Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

somewhere close at hand, quite distinct in the silence, came a furtive scurrying sound. It was too loud and too heavy a noise to be a rat.
    Julia drew her dagger, and Bodeen drew his sword. The Seneschal silently drew their attention to the door on the far side of the antechamber that stood slightly ajar, and the three of them crept quietly over to stand before it. The scurrying had stopped as quickly as it had begun, but Julia couldn't help feeling there was something horribly familiar about the sound. It wasn't just that she'd heard it before on her journey through the South Wing, it was as though there was something about the sound she ought to recognise, but was afraid to. Julia scowled, took a firm grip on her dagger, and peered cautiously through the door's narrow gap. All was silence and darkness, Julia glanced at Bodeen, who looked at the Seneschal for his orders. There then followed a short conference between the three of them, consisting mainly of looks, shrugs and scowls, until Julia lost her patience and kicked the door wide open.
    The door flew open on squealing hinges, and slammed heavily against the wall. The echoes seemed to go on for ever, but nothing came to investigate the sound, and after a while Julia padded silently into the room, followed closely by the Seneschal and Bodeen. The still air was dank and oppressive, with a faint scent of rot and decay that grated on Julia's nerves. The Seneschal held up his lantern, and then all three gasped as the lanternlight shimmered on gold and silver and precious jewels, scattered here and there across the floor, as a small child might leave toys after growing tired of playing with them. Stout oaken treasure chests lay on their sides, broken open and spilling their contents on to the floor. The lids of the chests had been torn clean away, the wood scored and split as though by claws. Must have used a crowbar, thought Julia dazedly. Well, at least now we know we're not the only ones here. She glanced quickly round, but there was nowhere for anyone to hide in the cramped little room that met her gaze.
    The Seneschal moved away to check the first of the room's two other doors, and Bodeen quickly sheathed his sword, knelt down beside the nearest chest, and started stuffing handfuls of assorted jewels into his pockets. Julia grinned, and crouched beside him.
    'Don't load yourself down too heavily,' she said dryly. 'We may still have to fight our way out of here.'
    'Take what you can, when you can; that's always been my motto,' said Bodeen calmly. 'And any one of
    these jewels is worth more than they pay me in a year. Besides, there's no one here to fight, Princess.'
    'Somebody must have broken open these chests,' said Julia. 'And fairly recently, at that.'
    'How can you tell?' asked Bodeen, frowning.
    'No cobwebs.'
    Julia left him thinking that over, and moved away to study a pair of sheathed swords mounted on a wall plaque. If there was to be any fighting, Julia wanted a sword in her hand. She tucked her dagger back into her boot, and brushing away the cobwebs, pulled one of the swords from its scabbard. The blade shone brightly, even in the dim light, and the balance was exceptionally good. She tried the edge on her thumb, and raised an eyebrow when it drew blood.
    Behind her, the Seneschal paused at the room's only window, and then tugged at the closed shutters until they swung slowly open on protesting hinges. Light flooded into the room, and the carpeted floor was suddenly awash with dozens of scuttling spiders darting back and forth, driven mad by the sudden light after so many years of darkness. Bodeen yelped shrilly and jumped up on to a chair, but the spiders quickly disappeared into a hundred nooks and crannies. Bodeen looked carefully round to make sure they were all gone, and then climbed down from the chair with as much dignity as he could muster. Julia shook her head wonderingly. So much fuss over a few spiders. Now rats, that would have been different.
    . .
    And then she and Bodeen both spun round sword in hand as the Seneschal cried out in pain and horror.
    He dropped his lantern as he staggered back from the open second door, blood rilling down his chest, and then the demons erupted out of the darkness beyond the door and fell on him hungrily, swarming all over him like flies on a piece of meat. Julia and Bodeen charged forward, yelling their war cries, and incredibly the demons retreated back into the darkness from which they'd come, leaving