I really like the way this is going-- I see what you did; I thought he'd stayed in the forest but it was a flashback to another time. By the description, I like that little secret place with the spring too.
It's hard for me to resist any anti-gravity or levitation, so I'd say the 'floating' deer sounds more complicated but utterly intriguing as a direction for the story. Great job writing these chapters, I'm enjoying them.