Disclaimer: I do not own the Dresden Files nor Berserk. basically if you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.

First off, a huge shout out to BazookaMan from the SV forums for proofreading the chapter.

Then I'd like to apologize for the long wait between this and last chapter. Life (college) had a bit more planned than I and was quite persistent to pull through.

Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter even after the six or so week break in between.

I startled awake, drenched in sweat and panting.

With a practiced motion I reached towards the grotesque little thing that clung to my head and was the reason for my rude awakening. An ice-coated finger met the solitary eye in the middle of its body and pierced it as the other fingers found a grip on the blob.

With a whip-like motion I threw it against the nearest wall where it exploded into slimy, convulsing giblets. Its remains slithering down added another layer to the macabre Pollock painting that was formerly just a simple wall.

I groaned at the twinge of sharp pain the movement caused. It had been two weeks, give or take a few days, since the attack of the psycho lady and the wound still hurt. Even through the numbing effect of the Mantle.

The pain wasn't the only problem; it, in combination with the stunt I pulled to get rid of her avatar, had made Winter more active. Beyond the increased urge to punch the people I had been dealing with, there was a slight problem with ice unconsciously covering parts of my body to aid whatever I was trying to do. Especially if that something was even slightly aggressive in nature. The ice claws I had that only retracted just now, were one prime example.

They didn't even had the decency of having any of the associated sound effects to warn me when they showed themselves.

The creature, whose body had detached it from the impromptu painting with a moist squelch, was another problem that had me on edge.

The life sucking bastards were pretty harmless as far as monsters went. Sure they sucked life force out of you, but they only had a ghost of chance against sleeping victims. They apparently were also only able to do that while causing nightmares. It meant that most of them met a swift demise as the victim woke up. As was apparent from the most recent pile of tentacled corpses underneath the splatter zone.

They hadn't been a problem before. Before that last fight with my stalker I couldn't do much sleeping at night and when I did sleep I simply collapsed into a dreamless, exhausted slumber. That changed as the monsters lost their leader and the organized attacks ceased. They seemed to be attracted by magic and thus, I was the biggest most delicious target in a very large area.

Combine that with the thresholds of the villagers' homes getting stronger at the same time, it made me pretty much the only target.

The result was that I hadn't slept for more than a couple, non-consecutive hours per night for a while now and Hell's Bells, I really missed my daily dose of coffee and sugary donuts to get me through day.

To complete the picture, the creatures loved to prod painful memories of loss and regret. The last few nights, a nightmarish version of Ignatz, blood continuously pulsing out the chest wound, had teamed up with Susan as I last saw her before I killed her in a similar fashion.

If the feeling of her blood on my hands wasn't as strong every time she showed up, I would have been glad that the creatures focused on that memory instead of going after more violent ones. The smithy still stood out because of that choice.

I couldn't even take shelter behind of one of the ever strengthening thresholds. It wasn't as if no family would take me. Erich would have been overjoyed to have me under the same roof. However, there was no way telling what Winter would be up to making it very dangerous for those around me.

I sighed and looked down once more to the pile of incubi corpses, before standing up and readying myself and smirking.

Thomas might just be annoyed when he learns what else people are calling incubus. Sure, he might not have particularly fond feelings towards his species but at the very least the description of the pathetic blob of jelly ought to be enough to irk him.

The door opened as I finished washing and changing. Sig looked through the opening and held the shovel. After repeating the same scene for the past six days I started to grow the slightest bit suspicious.

"Again?" He asked as I remembered that his timing had sooner something to do with the fact that I was a creature of habit more than anything sinister.

I took the handle of the shovel and answered. "Good morning to you too, Sig. And yes they were after me again." I opened the door completely and stepped aside to reveal the newest alteration of the modern art the incubi and I had created. Sig looked nonplussed at the gory scene. "Can you pass me a bucket?"

Sig didn't even have to go get it. The other hand reached through the door and I was now a proud owner of said bucket. I couldn't help to notice that his movements were a bit more sluggish than usual. A symptom I was very much familiar with, considering all the times I had been running on empty.

"It's getting worse isn't it?" I checked as I used the control granted by the Longinus to gently float the remains into the bucket. "The monsters are getting louder and it sounds like they're getting more aggressive."

"That's right. Had to deal with four flying bastards." Sig answered with a tired sigh as he turned to do some blacksmithing.

I couldn't do much defending anymore. Enoch had become more famous by the day, attracting traders and pilgrims alike. Rumors of normal people spitting in the face of destiny and turning terrifying hunters into ordinary prey captivated the hearts of neighboring villages.

It would have brought a mighty bout of smiting down on our heads if it wasn't for Heinz. He managed to convince the people that he and some of the more prominent villagers were blessed by visions of the White Hawk before the attack of the red wyvern. It had shown them the hallowed designs of the arrowheads that blessed them with the power of one of the four angels.

He would tell that story and the subsequent incidents with such confidence and enough religious fervor that he would have convinced me. It helped that he did indeed strongly believe in those four archangels, or as they were also known - if his recounts of Schierke's explanation were correct - the four Elemental Kings.

It also helped that the people were tired of being hunted and being treated as cannon fodder. They wanted the possibility to finally stick it to destiny, kick some ass, and chew some bubblegum. And bubblegum hadn't even been invented in bizarro-world. Using "blessed" objects to do the fighting was a welcome option even with all the special magical effects involved.

