Welcome to the Highwilds

Book 3 – The Trogoat, coming soon.

Above the valleys of Paimus rise the Highwilds.

Great mountains climb through the clouds.

Narrow paths twist along rocky cliffs.

And from the highest peaks, almost all of Paimus can be seen below.

Almost.

Because sometimes the clouds hide something.

On certain mornings, when the mist clears, travellers have reported seeing ancient stone shapes high among the mountains.

Walls.

Steps.

Perhaps even buildings.

Then the clouds return…

and they disappear.

Owlix once tried to reach them.

He flew high above the mountains, towards the ancient shapes in the distance.

But before he reached them, the clouds rolled across the peaks.

Walls vanished.

Steps disappeared.

And when the mist finally cleared…

there was nothing there.

Owlix searched from the air for a very long time.

He never found them again.

So who built something so high above Paimus?

And more importantly…

how did they get there?

Beneath the Highwilds…

Most animals know the paths that cross the mountains.

Far fewer know what lies beneath them.

Hidden among the cliffs are cave entrances leading deep into the Highwilds.

Some tunnels are narrow.

Others open into enormous chambers where even the smallest sound can echo through the darkness.

There are underground streams.

Passages that twist beneath the mountains.

And places where the rock suddenly gives way to something much stranger.

Stone steps.

Steps that no river could have carved.

Steps that descend farther than anyone has followed.

There are markings on some of the walls.

Old ones.

And deep beneath the mountains, travellers have whispered about enormous stone doorways that appear to lead…

somewhere else.

Most Highwilds animals stay well away from the caves.

But long ago, there was one Paimul who knew them better than anyone.

He was part goat.

Part troll.

A Trogoat.

His friends called him Grot.

While others climbed across the highest ridges, Grot preferred travelling beneath them.

And because of that, he discovered paths through the Highwilds that nobody else knew existed.

Perhaps even a path to those ancient structures above the clouds.

So maybe Owlix was asking the wrong question.

Perhaps the mystery isn’t…

how did they get so high?

Perhaps it is…

where do those steps below lead?

That…

is another Tale.