Dark and Light: Gone the Night, Final Chapter

Continued from Ch. 3

Georgia O'Keefe

Fingers tightened and squeezed Kylyu, constricting slowly, crushing the witch. Kylyu screamed and shrunk, cursing Snow White, writhing with all that she had been. Snow White reached into the witch's chest and grasped a beating heart.  

Kylyu's eyes widened as her vision faded. Snow White bit into the dark muscle, blood pouring down her chin, then spewed it onto Kylyu's dying face.

Crumbling ash drifted from Snow White's hands, the remnants of Kylyu. The staff dropped onto stones, resounding through the cavern. Snow White grasped it tightly, her power burning and cleansing it of Kylyu. 

"I dare not leave this behind." Snow White staggered to her feet with quaking legs. Drained of nearly all strength, Snow sensed Anam covering her with the last of her own energy.

They dragged Gunther to the cottage, where Snow White collapsed.  In moments, Snow found herself by the hearth, while buckets of cool water flowed over her. Gunther lay quietly by the fire, a bowl of stew beside him.

Anam draped herself onto Snow White. Sleep now. Sleep. Snow fell into a deep slumber, knowing the staff was standing silently by the hearth

Dark and Light, Finally the Night, ch. 3

Continued

source

Snow White squelched her fury, while Anam raged within her. Allow me. Release me. Gift her to me. 

"Abide. Soon." Snow White breathed.

"No, Kylyu. I prefer your heart, beating and raw as I devour it." Snow White hissed through clenched teeth.

Kylyu shrieked and charged, her body twisting and growing larger and larger until blackness covered all. Her form transformed into glistening skin of slime and scales, a visage from darkest millennia of ancient sorcery. Bellows reverberated through the cavern.

Snow White lifted her arms and tilted her head skyward. "Now." She declared. "Now."

Anam soaked through her host, with all that Anam is. To very minute particles, Anam unleashed her power within Snow White.

Snow White expanded, her form now a cloud of aingeal, most holy and pure of all beings from a time before time. She engulfed in and around the cavern and pit.  She reached, wrapping and enclosing Kylyu in strong white fingers of mist.

Irish Gaelic:

cailleach (Kile-yuh) Kylyu: witch
anam (anuhm): immortal, non-material part of a person
aingeal (ine gull): spirit being

Dark and Light: Soul Black and Heart White Ch. 1

abandoned gold mine

Darkness dropped quickly, leaving a starless sky ominous with heavy silence. Anam** hovered protectively around Snow White as she paced in the dwarfs' cottage. Through a swirling mist, Anam whispered, There she be. There she waits. For you. Snow White wrapped Anam tightly about her, "Yes, Anam. Close by. Soon. Final, an end."

For the weeks Snow had dwelt in the cottage, all seven had returned at dusk from their old mine. One night ago, only six returned. Last night, only five. Now four exhausted dwarfs trudged into sight, ducking into a warm cottage.

Karl? Petra?  There was no surprise. Both were unstable and filled with anger, but Gunther?

"Where's Gunther? Where?" Her frantic question vibrated in their stone cottage. Four remaining dwarfs shrugged their shoulders, but blanched and pale faces showed more. One whispered. "Couldn't see, But some'n grabbed 'im. Stole "im away."

Anam soaked into Snow White as she tore open the door and raced into a velvet night. Save, you will not. Has them all.

Flickering lamps reflected veins of gold, illuminating a path into the mine. Snow groped her way along jagged walls. Down there, she is. And deep it is. The wall had been a sealed wall of boulders which now opened with a grating groan, showering shards of granite to reveal itself.

Pebbles tumbled down a dark path leading to a cavern where shadows bounced through and off the boulders. Sobbing and groaning seeped from a far corner. Stumbling became running as Snow White emerged into a massive cavern where wall no longer glittered with gold, but were coated with blood still oozing over stone.

**Gaelic:
Aingeal (ine-gull) : spirit being
Cailleach (kile-yuh) Kylyu: witch
Anam (ahn-uhm) : immortal, non-material part of a person

Snow White: Can she really sing? Yes. Yes, she can.

From Iceland in mid-1800s translation

When Walt Disney took a chance by creating and producing "Snow White" as a full-length animated movie, it was a true leap of faith. Fortunately for him, "Snow White" was successful and this sweet version has continued to be so.

Ever Sweet

But, this was the purged, cleaned-up, sanitized Snow White.  Brothers Grimm collected many tales, all brutal. Snow White, in her many guises, dates back to mid-1500s. The Grimms wrote much about her, publishing these in 1853 (?). 

I submitted my own version of "Snow White" for a competition for "Sisters Grimm", an anthology of tales. All of the anthology is written by female authors and will be published as a Ubook. This should be released around Halloween this year.

My submission, "Dark and Light, Black and White", was not accepted (Oh, well). It is a tale of darkness and evil, where Snow White has to be more than a pretty girl singing in the glades.

In the coming two weeks, I'll be posting this in four chapters. I sure hope that you'll stick with the chapters, as some are gruesome in the battle of good versus evil.

Snow White "kicks butt", as recent generations say.

Chapter one: Dark and Light, Black Soul and White Heart, Oct. 17

Chapter two: Dark and Light, Where Lies the Night, Oct. 19

Chapter three: Dark and Light, Finally the Night, Oct. 24

Chapter four: Dark and Light, Gone the Night, Oct. 31