Harry Potter and the Berserker

Chapter 15

Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Berserk is owned by Kentaro Miura. I own nothing.

Horses lightly kicked up truffles of snow as the assembled Band of the Hawk waited in the snowy field for Griffith's arrival. Last night a letter had been sent instructing them all to meet outside of Windham for reasons unknown.

Harry's breath was visible in the chilly air and he rubbed his hands together to keep warm. Near the center of the Hawks was Casca. Every now and again she would look angrily towards Guts as if to make sure he wouldn't leave again.

A change had occurred between the two of them Harry noted. When he had first met the both of them they bickered and argued like crazy. Then when they got separated after the battle with the Blue Whale Knights they appeared less hostile towards each other. Casca had become less standoffish towards Guts, who in turn seemed to have become a little more open. He had even spent most of his time at the ball with Casca than anyone else. Now, Casca seemed to be back to a cool attitude and Guts, despite being back, seemed more solitary than before.

Guts' decision to leave seemed to have a greater impact on everyone that he thought it would.

He rode over to where Guts was. "Have you thought about what you're going to say to him?" It wasn't much of a conversation starter, but he figured it might get Guts to open up a little.

"I'll just say what I mean," said Guts simply. "Griffith is sensible, he'll understand eventually. Besides, you still have to explain about that boneheaded knight."

Yeah, there was no getting around that one. How to explain that though? It wouldn't be that hard to believe, could it? Both Guts and Griffith had seen Zodd as a demon; would a mysterious Skull Knight be too far to comprehend? In fact, Harry shouldn't even be too worried about explaining it. Three people he trusted knew about his magic, maybe this Skull Knight was connected to that somehow. There was the matter of the warning both him and Guts received during the brief encounter, something about next year being the year of some sort of rare event.

A glint in the sky reflected off of Harry's lens. Actually, more than a few something's was catching the light of the sun. They looked almost like a flock of birds while in formation, but as they traveled downward Harry saw that that was not the case.

A volley of arrows fell into their ranks filling the snow with ammunition and worse, some of the Hawks. An ambush.

"Second volley!" An order was given from somewhere surrounding them and another wave of arrows came pouring down towards them. Completely caught off guard, many Hawks fell victim to the surprise attack. The white snow quickly became stained red with blood.

It was a sheer instinct that told Harry to ride left just as half a dozen arrows landed where he had been previously. His horse neighed and whined from the confusion and he almost lost hold of the reins. Who was doing this? Who was attacking them? It couldn't have been Chuder, the war was over and they had signed a non-aggression treaty. A mercenary band? It would be foolish of them to do so, the Hawks were a member of a larger force of Midland's armies.

More arrows fell taking the lives of more Hawks in their wake. "Agh!" Cried Casca, an arrow protruded from her shoulder. Both Harry and a nearby Judeau rode over to her.

"Casca!" Judeau exclaimed.

She wore a face of discomfort as she pulled the arrow out. Blood quickly began to soak her undershirt. "I'm fine, I'll live."

Maybe not. Half a volley was bearing straight down on them. Thunk!Thunk!Thunk!Thunk!Thunk!Thunk!Thunk!

Most of the arrows had embedded themselves in the shield Guts had grabbed from a fallen soldier, protecting them from the onslaught. But even that wasn't enough to stop one of the projectiles from hitting Guts in his forearm. He must have been doing a lot to numb out the pain he must be feeling.