Harry Potter and the Berserker

Chapter 19

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

The Skull Knight's steed rode much faster than any horse alive. Its skeletal, but strong legs easily carried both of its occupants with no sign of strain. Guts knew that he had ran a great distance, it had been hours of running, but the horse seemed to leap entire miles as it traversed the terrain he had previously. Before Guts knew it, they were whizzing by Godo's hut and nearing a cliff.

"They are here," Skull Knight informed as he reined his horse to a stop. Guts wasted no time jumping off and running to where the spirits circled two figures, each had a thin trail of blood running from where the Godhand's brand had struck them.

With Guts in possession of Harry's sword, the boy had armed himself with a standard sword that must have been lying around Godo's workshop. He was trying to keep the circling spirits from reaching Casca, but with his leg still in a cast, his movement was severely limited, making his strikes fall short of their targets. But, any that happened to get close to Casca seemed to sense something about her, something that kept them from trying to fully possess her body.

Guts wasted little time in rushing over to them, cutting a few spirits as he went. "Casca!" he yelled as she suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. The spirits backed off and took to circling the three of them like watery buzzards looking to swoop down any moment to deliver the kill.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked, finally able to stop trying to ward off the spirits. "She wasn't like this a few moments ago. She had wandered out of the cave, so I followed." Even with the state his leg was in, he had followed.

"She should not have left that cave." Skull Knight spoke with conviction. "She would have been much safer if she had."

"Meaning?" Guts demanded. Casca had gone through enough, if there was something he could do for her, anything, he would.

Skull Knight pointed a bony finger at the brand of Guts' neck. Those brands, they act as beacons. I have told you as much, as long as you have them, as long as the being who administered the brand exists, you will never know rest, and you will never know peace. Every day when the sun sets, they will come, never to relent. That cave owned by that blacksmith, it was once inhabited by elves. Their presence still lingers, masking the beacon of the brand. It is among one of the few safe havens for you three."

"Then we have to get her back," Guts was determined. "Harry, grab her arm, and let's move her."

"That would be unwise," Skull Knight advised. "Wait until it is over."

"Until what's over?" they both asked. The answer was provided by the sight of blood beginning to drip from between Casca's legs, a look of sheer discomfort on her face. She grabbed at and tore out a few strands of grass, and she began to scream.

"Aaaaghhhhahhhahh!" something fell on the ground from between her legs. It was small and looked to be a mass of circular lumps all melded together. It lacked any real limbs, but there was a bulbous head with a lipless mouth and a single bulging eye. There was no mistaking that it looked to be some sort of underdeveloped fetus.

Harry took a step back, revolted by the sight of what he had just witnessed. Guts stared on in shock at the fetus as its one bulging eye looked him dead in his now single one as well. He turned to the Skull Knight, demanding an answer. "What the hell is this?"

"She was with child during the Eclipse. Her encounter with the Godhand's newest member corrupted it. What you see before you is a hybrid of human and demon." Skull Knight sounded almost empathetic.