The Isle of Hybra and its Many Wonders
I’d never heard of it, but something made me sit there in the dark and read it.
The Isle of Hybra sits at the northern-most tip of the Woods of Orna, across the sea. It is shrouded in mist, invisible to all. Only once every seven years can it be seen, but even then it is near-impossible to reach. Despite the mighty fingerstones rising from the water to create passage when it is visible, only a handful have ever reached the gleaming shores of the isle. Most meet their end in the watery depths between the lands.
From the mainland, the Tiraglas tower can be seen rising from the isle’s centre when Hybra is visible, and even through the mist, its green jewel walls can sometimes pierce the fog in the sunlight, blinding any who look for too long.
It is here that the mighty green serpent, Gadleg, is believed to reside.
My eyes scanned the next passage, and when I saw the mention of the Seelie Ruler, my breath caught in my throat. As I read the words, terrifying clarity settled in my stomach. I knew what I needed to do.
The Seelie Ruler has dominion over all serpents—all but one. Gadleg is beyond their control, and she is feared greatly for this fact. One drop of Gadleg’s venom is enough to stop the Seelie Ruler’s heart.
I clutched the book, staring down at it as my heart pounded in my chest. I stood up and carried it carefully back to my room, then got dressed and slipped the book into a satchel I found in the cupboard. I strapped on my bow and quiver, slid my dagger into its sheath at my hip, and strode out of the palace. The sky was a murky purple with the approach of dawn, and the seelie lands were completely still and quiet as I walked across flowering meadows, past the rapidly flowing river.
I was being followed, I already knew. Before I reached the treeline at the end of seelie land, I casually spun around and stared hard the guard who was doing a piss-poor job of remaining undetected.
“I’m going hunting,” I told him flatly, not voicing precisely what I’d be hunting for. “I’ll try and bring back a deer for the queen’s dinner.”
Realising his cover was blown, he licked his lips and hesitantly stepped closer. “I would be happy to accompany you into the forest, Prince Ash.”
Prince.I still wanted to snort at that, every time I heard it.
“I don’t need any help. Or company.”
The guard fidgeted nervously before straightening up and squaring his shoulders. “Lady Brid has requested—”
“I don’t need the company.” I shot him a wide, sharp grin. “So just tell the Brid that I’m quite happy going on my own.”
“Lady Brid has insisted that I—”
“I’ll shoot you if you follow me,” I told him flatly. I wouldn’t kill him, but I could take out his knees.
He paled and didn’t speak or move for a long moment. His voice was faint when he eventually said, “She will kill me if I return without you.”
I tamped down the guilt, quashing it, trying to see him as another of the Carlin’s guards. It was hard when he was staring at me with wide, fearful eyes—as if I was as bad as my mother.
“Then wait here until I come back,” I said, even though I potentially wasn’t coming back for a very long time. “But if I see you in the forest, I will shoot you. And Iwillsee you.”
I waited until he nodded hesitantly, then turned and strode into the forest without another word. Rather than heading straight for Nua and Gillie’s sidhe, I went in the opposite direction. Then I leapt up into a tree and waited.
That guard didn’t follow, but others did. For hours I waited, shooting the seelie guards I saw in the arms and knees to render them useless. I watched them limp or drag themselves back towards seelie land before moving even further away and waiting again.
When a long, fat snake slithered along the forest floor beneath me, I ignored the pang in my chest as I shot it in the head. I knew it was from the Brid. She controlled all snakes, and she’d told me herself she had spies in the forest.
Even once they all stopped coming, I waited for several more hours until it was nearly dark. Only then did I drop down and start creeping my way through the forest, pausing at every tiny sound, my bow and arrow ready.
By the time I reached Nua and Gillie’s sidhe, I was hungry and thirsty and stiff from sitting in the trees for so long. I knocked softly on the door and murmured, “It’s Ash.”
The door flung open a moment later, and then Nua was pulling me into his arms and squeezing me hard.
“Thank the gods.”
I hugged him back tightly, guilt churning in my stomach. Nua pulled me into the sidhe and closed the door. I gave Gillie a tentative smile as he approached.
“You’re alright, lad?” he asked, patting me on the cheek.
I nodded, biting my lip as I stared at them. From the corner of my eye, I could see my pallet of furs still tucked at the side of the living room. My pewter potioncraft cauldron. My notebook and pen and stack of books. They’d kept it all exactly as I’d left it. My eyes went hot.