Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

Darkwood, Rupert?'
    Rupert struggled for words that could express the true horror of the darkness, but there were no words.
    He simply knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that if he entered the Darkwood again he would die or go mad. With an effort that shook him, Rupert tore his gaze away from the darkness. He'd faced the Darkwood once; he could do it again. Rupert clung to the thought desperately. The long night had marked him, but it hadn't broken him. Perhaps this time the journey would be easier to bear. He had food and water and companions. There was firewood for torches.
    If I turn back now, I'll always be afraid of the dark.
    Rupert took a deep, shuddering breath and let it go.
    'Rupert,' said the dragon, 'what happened to you in the Darkwood?'
    'Nothing,' said Rupert hoarsely. 'Nothing at all. Let's go.'
    He urged the unicorn forward, but the animal hesitated, and looked back at him.
    'Rupert, you don't have to do this ...'
    'Move, damn you,' Rupert whispered, and the unicorn followed him silently into the Darkwood. Julia followed the unicorn, and the dragon brought up the rear, the needle-thorned briar rattling vainly against his armoured hide.
    Night slammed down as they crossed the Darkwood boundary, and Rupert bit his lip to keep from crying out as the darkness swept over him. The familiar country sounds of bird and beast and wind were gone, replaced by a still, sullen silence. Out in the dark, demons were watching. He couldn't see them, but he knew they were there. All his instincts shrieked for him to light a torch, but he daren't. Light would attract the demons, and the surrounding briar made his party a sitting target. He hurried forward, wincing as thorns stung his outstretched hands. The trail seemed narrower than he remembered, but the briar finally fell away, and Rupert whispered for the party to stop a moment. He fumbled the tinderbox from his backpack, and after several false starts, he lit a single torch. The dancing flame seemed strangely subdued, as though the Darkwood begrudged even that much light within its domain. Decaying trees lined the narrow path. Their branches held no leaves, and gaping cracks revealed rotten hearts, but Rupert knew with horrid certainty that somehow they were still alive.
    'Rupert. . .'said Julia.
    'Later,' he said roughly. 'Let's go.'
    The company moved slowly along the twisting trail in their little pool of light, heading into the heart of the darkness.
    They hadn't been moving long before the first demon found them. Crooked and malformed, it crouched at the edge of the torch's light, watching from the shadows with blood-red eyes. Rupert drew his sword, and the demon disappeared silently back into the darkness.
    'What the hell was that?' whispered Julia.
    'Demon,' said Rupert shortly. The scars on his face throbbed with remembered pain. He handed Julia the torch and moved forward to stare about him. Faint shuffling sounds hovered on the edge of his hearing, and then, slowly, the torchlight showed him glimpses of twisted, misshapen creatures that crouched and scurried and slithered both before and behind the company. Glowing eyes stared unblinkingly from the shadows of the rotting trees. Rupert hefted his sword, but the cold steel had lost all power to comfort him.
    'It's not possible,' he said numbly. 'Demons never hunt in packs. Everyone knows that.'
    'Obviously they don't,' said the dragon. 'Now get back here, please. You're a little too far from the rest of us for my liking.'
    Rupert fell back to join the company. The demons pressed closer still.
    'Why don't they attack?' said Julia quietly.
    'Don't give them ideas,' muttered the unicorn. 'Maybe they just can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to walk into such an obvious trap. I can't believe it and I'm doing it.'
    'They're afraid of the dragon,' said Rupert.
    'How very sensible of them,' said the dragon.
    Rupert tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. It took all his self-control not to strike out blindly at the gathering demons. Fear writhed in his gut and trembled in his arms, but he wouldn't give in to it. Not yet. Unlike the darkness, the demons could be fought. He took a firm grip on his sword, and stepped forward. The demons faded back into the darkness and were gone. Julia sighed slowly in relief, and the torchlight was suddenly unsteady as she finally allowed her hands to shake. Rupert glared about him into the unresponsive darkness, angry that the demons had backed away from a