Overt magic, however, still clashed too much with their beliefs in a very torches-and-pitchforks kind of way. The villagers couldn't do too much visible stuff; Elisabeth had just enough juice to let arrows fly faster and gain improved penetration, Sig was just a bit tougher and stronger thanks to his affinity to the golems. Sure, especially someone like Sig, who had been unconsciously maintaining his talent with his work in the smithy, could do some impressive stuff like creating a wave of molten spikes, but it required more than an hour of meditating to pull off and he could barely walk afterwards. He used his innate magic to hit much harder but it wasn't obvious since Sig looked the part. As long as they tethered little Erich somewhere in a closed room, they could hold up the masquerade.

I wasn't so lucky. People somehow tend to notice when some really tall guy starts throwing around beams of fire, giant icicles, and the monsters themselves. I also didn't trust myself enough to go medieval and wade into a melee with the critters of hell. The increased hold of the Mantle made that a scary proposition for anyone around that wasn't me. Likewise I couldn't rely on Winter's instincts to proficiently use the bow even if I wanted to taunt fate. I knew that this world would throw the next nasty at the most inopportune moment just to make me betray my nature to the visitors.

The best way I could help the villagers was to educate them and to come up with new arrows and trust that they could handle themselves.

I was about to finish collecting most of the incubi chunks when Toot-Toot flew in and gave me a salute.

"Lieutenant-general Toot-Toot Minimus reporting in, lord!" he solemnly declared before his eyes wandered to the red and brown cobble wall. "This is a good one, Harry. I wouldn't clean it if I were you. Just imagine how much worth a painting made by the one that's going to save their collective asses will get after accomplishing the latter."

His constant internal battle between his losing but sincerely serious side and the mischievous side filled with wonder, always managed to brighten the day after a rough night. Even if it was just for a bit.

"You'd have to ask Sig about keeping the painting, Toot." I replied, the hint of a smile appearing on my tired face. "But weren't you about to report something lieutenant-general?"

"Oh right, sorry Harry." Toot-Toot said as he tore his eyes of the macabre mural and cleared his throat before continuing. "Alfred wanted you to know that the alcohol from the distillery you recently built had significantly reduced the redness and swelling he'd expected from last night wounds."

I didn't know much of medicine of chemistry, but I did know that alcohol had antiseptic properties. From my time on the farm and my alchemical experiments I also knew how to make a basic distillery. It wasn't optimal but it, together with the suggestion to Alfred to boil the bandages, suture threads, and instruments he used after cleaning them, would help keeping infections from becoming too severe.

It would perhaps even allow Edmund, the worst of the frostbite victims, to keep the bigger part of his foot.

"Hey, Sig!" Toot-Toot shouted, his duty done once more focusing on the more pressing concerns. "What if Harry leaves the stain on the walls? I'm sure they'll be worth plenty in the next century…"

A shiver visibly ran though Toot as, presumably Sig shot him a murderous gaze. It was even more impressive after noticing the armor he was wearing momentarily deformed as the shiver passed through it.

"I'll go and look for something to clean that wall with. I'll be right back." Toot hastily replied before disappearing in a streak of silver and violet.

Moments later he reappeared and started to frantically scrub the splatter zone under the low, rhythmic rumble that was Sig's chuckle.

While Toot was busy polishing the wall to a shine, which wasn't something I thought possible with a rough stone wall, I grabbed the not quite innocuous object on the table.

Sure, the metal bracelet looked slim and elegant and one might even say it looked beautiful with the fine carvings covering the shiny metal. But that only lasted until you looked at the inside. With the basic design idea coming from the thorn manacles I was way too familiar with, they possessed dozens of small spikes on the inside.

I put the manacle on, fastened the clasp and hissed as the iron infused spikes penetrated the outermost layer of my skin. Mind you, it wasn't the spikes that caused the reaction as they barely even managed to scratch that layer. No, the problem was that those spikes had the function of forcing the Mantle to retreat deep inside me. The amount of iron and the depth of penetration wasn't enough to cause me more discomfort than a heated zone around my wrist that was just a bit too hot. Which would be fine if the hell tart hadn't wounded me before. The pain I felt even through the mantle tripled.

Moments later, my right wrist was swarmed by hundreds of undine, steadily consuming the magic aura I exuded and grounding me to near normal levels for bizarro-world. As soon as they had their fill, they would be replaced by other, hungry ones.

The first prototype ended in me almost drowning and the Mantle lashing out as the undines completely swarmed me. The next one was a more traditional model but lacking the exact enchantments, the thorns were made just a bit longer. It left me in agony as the iron penetrated my flesh.

It had taken a lot of effort to convince Sig to make this model after that. Even after assuring him that The Lady of the Deep Water and I had significantly improved upon the design.

Now the spikes had two functions. One was to drive the Mantle far enough away to not endanger the elementals without leaving me a gibbering wreck. The second was to pull and focus my aura to the area around the manacle. There the other enchantments came to play. When into contact with magic, the manacle attracted undine to get them interested in my tasty magic but also prevented them to come into contact with my skin.

