CHAPTER 7:

KNEEL BEFORE ZODD!

Harry watched as the messenger dropped to his knee and began relaying the status of the castle siege. Apparently most of the battle was done, all that was needed was for Guts' Raiders to make their assault on the keep. Unfortunately, none of the men sent to capture him had returned. Corkus, predictably, had jeered, until the messenger mentioned a name that sent chills running down everyone's spines.

Nosferatu Zodd.

Harry met Casca's eyes, and then looked at Griffith. "Griffith…I think we'll have to consider an extraction. If Zodd is truly as powerful as they say…Guts and the Raiders may be in trouble."

Griffith considered this carefully, before finally nodding. "Harry, head there at once. Order Guts and any of his men still present to remain stationed outside the keep. Then, use stealth to check for survivors. If Zodd is present, get out of there. If Guts refuses, use a Portkey. We'll be heading up there ourselves."

"Got it." Harry looked at Casca, a farewell passing between their eyes, before Harry looked into the distance, and Apparated roughly where he needed to go…

…And appeared with a whipcrack noise amongst the Raiders. They whirled on him, startled. "Don't do that, sir!" Gaston, one of the top Raiders, snapped.

"What's going on?" Harry asked. "Where's Guts?" He suddenly noticed a bloodied man (Dillos, he remembered) on the ground, and quickly checked him. Dead.

"The Captain seemed agitated," Gaston said. "When Dillos came out, he said Zodd had slaughtered them before dying. The Captain went inside in anger, and told us not to tell anyone else or allow anyone to follow. He entered less than a minute ago."

"Fuck, Guts, you stupid, stubborn bastard," Harry snarled, before he summoned a Patronus. Placing the tip of his staff to his throat, the end without the spear, he intoned, "Guts has gone in to confront Zodd alone. I'm retrieving him now. If you're coming to back us up, be careful."

As the ghostly stag cantered away, Harry looked at them. "Griffith and the others should be here soon. Stay here…"

As Harry strode down the corridors of the keep, he cast scanning spells at the bodies strewn all over. All dead. And they died in agony. With the blood and entrails and body parts scattered all over the place, it looked less like a fortress and more like an abattoir.

And Guts was about to join their number.

Keeping his gorge down with an effort, Harry hurried his pace, draping the Invisibility Cloak that he kept in a satchel over him, before coming to a vast chamber, just in time to hear Guts roar in fury, and the clash of a sword against another. Then, a deep, bestial voice remarked, "A most excellent parry."

Harry moved in time to see Guts facing off against what had to be Zodd. A towering mass of muscle, his face was bestial, vaguely looking like tusks, his skin a sickly yellow green, his eyes red and with slitted pupils that shone in the dim light. He was also naked, on full display. And then, he sniffed the air as Guts readied himself for another attack. "Hmm? An interloper…show yourself!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry roared, sending the spell at Zodd, who was flung away, his massive sword flying through the air.

Guts whirled to find Harry, taking off his Invisibility Cloak. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he roared angrily. "This bastard killed my men!"

"Get out of here! Bitch at me later!" Harry yelled, only to be forced to dive for cover when a sword thrown by the monstrous man nearly turned him into a kebab.

"You dare interrupt my duel?!" Zodd roared, lumbering over and grabbing another sword from a corpse.

"Yeah! And put some fucking pants on!" Harry Apparated behind the hulking mercenary and fired a Reducto at the demonic man's chest, gouging out a crater, but not penetrating it like he had hoped. "I don't want to see your cock hanging out with your murder-boner on full view!" He grabbed a rock, used the Portkey charm, and hurled it at Guts. "Catch!"

Guts swatted it away with his sword. "No! I'm settling this now!"

Before Harry could retort, Zodd swatted Harry away, sending him crashing into a wall. "I'll play with you later," Zodd snarled, before he retrieved his sword, and advanced on Guts. Harry tried to shake off the blow, but he had hit his head pretty badly. Eventually, Zodd cornered Guts, but Guts didn't back down. "So…you intend to gamble it all on a single strike instead of blocking…how interesting. Your challenge is accepted…"

As Harry struggled to his feet, Guts roared, and after a clash of blades, he brought his sword into Zodd's shoulder, causing the hulking ogre-like man to roar in pain. But then, Zodd said, "How wonderful…in three centuries of battle and bloodshed, you are the first to land such a blow…well, save for the wizard and his trickery. But he came to save you, so his valour in that regard is unimpeachable…"

Suddenly, misty smoke blasted from Zodd, surrounding him. His shadowy form shifted, twisting and contorting, before the smoke cleared…and something else was revealed. Something massive, something eldritch, something demonic.

