Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

surrounding trees reached for him with crackling fingers of sharpening twigs. Gawaine met them unflinchingly with his axe. He and his brother Vivian had held Tower Rouge against an army, and there was little left in the world that could scare him any more. Jordan moved in beside him with his sword. The two of them pressed on, and the forest couldn't stop them. And then, in the space between one step and the next, the forest was suddenly gone, and madness took its place.
    They were deep in the West Wing now, and the Unreal had thrown away its masks. They were back in the corridor again, but the walls were studded with inhuman faces that disappeared when you looked at them directly, but smiled and snarled endlessly in the corner of your eye. There were holes in the floor that fell away for ever. The ceiling seemed to be miles overhead, its features blurred by distance. And in that corridor, creatures from a fever's nightmare swarmed about Damon Cord, and fought to pull him down. His clothes were torn, and soaked with his own blood and that of others. He swung his mace with frenzied strength, but in the end there were just too many creatures, and they brought him down.
    Sir Gawaine howled a Forest war cry, and charged into the midst of the creatures. His axe was a shimmering blur as it sheared through a distorted shape that screeched in agony and despair and then
    vanished. Something with jagged teeth launched itself at Gawaine, and he spun quickly round to bury his axe in its breastbone. He staggered back a step under the creature's weight, and then it too was gone, and air rushed in to fill the gap where it had been. Gawaine grinned wolfishly. It seemed the axe's property of destroying inimical magic was working to his advantage. He gripped the haft firmly and swung again. The runes on the steel head burned with a bright silver fire.
    Jordan did his best to guard Gawaine's back, but it was all he could do to clear a space in the press of inhuman bodies. Damon Cord reared up from under a crowd of monsters, and struck about him with his mace. Blood ran from a long scalp wound, making his face an ugly crimson mask. A crawling thing with too many legs and an insane woman's face ran down the wall to strike at Wee Geordie. Jordan saw the thing coming, but knew he couldn't hope to reach the boy in time. And then Geordie turned and looked at the monstrosity. He frowned, and it fell dying to the floor.
    Good thing I decided to help him, thought Jordan.
    The Unreal creatures suddenly gave up on their prey, and fled down the corridor, their shapes changing as they ran. Jordan and Gawaine stood together in the empty corridor, panting for breath. Damon Cord reversed his long-handled mace and leaned on it wearily.
    'Thanks for the help. I couldn't have lasted much longer.' He looked approvingly at Gawaine's blood-soaked axe. 'That's some axe you've got there.' He glanced at the bloodhound, and raised an eyebrow. 'Though this is a hell of a time to be taking your dog for a walk.'
    Jordan looked at Cord's bloodstained clothing, and frowned worriedly. 'Are you all right? Do you need a surgeon?'
    Cord shook his head. 'I'll live. Look, your highness, I'm grateful for your help, but we can't stay here.
    The Steward and Mother Donna are up ahead, and they're in trouble. You've got to help them. I can't. The best I can do is guard your backs.'
    Sir Gawaine nodded briskly, and set off down the corridor. Blood dripped steadily from his axe. Wee Geordie hurried after him, the bloodhound padding close at his side. Jordan had to wait a moment to get his breath back before continuing, and that was how he saw what happened to the dog. It was trotting along quite happily when a long warty tentacle snapped out of the corridor wall and grabbed at it. Jordan opened his mouth to shout a warning, and then stopped as the tentacle passed clean through the bloodhound's body as though it wasn't there. The tentacle tried again, but to no effect. The bloodhound padded on, unconcerned, and the tentacle whipped back into the wall. Jordan's mouth closed with a snap.
    It's a ghost, it's another damned ghost. No wonder it kept appearing and disappearing . . .
    Jordan shot a glance at Cord, but he didn't seem to have seen anything untoward. Jordan shook his head, and started after the others. He'd always heard Castle Midnight was lousy with ghosts, and it looked as though the stories were true. He soon caught up with Sir Gawaine, and they walked side by side