Chapter Three, Reading # 27

"Stop it," she scolded herself when she got to the lake. "Use your head, Flindra. Enough of these tears." She pulled Deru to a halt and bowed her head. "Beloved Spirit, be with me and guide my steps. Help me to keep from feeling sorry for myself and drowning in my own tears." She took a deep breath. "Let it be so."
Deru was anxious to get moving so he turned around and nibbled at her boot. He commonly did that as a way of saying it was time to move. Flindra actually smiled as she let him walk on. She rode quietly through the towering pines of the forest bordering the lake. She could smell the pungent odor of the thick mat of fallen needles on the forest floor. With every muffled step of her horse's hooves, she drew farther away from her home. Every step beat out a steady rhythm of a mournful song that spoke the sorrow of her heart.
The loss of her home and her family opened a vast vault of loneliness and despair within her heart. Never had Flindra experienced such intensity of emotion. She used this intensity, this pain, to keep her mind focused on her task. It was a knife blade that cut through the numbness of grief.
If an enemy knew her whereabouts, it would be probable that they would attack close to her home. She remained vigilant and wary. Her tension was translated through her body to the horse and he also scanned the countryside with alert ears.
By mid-afternoon, Flindra began to focus on her task of finding Kewero. Leudh had given her some basic instructions on how to find the Northern Reaches. She needed to travel along the western flanks of the Greyfell Mountains to a great boulder field and then make her way over an unnamed pass and thus through the mountains. To the east of the great range was the barren area known as the Northern Reaches.
Flindra was well equipped for her journey. She wore a dark green tunic that was lined with soft woolen fleece. Her brown trousers were made of thick wool cloth that had been boiled before the garment was made. Stout leather boots protected her feet and lower legs. A fur-lined cloak in the same dark green as her tunic added more warmth. In addition, the dark green blended well with the background of the forest.
Leudh had given her a fine yew bow and a quiver of arrows as a parting gift. Both her father and Leudh had spent a great deal of time instructing her in the art of archery. Over the years, she had developed an unerring accuracy with the weapon and was quite capable of defending herself with it.
They had taught her to use a knife effectively as well, both in a fight and as a throwing weapon. Flindra had several daggers hidden in her clothing - one in her boot, another in a sheath suspended by a cord and hanging between her shoulder blades, and a third tucked into her belt.