Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

face, and grinned crookedly at Julia.
    'What kept you?' asked Rupert, cutting down a demon that tried to get between them.
    Julia laughed, and moved in beside him, swinging her sword with fierce abandon. The demons came at them never-endingly as Rupert and Julia and the King retreated through the Keep, a step at a time. Blood splashed against the stone walls, and streamed along the ground. Julia didn't look back at the Castle gates. She didn't think they'd actually slam the gates on their own King, but if they had, she didn't want to know about it. As long as there was still hope, she could go on fighting. There are worse ways to die than fighting to save the one you love , she thought suddenly, and realised she was grinning crazily even as tears ran down her cheeks. Rupert, my Rupert, we've gone through too much together forme to lose you now.
    The demons surged forward, and Rupert and Julia and King John met them with their swords.
    Balefire blazed suddenly against the darkness, scattering the demons as it exploded among them.
    Lightning jumped and crackled the length of the Keep, striking down those demons in its path. Rupert looked back at the gates, and saw a brightly glowing figure standing alone in the narrow gap between the two motionless doors. The glare was so blinding Rupert had to look away, but he knew who it was. He could feel the High Magic all around him, beating strongly on the night. Julia took him by his good arm, and began hurrying him back towards the gates.
    'The Champion,' he said thickly.
    'He's dead, lad,' said the King, moving in close on Rupert's other side. 'The demons didn't leave enough of him to bury.'
    Together, Julia and the King half led and half carried Rupert back to the open gates, while the glowing figure's balefire threw back the demon horde again and again. A grimy smoke rose from the growing pile of demon dead that lay blocking the entrance to the Keep. Julia and the King hustled Rupert through the gates and into the courtyard. The glowing figure stepped back to join them, and the huge oaken doors
    finally slammed together. Harald and the men-at-arms pushed home the steel bolts, and began pulling barricades into position.
    Rupert collapsed by the inner east wall, and Julia hadn't the strength to hold on to him. He stretched out full length on his back on the cobbles, and blood welled steadily out from beneath him. Julia sank down at his side, cradled his head in her lap, and gave herself up to what few tears she had left. King John sat with his back to the inner wall, his head hanging wearily down. Rockbreaker lay unnoticed by his side.
    The glowing figure at the gates moved slowly towards them, his light dying quickly away to reveal the High Warlock. His face was drawn with fatigue, and his hair was entirely grey.
    Outside, the demons hammered on the closed gates till they sounded like some huge unearthly drum.

Chapter 9
    IN THE DARKWOOD
    Rupert lay on his back in the courtyard and wondered who was crying. The tear-choked voice seemed somehow familiar as it called his name, but he couldn't quite place it. He wanted to comfort whoever it was, but he didn't know how, and after a while the tears died away. Rupert knew he was in the courtyard, he could feel rough stone cobbles pressing into his back, but everything else seemed vague and far away. He didn't seem to hurt much any more, and for a moment that worried him, but only for a moment. There was blood on his face and in his eyes, and when he tried to wipe it away, his hands wouldn't obey him. Someone was tugging at his chain-mail, and the voice was calling his name again, but he didn't respond. It didn't seem important, and he was tired; so very tired. Julia tried to remove Rupert's mail vest so that she could get at his wounds, but the buckles were slippery with blood, and she was so tired she couldn't even see straight any more. She struggled stubbornly with the buckles, cursing her clumsy fingers. Rupert hadn't moved since he collapsed, and the more Julia examined him, the more frightened she became. There was so much blood she couldn't tell one wound from another, and she couldn't seem to wake him. She started to wipe the blood from his face with a piece of rag, only to stop suddenly when she discovered he didn't have a right eye any more. The empty socket stared blindly up at her, and she would have broken down and cried again, if there'd been any tears left in her. She started to call for help, but the words died