Disclaimer: All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

Prologue

Magnus dragged his exhausted body up the stairs to his apartment. It had been a long day discussing the plans for the underlying war with the Shadowhunters. Or to be precise, the group of Nephilim led by Jonathan Morgenstern – the Circle which equaled crazy nutjobs.

Used his magic to secure his door, he finally relaxed and felt safe. It wasn't that he didn't trust his own ability to defense himself but rather it was about the lingering odor of danger around the city. He was old and he had been through countless wars and natural disasters. None was as worrying as this time because he couldn't get away from this thanks to his stupid useless title: the High Warlock of Brooklyn. It was a burden the Clave imposed on him and it had no use except trapping Magnus in this place.

The Clave had not yet chosen side. In experience, Magnus predicted the Clave would do nothing about the Jonathan Morgenstern and his silly followers. The situation was pretty clear; the members of his group were all from various noble and old Shadowhunter families, not to mention the Parabatai of his partner was a Herondale, the grandson of the Inquisitor. For the Nephilim blood meant more than anything. He doubted the Inquisitor would end her only grandson's life and the line of Herondale.

"Chairman, maybe I should portal us to Peru, no one can guess we are there." He stroked the short neck of the feline, cheered himself a bit when Chairman Meow purred under his touches. "Oh darling, what am I going to do without you?" The cat fought and hissed when Magnus buried his face into the furs and was rubbing it like the poor cat was a towel. "All right! I will leave you alone!" Magnus said after the sharp claws left a few scratches on his brown face.

He wasn't in the mood of doing anything, so he took a shower and went straight to bed. Good dream. He thought as he closed his cat-like eyes, feeling the warmth of the ball of his cat coming from the side of his neck.

However, the night went as weird and tragic as his life had been. Around four in the morning he was woken up by the ringtone of his phone, the nightstand humming beside his bed. A glance at the caller and Magnus answered. "Fuck you Ragnor."

"I am so hurt," The other end came a familiar voice. His friend was disturbingly green. "I hate to wake you too, yet this is a breaking news."

"What news is more important than my beauty sleep?" Magnus mumbled. He collapsed back onto his bed and found himself again wandering around the border of soberness and dream.

A cough nearly blew his eardrums off. "Everything." Ragnor sighed. Magnus could imagine he was dropping down on his favorite 100 B.C. wood chair and nipping bridge of his green nose in irritation. It was rare that they shared a thing in common; they weren't fond of politics and wars, same went to Catarina, a nurse who worked in a hospital nearby.

"Make this quick or I am going to report your hideout to the Circle."

"Actually this is about them."

"Oh?" Magnus's interest was stirred. It had been some time for the Downworld to hear anything from the group and the silence was the reason behind last night's meeting.

"You know they have been killing Downworlders all over Europe, right? The last murder is in London; and then they just vanish for weeks." Magnus couldn't help but wonder how Ragnor could speak with such calmness, as he was the one who found the body of a local vampire. He would lose sleep if he found one in Brooklyn. "The London Institute called me around mid-night, saying that a trace of portal was discovered in an alleyway in China Town. I went to investigate and asked around – "

Suddenly the sentence turned into an end. Magnus could only hear his friend's cursing and the sounds of things being broken. "Ragnor?"

A loud bang. The vibe of magic and blood…

"Ragnor!" Magnus hastily grabbed his clothes and sent a fire message to Catarina. He cried for Ragnor's name as he listened to voices of non-known shouting through.

"Fucking scum." A man said and a whimper passed. Magnus covered his mouth in shock, didn't care if the fire message was sent to the right person. Heavy footsteps swiped on Ragnor's hand. "No!" His scream terrified Magnus who was in a panic, creating a portal to his friend's hideout. He wasn't dreaming, was he?

"Tell me where he is and we will leave you alone." Another joined in and it was followed by the crack of a skull.

"Tear his horns off. Those are disgusting." This time a more feminine voice spoke and Ragnor might have spat at them, as he groaned in pain after a stomp. "I don't know!" Ragnor said. "You should ask yourself, Morgenstern."

Magnus continued his spell despite of the shock ran through his spine; it was almost done.

"Big mouth, Warlock." The loather was undisguised, something Magnus was used to for many years of living. But this time it was like a sword that penetrated his body.

"You are wasting your time."

"I will be the judge of that."

Magnus shook violently when he heard the unbearable howl of agony of Ragnor. He dropped his phone and a fire message appeared, interrupted his spell. The half-formed portal was gone. With shaky hands he read the paper from Catarina. It only had one word: Don't.

"Don't fucking what?" Magnus wrinkled the paper into a ball and he threw it on the wall in anger and powerlessness. Then he started the spell again, hoping it would be in time. When it was finally finished, the other end of the phone was already dead.

Jumped through the blue portal, Magnus instantly was in a house that had been visited by a hurricane. Everything was tossed on the floor, vases and vials shattered into pieces and portions leaked from the cracks. Muds messed up the wooden floor and furniture was upside down. What brought him down to his knees, was the body of Ragnor in the middle of the room.

He scrambled towards it and completely unaware of the bloods staining his clothes. Slapping the green pale cheeks, he called. "Ragnor, don't give up on me." A weak pulse was there, so Magnus began a healing spell. Blue sparkles danced on his fingertips and they flew into Ragnor, whose eyelashes fluttered. "Don't." The green Warlock said. Magnus pursed his lips into a hard thin line.

"Magnus…" The white teeth was coated with crimson, sharp like knife. Ragnor used his remaining hand to grip Magnus's wrist. "Don't waste it on me."

"Shut up stupid." Magnus hushed him and focused on the spell. Tears were falling and they landed on the bloody floor. A scowl twisted Ragnor's pacific face and he intensified his magic. But it didn't work. Ragnor was still bleeding.

"Why doesn't it work?" He asked. Ragnor scolded. With adoration. "You can't save a dead man."

Wide amber eyes wavered and searched for the pulse again. It wasn't there. It wasn't there in the first place. The only sign of living was the red of those lips. In realization, Magnus whispered. "Ragnor." He didn't get an answer as he usually did. Shoulders hunched, Magnus looked around while he sat on his ankles, next to his friend's dead body.

Magnus wiped away his tears, trying to find any clue on what Ragnor wanted to tell him. The Circle was looking for a man. And Ragnor was killed brutally because he knew who he was and his whereabouts.

It was then he noticed the unusual blood spills on the floor. Ragnor's hand was right above it and Magnus figured out they were letters. The word was difficult to recognize but he got it anyway. A name which Ragnor wrote after the departure of Circle, before Magnus's arrival.

Alec.

A/N:

Yes a new story and it isn't a dark one! At least not like my last story:p

Please leave a review about how you guys feel about this, I really appreciate it.

Also, I am looking for a beta and I have no idea how the whole process works, so please enlighten me on the matter:3

Hope you guys enjoy this prologue!