Grump & Rose
by Aaron Burdett
Trolls kill. Violence is as much a part of them as their arms, legs, and tusks. Everyone knows the troll Hunger, from drunk elves to righteous humans to greedy dwarves. Even the trolls of Blackwood Swamp embrace their Hunger, save the secondborn of the Bulderbags, Grump, who thinks of nothing of Hunger and everything of his goat and the sunny lands beyond their borders.
Grump never feeds his Hunger. He would rather feed his goat even if doing so brings shame to his proud family. As his murderous brother sets a brutal plan in motion, fate plucks Grump from his solitary life and plunges him into the middle of wizards, wars, and an old woman’s garden. Thrown into strange lands with even stranger people, Grump finds himself caretaker of a curious infant and companion to a goblin who promises Grump a wizard’s wish if he’ll carry the infant across the world to his mysterious master.
Reluctantly, Grump agrees. But when a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this deal could destroy the world.
Grump never feeds his Hunger. He would rather feed his goat even if doing so brings shame to his proud family. As his murderous brother sets a brutal plan in motion, fate plucks Grump from his solitary life and plunges him into the middle of wizards, wars, and an old woman’s garden. Thrown into strange lands with even stranger people, Grump finds himself caretaker of a curious infant and companion to a goblin who promises Grump a wizard’s wish if he’ll carry the infant across the world to his mysterious master.
Reluctantly, Grump agrees. But when a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this deal could destroy the world.