The end result was, that I could walk around without ruining people's breakfast in normal torchlight. The slightly moist looking area around my right wrist was much less noticeable. It also meant that I couldn't focus enough magic to fling any meaningful spells around and the Mantle being a bit cranky.

My daily venting time started to resemble a rampage more and more.

"I'm done scrubbing boss." The pixie piped and I was almost stunned silent by the one shiny part of wall. "What are the plans for today, my liege?"

"I'm going to visit Edmund to see how he's holding up and collect Alfred for the continuation of the warding lessons. Tell the others, those that are not busy or are not bogged down by visitors, and tell them we're to resume the lessons in about an hour in Lars' house." I answered packing the stuff I needed.

Lars, the mayor or town speaker to be more correct, had a house that somehow managed to remain standing for three generations without getting destroyed be the multitude of danger and without the family going extinct. It had one of strongest thresholds of the village and it was getting stronger ever since the villagers started defending themselves.

Toot saluted and went about this task and since I hadn't given him anything else to do, he'd soon start his newly found favorite pasttime: Finding the few travelers that could actually see him and play tricks on them until they developed a healthy amount of paranoia.

I followed Toot through the door and made my way towards the exit. "I'll be showing some more wards at Lars' house in about an hour. Do you think you can be there?" I shouted in the general direction of the forge.

"No." was his succinct answer which was accompanied by a mighty hammer blow and the ringing of steel.

I hadn't thought he'd be able to come. Both he and Franz had been flooded by people interested in their experience working with monster materials.

Speaking of Franz, I had the final fitting of the armor today and knowing him, he would bring an audience.

I sighed as I stepped out the door onto the street, my pain more or less banished by Lash's technique, and made my way to the newly built and already expanding clinic.

Even though it was early enough to see a few remaining burning candles and torches, the streets were already alive.

The villagers had rapidly adapted to their newly gained fame and demand for monster related materials. Already the more enterprising ones had opened up shop and were peddling materials and small, non-magical trinkets to passing travelers. These travelers were the ones that, while having decided to make a detour to see Enoch village instead of going through the more direct pass, still needed to get going and wanted to set off at the first light of dawn.

I made my way through the streets while being greeted by the locals and getting weird looks from the strangers present. Not that I blamed them. I was the tallest around by far, I didn't look anyone in the eyes and the greetings from the villagers had a noticeable warmth to them.

I knocked on the door of the clinic and was greeted by the radiant face of Erich.

"Harry!" he shouted in delight and jumped to hug me.

Jumping might not have been the correct term to use here. He moved a bit too slow and the height of the jump didn't quite match the apparent effort. He latched onto my neck and I ruffled his hair. Unnoticeable by those that neither possessed the raw magic power or sight I was swarmed by the uncountable sylphs darting around him.

"Hey Erich." I replied while he pretended to be a bit embarrassed and annoyed the obvious sign of affection. "It almost looked natural this time, but keep working on it. Having pitchfork-wielding people after you isn't fun. Is your father in?"

Erich was already able to put long jumpers to shame with ease and with the way he was copying my parkour routine, soon there wouldn't be any obstacle to stop him. Of course, the sylphs were much more concerned for his well-being than they were for my own. They cushioned every landing and fall to a degree where even flying should be safe for him.

It would still take a while before he achieved full flight. However, combine it with his talent for the bow he probably received from his mother, he would become an unholy terror for any monster that wanted to attack him.

And any human as well if my luck had rubbed off on him.

Erich led me inside and we found Alfred at Edmund's side.

"It looks like the removal of those dead toes did the trick. You'll get to keep your leg after all."

Alfred's mention of the damage I had caused made me cringe.

"Again I'm sorry for…" I started as I walked in his curtained off section before being interrupted by him.

"Not this again, Dresden. How many times do I have to repeat myself? It was my own damned fault. If I wasn't distracted by those tits." Alfred cleared his throat and gestured at the oblivious, hovering Erich before throwing Edmund a pointed look.

"Anyways, we would have all been dead if it wasn't for you. Hell even I would have been fine if I had just run like you told us to." Edmund was wildly gesticulating at this point.

The insensitive bastard didn't even have the decency to let me be moody and self-centered. How could I be a true wizard with opposition like this?

"Good to see you are still as lively as ever, Edi. You'd think having lost some toes would dampen the positivity a bit"

"We're given a surplus anyways. This way we can lose some, isn't that right Alfred?"

"I wouldn't say that, but..." Alfred looked at the smiling idiot that lay in the bed and chose to just leave it be.

I wondered how it was even possible to remain this happy. Edmund had to have some rare talent to pull it off.

"You only wanted to see Edi and me, Harry?" A small shouted protest came from a pouting Erich as the words left his father's mouth. "And, of course, Erich as well. Or did you wanted discuss my experiences with the alcohol last night?"

"A bit of both actually, as well as to tell you that I'll be giving the warding pointers in about half an hour."

"I should be able to make it. Will you walk with me? I have to see the other patients and it has the added bonus of seeing the fruits of our labor first hand."

And thus we went around the small clinic and surveyed the few villagers that were wounded in last night battle.

Erich tagged along for the first five minutes or so before disappearing. Presumably Toot-Toot had found them and he was now sharing his love for flying with the pixie at the new magic school building. It was a freshly build cabin in the neighboring woods, far enough away to keep curious people ignorant but close enough to not be exposed to any real danger.

