Disclaimer: I do not own the Dresden Files nor Berserk. Basically if you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.
First off a shout out and huge thanks to Heir of the Void. He was willing to act as a beta-reader, a sounding chamber and a editing wizard worthy of the senior council. The linguistic quality has improved considerably thanks to his efforts.
About the power levels comparison between the Berserk the Dresden Files. I'd say that the average monster of Midland will cap out on untrained Dresden!ghoul level and the Apostles are in the range between military trained ghoul and Denarian. Zodd for example would be a more pragmatic and experienced Genewoska with the invisibility traded in for better regeneration. Generally speaking the Beserk!monsters are less intelligent but far more numerous than the Dresden!monsters with as exceptions of stuff like the Sea God. I feel that God Hand should probably be at least Lords of Outer Night powerful with Femto being a statistical stray at above Fairy Lady power levels.
That out of the way, I hope you enjoy.
„You know Toots? I'm a bit disappointed that you really only suffer from some weird mutant dandruff," I said while dispatching psycho-lady (now with added bat wings of doom) for fifth time that day – this time with a lance of ice for variety's sake – "being able to fly and avoid this nonsense would be handy right now"
"I'm as well. Just as I thought that I'd finally have a chance with Lady Tinkerbelle my dreams get cruelly crushed." The miniature Spartan's ears drooped ever so slightly.
Even if you'd never catch me actually saying it, seeing the little fairy this downtrodden did break my heart a bit. He was one of my oldest friends after all and I did think he did himself a disservice. I would have died facing Aurora if it wasn't for him and his kin and again when I was jumped by a fairy hit squad with an affinity for using iron pins.
To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if I'd soon seen him dragging around a massive pair of brass balls. Most wizards, me included, shudder at the thought of a genuine Skinwalker, a creature Morgan literally had to nuke to dispatch, never mind actually fighting said nightmare while being only somewhat larger than average pixie.
"Now listen major-general, that prissy, jealous, backstabbing diva wouldn't be able to keep up with anyways."
That was as far as I got until Toot-Toot gasped, his eyes growing to size of small plates.
"Harry please tell me that you don't actually believe the story of Peter Pan in the official form. Peter was simply a cat's paw for lady Tinkerbelle to collect enough children to empower herself by preventing them from aging, a win-win situation in my books by the way. She needed the power to singlehandedly defeat the powerful Warlock Hook and his ticking crocodile demon after they dared to move against the king of dewdrop fairies. Of course Peter took all the glory." Toots was gesturing vividly by this point, clearly upset by my ignorance. "Disappointed in you, I am." He solemnly exclaimed, shaking his head in quiet disgust. On top of stealing my spiel he also somehow managed to shift his skin tone to a greyish green and was leaning on a cane in midair.
"I don't know whether I should be ashamed of my ignorance, be glad that Bob isn't here to laugh his metaphorical ass off, or be proud of how much I rubbed off to you Toots." I said, effectively conveying my inner turmoil which, after having some time to recalibrate, started to decide on pride.
Of course I wasn't able to say as much because, at that moment, my paranoia senses began tingling on what I had identified as the crazy stalker lady frequency.
"Du gehörst mir!" She cried, obliterating her non existing element of surprise.
"So you can do more the screech and moan routine!" I exclaimed whirling around to face her "Too bad I don't talk German."
"Ventas servitas!"
A sudden gust of wind and, I'm not kidding, what looked like an army of tiny, translucent insects launched the succubus wannabe into the sky mid-leap.
"Fuego!"
A wrist thick beam of fire, somehow lined with miniature, fiery lizards, shot out of my freshly drawn blasting rod and hit the flailing demoness, who was still trying to orient herself.
"Boom, headshot!" I quipped, basking in the glory my skillful shot.
I wanted to turn back to the way out of my lush and only slightly burning environment when I heard the now familiar wet impact of innards and ectoplasm hitting the local vegetation with varying velocities. This time however it was accompanied by a heavier sounding thud. After a quick search of the impact zone and a bit of old fashioned poking through gore I found something.
