The Heir of King Meldh, Chapter I, Reading 8

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.

Flindra needed some reference point to anchor her mind and she instinctively thought about her Papa.  Eghero had always made her feel so safe and protected.  As a child, she would always reach for his hand when she was afraid.  His hands were large-boned and strong, working hands.  Flindra knew that despite their strength, his hands could touch with unsurpassed gentleness.  Almost as if Eghero reached for her across the barrier placed between them by his death, the visions stopped and her thoughts were no longer trapped within the crystal.

Although she was free of the crystal, her body was consumed with dizziness.  It was as if the pace and shape of her vision still controlled her reality.  Wisely, she didn't fight the vertigo but let it pass through her.

She slowly became aware of the position of her body as she sat on her boulder chair.  The roughness of the rock was starting to penetrate the thickness of her cloak and skirt.  She heard the calls of the great migratory birds as they rested on the lake.  The rising breeze blew a lock of her hair across her face and she pushed the strand behind her ear.  All the mundane details of her surroundings anchored her mind back to reality.

Flindra knew that she had brushed against a power, which she couldn't comprehend, must less command.  Whatever the power of this crystal, she knew that she wasn’t ready for it yet.  She also stored in her heart the knowledge of how much help and comfort could be derived from her love for her family.

Bowing her head in reverence she whispered, "Thank you, Spirit, for giving me to my family.  I have known so much love and comfort with them.  Thank you for sharing that with me.  Thank you."

She put the crystal orb back in the pouch and pulled the drawstring closed.  She put this and the others back in the larger bag.  Standing, she brushed the dirt from her cloak and started back home.  There was much to tell her mother.  She hoped there would be a hot cup of tea waiting for her.