Listening to Alfred explaining the visible improvements the methods had brought about and recounting previous cases we went from patient to patient. I only interrupted him when I remembered something biology or medicine related from my lackluster education or my personal experience at being injured and thought it important enough to share. As a result, Alfred probably had the most extensive knowledge of anatomy in a very big area, even if my recounting were sometimes a bit imprecise and the covered material arbitrarily chosen according to when I remembered stuff.

About a minute late, I knocked on the door of Lars' house and I could feel the wards I had built in the previous lesson react in response.

"Ah Harry there you are." Lars opened the door and had started talking even before he saw the entirety of either of us. "Please come in the both of you."

I felt the pressure of the threshold parting and the wards becoming inactive. "It's called being fashionably late," I quipped as I followed Lars and Alfred to the study.

Heinz and Elisabeth, who probably came directly from the practice fields, were already bowed over the sole book lying on the table. I was teaching them the Lego school of warding that Elaine had developed and meticulously wrote down the information in that book, along with the corresponding drawings, as I went along. I had even begun to integrate the elementals.

After the customary greetings, I resumed the lessons. Being only interrupted by requests to clarify some of the more complicated stuff or more general questions allowed us to move along with a brisk pace after which we started to practice it right then and there.

Lars' wife, Frida, returned home after settling a small dispute between two of the travelers and joined the practical exercises.

I removed the manacle to be able to help them if something were to go wrong. A wave of rime traveled over my body, thin enough to disappear immediately, and a strong urge to strangle something made the displeasure of the Mantle known to me. The main reason it didn't do much else was that it identified the humans surrounding us as 'its'.

Concentrating on the task at hand helped me suppress much of the remaining anger and I was able to appreciate Elaine's work once again. The beauty of Elaine's Lego system was that it didn't require much magical oomph to make it work and that the defenses could be expanded and improved over time.

Thus, at the end of the morning the house had a full set of wards and we had even started reinforcing it with an additional layer on top of it.

"What do you want us to do with this?" Heinz suddenly asked while pointing at the book. "It would be invaluable to many other people outside of Enoch."

I had expected the question, especially from the priest, and as such had given it some thought even before startingwarding 101.

"I understand that it could help countless of people, however there is one problem. It needs active magic use and there isn't an easy way to form a complete net only relying on the elementals to fuel it. At some point there is the need for wizardry." I started to answer.

Before either Heinz or Elisabeth, having much a warrior's soul and believing everyone should have a fighting chance, could object I pushed onwards. "That's why I propose the following. You're already putting those who want to use and make the arrows through training."

Elisabeth had come up with that idea when the request came flooding in. This system allowed us to educate them, especially on the dangers those things possessed, and helped us get an idea of their character. Those who were worthy were taught how to make the common ones on the solemn understanding that they wouldn't be distributing them to random people and after promising that they wouldn't be used on humans. The unworthy ones were kept in training until they became worthy or simply quit.

I was aware that it wasn't a foolproof system but it was the best we could think of in such short notice. Heinz's narrative would at least prevent it from completely failing.

"I suggest that you go one step further. Create a council to review those trying to learn making the arrows. Have the council identify those that aren't complete fanatics and would be willing to learn magic and then teach it to them."

There was a bit of a sharp inhale at that. They knew they had to be careful with the witch hunt mentality many people had. Entrusting the secrets to the wrong person would probably call a crusade down on the Enoch.

"After you feel they know enough to make it virtually impossible to betray us, you could start teaching them warding as well." I finished, making it clear that questions would be welcome now.

"If they get to that stage what should we do with the book?" Alfred asked.

"You could copy the book and give him or her their own." I answered. "But I would be only copy it sparsely. There is probably enough evidence in there to grant the owner a one way ticket to a pyre."

Alfred and the rest nodded, their concerns, while not gone, lessened. Lars and Frida looked a bit concerned, perhaps truly realizing how dangerous it could become. Heinz was concentrating, no doubt thinking of a way to give the contents of my book a religious twist that should mitigate the very worst.

"Do you mind if I rephrase some of it, Harry?" He asked, his gaze pensive enough to make me faintly hear imaginary cogs turning.

"As long as you don't change the core instructions, no" I said, holding my hand up to placate him and continuing. "I know you won't, Heinz. It's simply something that has to be said out loud. Any more questions?"

Nobody had anything more to say, which I attributed to my talent in explanation. Or they were simply hungry, a notion my stomach felt like confirming.

"No? Then I have one last announcement." Suddenly I had their full interest once again. "I'll leave Enoch in the next few days. I have taught all of the magical theory you can use and showed you the necessary exercises to cultivate the talents. And while you've learned how to defend yourself, I don't want to impose on you by being a beacon for monsters and worse."

"You don't impose on anyone, Harry. We have all chosen to stand up and fight out of our own free will." Elisabeth blurted out. "Besides Erich would terribly miss his favorite uncle."

She wasn't the only one that looked downtrodden. Sure, they knew that I was only here on a temporary basis, but suddenly facing me actually leaving still was a shock.

"With only you here, I can be frank." I started, knowing that those present wouldn't betray my trust. "As you all have figured out by now, I'm not from around here." The chuckle going through the group was affirmation enough. I would do much better now, but it could be said that I stood out in the beginning.

