How Bloodhook’s Treasure was Found (and Lost Again)

A place where bright gemstones are gathered like sand.

The great hoard of Bloodhook, hidden from all,

Until a brave usul heard its siren call.

Hannah reclaimed a jewel from its lord and his curse.

But the story you don’t know: she wasn’t the first.

Many years passed, on a midwinter day

The skies filled with fog, foreboding and grey.

But two kyriis, undaunted, walked down to the beach

To see what surprises the tide brought in reach.

Focused, the older boy’s eyes scanned the land.

His small sister, wobbly, held tight to his hand.

These children, their parents struggled to care for.

There was food on their table, but never much more.

On Krawk Island, so many share the same life:

Patches on breeches, hard work and strife.

But the joy of the wind as it races the sea,

Its strength and its beauty would always be free.

That day, among scattered strands of seaweed

The young boy noticed the shine of a bead.

He didn’t know a sapphire had caught his eye,

Only that it was lovely when held to the sky.

“It’s for you,” he said, giving his sister the prize.

“The colour’s the same as the blue of your eyes.”

If this young kyrii had raised up the alarm,

An army of hunters, each with shovel armed

Would have burrowed through every square inch of the beach

to uncover the treasures still hiding beneath.

This kyrii was moments from riches and fame,

But for love of his sister, we don’t know his name.

Bloodhook’s sapphire now rests in a cardboard box,

Beneath a young kyrii’s bed, along with strange rocks,

Chipped bits of seaglass, driftwood shaped like an S,

And everything else that his sister loves best.

The gem’s value in gold has never been measured,

But no piece of treasure has been so well treasured.