Chapter V, Reading 1

Flindra slowly became aware of the cold. She woke up a little more and remembered where she was, and more importantly, she realized her fire was nearly out. She reached for some small twigs from her stockpile and placed them on the glowing embers. Hungry flames sprang up and started to devoir the twigs. Flindra added more sticks to the fire and forced herself to relax in the growing warmth for her muscles had gotten stiff in the icy cold of the cave.

Outside of the cave, the wind howled like some crazed beast as it whipped the snow in constantly changing directions. Flindra could tell by the diffused light that it was day outside, but it was impossible to determine what time of day it was. Not that it mattered for she couldn't leave the cave until the storm ended.

She got up and walked over to Deru. He was sleeping peacefully and appeared to be just fine. The empty feedbag was still over his nose. He awoke and his ears pricked up as she removed the feedbag. He nuzzled her hand to see if she had any edible morsels in her palm.

"That tickled," Flindra protested as she scratched beneath his forelock.

He pushed against her chest and was obviously trying to communicate.

"I bet you're thirsty," she answered. "I really should have thought of that before."

The rock in the back of the cave had several depressions, one of which would make a suitable basin. She poured some water into the depression. He immediately started to slurp up the water and emptied the basin several times, as Flindra refilled it. When he was finished, she gave him a pat and returned to her fire.

Flindra sat cross-legged on the ground before the fire and wrapped her sleeping furs about herself. She continued to feed the hungry flames while she remembered her dream. The crisp intensity of the memory of her night vision filled her with awe. She knew there wouldn't be anything there, but she couldn't keep her eyes from drifting to the spot across her fire where King Meldh had been seated in her dream. The ground was bare of all but her footprints, but she couldn't help but feeling as if she had truly been visited.

When the fire had warmed her sufficiently, she took off her gloves and looked down at her hand and the eagle ring she had dreamt was named Rigga.

"Could it be true?" she thought to herself. The ring was a beautiful piece of jewelry but it didn't appear to be anything more than that. She shook her head at her reaction. All that had happened to her in the last few days told her she needed to hold fast to her faith. Why should she doubt her dream and the power of the ring?

Just as she had practiced in her dream, she closed her eyes and imagined herself suspended in purple. Slowly, the blackness behind her closed lids turned to a deep amethyst. She opened her eyes and continued to concentrate on holding the vision of the color. The power shield was clearly discernible, but unlike in her dream, the aura about herself was invisible.

She closed her eyes and continued to practice with the power shield. She wove the imaginary purple nimbus around herself into a tight, impenetrable shield. The shield would be stronger than the most durable steel and as unyielding as solid rock. Flindra knew the reality of her vision and felt the tangible power when she opened her eyes. A glance to the ring showed that Rigga glowed in violet intensity. The tarnish on the silver had disappeared, revealing the brightness of the metal.