"Even though it is technically true that I'm from across the ocean, there is more to it than that. By some weird accident, of which I myself don't know the details myself, I'm stranded in this corner of the world. Before the attack of that overgrown lizard I was moving towards a spot of concentrated magic in the hopes of finding a way back home." With the exception of Heinz they were listening intently by now. Being told personal information about someone ought to interesting, especially being given by and about the wizard that saved your ass from getting roasted. Heinz was simply sitting there, his eyes closed, with the calm expression of someone connecting the dots.

I had expected that the Soulgaze had revealed much to him, much like it did to me. I also expected that the next part wouldn't be a surprise to him.

"I stayed, in part because I needed time to heal and new gear, in part to teach you how to defend your loved ones. And I don't regret it one bit." The fear that I was betrayed their trust by leaving, a feeling that grown as I started to plan for my departure, worsened but I continued regardless. "But now that I have accomplished those goals, it's time to move on."

I looked up, getting as close to looking the others sitting at the table in the eyes without triggering the Soulgaze, until I finally reached Heinz. Looking him straight in the eyes I simply stated. "My daughter is waiting for me to come home."

A wave of understanding went through the group upon hearing those words and I could see sorrow in Heinz' eyes for my predicament.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean that I will never return here. Knowing my luck, I'll pass through here at least once more before I'm done." I said as my stomach rumbled again. "Now that that's out of the way, go ahead and get something to eat. There is one more thing I'd like to discuss with Heinz before I join you."

The other looked somewhat puzzled but then again, I had done some theological discussing with Heinz before. It wasn't really something they were that invested in and thus the immediate bodily needs trumped their curiosity.

I put the manacle back on, bracing for the spike in pain and the exited the building. I felt the wards shift into place behind me.

"You want anything in particular?" Frida asked as we were about to part ways. "I should be able to have them put aside something if you'd like."

"I'm fine, thanks. Heinz?" The eponymous priest shook his head. "It should take long anyways."

We split up, Heinz and I walking towards the nearly reconstructed church while the rest headed towards the market square.

Soon after we really kicked into gear with training, learning and later hunting, the need arose for increased efficiency in their everyday life. Out of that need something resembling a permanent, outdoor food court was created on the market square which had grown to another of Enoch's bigger attractions thanks to the exotic food they served. As it stood, there was a surprising amount of tasty monsters roaming these lands.

We arrived at the church, quiet now that the workers were out for lunch as well, and entered Heinz' office. The room wasn't that small but it had a frugal interior. Besides the twin orbs encircling the Hawk of the Holy See Religious Order, there were no decorations and furniture was just comfortable enough to fulfill the needs in an office if nothing more.

Heinz closed the door behind us. "What did you want to discuss, Harry?" Heinz asked while inviting me to take a seat in a nearby chair.

"Do remember the first Law?" It was more a rhetorical question than anything else. If you listened to my students one might believe the Laws were the only thing I talked about. "As you might have guessed, I have simplified it a bit for clarity's sake."

Heinz nodded and waited for me to continue. I don't know how much he saw when we gazed, but it probably wouldn't have been all sunshine and rainbows. It wasn't that far-fetched to assume that he saw enough to come to that conclusion on his own.

"The Law is only really relevant when actively flinging around magic and doesn't matter when using enchanted tools in vanilla ways." I started to explain. While instructing the villagers how to make the arrows, I had warned them not to use them against strangers. I hadn't explicitly told them that it would cause the corruptive backlash, but knowing my persistence on the Laws, they had simply assumed it to be for this reason.

"What about wards?"

"Pretty much the same principle. The really dangerous ones are outside of the capabilities of the majority of people. They aren't outside of mine though and with time it would be very ill-advised to try and break into my home."

Heinz slouched back in his chair to start mulling things through. I, however, wasn't finished.

"I pushed the no killing rule, mainly because it doesn't sit right with me. I would hate to see something I have designed be used to end the lives of mortals, messily at that. To see magic be misused." It had been necessary to give the villagers a fighting chance against the monsters. "Also it would be for everyone's best interest that those arrows not get unleashed on the common battlefield or used for war. That's why I wanted those regulations in place, beyond protecting Enoch's secret."

"I'm afraid that I know where this is going. Please don't give me this responsibility." Heinz pleaded. He knew my very being and he knew my mannerism better than anyone else.

"If Enoch is in danger of being overrun by the military or any other mortal faction and you know you can't get anywhere with dialogue andthere's reason to believe that the people here would be tortured or killed, I want you to authorize the use of any of the arrows."

Heinz wanted to object and it hurt me that I had to force it upon him.

"I hoped I didn't have to do it to you, but you're the only one that has enough respect of the other villagers to make this work. More important, you're the only one I know I can trust to do the right thing."

Heinz looked at me, a defeated reaction dominating his expression, until finally sighing. "I had hoped you wouldn't say that. Do you think we would need it?"

"If my previous experiences are any indications, I'm afraid that you'll need it too soon for anyone's comfort." I felt a pang of paranoia saying it out loud. I had the distinct feeling that the universe was listening, but with the religious nutjobs around, all it could do was bring the hammer down earlier.

A glimmer of steely resolve started to crystalize in Heinz's ashen complexion before finally speaking deliberate care. "I can't allow that to happen to my children. Fine, I'll take the responsibility."

