Through his cottage''s open window steps a forest cat.

"Come," says the cat. "They summon you."

It shames him, hearing the thoughts of beasts.

"No," he says.

Suddenly, though, imperial constables hunt him. He doesn''t know why. He flees from his village, up the great river, into the ancient forest, his only guides this cat and a feckless dog.

Atop a craggy mountain, an unseen Presence grips him. It''s immensely powerful. He must do its will.

He''s been bred, he learns, to sneak into the imperial city. He''s to steal. It''s not his choosing. He decides, though, to make this mission his own: to become free!

His only companion is that artless dog. But the dog loves him. And one day-in the ancient forest where oaks murmur-he must choose: save a people? Or save a dog?

Read Wil Deft for its beauty...and its terror!

PRAISE FOR WIL DEFT FROM A REVIEWER
Beginning with the narrator''s pitch perfect storytelling "voice", I was quickly captivated and constantly lured on....I loved the author''s choices of people and place names - ''Fishtown'' for the village, Wil Deft for the hero. This author manages to coax poetry from every descriptive turn of phrase....

FROM A SECOND REVIEWER
It started with a terrific hook - who can resist a talking cat sent to deliver a message? It starts off strong and just continues that way.

PRAISE FROM READERS...
This is a wonderful tale! Intriguing. Imaginative. Complex...a very talented and masterful writer and teller of dramatic tales...people will find this little-known story to be as satisfying and intricate a drama of good and evil as the classics (The Hobbit comes to mind.)-Jay B. Cutts-5 Stars.

The author has totally nailed the corgi personality - totally driven by his desire for connection with his person...a fun and interesting page-turner-David Schaldach-4 Stars.

Wolkomir''s characters are memorable, especially Tobi, the corgi, who epitomizes all loyal dog characteristics. Lal, the cat, was true to her kind as well.-Ellen Miller-4 Stars

AND OTHER READERS SAID...
... wonderful scene-painting: mundane Fishtown, the cobblestoned streets, the glow seeping through closed shutters, and above all the sinister bulk of the imperial ship blocking out the lights of the neighboring town, all spring into reality before us. Impressive work. -Cairo, Egypt

We like this lonely kid with a decent heart, a distracted brain, just a few coins, and a battered old boat....-Santa Fe, New Mexico

...charming well-balanced prose, unexpected and delighting imagery (his hair needed a licking, determined the cat), perfect pacing and immediate suspension of disbelief...character''s names are easily pronounced, creating instant association, and their personas are shaped almost invisibly with an expert choice of few words. I want MORE...and I want it NOW! -Long Beach, California

Any writer who can suck a reader into a fantasy with convincing characters and bizarre situations that seem perfectly normal has a true gift....Yet, it is the language with which the story is written that sets it apart....Move over your treasured copies of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and make room for Wolkomir. -Waitsfield, Vermont

From the very first sentence I was hooked....The characters were instantly real-how many writers can do this?-inside a single sentence. -Albany, New York

I''m amazed at how very quickly I was drawn into Wil Deft''s mysterious world... a milieu of uneasy distrust and ominous foreboding. (Ah, but the barmaid offers hope!)-Virginia

...a world as believable as Tolkien''s. I read the first chapter last night and woke up thinking about the characters and their world. I loved what the dog says-we all know that''s what dogs would say, if we could only hear them...-the movie folks will want to do something with it. -Albuquerque, New Mexico