Zephnos' Story Part 2: Abandoned

It didn't take long for me to learn more about the Dark Forest.
Life in the Forest never got any easier. Every day I'd see a new creature. Things that could climb trees, or fly, or dig or run. I would try to set up camp in a safe place, only to discover it was occupied when I returned later in the day. Initially, the creatures seemed out for my blood. I had to fight for the right to live in the Forest, and the current residents weren't going to let me off easily. Thankfully, I had a magical affinity for plants, which I used to hide myself on multiple occasions. It also kept me fed, until I was able to make tools to make traps for hunting other creatures. During my years in the Forest, I even saw other satyrs, but they weren't like me. They were dumb, cruel and ravenous. They ate anything they could get their hands on and attacked me multiple times, acting exactly like animals. Any attempts I made to communicate with them ended in failure, and I began to crave some form of intelligent company.
Time passed, and I created a home, hidden by plants and centered in the root system of a gigantic tree. For a while, things were calm. I would pass the time exploring the Forest. I witnessed many amazing things in the Forest. One day I'd find a part of the forest completely flooded by water, and had to jump from root to root to get around. The next I'd find a nest of giant spiders high up in the canopy, its denizens staring down at me with unblinking eyes, waiting for me to fall into a snare. I even found a dying tree once, wounded with numerous gouges in its trunk, surrounded by thousands of moonflowers lighting up the area with a lunar radiance. Another day I found my home surrounded by creeping vines which grew back as fast as I cut them and strangled the other plant life.
I eventually came to realize that locations in the Forest moved around nightly. A location I had visited before might have moved the next day, but I never saw it occur myself, only witnessed the effects. This made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to map the Forest. I learned to store food deep underground where other creatures couldn't smell it, and grow fresh berries and other plants when I could. Thankfully, my satyr abilities helped me here, since I could force plants to grow faster if I needed to.
And then one day I saw the purple flame again.
For a long time, I simply stared. I'd been avoiding thinking of the Campgrounds and the Salamander. But, now that it was in front of me, not a thought entered my head. Then, a single word echoed through my horned skull: home. I took one step forward. Then another. Then a third. Without even realizing, I began to run, shifting into the natural bound my legs had learned so easily. In seconds I cleared the distance between me and the Campgrounds, its purple glow spreading wide, like a mother welcoming its child to her bosom. I began to laugh, tears streaming down my face. Abandoned, but not anymore.
Too late I saw the flame coiling out of the central fire.
It struck me mid bound before I even entered inside the clearing, sending me hurtling back into the Forest. I bounced off a tree trunk and hit the ground hard, all air knocked out of me. As I struggled to catch my breath, other alien thoughts invaded my head, screaming at me to stop. Every part of my head now rang with indignation and rage, but it was not my own.
I finally managed to regain my breath. Turning back towards the Campgrounds, I blinked in surprise. It was farther off than I had expected, even given the explosive launch. I picked myself up and began to walk back towards the Campgrounds. Watching the central fire from a distance, I couldn't help but feel like it was reciprocating the interest. Why had it hit me?
I reached the edge of the firelight. The central fire was a threateningly roiling vortex, and the Salamander was nowhere in sight. Once again, otherworldly thoughts burned through my skull, dragging me back to the depths of the Forest, away from the luminescence of the fire. I resisted, and stared. So I couldn't return, just as the Salamander had said. A piece snapped into place: I couldn't enter the firelight. But it wasn't just a compulsion. Given the force that I had been launched with, I doubted the fire was the cause. I had been hit too hard and thrown too far. It seemed almost like the Campfire physically ejected me from its light, like what happens when two magnets with the some polarity meet.
"So I can't get in. But I think I know who can." I stared deeply into the roaring fire, Just like before, I felt my mind being pulled into it. I began to see shapes. I heard whispers, barely audible over the crescendo of thoughts searing through my mind. After an eternity, I tore my eyes away from the Salamander's flame. Reluctantly, I stalked back into the Forest.
I was a creature of the Forest. Not even the Salamander can change that.