Chapter 2 --2 . Strange forest.
She glanced down at herself — gray suit pants now splattered with dirt, a plain tank top sticking to her skin from the humidity, and her fitted blazer hanging loosely from her shoulders. Her sturdy shoes, once polished and neat, were now scuffed and smeared with mud.
Without thinking twice, Kaya shrugged off the blazer and tied it around her waist. She rolled up her sleeves, adjusted the belt at her hips, and prepared herself for a long trek ahead.
Pushing aside thick leaves and low-hanging branches, Kaya pressed deeper into the forest.
The air felt heavy, almost pressing down on her shoulders. Every step kicked up the smell of wet earth and decaying foliage. Sunlight barely pierced the thick canopy above, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow that danced around her like silent watchers.
She had been walking for what felt like half an hour, but nothing changed.
No clearing.
No end.
Just endless green.
A tight knot of unease settled in her chest. She had been in forests before — chasing traitors, hunting down spies — but nothing like this. This forest wasn’t just old. It felt... wrong. Too silent. Too still. As if the trees themselves were holding their breath.
Kaya slowed her steps, scanning the surroundings carefully. The trees here were massive, their trunks so wide it would take four or five people just to circle one. She needed to find the tallest tree among them. If she could climb it, maybe she could finally figure out where the hell she had ended up.
Wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, she adjusted her grip on the blazer tied at her waist.