"Thanks, Heinz. It means a lot to me."

Heinz chuckled at that comment. "You knew it would go this way didn't you?"

"I hoped you would agree, but I wouldn't have held it against you if you refused. With that out of the way, How about we join the others and get something to eat ourselves?"

Heinz stood up and I followed suit. "Let's go. You're paying, Harry."

The trip to the market was uneventful and both of us spend it deep in thought. Heinz was probably thinking about ways to tell the others the truth when the time arrived. I was thinking what the best way to proceed should be. I was also secretly dreading whatever Franz had planned for me that afternoon.

The lunch was uneventful just until the time Toot and Erich found me while I was quietly digesting somewhere at the edge of the bustling square.

"Do you really have to go? Toot hasn't finished teaching me flying yet." I looked over towards Toot who skillfully managed to dodge the brunt of my gaze. "Don't you want to see me fly?"

Erich was looking at me with tear-filled eyes and I felt my resolve waver for a bit. The little rascal idolized me for saving the girl that was definitely not his crush, giving them the ability to fight back and then showing him a way to achieve his goal of flight.

I kneeled down and invited him to a hug. He didn't have to think twice and simply floated over and embraced me with enough force to make the pain from my spectral wounds flare up again. I ignored it in favor of returning the hug.

Before it got really weird I disentangled myself from the unwilling, little form and got as close to looking him in the eyes as I dared. I couldn't risk pulling him into a Soulgaze. Even most adults didn't even deserve that.

"Erich, do you love your parents." The aghast expression on his face didn't need adding any words to tell me just how stupid a question that was. "What would you do if Lise lost her life in battle and Freddy would suddenly go missing without any clue what happened to him afterwards?"

"I would be very sad. Flying wouldn't be fun anymore…" Erich was on the brink of breaking down and sob because of the image I painted. I wanted to punch myself for having done that, but I had few other option to make it clear to him why I hadto go.

Just as he was about to lose himself in tears I noticed a shift in the clever little boy's posture. He looked up once more with clearly having realized why I had said that.

"That's right. I have a daughter waiting for her dad to come home." I softly told him, emotion threatening to crack up my voice. "You understand now, why I have to go?"

Erich calmed his breathing and nodded once. "Besides there isn't much I can teach you anymore. The sylphs definitely like you more than me if my previous experiences with flying are any indication."

"He does have a point, Erich. You should have seen his first landing…" Toot-Toot began enthusiastically before remembering that technically I was still annoyed with him and wisely deciding to stop talking.

"As I was saying, you will be fine. Besides I might even return here somewhere in the future and if that happens I would love to watch you soar through the skies."

Erich lightened up even more when he heard that part. Ending on a high note is always something to strive for when parting ways.

On that note I turned towards the rebellious lieutenant-general. "Toot, I want you to spend the afternoon teaching everything you know about flying to the future aviator here. This time with my express permission."

Erich whooped in joy before I had even finished my last sentence and the two were about to storm off if I hadn't held Erich back.

"Before doing anything, make sure you ask for permission first. I don't want to have any awkward conversation about this when I leave Enoch."

"Okay!" He shouted and I let him go. Disappeared out of my sight in a blink of an eye.

The next couple of hours I spend teaching the local kids in the way of magic.

Even though I say teaching, it was more the case of supervising them while they were doing the exercises to improve concentration and mental imaging. I may or may not have repeatedly given the advice that they should do or do not and that there was no such thing as try. It may have also been in a muppety voice and the heathens may have groaned from the third time onwards.

One of the problems was that I couldn't really teach them much of my magic beyond basic, universal methods and giving ideas for future exercises. They lacked the raw magical power to do as I did and would have to heavily rely on the elementals of this world to get anything done. I lacked the sheer knowledge to do more than to tell them of the observations I made in my time here.

I didn't have a doubt that they would at least stay true to the Seven Laws. I would have doubted that a fortnight ago but whatever Heinz had told them, it had worked. Even with Anna. Though they were still somewhat critical and asked for clarification when something appeared to make little sense, they seemed to have accepted that I had no interest in world conquering and that I had a bit more experience and authority on the field of magic.

They weren't glad to hear that I was going soon, but they understood my reasoning, especially after telling the abridged version of my predicament. It was vague enough to not reveal weird details but not a single word was a lie. The way that reminded me of the fae did sent a shiver down my spine.

It was a pity they didn't trust me, or were as fond of me as Erich was. There were not many questions and soon there was a general acceptance in the room.

I cursed them for not trying to hear me out. Otherwise I would have been late enough for the final fitting of my armor which in turn might have meant that there would have been little to no spectators.

But as it was, I bid my students farewell and made my way to the smithy. I needed to get my gear if the fitting were to mean anything.

No use in having an armor when I have no access to half of my gadgets.

Sadly, gathering my stuff from the suspiciously empty smithy didn't take half as long as I'd like. There was nothing left except to follow my nose to the tannery and face the proverbial music.

I collected myself before knocking on the door. It opened after the first knock and Franz was illuminated from inside the building, somehow looming over me.

"There you are, Harry. Come in. Quick. We're all waiting for you to show up."

I had barely enough time to utter a hastily vocalized greeting before I was herded inside. It was almost as if Franz was afraid that I'd simply bolt.

