Hey I'm back with a new chapter for Remnant of an Iron Rose Shorts for you. Special thanks to all of you who read and like my stories and special shout-out to Ptabs0101 for his amazing story and hope he updates soon.
Since the new DLC Warmind is coming out shortly, this chapter is and will post some spoilers for you all, you have been warned.
Originally this was called, Dark King and Qeen Dreams, but it has been changed to this. So on to the story!
This story takes place during the events of Remnant of an Iron Rose.
Even the darkest of beings dream of the Darkness.
-Eris Morn
Grimmlands, Remnant
The Grimmlands, a barren wasteland dotted with dark purple crystals with black veins emerging from a hellish landscape. The sky was a bathed in red and the moon was bright showing its broken appearance. Every so often dark black pits filled with a tar-like substance coated the landscape and from within emerged Grimm of many species.
But these Grimm were far stronger than their weaker counterparts that inhabit the land, air and seas. These Grimm were of the Alpha bordering on Ancient, so powerful that it would require a kingdoms entire population of Huntsman, Huntresses and even armies to come even close to killing them, taking into account the severe heavy losses they would suffer for it.
Overlooking the landscape was a structure that resembled a castle. And within the castle dwells the mother, leader and Grimm Witch, Salem.
And within her stronghold she lies in one of her Grimm-pits, healing and dreaming.
That is a misnomer since Grimm of all types don't sleep or eat. And they certainly don't "dream".
Instead they go through a sort of meditative state where they appear to be asleep or dead but are in fact dormant until such a time as when they are needed or when they feel a vast amount of negativity near their location.
And it's the same for Salem. She submerges herself into the Grimm-pits to heal herself from injuries she may have suffered, let her mind wander to inhabit a random Grimm and see through their eyes temporarily, or to plan her next moves.
Normally her dreams are her gaining full control of the four Relics along with all four Maiden powers and laying waste to the four kingdoms of man! Using the Relic of Creation's and Knowledge's abilities to create new versions of Grimm that are able to use Dust to their advantage, manipulating the governments with the Relic of Choice to make them more compliant to her, or destroying them entirely with Destruction. And sometimes, though very rare, they were prophetic of things that have, are or are to come.
But as of late, those dreams have shattered due to the arrival of the Vex and the damned Guardians.
When she fought the Vex on Vytal and then encountered their leader, for the first time in ever… she was afraid. When the Guardians led by the one she killed years ago, Summer Rose fought and destroyed the being, that is when she longed for the days of merely manipulating the world to her advantage.
Then a representative from the Shadows of Yor strode right to her doorstep and demanded an alliance with her, promising her new abilities to add to her own. They fought and the representative emerged victorious. Salem had to swallow her own pride and murderous rage and accept the terms. And so that is why she was submerged now, healing from wounds brought upon her by the victor, Dredgen Vena.
Her dreams now are different from her previous ones.
She saw before her a dark void, darker than anything she has known before, darker than herself. She tried to peer within but she couldn't make anything out of it. Then five gigantic beasts emerged from the darkness before her. They had the appearance of dragons yet look more like the gigantic worms that she based her beloved Grimm Kalros off of.
She watched as three beings formed before her and kneeled before the beasts. Dark energy cascaded from the dragons and bathed the three in green eldritch energies. As the energy faded she got a good look at them.
The three were taller than her and their bodies made of a sort of chitin, but that was where the similarities ended. The one on the left looked like a knight complete with a sword that glowed a sick green, the one on the right had robes made of what looked like tanned flesh and had a crown of spikes that dotted her head. But the one in the center caught her attention more. The one in the center had gigantic bat-like wings coming from behind his back, wearing what looked like ancient royal robes with horns coming from his head. The one in the center turned to face her, showing three green eyes in a triangle formation in his head. She instantly knew that this being was like herself, a leader, a father of his kind, a king.
Raising his tri-clawed hand, a sword appeared in his hand and let out a mighty roar.
What she saw next was something she thought was never possible…true slaughter.
The three led forces on a massive campaign of destruction of worlds and being she never saw before. Swarms of skinny insect like humanoids overwhelming their enemies and devouring them. Beings that looked like knights and soldiers cutting down with swords or shooting purple energy at helpless victims. A floating being she could only describe as a wizard, floated above the battlefield and unleashing a dome of darkness on those below or summoning a gigantic beast that crushed both ally and enemy before it.
She then gazed at the king above the battlefield and watched as he took his sword and slayed one of the five dragons behind him. The king tore his hand into the carcass and took a dark energy from it. He waved his hand on the battlefield and dark portals opened around her.
The portals sucked in foe and ally, being in discriminant on what it took. The portals then spat them out and they were different. They were dark beings that twitched and shook and added more bloodshed to the battle.
She turned back to the now four dragons and saw that one of them brought his head down and touched the crown of one of the combatants. This one was identical to the king that killed the dragon but wore the robes of a priest with eldritch script. The dragon whispered words that she couldn't understand and whisked both the priest and itself away into the stars towards a blood-red world to make it their own.
She witnessed the knight and the witch fade away leaving the king and his army the only ones left. She then saw as a being of light appear on the battlefield and slayed numerous warriors, one of which was the son of the king. Then the being of light took up a sword and fought the king, slaying him before her eyes.
As the body of the king dissolved, a dark throne appeared from his body and the remaining three dragons whispered promises of power, but the being of light rejected the throne and the light surrounding it started to fade.
As the light faded away she saw who slayed the king and rejected the throne. She would never forget her face, for she was the one that Salem herself killed years ago, the one who has now returned with powers beyond the norm, Summer Rose. Salem seethed with venom and rage and transformed into her battle-form and was about to attack when she caught herself. She then noticed the Guardians shadow…and she woke.
She opened her eyes and willed herself to surface. She emerged and willed herself to be clothed. She gazed along her form and saw that all of her injuries have fully healed and she went to the main chamber to meet with her underlings. As she drifted, her mind returned to her dreams. She believed that she gazed at beings and events that enlightened her to true power and knowledge that she believed even the Shadows of Yor don't know.
At the end of the dream she gazed at Summer Rose's shadow and saw it was the spitting image of the king she slayed. Meaning that some part of the king resided in the Guardian, waiting for someone to kill her permanently and take his power for their own.
And Salem smiled.
And done with this chapter! Salem has gazed at the Darkness and viewed the history of the Hive from their birth to current events, but she doesn't know that they're Hive. I also added a bit of lore that is mentioned in the new Warmind DLC.
Some good news, 20% done with a new chapter for Neo and the Wolves of Mars and 80% done for the next chapter of this story. Now for some bad news, once Warmind drops, I'll be playing that for the foreseeable future so new chapters will be coming by later on.
For those wondering why Salem would look through the eyes of Grimm when she has the Seers to do that here's my answer: The Seers allow her to view and communicate to her subordinates and surveillance, but she can see through the eyes of her other Grimm when they are in places that the Seers can't reach.
See you next time!
The Following are upcoming chapters:
Dust Experimentation (coming soon)
The Emperors New Shadow
Whitley's Deal
Fallen conclaive
The Farmboy and the Fallen
SRL
Beacon's Dawning
Simulation Salutations