It was a hideous beast, like something out of a clichéd image of a devil, with horns, a bestial leonine face, hooved feet, and a tail. It was sheer power incarnate, malevolence given form, bloodlust made flesh. Harry had never seen anything like it, and he hoped he never would again.

He looked at Guts, and yelled, "GUTS! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!"

But Guts was too surprised and startled at the transformation to move. No, he was afraid too. As was Harry. But he had enough presence of mind to hold out a hand, and yell, "ACCIO, GUTS!"

Guts slid away with a yelp, his armour and sword shooting sparks as he slid along the floor, barely being missed by Zodd's blow. As Guts slid to a halt in front of Harry, Zodd snarled, his voice now warped and demonic, "ONCE AGAIN, YOU HAVE INTERFERED IN MY FIGHT!"

"FUCK! YOUR! FIGHT!" Harry roared, before pointing his staff at Zodd. "FIENDFYRE!"

Cursed flames, in the shape of furious beasts, roared out of the staff at Zodd. For as long as he dared, Harry bathed the chamber in the diabolical fire, until he knew he was on the verge of losing control. He stopped, swaying a little on his feet from a combination of magical exhaustion and the blow to the head he got earlier. Creating a Portkey or using Apparition while suffering from a head injury was dangerous, so he couldn't use either of those to get out of here. And something told him that Zodd wasn't dead.

That something was deep, malevolent laughter. "…PERHAPS I WAS TOO HASTY," came Zodd's voice. "YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON IN A VERY LONG TIME TO MAKE ME FEEL SUCH PAIN." He appeared from the smoke, parts of his fur singed off, and a couple of open burns weeping in his flesh. But compared to what Fiendfyre could normally do, it might as well have been fleabitings.

Harry had one gamble left. He held out his hand. "Accio, Portkey," he rasped.

The rock he had used to create the Portkey launched itself towards them, and Harry held on tight to Guts as it hit them, and activated, dumping them outside the keep just as Griffith, who was present with the others, was giving the orders to go inside. "Harry!" Casca yelled.

"We need to run!" Harry yelled. "He's a fucking demon! Literally! RUN! RUN NOW!"

"TOO LATE!" roared Zodd, who charged out of the doors, bowling people over, including Guts, who had stormed at him. "I'M JUST GETTING WARMED UP! MY BEST FIGHTS IN CENTURIES, AND YOU WANT TO END IT NOW? ENOUGH WITH THE FOREPLAY!"

Griffith leapt at Zodd, his sabre biting deep into the demon's flesh, only for the horned beast to swat him away into a wall, his helmet bouncing off. But then, Zodd, as he peered at the now supine Griffith, noticed something hanging out of his armour.

"THE CRIMSON BEHELIT?!" the beast roared. "THIS CUB HAS THE EGG OF THE KING?! IS…IS THAT THE GODHAND'S GAME?" He then began to chuckle, the air filled with dark glee and malevolent mirth. "IT SEEMS THAT OUR BATTLE WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR NOW. BUT SOME ADVICE FOR YOU…OR PERHAPS YOU CAN CALL IT A PROPHECY. IF THAT MAN IS YOUR FRIEND, THEN YOU WILL HEED MY WORDS. FOR WHEN HIS DREAM COLLAPSES, DEATH WILL COME FOR YOU ALL, AND NONE SHALL ESCAPE IT!" With deep, dark laughter, Zodd flew off into the dreary sky.

Casca rushed over to Griffith. "Harry! He needs help!"

Harry said, or rather, slurred, "…Sorry, Cas. I'm…" And with that, he swayed, and collapsed to the ground. As his eyes closed, he heard Casca screaming at Guts in anger. And to be honest, at that moment, Harry couldn't blame her one bit…

When he woke up, they were back at Windham, the capital of Midland, in the barracks set aside for the Band of the Hawk. Casca was sitting, holding vigil, only to notice that his eyes were flickering open. "Harry?" she asked quietly, her eyes a little puffy and bloodshot.

"Cas…" he rasped. "Griffith, Guts, the others…are they all right?"