I would rate it as bizarre, were it not for the all other shit I've been through over the years. It was a brown egg shaped stone with the facial elements of that one creepy fat uncle most people have scrambled all over it. Intrigued by it, I decided to take it with me for future study, in hopes of making some sense of the situation. Just as I pocketed the egg I could have sworn that I saw the mouth move a tiny bit, but after a further inspection for rock-ness, which the object passed with flying colors, I wrote it off as the incoming fatigue playing tricks with me.
With one last glance to the macabre work of modern art I helped to create I resumed my trek towards presumed civilization together with my now silent but glowering fairy companion, giving me some time to sort out my tumultuous mind.
I first noticed budding Miss McGowan being a construct out of intestines covered with a skin of ectoplasm after my ill-fated bout of optimism while under the influence of the first round against her. The idle thought apparently was seen as a challenge towards bizarro-world. Like I've always told people: just because it's paranoia, that doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon behind you ready to eat your face off. Rational psychologists, none of whom would have had the slightest change of survival out here, might have made a case that I suffered from a massive persecution complex. I choose to overrule that diagnosis and decided that this world was actively out to get me, as I was soon met by numerous leftover trolls, giant nightmare bats and demonic spiders, all of which I had encountered what felt like a lifetime before. It was after a short round of clean-up duty that I had to fend of the demon tart for the second time. By the virtue of not incinerating her this time (I opted for impaling with extreme prejudice) I found out her true innardy nature.
Since then, her attacks had become regular enough to use as an impromptu biological clock. It had gotten to the point where one had to wonder where all the intestine came from and whether or not they would run out sometime soon.
It wasn't the only thing I had come to grip with in my little stroll through the forest, which I had found severely lacking of any roads, yellow bricked or otherwise. As the adrenaline subsided, I had some time to ponder how exactly I've had been able to throw that much magic around.
Simply put, the air was charged with enough magic to rival the Nevernever. It practically crackled with the stuff, which was partially responsible for my initial confusion. To top it off, magic in this corner of the world felt practically alive. Spells moved with a gleeful ease. My fire spells were even more ravenous than normal, my wind spells danced with playful enthusiasm, my ice spells radiated predatory serenity, and the gravity spell I used earlier, one I hadn't been able to cast without a massive ley line until now, seemed to speak volumes of stoic inevitability.
At first I thought I was hallucinating, but after a few more encounters with my newly appointed favorite cannon fodder, I had to either accept that yes, I was seeing tiny critters interacting with my spells on a kind of elemental level, or that I was going crazy. Wind spells caused ethereal insects to appear, with ice it was a few of the insects being swarmed by translucent fish, and fire beams had flaming lizards clawing outwards with a primal hunger. The longer I was here, the more I saw these critters, even when I wasn't doing my Gandalf on crack impression.
"Harry, you did understand what the demon lady said or do I really have to translate that for you?" Toot-Toot's question, in combination with his sudden appearance in front of my face pulled me out of my musings.
From his aggravated look and what might have been actual thunderclouds forming over his little head, it probably wasn't the first time he asked me this question in one form or another. After his perplexed statement way back when I first found out that the pizza-obsessed but scary-competent fairy could, of course, speak Russian, it wasn't that big a leap to assume that he could also speak German, amongst a plethora of other languages. During the first revelation of this ability, he proceeded to argue the big black Russian Knight of the Cross' choice of name for him – in Russian but that should go without saying. I think it took most of the self-control Sanya had to not burst into laughter at first, only to get swept up by the fairy's fierce sincerity and arguing back at him.
"No Toots, I don't know what she said. For the sake of argument, assume you're trying to communicate with a seven-foot hairless ape." The statement wasn't so far from the truth, in my opinion. Lord knows how many times my chivalrous tendencies caused my inner caveman to grunt in outrage and looking for the nearest club-like object due to seeing a woman being hurt. Call me chauvinistic for that, I don't care. Just don't hurt children, women or the defenseless near me. The Winter Mantle agreed with me on this point; just ask the Red Court or those Trolls.
Oh wait. You can't.
