Lyris, thirteen, learns she's half Elven and must save her father's world of magical creatures from a vengeful goblin. It’s a destiny she never asked for and doesn’t want and she refuses her assignment until a heart-wrenching event changes her mind. She is then challenged to survive in a natural world without stores or cell phone coverage—let alone electricity or running water.
Priorities change when her human cousin Darla, who is there by mistake, falls in love with the debonair, human-looking goblin. Lyris needs to prove to her that he would not only ruin Dandelorn and the Earthworld but Darla’s life as well. But it will take more than magic to save her.
PURRCY'S DISCOVERY
Purrcy, a spunky orange cat, wakes up one morning restless and bored with his same toys and food and familiar routine. Excited to see something new, he asks his trusted dog pal Mobo what the great outdoors is all about. Mobo discourages him: A lady shoos him from her garden, Bully the dog starts fights, Horse kicks if annoyed, and so on. Worst of all, Mobo warns him, Coyote eats cats.
Purrcy is determined, and when he meets Bully, Horse, and the other animals in his rural neighborhood, he discovers that Mobo has some misconceptions about them. He heads for home to share all that he’s learned, only to encounter Coyote, whose experience in the wild teaches Purrcy a new perspective.
The ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, like noises in a swound.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Ever since her return to the Earthworld, Lyris has yearned to go back to Dandelorn—her father’s kingdom—the world that understands her past, where the rules are different, and her Elven sisters await her. But she learns that the trolls are up to their old tricks and have hexed a serpent that is trawling the sea and turning the water into glaciers and icebergs. Fearsome ogres are now crossing into Dandelorn, freezing whatever creatures they can find, and hunting for the strong: Lyris’s valiant sisters, Calliste and Maleri, who shepherd the innocents; the self-sufficient Indor dwarves who mine protective ores; and the resourceful gnomes who grow and distribute food to all.
It’s said that the power of the Ring of Egrain can lift the trolls’ curse, but the ring has been lost for centuries, and the written clues to its whereabouts are missing. Lyris begins her impossible search, and that’s when the trouble begins. Trolls and ogres jump on her trail. She discovers that the sea is home to dangerous reptiles. Worse of all, her brave sisters have disappeared. She knows that the kingdom will die if she can’t stop the ogres. But will her magical skills be strong enough to save it?