"Griffith's being looked at now by the physicians," Casca said, scowling. "Guts is pretty battered and bruised, but he's fine…not that he has a right to be. Over fifty of his Raiders have been confirmed dead. We're lucky it wasn't more. Harry, what the hell were you thinking, taking on Zodd?"

"I tried to get Guts out of there," Harry protested, sitting up groggily. "And when he was in danger, well, what the hell do you think I was trying to do? If you'd gone in there with those men…more of them would be dead. Zodd…he's a monster. He took on Fiendfyre, Cas. Fiendfyre."

She paled. She knew how destructive the cursed fire was, having witnessed a dream of Harry's memory of the time it was used in the Room of Requirement. "I saw the burns and singed fur on him…that was you?"

"Yeah. What the hell was he, Cas? I didn't know you actually had honest-to-Merlin demons on this world."

"…I didn't either. Not of the sort we saw. You do hear rumours, though, of entities like that. Ever since you had me looking for stuff about the magic of this world…I saw tales of creatures. Maybe Zodd was one of them. Whatever he is, he's certainly not human. Not now."

"No shit."

Suddenly, Casca was embracing him. "Harry…I know you went in there to save Guts' life…but next time, don't linger. Get him, and get out of there. Knock the idiot out if you need to. We've already lost plenty of good men today, and I don't want to add you to the list. We were lucky Guts didn't get anyone actually killed today. Those men who died, they didn't know about Zodd. But if he got any more killed, especially you or Griffith…I don't know what I would have done."

He returned the embrace. They just sat like that for a time, trying to come to terms with what happened. Then, after they broke away, Harry rubbed his head. "…Cas…do you remember what Zodd said about Griffith and that damned Behelit?"

She nodded. "He claimed that when Griffith's dream collapsed…death would come for us all. Do you believe what he said?"

"I'm not sure. I hate prophecies with a passion, as you well know, given that I've been on the receiving end of one. But he seems to know more about what's going on than he was telling. He said 'their' game. Someone he knows, and maybe even fears, given his tone, gave him that ugly piece of crap for a reason, and we're not just talking some fortuneteller trying to encourage a boy's dreams of ruling a kingdom."

"I also know how attached he is to the Behelit, Harry. Getting him to get rid of it voluntarily would be impossible, even if we told him. Still…you were right. I heard the surprise and fear in Zodd's voice when he spoke of the Behelit. What the hell could frighten something like Zodd?"

"Something bigger and meaner than him," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe whatever the hell this 'Godhand' is. Then again, maybe that whole prophecy thing was psychological warfare. After all, prophecies have a tendency to ensnare those who try to prevent or enact them. I hope I'm right about that."

As he began to get out of bed, Casca said, "Hey, what're you doing?"

"I'm going to see Guts. How badly injured is he?"

"A few cracked ribs, that's all. Why do you want to visit him when he got you hurt in the first place?"

Harry gave a vicious smirk. "Payback. I'm going to prank that idiot within an inch of his life. Hopefully, as a lesson, it'll stick. I mean, it's a bit hypocritical, given that I've charged into situations like that myself before…but I never said I wasn't a hypocrite."

Casca returned his smirk. "In which case, are you willing to listen to a few ideas?"

CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:

I don't apologise for the title.

As for what they did to Guts, well, I'll let you guys imagine what happened, but a dress and makeup was involved at one point. And lacing Guts' food with the local equivalent of wasabi.

Now, if you guys think I'm being hard on Guts here, keep in mind, what Guts did with Zodd was pretty fucking stupid. While he did it to avenge his comrades, he also went in, without backup, to fight a legendary fighter. It is certainly not OOC to believe he would deliberately swat away a Portkey, despite the fact that Harry is trying to help him.

As for Zodd tanking Fiendfyre…I think it comes down to a couple of factors. Harry could only keep up the spell for so long without losing control, especially while concussed. In addition, Zodd has been an Apostle for a long time. Maybe the older an Apostle gets, the stronger they are, and the more resistant to magic. I have no doubt that, if Harry kept it up for longer, Zodd would be in trouble. Plus, Zodd actually got out of the way after the initial blast when he realised it could actually harm him.

Speaking of Fiendfyre and the fight, I reckon the best music for that sequence would be An Emergency from Resident Evil 5.

No numbered annotations this time.