softling

He soon finds himself in an unlikely alliance with a human 'softling', Henwyn of Adherak--in reality the son of a cheesewright who has cast himself in the role of the hero who will rescue a princess from the evil giant.

Humans are 'softlings', the King has a 'Mr Chop-U-Up' sword, there are trolls, boglins, secret writing on a map, cloud maidens and much more that makes this a character driven story and an entertaining read.

And Chess thought about that, but still he talked--little cooings and softlings of words that had nothing to tell but love, as the sound of the anvil thundered over the land, louder than a boy voice or the roaring of a gun if one should roar.