by Ephie Risho
More information on this series can be found at:
theelementalists.net
Acknowledgments
We’d like to thank all the friends and family who helped us make this book a reality. It took way longer than we’d thought, and a lot of great people supported us along the way.
If there’s one individual to single out, it’s Jeff Pernell, who has been a huge support through every step of the process, reading first and later editions, giving a listening ear and advice not just to the storyline but to project planning, publishing and crowd-funding. Thanks, dear friend.
For early revisions, we’re indebted to Sam Risho, Jason Crawford, and Tayla Fazio for their feedback that helped turn the book from a kids’ short story to a full novel. We’d also like to thank Celia’s friends Ella, Analiese, Lily, and Matty for reading and giving their support of a later revision.
We appreciate our cover artist Stephan Martiniere, who did a fantastic job on short notice. And thanks to our inside illustrator Olena Bushana, who went above and beyond to get every scene right and who worked tirelessly on the map.
Special thanks to our developmental editor Ann Castro, who jumped in after we thought the book was nearly finished and turned it from a good story to a work of art. She helped us add layers of depth we hadn’t considered. She’s read the book all the way through probably five times over the course of ten months, and given advice from over-arching ideas to fixing that final comma.
We launched this book through a crowd-funding effort, and we thank all those who chose to support this book in that way. In particular, special thanks to Joseph Thiebes, Jason Moore, Lance Fisher, Ken, Daniel Lindquist, Taylor Riggle, Arwen & Reuben Cochran, Gary & Kelli Gannon, Timothy Dean, and Arioch Morningstar. We’re also thankful to family Tami, Ella, Elia, Eyon, Grandma Alla, and Grandpa Ron.
And of course, this book wouldn’t be possible without the loving support of Michelle and Joshua Risho, who sat with us at dinner times listening to our ideas and giving some of their own. They helped in so many ways, especially putting up with us when we disappeared into “story land.”
Finally we appreciate you, our readers, for your support. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to keep writing. As new authors, you are so important to us, reading, sharing the book with others, and giving us reviews online. Things like that go a long way to help us keep writing.
Author’s Note
We were able to publish this book in the way we wanted by self-publishing. During crowd-funding some people picked character names as a part of backing the project. These are the characters who inherited new, better names: Wix, Chandler, Kirsten and Ebeneezer.
Thanks for reading! Please add a short review on Amazon or Goodreads, and let us know what you thought.
To keep up with our progress on the next books in the series, visit theelementalists.net. Coming soon: Book 2 of The Elementalists series – Crodor the Ancient.
Till the next adventure!
Ephie & Celia Risho
Don’t miss the next exciting adventure in
THE ELEMENTALISTS
Series
An Army of Goblins
THE WIND RUSHED through Amber’s hair, whipping it about wildly and stinging her eyes to tears. The dense old-growth forest passed by quickly far below as the massive golden-red phoenix flapped its wings carefully, keeping her from falling off.
As she squinted and tried tucking her hair into her black-and-bright-yellow striped wool hat with one hand, she thought, Next time I ride, maybe a better designed hat and some eye protectors would be a good idea. And a saddle—or something better to hold onto.
She enjoyed the fact that the very phoenix that had burned her village a month earlier was now her friend, giving her a ride over the countryside. In that short span of time, Amber was already thinking about what they could do next to help her people, rather than reading a book at home, which is what she would have been doing before.
They approached tall craggy mountains, and Amber gazed in amazement at the perspective of the land below.
Villages and towns appeared small no matter how large they actually were. A gigantic mountain loomed on her right amidst the vast plains, and just beyond it a city with incredible stone walls and a castle with turrets. Even from that great height, the city was significant. That must be Lugo, she thought.
They circled the city once. Amber was impressed by the sheer number of people and the enormous towers and walls. Then the phoenix turned toward Sage’s mountain.
Some dark shapes were moving in the plains to Amber’s right, so she patted the phoenix’s right side and turned off-course. That was the sign the trio had worked out for letting the bird know where they wanted to go.
The phoenix kept its wings spread, catching a warm air current as it soared over the plains. Amber patted him twice with both hands, and the bird dropped lower, giving her a better look. Goblins!
There were five goblins traveling together, heading with what looked like a strong purpose toward a nearby town. She suddenly had a thought to investigate where they came from and turned directly to the east.
As she flew, she noticed other small groups traveling similarly. It was hard to tell whether they were goblins or not, but she noticed a pattern: they were all coming from a valley in the great mountains to her east, so she continued on.
The terrain changed from plains to foothills, and then to smaller mountains covered in trees. As the trees turned into dense forest it was hard to spot anything, but there was a large road that passed through the valley. Every once in a while she’d see another small group of three to eight traveling the road, much like the ones before.
She kept flying, partly curious and partly afraid of what she might see. The mountains all around at the thick of the pass were steep and snow-capped, then the next ones were shorter again and the terrain turned back into foothills.
As the trees thinned, she noticed a much larger group of moving shapes in an open area. She double-patted the phoenix again and flew in lower.
Close to a hundred goblins were moving together slowly over the plains, headed toward the main road through the mountains. They kept portable canopies above their heads to protect them from the sun.
She dipped even lower to get a closer look. The ugly green creatures were pushing large carts and appeared well organized compared to any of the goblins she’d seen before. Six much taller goblins spread out among them, looking more menacing and powerful—and not as stupid-looking.
One of the taller goblins saw her and shouted something. A goblin grabbed a crossbow, pointed it at her, and let a bolt loose. The phoenix moved abruptly to dodge the bolt, causing her to feel as if she was going to fall. Her heart leaped into her throat and she gripped the phoenix tightly, kicking it with her two feet.
The phoenix flapped its wings and rose up, with more bolts flying after it.
That was close! I can’t get that low again. And what were those big, tall goblin-creatures? Not normal goblins, that’s for sure.
She felt dread, realizing how difficult that group would be to take on compared to the smaller groups of goblins they’d encountered before.
They rose higher and higher, and then her heart sank as she saw more dark, moving forms in the distance. She squinted, then urged the phoenix to head toward them, dreading what she might see.
As they approached, she frowned.
It can’t be. There can’t be that many goblins.
Goblins, followed by more goblins, and then more again. There didn’t seem to be an end.
Thousands, Amber thought. There are thousands.
She did some mental math in her head. If there were around a hundred in that first group, then this was about fifty times that size. Five thousand! And it wasn’t just goblins. The tall, menacing goblin-creatures were spread throughout—and it looked like two giants in the middle.
She didn’t want to get too close this time for more details—but the giants stood at least three times higher
than the tall goblins. Probably twenty feet tall.
She circled above them, then tried to figure out how far they were from people. Depending on how fast a large number like that could travel . . . In a few days they could pass through the valley and come across the first villages, and nobody would survive. Then they would get to Lugo. And even a city of that size wouldn’t stand a chance.
Three dark creatures rose up from the mob and flapped toward her. She squinted—from her height it was hard to make out, but they were larger than imps and definitely heading her way. Gargoyles, perhaps?
She didn’t want to wait around to find out. She lowered her head and turned back toward the north.
As she passed over the thickly forested, mountainous countryside, she continued to see even more goblins—traveling in smaller groups, less than five.
Then it finally hit her: These aren’t just some random goblins. They’re scouts.
TO BE CONTINUED