SWNOVELS Chapter 22 Grimm
A chill raced down Hanna’s spine at the declaration. The tone of Aeolus’ reptilian voice became ominous and deadly when he spoke of Grimm. “Who or what is Grimm?” Hanna asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. “The name sounds vaguely familiar.”
“I’ve already said too much,” Aeolus admitted. “You’re not ready to understand the nature of Grimm.”
“But you brought it up,” Hanna insisted. “It’s obvious Ragnar and this dark god you call Grimm are intimately connected. To understand Ragnar, I must know who and what Grimm is. I sense they were mortal enemies the way the Emperor and I are mortal enemies. Besides, it’s my family history. If I don’t know my family history, I’ll make the same mistakes my ancestors made. That’s something I’d rather not do if I can help it.”
“Very well,” Aeolus conceded. “Your logic is flawless and it is part of your family history. Furthermore, you seem to have a connection to Ragnar. It is as you suggested. Ragnar and Grimm were like you and the Emperor. However, Grimm is no human possessed of a demon lord like the Emperor. He is an alpha Chaos Lord of the most Ancient Darkness...a creature of vast dark destructive power who existed from the beginning of time itself: the alpha of his kind and leader of the Dark Gods when they first came to this planet. No one I know of, except for maybe the Ancient of Days, knows where Grimm and his infernal brood originated. But one thing is certain. Grimm and his abominable brood are enemies of the Light and Life itself. They attack all species, especially the intelligent ones regardless of whether they are of the Light or Darkness to consume them and absorb their intelligence, making them far more dangerous than the Etherians or the Old Ones ever could be. Their one and only purpose is to return this universe to a state of pure chaos and extinguish the Light wherever it may be. The Grimm are the stuff of nightmares for countless species throughout the galaxy and universe. They spread like locusts, moving from planet to planet throughout both known and unknown space, leaving behind barren dead worlds in their wake void of the Light and Life.”
Hanna’s belly soured at the news and her face showed it. “What does this beast look like, this alpha Grimm?” she asked bluntly.
“Grimm is unlike any creature you’ve ever encountered, even among the demon powers you know,” Aeolus stated. “His form is completely alien to us, colossal and monstrous with dark elemental powers capable of great destruction. It’s difficult to describe him in terms that you can grasp, so I will show you from my memories if you will permit it.”
“Okay...do it,” Hanna answered.
“Be warned though,” Aeolus cautioned. “The creature I’m about to show you is old as time itself and evil beyond human comprehension. Just the sight of Grimm has been known to drive lesser beings utterly mad with fear.”
“I understand,” Hanna stated. “Proceed.”
“Very well,” Aeolus rumbled ominously. “You have been warned. I show you this because of who you are, and because you possess incredible strength of mind and body that I haven’t seen since Ragnar. Behold, Ragnar’s mortal enemy: Grimm.” With that, he showed Hanna a memory of the alpha Grimm telepathically. She gasped in horror at a creature from the unknown depths of her darkest nightmares. Yet she felt a certain amount of recognition when she saw the beast.
Grimm appeared to be a monstrous chimera mix of several animal and alien species standing seventy feet in height and nearly one hundred fifty-three feet in length. He appeared to be a mutated aberration of the carnivorous Ultrasaurus with three heads, six arms, and colossal spider-like legs. Each of the heads resembled oversized T-rex heads fifteen feet long, six feet wide with eighteen-inch teeth. The top half of each head was nothing but a bare skull without any flesh. Nine compound eyes sat inset into the skulls: four on the right and four on the left side with one large eye right in the middle of each skull. The skulls had a large, razor-sharp bony ridge five feet in height rising above the eyes and sweeping to the back of the skull. Each skull also had a bony frill with a crest of enormous horns to protect the neck similar to a triceratops. Strange, blood red alien markings decorated the bare parts of the skulls and the horns. The mouth of each head possessed a set of scorpion-like mandibles that reached out three feet beyond the main maw that could close and trap prey as the jaws clamped down. The three heads attached to the main body through eighteen-foot long necks six feet across.
