Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

Even in his dazed state, he could clearly see the blood that dappled the animal's heaving sides. The unicorn had looked like this once before; the time he'd nearly died in the Darkwood clearing . . . Rupert thrust the memory away.
    'How about it, unicorn?' he asked quietly. 'Can you carry me that far?'
    'Sure, no problem. I'm barely scratched. Climb aboard, Rupert.'
    The Champion made a stirrup with his hands, and half lifted, half placed Rupert on to the unicorn's back.
    Rupert swayed a moment in the saddle, and fought hard not to pass out. He glanced down at his right hand, and smiled grimly. Somehow, he was still hanging on to his sword. A good omen, if you believed in omens.
    Out in the darkness, something stirred.
    'Run for the Castle! Now!' Rupert's voice was little more than a harsh rasp, but his guards were off and running almost before he'd finished speaking. He clung desperately to the unicorn's sides with his knees as the animal started forward, and stared grimly about him. The Champion ran before him, his war axe at the ready. The High Warlock flew overhead, balefire crackling and hissing around his hands. And fourteen guardsmen followed Rupert home.
    Fourteen. Fourteen out of fifty. Rupert leaned wearily forward against the unicorn's neck as the last of his strength flowed out of him. His hold on his sword slowly loosened, and only the awful pain that shuddered through him with every jolt of the uneven trail kept him awake. He didn't mind failing, he was used to that. But his men had followed him and trusted him, and all he'd done was lead them to their deaths. Just as he'd once led the unicorn to his death, lying broken and bloodied in a small clearing in the Darkwood. Only this time, there wasn't a Rainbow to drive back the dark.
    His eyes kept dropping shut, even with the pain in his shoulder. Rupert knew he was probably going into shock, but didn't care. The shock seemed to be numbing both his pain and his memories, and he'd settle for that. The giant trees of the Forest loomed in and out of the darkness as the unicorn carried him steadily towards the Castle, and Rupert swallowed sickly when he saw the vast patches of open decay that mottled their bark. For all the darkness and the swarming demons, he hadn't been able to accept that the Forest was dead; the very idea was unthinkable. The Forest had existed for endless centuries before man, and deep down Rupert had always believed that it would still be there centuries after man had vanished and been forgotten. To see the great and ancient trees already dead and rotting hurt Rupert even more than his own likely imminent death, for if the Forest itself could fall to the darkness, what chance was there for anything or anybody? The last of Rupert's hope died in that moment, and slowly the world began to fade away around him, taking the pain and the heartbreak with it.
    And then a grinning demon came flying out of the darkness at him, and his reflexes threw his sword up to meet it. The long spindly creature impaled itself on the blade, and fell away snarling soundlessly. Rupert stared blankly at his bloody sword, and then shook his head fiercely as a slow steady anger burned through him, shocking him awake again. He might be too late to save the Forest, but perhaps he could still avenge it. More demons came pouring out of the darkness, and Rupert cut about him with his sword as the unicorn struggled to find one last burst of speed that would get him to the Castle before the demons could drag him down.
    The Champion cut his way through the demons without even slowing, his eyes fixed on the raised drawbridge ahead. The guardsmen ranged themselves to either side of the unicorn, and fought furiously to hold off the solid heaving mass of demonkind that had erupted silently out of the surrounding dark.
    Rupert watched helplessly as three more of his men died horribly under the flailing claws and fangs of the demons, and concentrated on hanging on to the unicorn as best he could. He tried to grasp the reins with his left hand, but his fingers wouldn't obey him. The Castle was only fifty yards away, but it might as well have been fifty miles. The way ahead was completely blocked by the demons. A swiftly choked scream to his right told Rupert that he'd lost another guard, but he couldn't spare the time to look. The demons pressed close around him, and the unicorn's pace dropped a little more. Rupert felt a sudden almost overpowering urge to turn the unicorn round