Flindra was aware that Deru needed to
rest before they could continue. At the
same time, she felt it was unwise to wait.
She compromised. Dismounting,
Flindra loosened the girth on the saddle.
Then she gathered the reins in her hand and started to walk, leading
Deru. To keep up her own strength she
nibbled on a piece of jerky.
She placed the crystal sphere in the
breast pocket of her tunic. Flindra had
noticed it got a little warm when it glowed.
She could feel the warmth through the pocket and could stay on the
correct path without always looking at the orb, which freed a hand for other
things.
At the foot of the mountains, Flindra
found a fast moving creek. She let Deru
take a long drink of the clear water.
She moved upstream of him and refilled her water bags. It was a little surprising to find the creek
here since she hadn't seen evidence of it out in the boulder field. The water must seep underground once it
intercepted the rock-strewn valley. That
could also explain the existence of the numerous springs she had encountered.
When she was ready to continue her
march, she pressed her hand against her tunic so she could feel the warmth of
the orb more distinctly. The crystal
indicated that she should proceed in a direction parallel to the creek and
directly up the mountain. After walking
a few yards, she discovered a faint trail alongside the creek. She could pick out numerous deer hoof prints
as she walked. There was no sign of
people having ever used this trail.
There were no blazes on the trees, which usually marked pathways, even
hunting trails.
Instead of warming up with the rising
sun, the day was getting increasingly colder and the wind was blowing
stronger. Flindra looked up to check the
sky for hints of any bad weather blowing in.
The sky was blue with distant clouds beyond the peaks. Even at this distance, she could see that the
clouds were moving south at a rapid clip.
There might be a storm moving in, but it was too early to tell.
The cold began to wear on her and she
wished the sun could reach her through the tree cast shade. Even a cold day felt warm if the radiant heat
of the sun could shine on one's clothes.
Flindra stopped and took a pair of gloves out of her saddlebags and gave
a silent thanks to her mother for the gloves and her warm cloak.
Flindra finally decided to ride again
for she was just too tired to walk anymore.
The night of horror and no sleep was adding to her fatigue. After tightening the saddle girth strap, she
mounted Deru and continued up the trail.
She pulled the hood of her cloak over her face and angled her head down
to help shield herself from the icy fingers of the wind.
She continued this way for several more
hours, glancing occasionally at the sky.
It was no longer blue and the clouds were getting darker and more
threatening in appearance. The wind also
carried the smell of snow.
Flindra knew that she had to find
shelter and had to find it quickly. She
took out the crystal sphere and checked it for direction. It still showed that she should continue north
- straight up the mountain.
"All right, we will keep following
this trail, but if I see anything more promising I'll go that way," she
muttered to herself. She still didn't
trust the orb entirely.
The wind was growing stronger and there
were now a few snowflakes being blown in from the north. The temperature was dropping precipitously.
Flindra knew she was in trouble. She looked at the orb again and saw that it
was directing her in an easterly direction.
Quickly reining Deru to the right, they started to the east. At least the wind was coming from the side
and not straight into her face.
There was no trail here and Flindra had
to guide Deru around fallen trees and boulders.
Snow was starting to collect on the ground, hiding fallen branches and
exposed roots. She had to go slowly to
avoid a fall, which could injure Deru or herself. The only positive thing about the snow is
that it would hide her passage from anyone who might be following.
She continued in this fashion for
another hour. Deru's steps were lagging
and his head was starting to hang. Ice
was forming in the whiskers around his nostrils. Flindra was huddled in the saddle, staring at
the crystal orb. Without warning, the
crystal stopped glowing. She moved it
from side to side without a change.
"There must some meaning to
this," she muttered to herself.
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