As the night progressed, Flindra continued to follow the directions of
the crystal sphere. It guided her
west and then north so by dawn she was at the northwestern perimeter of the
great boulder field. Ahead of her
was the place where the Greyfell Mountains met and were absorbed by the larger
range named the Great Barrier Mountains.
The Great Barrier Mountains ran roughly north south for the length of
the continent and provided a geographic barrier between Ostar and
Wesperos. Flindra had never heard
of a pass through the mountains here and wondered how she would complete her
quest to find her way to the Northern Reaches. The crystal indicated that she should continue due north so
she accepted the crystal's advice on faith. The orb seemed to be a tool of the Spirit so she trusted its
directions.
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.
