as far as she can see in all directions. Recalling a map of the land, she tries to think of all the places in Tantus she could be. Somewhere up north she suspects, in the Forests of Calaisis. These forests shrouded its secrets with the largest expanse of greenery in the land and quite possibly the world, each tree growing close to its neighbour. Their existence was considered an oddity; in the dry land in the North where the growth of a sprout was considered a miracle, such a forest was considered to be born from pure witchcraft.