"Also try to avoid big words; you're talking to the man who still only knows the barest basics of Latin despite using it on a daily basis and it being it the official language for the White Council." I added, even though that it probably was for the best that my Latin skills were so lacking. It would go very poorly if I forced-pushed or immolated someone during an official meeting because I was too familiar with the language.
"I'm going to ask for a raise if this continues." Toot-toot Muttered before turning to address me. "Basically, the ever-resurrecting demon stated that you belong to her, in very definite terms[JL7] ."
"Even though that sounds ominous and all, we should probably tell her that I'm not interested in long distance relationships. And that she's too late. I don't think Mab would react kindly to hearing that she has to share her favorite stress ball." I said, trying to mollify the pixie.
Too be honest, from what I've seen so far, I didn't feel that threatened. I reckoned she wasn't even close to most Sidhein terms of power. And those were quite killable.
"Talking about Miss McGowan, wasn't her next attack due two minutes ago? Even if you consider increased running distance from her nearest intestine storage?" I asked, having finally fallen into a comfortable rhythm with her attacks. Perhaps one little known fact about wizards is that they're even bigger creatures of habit than most accountants. It could also be just be my paranoia.
"I don't know, Harry. What I do know is that we're almost at the edge of the forest and thus have nearly reached a bordering town, which I might add was also affected by your gravity spell." Toot-Toot supplied.
That was actually surprisingly helpful. Well, he should know, since I did sent him scouting after discovering that his fairy dust did not in fact grant flight to the recipient.
All things considered, it might have been for the better that I didn't go for an avian form to shift to. Knowing my luck, I'd be plagued by pockets of low air pressure and freak turbulences.
"Hey Toots, can you give me any pointers on what I should avoid saying, or perhaps even tell what I have to say to not be killed the instant I open my mouth?" I requested. "I would even consider a renegotiation of your wages when we get out of this mess."
"Well if you put it that way." He replied, and whizzed a bit closer to my right ear.
He taught me a sentence which meant, according to him, that I came in peace and requested a place to spend the night. I choose to write off the mischievous tone I heard in his voice, as well as the sudden, materialization large, curved horns on his helmet as figment of my imagination.
I have a dream that someday I would know better.
OoOoO
We approached the edge of the village trying, to look as non-threatening as possible. I shouldn't have tried. A man packed in lean muscle casually walking out of the forest was bad. The fact that the village was a recent victim of rogue pocket of zero gravity, the forest was still on fire weren't helping my case either.
While approaching the town I could see the damage my brief use of earth magic had caused. Plenty of straw roofs were collapsed, adding to the general mess of scattered and broken items lying on the ground. The first sign of actual life was the shout of one of the village's guardsman, probably a recent addition to the daily life of these people if the grove was any indication, which in turn was taken up by fellow guardsmen and villagers alike.
And thus, by the time I finally reached the village proper, a sizable crowd had gathered, each of them watching my every move with mistrust written clearly on their faces. The biggest of the lot, a broad shouldered man dressed in leather armor with chainmail visible and armed with a well-used spear and axe, approached me. He seemed a man of few words, but his body language spoke volumes about how far his trust in me went.
From the looks of it, that trust went about as far as he could kick me; probably not that far. I really didn't blame him; I probably would've reacted far worse if I'd be approached by an oddly dressed stranger sauntering out of a place of death and despair. Since it looked like he was waiting for an explanation, I choose to oblige him.
"Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale." I tried to convince him of my non-threatening ways as quickly as humanly possible.
It didn't really work.
His face shifted from guarded curiosity with a tinge of paranoia to something that said 'how many men do I need to solve this problem as soon as possible?'
I could swear that I heard Toots badly masking a chuckle as a cough.
"Du hast wunderbare Schenkel." I interjected, desperately trying to break that particular train of thought before it reached its destination.
I needed to diffuse the situation enough for me to find shelter for the night without being murdered by overzealous villagers. I was having a hard time ignoring the now-snickering pixie floating unnoticed by everyone who wasn't a poor, harmless wizard being scrutinized by people radiating an atmosphere that would be right at home in the Raith residence.
