Courage: A Cozy Fantasy Novel of Ancient Trees and Long Answers (The Ballad of Elderbark Book 1)

Tobin Thistledown has sixteen days, a four-day walk, and one question he is far too embarrassed to say out loud. So he goes and asks a tree instead. Deep in the Wildwood, where no path holds for anyone not wearing the golden acorn, stands Elderbark: a treant so old that the forest has grown up around him twice over. The Thistledown family has been walking out to him for generations, and the rules have never changed. You carry rainwater the last of the way yourself. You put your hand on the great crossing root. You ask one question. And then you wait, and it is rude to fidget. Tobin's question is Were you ever afraid? Elderbark answers immediately. Then he wanders off. A wren who drove a hawk off her nest. A seed that took hold in bare stone and grew crooked rather than not at all. A stuttering boy walking a night wood alone to fetch help for his father. A doe that stood at a flooding ford for a whole day before she crossed. Seven evenings of stories that go everywhere except where Tobin wants them to go — until the last night, when the circle closes, and the year the sky turned orange finally arrives. And Tobin still has four days' walk home, and the Lantern Fair, and a word he has never once managed to say out loud. What kind of book this is A complete story in one volume. One question, one answer, no cliffhanger. Low stakes, high warmth. No chosen one, no war, no grimdark. Nothing here will keep you up for the wrong reasons. Stories inside stories — fables and tall tales told at a small fire, in the old read-aloud tradition. A quiet coming of age about the difference between not being afraid and going anyway. For readers of cozy fantasy and slice of life fantasy: gentle magic, wholesome fantasy adventure, found family, forest and nature magic, talking trees and ancient guardians, folklore and fairy tale retellings, feel-good fantasy for adults, bedtime story fantasy, standalone fantasy novels, a cozy autumn read for a blanket and a hot drink. If you loved sitting on the floor while somebody older took the long way round to the point, the path will find you. Courage is Book One of The Ballad of Elderbark. Free to read with Kindle Unlimited.