Phineus was glowing. Waving his arms around he saw that the white glow didn’t leave a trail. It clung to him instead, faint but undeniable. It felt heavy. Absolute.

  In fact, it felt exactly like …Artemis.

  The realization made his chest tighten, not with fear, but closer to Pressure.

  Looking upon the moon Phineus felt a connection start to form.

  A thread.

  It tugged gently at something deep inside him, when he focused on it the forest answered.

  Leaves shifted without any wind insight, the glow of the moon brighted, just a little, and phineus laughed.

  The feeling didn’t fade when he lowered his hands and as he walked the dark forest it followed him. As if the moon itself has decided that he belongs, it should have felt comforting. Instead his head started to ache.

  It wasn’t sharp, just a dull pressure right behind the eyes. Phineus stopped, rubbing at his temple, he’d done a lot today, too much, maybe. Becoming a demi-dog isn’t exactly a small change.

  The ache eased as he got ready for bed.

  Although he didn’t notice the way the whole forest had gone silent.

  Something was watching him. That was the exact feeling he had as he woke up, instinctively he reached out with his forest sense to feel out what it is. Only who’s instinct he wasn’t sure, looking at his body he was glowing again but it was different. Denser

  Instead of the pale white from last night it was now a soft green, reaching out he felt animals, lots of them. That in itself wasn’t interesting but they were all standing completely still, watching, waiting.

  Climbing out of his tent he felt them all back away just a touch. They weren’t hostile. Not yet, just curious.

  Pulling on the connection inside he ruffled the leaves of all nearby trees in one action causing the whole flock to scatter.

  Standing still Phineus stretched out his forest sense and found it went much further than before.

  The forest felt alive.

  Every rustle of leaves, every flicker of shadow felt amplified, as if his presence had resonated with the very world around him.

  A rumble from his stomach pulled him out of his daze. “Right… food, I still need to eat.”

  He followed the signs easily, too easily. The forest practically guided him, roots shifted and branches parted around him as he moved.

  Getting as close as possible Phineus lined up a perfect shot and loosed. The moment it struck something screamed.

  It wasn’t the animal.

  Phineus felt a sharp pain peirce right through his temple, and collapsed to the ground. His mind was going through a flurry of emotions

  He felt the fear in the deer’s gaze as the arrow approached, the helplessness of knowing there's nothing you can do. His glow started to intensify and Phineas felt his perception spread out encompassing even more of the forest.

  Phineus lay curled up on the ground and cried.

  Unsure how long it lasted, time felt meaningless but even as his body hid away his perception kept spreading.

  Further and further out, over hills, between the trees and along the streams Phineus felt the forest keep on moving. He felt a pack of birds take flight, a wolf stalking its prey, nothing paused, nothing mourned, the forest just kept moving on.

  Eventually he got up, not because the pain went away but rather a new sensation came over him. Hunger, it was a deep feeling, stronger than he ever remembered it, his body needed to eat.

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  Making his way to the felled deer Phineus acted on instinct, his body going on auto pilot as he skinned and butchered the corpse.

  His body acted before his mind could catch up and before he even realized he was already eating.

  Every bite carried a warmth that spread strength through his body. The pain in his head eased and his glow Brightened once again.

  By the time he was finished the forest was quiet, as if it was waiting for what he would do next.

  Standing up his body felt light, as if just a little gust of wind could blow him away.

  Phineus reached out to the forest and called on the wind, and with a light kick off the ground, he was gone.

  Phineus let the wind carry him to an unfamiliar stretch of forest gently dropping back on the ground.

  He stumbled slightly on the landing but the sensation of flying still clung to him. His heart was racing in exhilaration. That had been instinct, not something he planned just something… his body already knew how to do.

  “That’s … new.” he muttered

  The glow around him had dimmed a little yet it felt heavier, settled. Like it has sunken into his skin and when he reached inward he felt a connection to it that was now much easier to grasp.

  Divinity.

  The word surfaced without any thought, not magic, not stamina, no… divinity.

  Divinity was weight, the pressure of an existence far beyond the flesh, and the more he acknowledged it, the clearer everything became.

  He could feel the soil beneath his feet, the branches swaying in the wind, the sap in the trees. The forest is alive and he can feel its pulse, matching his breathing to the beat he focused inward.

  Closing off his senses he reached out to the world around him and spread, hundreds of meters covered in an instant yet he didn’t stop. One kilometer, he kept going. Now ten, he reached farther, twenty five, fifty.

  Phineus didn’t stop.

  At over hundred kilometers in every direction Phineus distance felt meaningless.

  Calling on the wind once again Phineus let himself be carried. In what felt like an instant he reached the edge of his perception and let it spread again. Noticing something strange he continued this process covering more ground and a larger idea of what was going on in this forest was strange.

  He couldn’t tell where it was coming from but parts of the forest felt tampered with. Certain areas felt expanded on the inside, others had much more viscous animals than anything Phineus has run into yet.

  Stopping in front of one such area Phineus focused his perception on it entirely when he felt a tug on his spirit. It didn’t hurt per say but it did startle him out of his concentration.

  Stopping what he was doing Phineus looked inward searching his body for where the sensation was coming from.

  He found the origin coming from deep within, a part of himself he never knew existed pushing out trying to be free.

  Phineus honed in on it, the feeling came instinctively like operating a limb he’s had his whole life and with a gentle push, Phineus released.

  The next second Phineus started to glow even more but it wasn’t divinity, the glow condensed in his front until it leapt off him taking the shape of a Deer.

  It moved by itself elegantly prancing around the clearing yet with every step, every twitch and pulse was Phineus in control. Turning around the deer and boy locked eyes and Phineus stared at himself.

  He lifted his hand and the deer stopped, not because he commanded it but rather it recognized his intent. Looking closer the deer was an exact copy of the one he hunted earlier except it was completely see through.

  Where its hooves met the ground there was no pressure, or shadow. It wasn’t alive, not really just an echo of what was.

  Its body swirled in waves of pure moonlight, some parts becoming thicker while others started to fade a presence that was both alive and not, ethereal yet tangible, both separate and yet entirely him.

  Phineus closed his other senses, shunting the forest and wind, and focused entirely on the deer.

  He felt his perspective change the deer was no longer just an entity it was an extension of himself. Every twitch of muscle, shift of legs came from him. A few wobbled steps soon became a steady strut, letting his instincts take over Phineus took off running.

  Phineus dashed through the moonlit forest, leaving an unbroken train of silver light in his wake and he laughed.

  As he ran he felt his consciousness start to blur, his thoughts slipped through his fingers replaced by the sensation of hooves pounding against the forest floor.

  The forest bent around him responding to his every whim, his laugh was carried away by the wind, all he could hear was the rustle of leaves.

  He kept running until he no longer remembered where he was going, every movement was instinct, no time for thought.

  The moonlight reached out wanting to join the fun and Phineus accepted. His thoughts turned into a haze as the silver glow intensified.

  A part of him tried to call out, grab any awareness it could, but it was fading. Slipping further and further away with every stride.

  The forest whispered words of belonging and adventure, coaxing him deeper into its embrace.

  A part of him called out in warning, a small desperate plea, but it was too late as Phineus felt his conscious drift off into the silver of the moonlight