It didn't look like my impeccable German skills convinced the guard of my friendly nature. His body language showed a deterioration of his opinion to the rough equivalent of wondering where he kept his recently sharpened pitchforks. He look like he was wondering whether it was worth building a pyre, or if he could just try and throw me back in the raging inferno that had replaced large parts of the previously non-burning forest.
As he started to signal orders to his underlings, I decided to take one last shot, on the off-chance that at least some of German 101 by Professor Toot-Toot would prove to be somewhat useful. Since I didn't rate those chances very high I also started to form a spell at the same time to be on the same time and noticed a slight flickering in the torches the lynch mob were carrying. There was a reason as to why there were relatively few very old wizards that didn't suffer from paranoia as only it was that trait, be it natural or learned, that enabled them to survive the more medieval periods of history where the torturing and burning of wizard was considered a national hobby by some. And who was I to question that technique?
"Lassen sie Ihren Unterwäsche fallen, Herr William…" I was about to say more when suddenly something clicked inside my head.
"Toot-Toot!" I roared, interrupting my veiling spell, "Did you just make me quote Monty fucking Phyton? In German?!"
To improve my odds of survival, I decided to also shift to my wolf form to make a speedier escape. The tactic paid immediate dividends as a hunting spear crossed through the empty air which was, until recently, occupied by a certain unlucky wizard's torso and would have left a nasty bruise.
"That's what you get for ridiculing Lady Tinkerbelle!" Piped a voice, barely audible over the tumultuous crowd as I made my escape
The moment I was clear, I swore to use more precise wording the next time I asked Toot-Toot a language related question.
OoOoO
I used the last of daylight to locate a source of water. I made quick work of hunting a pair of rabbits which was pretty easy once you possessed the senses of a wolf and my innate ability to Listen. My backpack containing my rations and most of my wizard's toolkit was lost during the origami session which, in combination with an angrily rumbling stomach, forced me to cut my flight a bit short for my tastes. I wasn't that far away from the village, but I reasoned the inhabitants would probably be content with chasing away the scary monster. They'd probably be more worried more about making sure the village survived the night.
"Once again, I'm truly sorry about slandering your precious lady." I said, as I cleaned the rabbits with the Spear of Destiny next to the freshly started campfire with water boiling above it.
What can I say, I'm pragmatic, and the detachable spearhead made for a nice knife. I was fairly certain that He wouldn't mind.
"Lieutenant General Toot-Toot, I really need to be able to talk German to get out of this twisted caricature of a dimension and for that I need your help." I pleaded my case to the pouting fairy. "Besides, all things considered what we call pizza won't be around for another 200 years or so."
That got his attention, at least partially, so I pressed on while skewering the rabbits on pointed sticks and installing them on my impromptu fireside rig. "So please, sit down, have some rabbit and let us try to find a way out from the bizarre-world." I proposed as a peace offering, finally placating the fairy.
"Alright, Harry, you win. Just try to control that mouth of yours or suffer the consequences" Toot-Toot agreed, landing on my shoulder and joining me in watching the meat crackling away over the fire.
"No promises, you know me," I answered. "Controlling my mouth isn't something I see happening anytime soon. If deities and cosmic horrors don't do the trick, I can't see anything else doing it. Besides an angry Charity, that is."
Nobody messed with Charity, sparring partner of a Knight of the Cross, mother of seven, and assailant of Arctis Tor. The fetch found that out the hard way. There was a perfectly valid reason that my daughter was safe under her care.
"Well that all said, let us try and be a bit productive and see how well whatever Alice has done to the organic ballast in my skull that optimistic people might call a brain works."
"Just try to take it seriously, will you?" The newly promoted lieutenant general responded, realization on just how much a Sisyphean chore this would be slowly spreading across his face.
"Jawohl mein Führer!" I exclaimed, a lopsided grin plastered across my own face.
Toot-Toot sighed in expiration.
And so my first lecture in the German language began, in the final hour before true nightfall, near a campfire on a patch of dry dirt and enjoying some freshly caught and roasted game.
OoOoO
"What language still needs three genders and four cases with changing articles for each and every one of them? I thought that Latin should have taught people better." I exclaimed, frustration rife in my voice.
