Chapter Five, Reading 5-7

The descent from the mountains was easy and Flindra soon found herself looking across the barren landscape of the Northern Reaches. This was a desolate land and there was very little vegetation. There were patchy grasses growing low to the ground with an occasional bent and tortured pine punctuating the horizon.
The crystal orb still prompted her to continue in a northeasterly direction through this bleak landscape. The wind still howled from the north so she had to keep her face turned down and to the side to escape the worst of the icy blast. Deru also carried his head to the side and she had to use the pressure of her legs to keep him going in the proper direction.
By late afternoon, Flindra had seen no signs of a dwelling. She had hoped she could have reached Kewero before nightfall. She wasn't looking forward to sleeping out in the open tonight. It was dangerous to stay out too long in this kind of cold and wind.
The numbing cold had gotten worse as the afternoon had progressed. Flindra wiggled her toes in her boots in an effort to keep them warm. Her bones ached from the daylong exposure to the frigid wind. She was aware that Deru also suffered in the cold. His steps were growing stiffer by the hour.
"If we don't stumble across the old woman soon we're going to have to seek shelter from this wind," Flindra said as she reached forward and stroked Deru's neck.
Darkness approached and it became very apparent they would not reach Kewero this day. Flindra needed to find wood for a fire and preferably some shelter from the wind. She finally found a tree that had been blown over. This would provide wood for her fire and a little protection from the wind.
Flindra loosened the girth of the saddle but left it on to give Deru some protection from the wind. The saddle would also keep the blankets from blowing off. She put the last of her grain in the feed bag, put it over his nose, and let him seek what shelter he could find from the north wind.