The main body spanned twenty-five feet in width and stretched back sixty-seven feet to a double snake-like tail reaching another forty-five feet. A triple five-foot bony blade resembling a trident adorned the end of one tail while the other tail bore a scorpion-like stinger of the same length. The stinger had the capability of not just stabbing, but spraying a hail of poisonous barbs when whipped.
Instead of the two massive legs seen on the Ultrasaurus, Grimm had six fuzzy tarantula-like legs two feet in diameter that were covered in seven-inch poisonous barbs that could be launched at Grimm’s prey. Above the section where the legs attached, Grimm boasted six massive arms that were both reptilian and insectoid. The lower pair of arms was the largest with massive scorpion-like pincers on the end of each limb capable of tearing a mammoth to pieces. The middle and upper sets of arms consisted of massive muscular reptilian arms with huge clawed hands on each of limb. The hands had eight fingers, with two of the fingers acting like opposable thumbs. When clenched into a fist, the hands spanned three feet. Each finger boasted ten-inch claws capable of ripping apart any creature within reach. The palms of each hand also had a sixteen-inch wide maw filled with teeth and capable of shooting out spiny tentacles to capture and poison prey. Each tentacle had a leech-like mouth on the end of it to inflict great damage on Grimm’s prey. The spines coating the tentacles dripped of an unknown poison.
A jointed black exoskeleton with draken-like scales covered Grimm from head to toe. Giant bony spines grew from Grimm’s back from just behind the horned frill of each head down the spine to the bony end of the tails. Bony spines also sprouted from the shoulders and elbows of the beast. Two enormous black bat-like wings sprouted from his back, spanning over three hundred feet making the beast look like a mutated draken.
Hanna trembled with icy chills racing up and down her spine when Aeolus revealed Grimm’s form to her. She was speechless at Grimm’s monstrous form. Deep-seated terror rose in her from the darkness of her missing time. Yet, the monstrosity continued to feel increasingly familiar to her.
“You’re right to shake at the sight of Grimm,” Aeolus admitted, seeing Hanna trembling. “He’s an incredibly dark creature of pure chaos and evil, even worse than the demon lord possessing the Emperor you call the Black Prince. Never has this universe seen such a heinously malevolent entity so bent on the utter destruction of all things. We owe Ragnar a great debt for ridding this universe of Grimm.”
“He killed Grimm?” Hanna asked.
“Yes,” Aeolus replied, “he did, but didn’t escape unscathed. He died from wounds received in battle shortly after killing Grimm. Understand, Grimm’s claws, stingers, barbs, spines, teeth, and tentacles are highly poisonous to all forms of life in this universe. He could also spit fire, ice, and highly caustic venom with his heads: one type per head. But Grimm’s greatest weapon was the ability to shape-shift into any creature or being he or his minions had consumed. He was the first known doppelganger and used it very effectively as a weapon. Grimm could take on the most innocent of forms to get you to lower your guard. When he had the confidence of his victim, he’d them lure them to their doom. But Ragnar had the uncanny ability to see through Grimm’s disguises, which enraged him. He saw through every one of Grimm’s disguises. This shape-shifting ability combined with the hive mind he had with his brood made Grimm the most dangerous creature in the multi-verse. Ragnar knew this when he called out Grimm.”
A deep icy chill raced down Hanna’s spine as she frowned deeply. “You mean Grimm didn’t just have a hive mind connecting him to his brood, but could also assume any form at will?” she asked with a concerned tone.