It wasn't that I didn't like him, it was just that he had too much energy for anyone's good.

He led me to a room with something that looked suspiciously like a stage and we began the process of putting the armor on under the torrential stream of words. While working with him I had long learned to recognize the appropriate times to nod, shake or give a non-committed grunt without the need of listening to his every word.

While Franz was explaining were the materials came from and the reason for the particular design, I had the time to look around the room.

I saw Sig, Lise and Heinz sitting in the front row. Sig and Lise were probably both here because of an interest in the armor itself and to get ideas for pieces of their own. Sig was probably also using it to get some inspiration on how to use those materials himself.

Heinz was probably here both to satisfy his curiosity and to offer me moral support.

The other were a mixture from the militia and some of the travelers.

We started with a pair of low boots with large scales protecting my toes and the most of the rest of my foot. The overlapping design of the scales wouldn't hinder movement too much.

Next were the greaves. They were made out of hard scaly hide and were secured in place by clasps on the back. Both had a plate of gray dyed bone protecting my shin that ended with a large tooth that was firmly secured in place. The pulled double duty as an offensive option in case I wanted to knee a monster and as defensive measure to protect my knee form getting cut too easily.

The next part was accompanied by the obligatory thigh related teasing that was met by varying degrees of snickering. The base material of the cuisses was a softer scale hide that was overlaid by big, overlapping plate like scales. Once again the armor was fastened by clasps at the back.

Next came the biggest part of equipment. The brigandine was, as the rest of the armor, made out of a scaly hide. Attached on top of that were larger scales and plates of bone which stuck a compromise between defense and freedom of movement. Additionally it had some large plates on the side of my hip as well as tassets hanging from it to further protect my upper legs. I had a shoulder holster rig attached for my revolver as well as a sheath for both my Blasting rod as well as the Longinus itself. Two small bags at my hips contained ammunition for my revolver as well as other small miscellaneous materials. The clasps for the brigandine were on the side of the armor.

The pieces of armor were connected together with multiple leather straps and even more clasps. A sash obscured the area where the cuisses met the brigandine.

"The client had opted to forsake the pauldrons in favor of freedom of movement." Franz had moved to the vambraces and had seen the need to explain the lack of shoulder guard.

The part of the crowd that hadn't seen me fight erupted in a hushed discussion as they wanted to make sense of what they were seeing. No one failed to notice that there wasn't metal used in any of the pieces that were presented up to this point.

The looks to shot me ranged from pitying me for my apparent stupidity to barely hidden curiosity while the villagers in the room had to make an effort not to start laughing at their ignorance. Only Lise was the one that was truly annoyed at their disrespect towards me.

I simply let them be while idly wondering whether or not witnessing a wyvern attack would change their opinion. It wasn't their fault not knowing that I wielded cosmic powers, I worked hard to make it that way after all. They also couldn't know that I had used said cosmic powers to enchant my equipment.

The upcoming duster had the usual ones. Cut and pierce resistance, fire resistance, the air conditioner enchantment, my Gore-Tex one, and so on. The Armor had only the latter two simply due to simple economics. You had to spend much time and effort to make and maintain enchantments that persisted through multiple sunrises. I had however taken a page from Bob's book and included a spell to call forth sylphs and hopefully make arrows miss me when I activated it. In theory it should consume less of my stamina than my shield bracelet. That theory wasn't really tested since I needed to be in it and nobody felt that shooting at me with fast traveling projectiles was a particularly smart idea.

"Don't worry, we have found a workaround for the little shoulder problem but first let's look at the vambraces." Franz continued unperturbed as the crowed quieted down enough. "It's made of the same hide used for the greaves and the observant members of the crowd will notice that the bone attached to it is rather thin." Franz lifted the vambraces so that those in the back could also see it.

I in the meantime slipped into my new wrist high leather gloves. All things considered they weren't particular fancy but they were well made and supple which was all I would really want from them.

I got handed the vambraces and proceeded to put them on. "While we wait for the client to secure them in place I want to take the time to show you why those plates are as thin as they are." With a dramatic flourish, Franz swirled around and retrieved the duster from a box standing behind it. "This long coat is made from the wing membrane of the slain wyvern. It boasts an impressive protection against cutting and stabbing while at the same time retaining the suppleness of the material it's made off."

I couldn't help but smirk. If the traveling merchants knew just how impenetrable I could make something like this, their eyes would have probably rolled out of their sockets. I was handed the dark grey duster as soon as I was done fiddling with the clasps of the vambraces.

With a practiced movement I put it on, the smell and weight calming me. I felt protected for the first time in a while.

I moved around, both to show the spectators my freedom of movement and test it out myself. It wasn't completely unrestricted but probably the best next thing. It was remarkable really, considering what I was wearing.

Finally I got handed my helmet. I didn't really like the ideas but after sorely missing it the last time I was in armor I agreed to have it included in my arsenal.

That decision was helped immensely after seeing Franz' first sketch and seeing that it looked like a scaly, spiky version of magneto's helmet. It also gave me the idea of including some enchantments that should make breaking into my mind much harder if I actually wore it.

While I was fiddling around with the helmet and making sure my other gear was in their place, Franz had brought a large slab of polished metal.

