The Kite Climber

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

Excerpt

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 the greatest of magicks—greater than those possessed by any mage—could hold the floods in check, so the duke had need of his lodestone.

The lineage of the dukes of Alsaunesse favored magery, and