“He did,” Aeolus answered bluntly. “Grimm could assume any form at will and, in essence become the creature he mimicked. Legends say even the Etherian marauders feared Grimm and worked to keep him in check while they pillaged the universe. But the only being who could see through Grimm’s disguises was Ragnar. This is why when Ragnar called out Grimm, the Chaos Lord answered with great wrath. Apparently, Ragnar’s light was as bright as Grimm’s darkness was dark. They warred with each other for many cycles until Ragnar ferreted out Grimm’s hidden sanctuary. When he found Grimm’s lair, he took a team of the strongest warriors into Grimm’s hive to end the threat Grimm posed. Of a team of thirty, only three came out alive with Ragnar, who had been mortally wounded.”
“What happened?” Hanna asked softly.
“I didn’t witness the actual battle, but I know what the survivors reported,” Aeolus stated. “They invaded the hive, which lay in what is now known as the Endless Desert in the southern reaches of Tartarus. They fought their way through the legions of Grimm to the center, where the alpha Grimm was building a Mother Brain to link to FATE. Apparently, he wanted to awaken FATE and assimilate it the same way it had been assimilating other species since the Etherians were banished in the Nexus. Ragnar’s team interfered with Grimm’s final assembly of the Mother Brain, destroying it while Ragnar confronted Grimm himself with four of his strongest warriors. They separated Grimm from his minions and destroyed the hive in their battle with him, killing many minions. However, during the battle, Ragnar took several hard hits from Grimm’s claws that penetrated his armor, poisoning him. But he fended off the poison long enough to kill Grimm by piercing his heart with an elemental-enhanced blast from the Bane. The survivors of the battle say Ragnar unleashed the most powerful elemental strike ever generated with the Bane, blowing away a third of Grimm’s torso, including his black heart. When Grimm fell, Ragnar took the Bane and severed every head and limb, and then called down the elemental celestial fire, incinerating the Grimm’s body to ashes. When Grimm fell, his minions scattered, going into the shadows. They feared Ragnar and his warriors, even though only three survived.”
“Whoa,” Hanna breathed. “What about the other Dark Gods? I thought you said Grimm was their leader?”
“They were away from the hive when Ragnar attacked,” Aeolus reported. “I personally was involved with repelling an invasion of the South Wind in Lemuria led by Grimm’s second on command, the Doppelganger. We managed to drive them back, but took heavy casualties doing it. Many drakens, drakenites, humans, Cythians, and Alkaidians perished defending the South Wind. When the Doppelganger and the other Dark Gods saw they couldn’t take the South Wind by force and that Ragnar had killed Grimm, they fell back into the shadows and started plotting to eradicate the Caverias line and the drakens. It was at that time that we realized how important securing the Four Winds was.”
“How quickly did Ragnar die?” Hanna asked softly, feeling a sense of great grief and loss for him.
“The survivors of Ragnar’s team said he lived long enough to see the Tower of Caveria,” Aeolus answered in a grieved tone. “He died as the Tower of Caveria came into sight on the transport they used. His last wish was that the Bane be stored in the Red Tower until someone arose to take his place. He insisted that one of his descendants would rise, take the Bane, and finish what he started, becoming the most powerful guardian ever. His body was interred in the fortress of Srandi in the royal tomb there. I lost a true friend that day. I still miss him.”
“I know you do,” Hanna murmured, tears welling up in her eyes. “As you speak of him, I feel as if I lost a father. Every time I touch the Bane, I can feel his spirit. I wish I knew him like you did.”
“I know,” Aeolus said softly. “You feel a strange connection to him and don’t know why.”
“True,” Hanna admitted. “It’s been particularly strong since I found the Bane. For some strange reason, I feel more kinship with Ragnar than I do with Thoth. Why is that?”
“I don’t know,” Aeolus replied. “But I can say this. Ragnar uttered a prophecy in his last moments: a prophecy few beings heard; one that concerns you.”
Hanna paused with a shocked look. “There’s another prophecy about me?” she asked.
“There is,” Aeolus stated. “I was told the prophecy after Ragnar died because he insisted that I know it since I was his best friend.”
“What did he say?” Hanna whispered.