*happy dance* I'm so excited!!! I've been dying to write these next few chapters. Everything that happens in them will be extremely important. Plus, we'll be getting into a few more details that makes this a Snow White retelling. I hope you guys enjoy!!
I had hoped for a warm fire. Maybe a friendly face or two. What I hadn't expected was the stench of death, or deafening silence.
The town next to the entrance of the mine could hardly be called that. It was simply a collection of wooden huts with a bathhouse and a supply store. Big enough to fit the miners and any family that wished to stay comfortably, but still small enough to walk around the whole thing and see the other side easily.
Or, it would've been. As Beck and I approached, it was clear that something was horribly wrong. Normally, one could hear the miners before they saw them, especially since night had fallen and their day's work was done. They normally would be drinking and laughing, maybe one of them would play a lively song on a flute. But it was clear now that there would be no more drinking or laughing for them anymore.
"Oh my god . . . " I breathed, carefully stepping around the body of a fallen miner. His sightless eyes seemed to follow me as we walked. Beside me, Beck said nothing but had already taken out his axe.
"Stay close to me," Was all he said. I didn't need to be told twice, and put my hand on the hilt of my dagger. It did little to calm the fear that dug its claws into my heart, but the knowledge that I had something steadied my shaking hands.
There was little snow under our feet, so the blood simply sunk into the dirt and made an icy, metallic mud that sucked at my boots every time I stepped. Bodies littered the ground. Some had weapons, most had fear in their eyes that seemed still palpable in the air. All looked like they had been brutally killed by a savage animal.
"This had to be Snow," I murmured, bending down to get a closer look at one of the bodies. I fought the rising bile in my throat, and tried to ignore the fact that the body was that of a boy barely over sixteen. If he had been mutilated anymore so than he was already, I would've mistaken him for Theo. "The marks are the same. But why would she do this?"
"For food maybe?" Beck suggested. But I shook my head.
"None of these bodies were drained. So either she did it just because she could or . . ."
"Or she was scared," He finished. Sighing, he gripped his axe tighter. "I'm going to check the rest of the building, just to be sure. You stay here."
I stood up quickly. "Check for what? Survivors?"
"Among other things." He walked off.
"Figures," I murmured, pulling my cloak tighter around myself. Now that I was in the shadow of the mountains, the cold seemed worse. The discovery of all the dead miners did little to keep it at bay. I shivered. Once I dealt with Snow I would have to give all these men and women proper burials, and tell their families. But what could I tell them? The truth? That their loved ones were butchered by a monster and it was my fault? That their beloved princess was the monster that did the deed?
Yeah, that would go over well.
Minutes passed. Or hours. The shadows started the lengthen and get deeper, blacker. I squirmed in my boots, torn between calling out to Beck or just going to find him. But some idiotic, irrational fear kept me in my spot. Beside the body of a nameless boy who died much too soon. The silence was as thick as the shadows. Like a suffocating fog, it threatened to blanket everything out except my ragged breathing.
'Beck, where are you?'
"Maris!"
I barely stifled the scream that threatened to crawl up my throat. Furious, I whirled around to face the owner of the voice. It hadn't been Beck since he still hadn't called me by my name since Amelia's inn, but I was still irrationally surprised to see a face other than his. Even more so when it was revealed to be Tristan's.
"Tristan!" I exclaimed. "What are you . . . Why are you here? How?"
"Not happy to see me, then?" He asked, laughing a little. He looked odd and uncomfortable bundled up in furs. His neck was also bandaged but that was all that gave away that he was injured.
"The last time I saw you, you were on death's door," I told him.
"I guess she was busy then. Maybe with this . . ." He gestured to the whole village, his eyes darkening.
"Tristan, what are you doing here?" I asked him again, pulling his gaze away from the dead and back to me. "And how did you get here?"
"When I awoke I heard you had left with the Huntsman," He explained. "I couldn't leave you alone with that beast, not out here. And I'll have you know, I ran my horse near to death to catch up to you two."
I shook my head, flabbergasted. "You shouldn't be here,"
"Neither should you," Tristan countered. "What were you thinking, traveling with the Huntsman?"
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Tristan laughed. "Maris, do you have any idea what kind of man he is?"
"Do you?" I shot back, anger swelling inside me. "He's done nothing but protect me, Tristan. I didn't ask for him to come with me, he insisted. Beck is a good man."
"You've known him, what? All of two days?"
"And in that time he's done exactly what he promised."
"Oh, I'm sure he has," Tristan shook out his cloak angrily, flinging snow and mud everywhere. "It doesn't matter, we're going home."
"I can't, Tristan," I said.
"Why not?"
"I . . ." I swallowed nervously. "I'm trying to find the thing that hurt you."
Tristan paused, frowning over at me. It was the most serious I'd seen him in years. I decided then I missed the smile he used to have all the time. The smile that would mimic the sun and brighten any dark day.
"Your captain said you were looking for the princess."
"I am." I bit my lip. "They're one in the same. Don't you remember anything from the attack."
He shook his head, blonde curls bouncing. "No, I . . . it's all a blur. She can't really be a monster though, can she?"
