Days later, Flindra looked across a vast, rock strewn plain. As far as she could see, there were rocks, boulders, and massive monoliths. She couldn't imagine what force of nature could produce such a collection of rock debris. It was if some gigantic force had hurled the rocks together. There was no order to the placement of the rocks. It was a jumbled mess, which would make crossing difficult.
It was late afternoon and the shadows were long and blue against the ground. The long shadows made the ground look as if there were gaping holes in the earth. Flindra suppressed a shudder as she looked across the boulder field. On an instinctive level, she felt uneasy.
"Guide my steps, Spirit," she prayed briefly. "Keep me safe," she added in a whisper.
Flindra loosened the reins and let Deru pick his own way. It wasn't long before he discovered a game trail winding through the rocks. The path was in the general direction of the pass so she let him continue on his chosen way.
The deepening shadows turned the massive stones into bizarre shapes and forms. Flindra was overcome by a nagging sense of danger. "Well Deru, I'm being a silly, little girl letting a bunch of rocks make me afraid. Leudh would laugh at me." Talking to the horse made her feel better but the fear didn't go away.
She made camp by a spring that bubbled from beneath a boulder. The water from the spring trickled into a depression in the underlying rock forming a natural basin. It was clean and clear and tasted refreshing. She had a long drink before she did anything else.
There was little grazing for Deru so Flindra slipped a feedbag over his nose. "Short rations for you tonight, Deru. Tomorrow should see us out of this and into the mountains. Hopefully, the snow will be shallow enough that you can dig your way to grass." She had enough grain to make it across the pass but she knew the horse preferred to graze.
No comments:
Post a Comment