I looked like the love child of jedi sensibilities and a knight made by the Games Workshop. One that had entered its rebellious phase and renounced its father's love for shoulder guards. The red, brown black and grey color scheme was muted enough to surprise me more than I would admit.

As I was preparing myself for the upcoming round of questions, the relative silence was broken by a cry that reminded me to guard my thoughts

"Wyvern!"

I grabbed my staff and stormed outside and was indeed greeted by the sight of a wyvern circling above the village. Instead of the reddish coat this one had a greenish one.

As I was observing the beastie I noticed a worrying change its behavior. Namely it seem to sniff the air before honing in on me in my new and shiny armor.

"Hell's bells, Harry of course you had to murder Mr. Smaug wannabe and wear his skin in front of the Mrs." I chided myself.

It wasn't a problem as long as I didn't answer myself.

The wyvern charged me inciting a nasty feeling of Déjà vu as I was feverishly thinking my option through.

I couldn't do anything overt, there were too many strangers around that could link me with the village and cause unholy amounts of trouble. I could use my hand cannon but I had to load that first since I had emptied the chamber before attending the fashion show.

Since stabbing the incoming wyvern was an equally bad notion due to that little thing called momentum, I opted for the superman-dive-now-and-continue-thinking-later approach.

Too bad the wyvern didn't play ball. Instead of simply trying eviscerate me with its talons it proceeded to perform a somersault and hit me squarely with its spiked tail. Somehow.

The good news was that Franz had done a good job on the armor and I now had protection against impacts. The bad news was that I was now hurtling towards the wall I erected myself while still wearing the manacle.

I was barely able to force enough juice into my shield bracelet to make the stop just a bit less sudden.

In a slumped down against the wall I had a front row seat to the scene that unfolded.

The she-wyvern had landed in facing my and took her time purposely approaching me. That focus cost her life.

Lise and the elites of the militia came hurtling to my aid. Each had their bow out and multiple arrows in their draw hands. As soon as they had entered the effective range they let the first arrow fly. Not stopping to shoot they unleashed one arrow after the other until they had to reach to their hip quiver to be ready to unleash a second volley.

I had long learned that medieval archery could involve much less standing around and much more rapid fire. Since most monsters didn't stand still Lise and her colleagues had all the practice to improve this kick ass technique.

Dozens of arrows punched through the membranes of the wings, discharging electric shocks into the beast. Water infused arrows deeply penetrated her skin and as a final hoorah Lise had let one of the newer model arrows fly with enough magic of her own to grievously wound the wyvern.

I could feel the storm of air blades being unleashed inside of her and the wyvern collapsed, massive amounts of blood flowing out of her mouth.

The execution, there wasn't any other way to call it what just happened, lasted less than two seconds.

"Wow." I heard Toot-Toot utter in amazement at the carnage my invention and their effort had brought about.

"It looks like I'm no longer need here in Enoch, Toot." I said as I pulled myself up.

I had all my gear on me and the crimson, dying light reminded me of something I wanted to do for a long time now.

For the sake of checking one last thing before leaving I risked using my Sight and See the villagers. I caught the last glimpses of an even larger, golden form transposed over the corpse before it dissolved as the last spark of life left it. It cleared my Sight to the villagers themselves.

They had a certain measure of pride and ferocity to their forms. Even though the details differed from person to person they had some elements in common. One was the defiant look and the confident posture. Another was the various healed battle scars covering the little skin that was exposed outside the armor they were wearing. The hold of their weapons was with the confident ease of a veteran as elementals were swirling around them.

The most important change was that the three chains had completely disappeared and I could see the ones from the outsiders rusting and weakening as watched. With a satisfied smile I closed my Sight.

"Let's go Toot. Slipping away right now should prevent people from asking why I was fine. Besides, I've already said my goodbyes."

"Don't lie, you just want to walk away into the sunset, don't you?" Toot accused me smilingly.

I sported my shit-eating grin as I made my way through the gates and towards the horizon.

I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for one meddling kid.

"Harry wait up" Erich literally flew out of the woods and landed in front of me. "Daddy told me you'd try to sneak away in the commotion."

I cursed my predictability. "What do you want me to do, Erich?" I asked, my grin turned bitter sweet. "You know why I have to go. Now that Enoch has proven that it can defend itself and I'm more or less rested it's time."

"I know that. But you could join is for one last feast." Damn it, Erich had been practicing his puppy eyes and I found that I wasn't immune. "Pretty please?"

I sighed. "Alright then. One more feast and then I'm gone. Don't expect me to be there tomorrow morning. I don't want to cause a commotion when people sober up enough to realize that I shouldn't be fine."

"But wouldn't you be cold out here at night?"

"The cold never bothered me anyways, Erich." I solemnly answered him as we made our way back to the village where the first whiffs of roasted wyvern could already be smelled.

I had no idea why Toot-Toot was groaning. That quote seemed appropriate enough, given our allegiance.

Harry's on the road again and he might even get to main plot in the next four or so chapters. I wouldn't take it for face value though. I hadn't expected to even reach chapter 4 in total, so there's that.

I'm also thinking of changing the title of this fic. 'Unholy Saviors' would be my top pick at the moment. Both due adhering to the Dresden Files naming scheme as well as fitting Guts and the magic users in general. If anyone have potential ideas, I'm open for suggestions.

Remember, reviews will help me make this fic better.