The last hour hadn't been going that well, to be honest, other than for of the salamanders who received the leftovers of our meal. Yes, I now knew phrases of which Toot-Toot swore were actually useful in appearing normal and non-threatening. He even commented that my pronunciation wasn't all that terrible, which should be counted as a victory for such a pure blooded American as I. Our normal way of doing things is simply talk English to non-speakers but more slowly and much louder, in the grand delusion that that somehow makes the difference in being understandable.
At least Toot-Toot was enjoying himself. He had once again summoned his comically large whiteboard out of the depth of whatever special hell it came from, and this time his own armor had been somehow changed to look like the clothes the archetypical teacher of ye olden times he was busy emulating right now. And yes, that did include a wooden cane and he wasn't afraid of using.
"Ouch! Toots, do you really have to do that?" I said, reacting to the fourth strike I had received that hour. "Most people would show much more caution to the Winter Knight, destroyer of the Red Court and slayer of Fairy queens…"
"And all-around badass that had to be rescued from a Pixie who attacked him with needles the size of toothpicks. By yours truly." Supplied Toot-Toot, cutting my rant of epic proportions short by a considerable amount. "You do know that I know you well enough to spot an empty threat, don't you, boss? Besides you wanted to learn, and it won't work if you stand around gaping like a fish out of the water as soon as the conversation moves past greetings. Also you were once again slacking off."
I was sure he was going to say more. I saw him taking a breath, but it was cut short by the arrival of true night. Oh, and there was also the suddenly appearance of a horde of monsters.
I knew I was forgetting something.
Dozens of skeletons rose of the previously untouched ground, an ember glow lighting up the still nearby forest turned out to be fiery imps and the sky filled with big bat-like creatures. Every one of them was looking at me with hungry madness, and as if on command they cried out in a single-minded hunger and began to charge my position.
"Stars and stones, it's really has been this kind of day, hasn't it?" I muttered standing up and gathering energy.
"Murus maximus!"
I stabbed the ground with my staff, connecting me to the golems, the earth elementals, thus making this particular piece of earth magic a whole lot easier.
A 10 foot circular wall of solid stone rose up all around me in the flickering multi-colored light of the campfire, hindering the advance of the hordes of evil. Using the newly erected walls as a base I invested a bit of my will to form a magic circle, isolating my magic from that of the rest of the world.
Normally, I'd be content with simply sitting it out inside the circle, as it was impermeable to the supernatural side of town, I had no idea that this reality also abided by those rules.
Besides, knowing my luck, they'd somehow find out that rocks would fly through the circle unhindered.
The crashing sound from high above announced that magic circles did indeed worked as intended here as one of the bat-creatures face planted into it with a shower a pretty sparkles.
"Well, looks that at magic circles are one less thing I have to file a complaint for when I invariably meet the creatures of this parallel dimension." I said to Toot-Toot.
In all, it had been a productive night all.
I would be able to not get killed in the first couple of seconds the next time I was near civilization, thanks to the power of German stock phrases, and I now knew that magic circles worked. I also knew what effect my aura had on my immediate surroundings. The taste of the day was apparently the old making candles flicker in weird colors, which would be a problem since it looked like there's a lot of them in this time period and, if the flickering was any indication the size of natural flames I was able to effect was proportional to my magical output.
Another crash overhead pulled me out of my musings. I noticed a steady banging against the walls had begun. Occasionally, a flame imp jumping high enough to crash into the spectral wall of the magic circle instead of the stone wall proper. It was another difference with home. The monsters over here were seemed possessed by a mindless, ferocious hunger to devour and destroy. Sure, I there were some monsters that weren't the sharpest tools in the shed on earth, but almost every one of them could be reasoned with, at least in some capacity
And every one of them could be taught respect and fear.
I had the feeling that these guys wouldn't respond to that. Hell's bells, a couple of hours ago I annihilated an entire nest of those troll and ogre subspecies, set the forest on fire, and killed plenty more nasties the way out. It simply didn't seem to matter to my would-be killers.
"I sure wouldn't mind if the testing made less noise." I said to Toot-Toot, while I turned to face him, wondering about why he has been so quiet up until now.
