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About the Book
In a land full of forests, oceans, and small people, what will it take for one young girl to make it home alive?
Lord of the Rings meets Narnia in this standalone middle-grade fantasy by author Kandi J Wyatt.
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Keep reading for an excerpt:
Incessant chattering reached Tania’s ears, along with bone-chilling cold on her back and great warmth on her face. It took a moment before she realized that the sound contained words.
“Say! What is this? Is it a man? Is he hurt? Say, he’s a she! Look at that beautiful hair! It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before! Wow, what would Fil say about that? Even the Avarians don’t have hair that shade of blond.”
Tania tried to move away from the cold underneath her, but she had no energy. Instead, she opened her eyes.
“I say, are you awake?” A brown, hairy face looked down at her. Deep brown eyes expressed concern.
Tania blinked and struggled to a sitting position. She rubbed a wet hand across her aching forehead. “How could I sleep with all that chatter? And Mom and Dad say I talk too much! I wish they could meet you.”
“Mom and Dad?” The man glanced around the wooded riverbed. “Where are they? Are they near here?”
Memories flooded back. Tania hung her head. “No. I … I don’t think so. I don’t know for sure.”
“You don’t know for sure? Why ever not?”
“I … I … I was on the boat. Mom tried to warn me, but the next thing I knew, I was in the water.” Tania wiped at her eyes but only managed to get her face wet. A shiver ran down her body. She climbed to her feet.
At first, she thought she’d landed in a state park because the only place she’d ever seen such clean woods had been in Honeyman State Park in Oregon. Next, she wondered if she were dreaming. The man beside her stood no taller than any other kid in her fourth-grade class, and yet he didn’t look like a dwarf or a midget.
The man’s forehead wrinkled as he looked down the waterway. “This river surely wouldn’t have gotten that bad. I mean I’ve seen it pretty rough, but even the old-timers have never seen an accident where people turned up on the bank.”
“Oh, this wasn’t on a river. We were enjoying a vacation and went crabbing.”
“You were out on the ocean!” The little man sat back on his heels. “How’d you make it into the river and here?”
“Well, I did have my life jacket on.” Tania tried to adjust the bright orange vest.
“Lifejacket? What’s that?” The man’s bushy eyebrows disappeared behind his hair.
“Don’t you know anything? It’s this here.” Tania unzipped the jacket.
“Oh, I thought it was just your vest to keep warm. Like mine.” He looped his thumb through the armhole of his buckskin-like vest, then adjusted his dark brown shirt at the collar. He smoothed his brown, leather pants.
Tania stared up into the trees. Their boughs obscured the sky but let streams of sunlight through. “Do you have any idea where I am?”
“That, I can answer. Oh, where ever are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I’m Trilicius. You’re just a half-hours’ walk from Skioria, my home. Why don’t you come with me, I can find a place for you for the night, and then we can see about getting you back to your parents.”
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