Teen fantasy Ice Trekker by Pamela Kelt arrives on MuseItUp Publishing today.
It's an exciting adventure featuring myths, monsters and mayhem ... set in the icy wastes of Krønagar.
So, what's it all about?
The Grells of Hinderland face a bleak future.
Blackfrost, their last source of fuel, is running out. Food is scarce, jobs are hard to find, and worse … the greedy Minax under evil Empress Koya are threatening to invade from the south.
For the sake of his family, young Midge leaves his cosy home in search of a job and treks north to the mysterious icy wastes of Krønagar.
Set upon by Minax thieves, he misses out on his dream of working on the king’s new flagship, ending up as dogsbody on the Ice Trekker, a shabby cargo vessel that runs into trouble from the start, nearly capsized by an enemy vessel heading in the same direction …
Despite evil omens in the sky, monsters from the deep, desperate battles on land and sea, treachery on board and a constant struggle against the worsening weather, the crew presses on. Midge finds hidden strengths and learns to use every trick up his sleeve to survive.
But the Ice Trekker crew are not what they seem, and it’s not long before Midge is caught up on a suspicious, and desperate mission in uncharted Krønagar with the treacherous Minax on their tail …
Here's a short extract. A strange monster in the deep threatens Midge and the crew as they dodge the Minax ship ...
~
A few feet away, a giant pointed fin punctured
the surface, and then another, and another. A silver spiked tail, the size of a
main sail flicked the hull. A horrible tapering head lurched right out of the
water, and monstrous jaws, lined with rows of dandelion yellow teeth, snapped
at the air. Pairs of treacly black eyes glared right at him as scores of
horrible sea creatures powered toward them, mouths open.
“Spinos,” cried Kala. “Hold tight.”
Midge gaped at bristling spines and vicious
fangs writhing in the water, each fang almost as long as the Ice Trekker itself.
“Spinos?” he shouted, wondering if these
monsters had eaten his pa, which is why he’d never come back.
“What are they?”
“Spiny Pernicious Inter-Noculated
Obsidian-Crested Extra-Rhinocerated Serpents.” As she spoke, she lashed down
the water barrels with expert hands.
“What?”
“Spinoceros.”
“No, I still don’t...”
“Sea
lizards, you idiot,” bellowed Kala over the rushing noise of water churning
with feverish activity. “They’re scavengers. They go mad for scraps. The Minax did
this on purpose to bring them to the surface! They’ll eat anything. Oh-oh.”
Midge followed her gaze and saw the Solvestia lurch to one side. He saw the
uniformed crew dash about, pulling ropes and adjusting sails. With a horrible
crunch, another creature flung itself upward, to rip a piece out of the flagship’s
hull. Wood splintered as the vessel tilted further and slid down into the
churning foam. A whistle sounded. A scattering of lifeboats dropped overboard.
The crew members poured in, without a hint of panic. Working fast, the crew
pulled at the oars. The swell flung the tiny craft about in the choppy waters. Marksmen
wedged themselves fore and aft in each boat, gripping lightweight harpoons.
They aimed and fired every few seconds at any hungry sea lizard foolish enough
to get too near. After firing, they reloaded right away.
“They’ve sailed into a trap. We must help,”
cried Midge, straining at his rope.
Nastro shook his head. “Too risky. Look!”
It seemed to be getting dark. Midge peered
into the sky where thousands upon thousands of chalk-white herring Aurgels streamed
in tight V-formation toward the wake of the Soka
Lenna, yellow eyes fixed. They soon caught up with grey trail of dirty
smoke pouring from the ship’s funnel.
From the
opposite direction, a matching dark cloud of black Fetletts swarmed in, claws
outstretched in attack position, and soon the air was rent by terrible
shrieking as black and white feathers fluttered down. In a battle of the air, the
winged rivals pecked and dived and swooped at each other for the last scraps of
rotting cabbage, screaming and squawking, while wings and whole corpses splashed
into the waters, causing a frenzy below.
Midge turned back to what was happening to the
flagship. “There’s someone still on board!” He pointed to a neat figure
standing motionless on the prow. A glint of metal shone at his chest—his admiral’s
badge.
~
By Pamela Kelt
Visit Pam's blog and the companion website here.