The Pixie looked distressed, nervously looking around. Sweat trickled from his was while he was starting to hyperventilate and started to move around banging his head to the inside of the magic circle like an insect desperately trying to find a way out of your home. By now the wind had picked up as well and I was able to see the Sylph elementals performing the same frantic dance Toot-Toot displayed.
Luckily, I never had to agonize over whether I should take the break the circle to calm my dear friend Toots, but leaving me to fend for myself against hordes of enemies. A boulder of a size that should incapable of flight smashed through the solid stone wall I erected precisely to defend myself against such antics, barely missing me. I wasn't as lucky with the wreckage that followed as I was pelted by fist sized rocks, covering me in nasty bruises.
With a sigh of relief from within my perimeter and a roar of relief from outside, the magic circle shattered and the hosts leapt in to introduce themselves.
I plunged into Winter and, instead of starting my standard energy juggling shtick, I decided to try something new. Reaching out to the recently freed Sylphs I gave a simple mental suggestion to them to feed on the heat of my surroundings, which happened to include the many adversaries I had to face tonight.
"Infringa!" I shouted, spurring the elementals to action with a surge of Winter energy.
The Sylphs rode my wave of cold, forming into an arctic gale in a matter of moments and ripping the warmth out of the fleshy monsters around me and freezing the skeletons in place, increasing their speed until bones were flying through the air, ripped apart by the storm wind alone.
The resulting quiet was only interrupted by the shattering of frozen bats forgetting the first rule of flying.
A great cracking of ice announced the beginning of round two as a one-armed twenty foot demon consisting entirely out of fangs, claws and rock broke the encasing of ice as if it wasn't there. Many of the outer flame imps, out where the Sylph were either to fast or to spread out to fully freeze them, began to thaw and stir, ready for revenge.
Diving deeper in winter I stormed towards the rock demon, eagerly meeting the beast's unspoken challenge. Where the ogres were still figuring out the impromptu field of ice and the skeletons didn't stand a chance of moving all, I was at home, knowing exactly where to put my feet, compensating for any loss of traction with ease. Too bad mister tall-and-ugly was unhindered as well by the virtue of his giant mass simply splintering the ice underfoot.
When we met it, was almost over for me as soon as it began as the demon suddenly performed a lightning quick sweep with his spike-covered tail. I survived thanks to Winter's instincts and a quick discharge of one of my force rings, deflecting the deadly blow. I anticipated his follow-up, a backhand with his one arm, and brought my shield up in time to be launched by the sheer force of the blow.
Releasing my shield, I landed in a roll (Parkour!) and ran back to my opponent. It was on.
"Fuego!" A small burst of flames sublimated the ice in front of his ugly face, and the resulting fog blocked his view.
I shifted into my wolf form to make a sharp turn to his armless side just outside of his reach, making him swipe at the empty air as I reached his flank. Shifting back, I readied my spear to pierce his armpit, a weak point of any decent humanoid monster, with all my might.
I struck.
The resulting numbness in my hands and the ringing sound of Longinus hitting solid stone confirmed my previous assessment, this being was a rock hard though guy.
"Forzare!" Not wanting to be at the receiving end of either claws or spikey tail I launched myself away from danger, knocking the rock demon back. I landed in a three point crouch any action hero would be proud of, while the stone giant impacted with a small earthquake.
Unfortunately, one of flame imps decided he didn't value my artistic performance and bit into the shin of the leg that was poking out of my enchanted duster. Enraged by the sudden pain, I dropped my staff to rip the little demon asunder.
Ice coated my hands, forming icy claws over my fingers. After quickly eviscerating the demon and flash freezing the wound, I saw something silver flash past my face and a gurgling sound just behind me.
Toot-Toot had once more saved my hide. His time, he had dissected a second flame imp that had gone for the sneaky route and attacked me from behind while I was crouched to tend to my wound.
"I know you're annoyed and all, but do you really want to let yourself be killed by a lowly imp?" The pixie deadpanned, with a tiny hint of bloodlust lining his voice.
