The Kite Climber

By J.M. Ney-Grimm

An army poised for battle. A hamlet of innocent villagers in the wrong place at the wrong time. A young kite climber who seizes a ridiculous chance...

 

The troll-lord's army abducts young Andraia and forces her to serve as a kite climber—a girl light and nimble enough to climb the tethers of the great war kites, and clever enough to relay the report from each scout stationed aloft.

 

But when Andraia sees her home village sitting squarely before the army's intended charge, she knows she must lie and—more importantly—make the cruel officer supervising the kite climbers believe her lie.

 

Since at least one climber will tell the appalling truth, Andraia needs more than mere ingenuity to outwit him.

 

Amidst the brutality and violence of the troll-horde, Andraia must learn that even a vulnerable and frail ally can sometimes deliver the wining blow in a fight. If she fails, everyone she loves will die as the troll chariots crush her home.

 

The Kite Climber is a fairy tale of Old Giralliya brought to vivid life. If you enjoy appealing characters, fantasy worlds that feel real, and high stakes, you'll love J.M. Ney-Grimm's story of a young teen mixing genius with daring in a desperate bid to save her friends and family.

 

Buy The Kite Climber to claim audacious courage today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Ney-Grimm
• Release date: Aug 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201087852

J.M. Ney-Grimm

J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's learning about permaculture gardening and debunking popular myths about food. The rest of the time she reads Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lois McMaster Bujold, plays boardgames like Settlers of Catan, rears her twins, and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands. Look for her novels and novellas at your favorite bookstore—online or on Main Street.

Book preview

The Kite Climber

or How the Troll-horde Came to Overrun the Isle of Fiors

~ A TALE OF OLD GIRALLIYA~

by J.M. Ney-Grimm

THE KITE CLIMBER. Copyright © 2019 J.M. Ney-Grimm.

The Kite Climber

was first published in the collection

Tales of Old Giralliya

Cover design:

James at GoOnWrite.com

Table of Contents

All History Spoken

The Kite Climber

or How the Troll-horde Came to Overrun the Isle Fiors

Bonus Tidbits

Author Bio

More Titles by J.M. Ney-Grimm

In memory of my mom,

who loved the fairy tales of Giralliya

when the first few appeared on my blog

All History Spoken

In the long ago days of Old Giralliya, all history was spoken, not written, and the fallible memory of later ages let the chronicle of events slip into the realm of fairy tale.

Hear now one of the ancient stories as the wisewomen of prehistory once recounted it.

The Kite Climber

or How the Troll-horde Came to Overrun the Isle of Fiors

In the days before it was conquered by the then-nascent Giralliyan Empire, the Duchy of Alsaunesse was ruled by a warrior mage, and his station was signified by his possession of a magical orb.

Dubbed a lodestone, the orb was a flattened oval of matte-black stone about the size of a woman’s palm, said to have been forged by a great inventor from mythical Navellys. The lodestone conferred an extra boost to the duke’s magical powers, which was fortunate because a string of hot springs that boiled in the heartlands of the duchy acted as both blessing and curse to the realm.

In blessing, their waters healed rashes and fevers. In cursing, they boiled over at intervals to flood the land and kill its plants and animals with their heat.

Only