Chapter I, Reading 13

With a sigh of resignation, she went back to the task of examining the objects on her lap. The last bag was both the largest and the heaviest. Flindra opened it and found a crystal sphere, which fit neatly in the palm of her hand. The surface of the crystal was perfectly smooth and pleasurable to touch. As Flindra moved the sphere about, she saw colored light reflecting throughout the crystal.
The spectrum of colors was hypnotic and she lost herself within the sight. It seemed that all sensations were concentrated in the orb. She felt as if she was being pulled into and through a vortex of color. The colors intensified and surrounded her consciousness. She was lost in the colors until they blended to form a blinding white light. Her consciousness was pulled through the light and into the beyond.
An image of the face of an ancient woman then appeared to Flindra in the crystal. She heard a voice, but the sound didn't come from the crystal. Strangely, the voice echoed within her mind.
The old woman said, "I am Kewero, named for the Northwind. Seek me and learn the answers to the questions in your heart!"
The vision of the face faded and was replaced by a view of a lonely landscape. The land was empty save for a few bent and twisted trees. As she looked, Flindra could almost feel the touch of an icy wind, a wind that would smell of snow and winter. This place could only be the Northern Reaches, the desolate plains far beyond the Greyfell Mountains. She instinctively knew she would find the mysterious Kewero somewhere in the Northern Reaches.
The desolate landscape in turn faded from view. Now Flindra saw a battlefield with two great armies facing off. She could almost hear the shouts of men and the blasts trumpets and the staccato of hoof beats as the armies raced together to meet in combat. The scene shifted to show a closely tended garden. She caught a brief sight of roses and lilacs before the scene changed again.
The pull from the orb grew stronger. Flindra's mind was surrounded with a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of faces and places. She was overwhelmed by an all-consuming sense of vertigo as the vision slipped beyond control. The scenes were accelerating beyond her consciousness - she was losing her identity in the crystal's vision.