"I've seen her with my own eyes," Beck's voice boomed behind me. "She's definitely a monster."
We both turned to see the Huntsman approach, the sour expression on his face showing that he heard most, if not all, of our conversation. To give him credit though, he didn't even glare in Tristan's direction. In fact he barely acknowledged him. Instead, he focused on dragging something with him. No, not something. Someone.
The dwarf was a small, stout creature that barely reached Beck's hip. Covered in mud and blood, he was filthy and . . . scared. He whimpered as Beck pulled him closer to us, and didn't fight the Huntsman. His eyes were cloudy as a blind man's, but they darted around the way a frightened animal's would. When they landed on me, the whimpering only increased.
"Found this hiding in one of the sheds," Beck explained and shoved him forward. The dwarf barely kept from falling on his face. "He won't talk to me."
"Maybe because you scared him," Tristan offered. This time Beck did glare.
"He's the only living thing left in this village. I could really care less if I scared him, we need answers."
"Enough, both of you." I barely kept my frustration at bay. The two men settled on glaring at each other.
I turned my attention back to the dwarf, who was still standing where he had landed and was muttering lowly to himself. His eyes darted to every shadow, as if he expected something to jump out of them.
I knelt down to his level, and his eyes snapped to me. He was filthy. His black beard was matted and full of twigs and dried blood. His hands were covered with scars, but from the way he dug his grimy fingernails into his skin, I guessed they were his own doing. He was hurting himself, he was so scared. And that made me sad more than anything.
"What's your name?" I asked him gently.
He jumped a little, as if my voice frightened him. His scratching of his hand intensified.
"Pretty lady wants to know name?" He asked, his voice gravelly and childlike all at the same time.
I nodded. "My name is Maris, if that helps."
This seemed to relax the dwarf a bit and he scooted closer to me. His stench was awful, but I couldn't bring myself to move away.
"Pretty name," He muttered. "Pretty lady."
I smiled a bit. "Thank you,"
"Klob doesn't have a pretty name." He said, disappointed. "Klob isn't pretty."
"Are you Klob?"
He nodded.
"He's obviously not right in the head, Maris," Tristan spoke up behind me. "He's not going to help us. Let's just leave him and go."
"No!" Klob almost screamed, white eyes widening in panic. "Don't leave Klob alone! Please . . ."
I didn't know why but my heart ached for the twisted creature in front of me. He seemed so fragile, like it would take very little to break whatever was left of his mind. Was this what fear did to a person? Or just Snow?
"Can you help us, Klob?" I asked him softly.
"Klob can help Pretty lady!" He said eagerly. "Klob will do anything."
"Thank you. Can you tell me what happened here? What happened to these people?"
Klob shivered, closing his eyes. He seemed to hug himself, taking a while to answer. "Mistress came."
"Mistress?" I asked. "Who's your Mistress?"
"Pretty," He murmured. "Like you. But angry. And scared. Mistress took Klob's brothers, tried to take Klob. Mistress hurt everyone here . . ."
"Where is she?" Beck asked. He had lowered his voice, softening it as much as a man like him could. But it still made the dwarf jump like he'd been hit.
"In-into the mines," He answered. "Klob didn't follow. Too dark. Too dangerous. More than just silver in the mines."
"The Blood is still relatively fresh," Beck said. "She couldn't have gone in too long ago. We might be able to catch her."
"Are you mad?" Tristan exclaimed. "You want to follow her into the mines? Even if you don't get lost, you'll never find her. And if this creature is right, she isn't alone. How do you think you'll take her down?"
"Very carefully,"
"Klob could help," The dwarf spoke up, surprising all of us. "Klob knows the mines."
"You would be willing to do that for us?" I asked him.
The dwarf hesitantly nodded. "If it means Klob will get his brothers back."
"We'll do our best," I told him. And I meant it.
As if my word was all that he needed, Klob straightened up and started to walk back the way he came. Standing up, I was the first to follow him. Beck scowled, looking less than pleased, but I gave him a reassuring smile and he seemed to soften a bit. He fell into line behind me.
Klob lead us to the entrance of the mine, which seemed to me just a doorway into pitch darkness. I'd never seen a black so thick except for The Long Night. Wordlessly, the dwarf picked up a fallen torch and lit it easily with a small gadget in his pocket. The fire did little to drive the shadows away.
"Shouldn't we wait until morning to go in there?" Tristan asked.
"I'd rather not spend the night with the dead," Beck murmured, giving Tristan a sideways look. "And no one is making you come with us."
"I'm not letting Maris go alone," He huffed.
I suppressed the urge to tell him I wasn't alone and instead turned my attention back to Klob. The dwarf looked uneasy, staring into the dark as if he was waiting for it to bite him. For all I knew, it might.
"You know the way?" I asked him.
Klob nodded. "Klob will lead Pretty Lady, don't worry."
"Then lead the way, master dwarf," Beck said, no hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Klob nodded and stepped into the mine, his torch held before him like a ward to all the darkness. Deciding that I'd like to stay as close to the light as possible, I followed close behind him and Beck was on my heels. Wordlessly, Tristan stepped in with us.
Before I knew it, the entrance to the mine was long behind us and out of view, and we were alone in the dark.