Chimera Fields apollonius

The boy roamed through the dark, faster now, no longer contained by the forest that had overwhelmed him. The cry of a raven beckoned he return the way he came, suggesting that the creature had not in fact abaondoned him, but the boy no longer cared to follow. It spoke no more upon the wind.

Once the tension he'd found within the woods faded, he could find freedom in running. He lacked the energy for chasing anything for lengthy periods but when the fields spanned the whole of his vision, the boy was excited. He liked these larger expanses, they made him feel much more free than the claustrophobic woods, and reminded him that Ursus would not be far.

He ran from the northernmost prairie until the saturation of salt in the air diminished, replaced by the thick, floral taste of wildflower. Some of the blossoms he recognized from the meadow back home and he bowed to roll in them, or snapped playfully at the colored faces, only to spit the wads of color out along his path.

All of this wore him out deceptively. It was not wise for him to play and frolic in the field; he had already burned through what little sustenance the woman had left for him and soon his health would spoil. Alas, he was still just a boy, he had not learned to regulate himself to any great extent yet, and greedily welcomed whatever he could wrestle free for himself.

The game faded as he plugged along. The flowers too. His entrance to the field had been met with a flourish of variety and color but as he carried himself further the dirt became loose, rocky, and clay-rich to the point of looking scarred.

The boy spotted something moving further up the ridge and stole towards it — and by the time he saw the shape retreating he knew he wouldn't be able to follow it. The deer was more fleet-footed than he was, it knew this area, and its tan skin matched the soil so closely, he had only noticed it by accident.

He sank down in to the dirt, a pinched look upon his face while his eyes trailed the deer's path, watching as it fled.