"I'll keep the small fry away from you." Toot said. "I need to vent a bit after what happened in the circle but I do expect you to continue the lesson with conjugating 'hassen' ." He said, wearing a facial expression to make Leonidas proud as he whizzed off to wreak aerial havoc amongst the surviving and newly arrived mooks.
By the time I retrieved the Spear of Destiny and once again faced down the now somewhat weary Thing, I decided to try something new.
"Fuego!"
For the second time this battle I used my favorite element, but this time instead of the humble stream of fire from earlier, a thumb thick bar of liquid fire shot out of the spear hitting the demon squarely in the face.
I didn't expect much to happen, but sadly Ben Grimm over there had to confirm just that. The Thing roared in pain and frustration, his stone face beginning to glow an attractive bright red as he began to charge towards me.
"Harry, I can't hear you!" Toot-Toot chimed from the other side of the battle field.
"Ich hasse." I began, concentrating on the oncoming juggernaut.
The Thing arrived and wasted no time in beginning a rake with his massive arms.
"Du hasst."
Winter and I had had enough. We were tired and annoyed. Side-stepping the vicious downward blow, I slammed the end of my staff into his knee with all my might, hitting him squarely with the silver butt cap. Much to my surprise, a splintering sound filled the air, and I readied my shield in an angled plane.
"Er hasst."
The expected tail swipe harmlessly slid off my shield, knocking the demon off balance. The shattered knee and redirected momentum prevented him from stopping his rotation, exposing the shoulder of his good arm. Another forceful strike crushed the intricate joint.
"Wir hassen."
The demon, now lying on his back, looked at me with an anger so absolute it would have cowered even me not so long ago. I stabbed the closest eye out with Longinus, eliciting a fierce roar from the severely wounded monster.
"Ihr hasst."
I jumped backwards to dodge a clumsy kick from his remaining good leg.
I landed near the stream I found earlier and used to hydrate myself and saw that the damn demon was struggling to get up once more. I had to find some way to permanently deal with him.
I decided to try something potentially stupid.
Standing near the edge of the water I started to gather my will, seeking for Sylphs and nearby Undines. As the Thing actually managed to get back on his feet, my vision filled with tiny ethereal fish and insects. A ball of water from the stream gathered around the Spear of Destiny as rime formed all around me. The Thing was half running, half hopping toward me, but it was entirely filled with unholy fury closing and closing in to me, planning to use his sheer mass to reduce me to a stain on the bank.
"Sie hassen."
The demon was now thirty feet removed from showing what I looked like after being hit by a train.
I infused a tiny bit of Soulfire into the prepared spell.
"Scatebra aqua!" I exclaimed, pointing my spear at the onrushing demon. The gathered elementals rushed forward at a mind shattering speed, taking the water with them. Bracing myself, I dragged the resulting jet of highly concentrated water across the Thing. The effect was instantaneous.
He slowed down as the jet traveled over and through his body. This lasted just until two halves slid to a full stop right in front of my feet.
"Ich hasste." I finally concluded with the past tense of hate, slowly unclenching my fists that were still clutching the staff. I noticed that I had pushed myself back a couple of feet and was now standing on the recently frozen river.
"Hey Toots, are you finished yet? Mr. Ugly over here is done clobbering." I shouted towards my brave rear guard.
"Finishing up myself, boss. Care to help me out?" Toots responded.
So I went over there and we finished off the last stragglers.
After a few more German lessons, we decided that Toot-Toot would stand guard until morning and catch some sleep during the day in a pocket of my duster. I nestled against a tree and slept until the next morning.
Don't worry the German will fade into the background as Harry improves his knowledge. Why German I hear you ask. A common theory is that Berserk is set in Denmark around 1650 or at least a parallel world approximation thereof. German spoken by large parts of the population those days according to my research and the Last major change of the German language also finished around that time. I know German myself so that was that.
Also while writing I noticed that some of the monsters of Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle (do read those books if you haven't already) sneaked into my head and refused to leave. Expect more cameos from other settings. Just imagine them having been abducted to Midland as the World Transformation happened as well.
Finally reviews are highly appreciated, even needed for the continuing improvement of this fic.