Dark Snow White (Grimmoire Series)

Part III

Hadrian ran through the woods, as fast as his legs could carry him. He had always been afraid of the dark. Ever since he was a little boy he slept with his candle lit. Every night he’d wish that he’d grow up to be big and strong, afraid of nothing and nobody. Now, Hadrian was an adult and sadly, nothing had changed. He was still little, being a dwarf and all and he was still as afraid of the dark as ever. His mind raced with visions of all the different monsters and creatures that lurked beneath the shadows, but he persevered. Empty bottle in one hand and book clutched tightly to his chest in the other - he had to get back to the others, quickly. So why would someone so afraid of the dark be out in the woods so late at night?

In order to answer that, one would have to know the inner workings of a day in the life of a dwarf. Every work day was the same. The dwarfs, all seven of them, were up at the crack of dawn. Tiberius, Atticus, Septimus, Magnus, Cato, Virgil and Hadrian woke up, got dressed, had breakfast and cleaned themselves. As they left the house, each dwarf grabbed their satchel and a pickaxe, for you see, for generations, dwarfs have been miners. A tradition that had not survived the world over, as many governing bodies decided they would prefer their mining to be carried out by more “able-bodied” men. There was only one mine in all of Redcrest, home to Castle Hawthorne and these dwarfs were the only workers allowed on site, as decreed by Queen Eleanor herself. 

As a result of their hard work, jewel exportation had become the most lucrative trade for Redcrest, which made the dwarfs the proudest miners in all the land. Queen Eleanor admired the dwarfs for their safe, fast and efficient system of extracting precious gems. The system was simple, four dwarfs, axes in hand, would pick away at the walls of the mine. Any gems would then be handed down to a fifth dwarf, who would then place the gems into a mine cart, pushed by a sixth dwarf. The mine cart would then be pushed down the track to the seventh dwarf, who would inspect and categorise each gem. The dwarfs rotated their roles daily, except for Tiberius who always maintained the role of inspector. As the eldest and wisest, he was the most knowledgeable regarding gems, never once being caught unawares. At least, not until today.

As they heaved and hoed with their pickaxes, the dwarfs sang a jaunty tune. Cato picked off what he thought was just another standard gem and handed it to Magnus, who placed it into the mine cart that Hadrian was about to push to Tiberius. Tiberius inspected and sorted the gems as they came through, sorting to the rhythm of the tune the others were singing. Suddenly he stopped. The gem that Cato had picked... there was something different about it. “Quiet,” he yelled to the others. Tiberius adjusted his loupe and took a closer look at the long, purple stone.

“What is it, T?” inquired Atticus, climbing down from his place on the wall. “Gentlemen,” announced Tiberius, “I think we may have found something very special.” “How special?” replied Septimus, gold coins multiplying in his head. “I need the book,” said Tiberius, calmly.

Furious discussion broke out amongst the dwarfs, Tiberius had never needed the book before. He knew the name, variations and rarity of every gem they’d ever found. If Tiberius didn’t know what this was, that could only mean one thing...

“Hadrian, go,” instructed Tiberius, “and also, bring the Bottle of Secrets.” Although Hadrian didn’t want to go, he left immediately, for when Tiberius gave an instruction, all the dwarfs obeyed. Tiberius knew Hadrian was afraid of the dark, yet insisted he be the one to return to their cottage and fetch the goods, after all, he was the second eldest. This status amongst the dwarfs did not alleviate his anxieties during this journey from the mine to the cottage and back. With book and bottle in hand, he had finally returned to the opening of the mine, relieved to have survived the imaginary monsters.

Inside the mine was beautiful. As the dwarfs torches flickered, every inch of the mine sparkled with diamonds, jewels and precious gems - blue, red, green, gold and silver glittered all round.