Misfit Trials

Chapter 38

The sisters forced the remaining dwarves to work in the mines day and night, barely giving them enough food, drink, or sleep to survive. The sisters wanted riches. They wanted diamonds, jewels, platinum, and coal. Anything that they could sell, trade, or use for ornamentation.

The witches were greedy, working the little men to the point that they fell to the ground in the mines in their exhaustion at the end of every shift. They ate the scraps that the witches gave them in hurried inhales in the few moments of wakefulness they had before oblivion took them. Only for them to be woken a few hours later and expected to continue their mining.

Dwarves are made of hardy stock, but even they could not keep up this pace for long.

The witches employed their golems to help with the cooking and cleaning around the house now that the dwarves never returned. Flick, still under the mind control of the sisters, was allowed to accompany them on their trips to sell the gems that the dwarves mined. During those trips, the golems were in charge of the dwarves, ensuring that they didn't get away.

It was often hard for the dwarves to tell the difference between the golems and the real sisters. Well, until they committed some kind of infraction. Their punishments varied greatly between the golems and Snow White and Rose Red.

The golems were all about brute strength, containing only the magic that was required to animate their clay bodies. The golems beat the men and then expected them to stand and get back to work.

Snow White would just quickly zap them with magic. She might have hated the little men, but she also didn't enjoy hurting others. She just wanted them to get on with getting her enough gems to amass the fortune that she desired.

Rose Red, though, loved to see the dwarves bleed. A misplaced tool, coughs that were too loud, or the slight hesitation from wiping sweat off a brow could result in punishments that left the stone beneath them running with blood.

Their existence was bleak and seemingly without end. They mourned the deaths of their brothers Glick and Pick. Their loss was felt keenly by the little men. Especially when they walked over the blood-stained stones at the entrance of the mine.

Flick didn't notice, his mind control so complete that he still sang the mining songs even as his hands bled from holding his pickaxe and his body wasted away from lack of nutrition.

Snow White told the brothers that they had to make up for Glick and Pick's death. That there was an allotment that they were expected to mine daily, though she never told them what that was.

Not that it mattered. As the days went on and the brothers became more bone weary, hungry, and weak, they were unable to keep up with the demand that Rose Red and Snow White placed on them. They were beaten, bled, and whipped within an inch of their lives, but without the proper rest, food, and medical attention, there was no help for it. The five brothers couldn't gather as much as the witches desired.

Finally, the sisters had had enough.

Snick was woken one morning to the whimpers of one of his brothers. He, Blick, and Whick instantly come awake to see the scene in front of them.

Flick is holding Quee, their youngest and weakest brother, with his arms behind his back. Snow White is beside Flick, holding his head back by his hair. And Rose Red stands on his other side holding a knife to Quee's throat.

Snick screams, "What are you doing? Let him go!"

Which sits stock still, seemingly frozen by fear.

Blick screams out a strangled cry, unable to articulate the pure panic that is obviously coursing through his body.

Rose Red's smile is just as evil as she is, showing how little she cares for the lives of the dwarves. On the contrary, she actually seems to be enjoying Quee's pain and Whick, Blick, and Snick's fear.

Snow White just looks bored.

Flick is smiling up at Rose Red like she is a goddess.

And poor Quee...he just stares at his brothers on the ground before him, fear so prominent in his face that he's completely lost all color and he is paralyzed in his brother's hands.

As they watch, Rose Red presses the point of the knife into his neck, causing blood to run down his neck in a small stream.

"You have been wasting time, not doing what you need to, and slacking. We need the diamonds mined. We need the jewels collected. We need the minerals obtained. You are taking too long and you are putting us behind." Rose Red says, her tone conversational, completely at odds with what she was doing.

"We do more! Make better! Fast!" Blick cries.

"Yes, you will," Snow White says coldly. "And this will make sure that you do."

"No! You don't have to hurt him! We fix it, we promise!" Snick screams.

"I'm done waiting. This is your punishment," Rose Red says, still just as casually as if they were just having a conversation about the weather. And with that same causal attitude, she cuts across Quee's throat.

Blick, Whick, and Snick all scream. Snick races forward towards his brother, only to be held back by Rose Red's golem.

None of them hear Rose Red, Snow White, and Flick leave or anything that they may have said. All they hear is their brother's body hit the ground and his shuddering, gurgling dying breaths.

—

That night, after the brothers have been allowed to eat and sleep and only one golem guards the mine entrance, the remaining brothers huddle together and whisper to each other.

Flick seems to shut down by some sort of magical power as soon as he hits the ground.

"We have to get out of here. We're all going to die if we don't," Snick says, his mouth nearly touching his brothers' ears.

"But how? Flick and the golems watch us like hawks. It's not possible to get out," Blick insists.

"We could do it when they take Flick to town. They typically take a golem with them as well. So then we'd just have to take on one golem and we'd be free," Which adds.

"But how? How do you stop a golem?" Blick, typically much calmer and better at making decisions than his brothers. But seeing his brothers die right in front of him broke something inside of him, making him unable to make a move.

It was up to Snick and Whick to come up with a plan.

"We save water back from our water rations. Keep them in one of our waste buckets. The golems can't get wet. I'm not sure why, but I do know that it will mess them up. Then we can leave," Snick says.

"Perfect. If the witches keep to their schedule, they'll be going to town a week from today. We have plenty of time to prepare." Whick looks to their older brother. "Agreed?"

Blick looks between his younger brothers, his eyes red from grief and exhaustion. Then he nods and the plan is set into motion.