Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

happened as they would, when they would, and it made no sense to worry about them. He brushed the grim thoughts from his mind and flew slowly over the moat, staring speculatively down at the massive sheet of ice covering the water. A great dark
    shadow moved slowly under the ice, following his path. The High Warlock hovered in place above the ice, and the shadow stayed still beneath him. The Warlock frowned curiously. It seemed there was something still alive in the moat, but he couldn't quite make out what. Even more interesting, it could apparently see his astral spirit. Whatever it was, it was trapped under the ice. The Warlock sank down over a crack in the ice, and peered intently at the dark shape in the water. It stirred uncertainly, and then the Warlock jumped back instinctively as the shape surged up against the underside of the ice. The crack widened and broke apart, and a single eyeball on a long pink stalk emerged through the gap. The Warlock drifted down on to the ice, a cautious distance away.
    'Hello,' he said politely. 'Who are you?'
    A thick bubbly voice came softly to him, though whether through the crack in the ice or directly to his mind, he wasn't sure.
    I live here, said the voice. In the water. In the moat. Home. My name . . . that was a long time ago.
    Long time ago. Who are you?
    'I'm the High Warlock. I'm a sorcerer.'
    The eyeball swivelled back and forth on its stalk to get a better look at him. I remember you, I think.
    From the Dark Tower.
    'Ah yes,' said the Warlock. That was some years ago, wasn't it? You disturbed me at my work, and I changed you into something and sent you back here.'
    Long time ago, said the thick, inhuman voice. Long time. I live here now. In the moat. Home.
    'I hadn't realised it had been so long,' said the Warlock. 'I'm sorry. I'll, change you back—'
    No! Please, no. I'm happy here, guarding the moat. It's all I want, all I ever wanted. In the summer there are fish and birds and insects, and I hear their voices, hear their songs. The wind and the rain and the Forest are a part of me now, and I am a part of them. I can feel the seasons change, and the world turn, and the slow steady pulse of the living. I can't give that up. I can't go back to being human. To being only human.
    'Yes,' said the High Warlock. 'I know. I couldn't give it up, either. But isn't there anything I can do for you?'
    The eyeball nodded thoughtfully. Come and talk to me , said the bubbling voice. Talk to me, sometimes. I do get lonely here, for someone to talk to in the speech of men.
    'I'll come when I can,' said the Warlock.
    Promise?
    'Promise.'
    Good. Good. The eyeball turned to stare past him, taking in the darkness. The long night has fallen, sorcerer. You'd be safer inside the Castle.
    'So would you.'
    Bubbling laughter. The demons don't bother me. They know better. Go back into the Castle, High Warlock. Go back into the light, and the safety of company. Come to me again, when the night is over. Please?
    'Of course,' said the Warlock. 'Farewell, my friend.' He turned and soared back into the air. The eyeball watched him go until he dipped behind the Castle wall, and was lost to sight. The eyeball turned briefly to stare at the encroaching darkness, and then disappeared back under the ice with a faint slurping sound.
    The crack in the ice froze over, and the dim, dark shape below swam slowly away through the freezing waters of the moat.

    Rupert woke slowly to an insistent hammering on his door. He rolled on to his back and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, as his dreams fell reluctantly away, and then he sat up suddenly and reached frantically for his sword on the floor by his bed. He felt safer with the sword in his hand. He glanced at his oil lamp, and smiled sourly as he saw the oil had run out, though his candles were still burning. He glared at the shadows that filled the corners of his room, and tried to remember what had woken him. The knocking came again, and the back of Rupert's mind screamed demons demons demons! He shook his head stubbornly and breathed deeply, and the wild unreasoning fear that had set his heart racing subsided, dying away to its familiar background murmur. He swung cautiously out of bed, wincing at the tired ache that still filled his muscles, and after a moment's hesitation, he sheathed his sword and laid it on the bed. Whoever it is, they'd better have a damn good reason for disturbing me , he thought grimly.
    He knuckled his gummy eyes and