
A short story taken from the Fighting Words charity collection, BEYOND THE STARS, written and illustrated by two of the most outstanding talents in children’s fiction today When Fleece, one of the foot soldiers of the valiant Hibernian Army, whose cowardice is a constant source of guilt, is sent to battle the demons of the Fomorian Empire, he becomes the accidental Hero of Drumree. But Fleece’s weapons have always been words, not swords, and his newfound status leaves him with an unexpected feeling, presenting him the most difficult decision of his life – revealing to him the true meaning of bravery.
Author

Derek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script. He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List. Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.