The force of traveling through a portal made Alec stumble and Magnus instinctively reached out a hand to steady him. A jolt of awareness swept through Alec's body and he quickly stepped aside. "Thanks," was all he could muster.

Magnus looked at him, a strange look in his eyes. "So, what do we do now?"

Alec looked around at him. Something was off. It was supposed to be summer in Idris, but the sky was dark as night, even though it was only midday in Idris. It was so cold that he could see puffs of his breath in the air, and he involuntarily shivered. An eerie silence surrounded them. No summer breeze, no chattering birds... "I don't know," Alec admitted. "My plan was to get to Idris, I hadn't really thought much further."

"Okay..."

"I didn't ask you to come with me, did I?" he snapped.

"I was hardly going to let you go alone, Alexander," said Magnus.

Why not? You had no trouble walking away from me before...

But Alec swallowed the words, knowing that it wasn't fair. Magnus had every right to walk out on him that night. He only had himself to blame for this mess. By lying to Magnus about the Soulsword he had maneuvered Magnus into the exact position where the Seelie Queen had wanted him to be. Shadowhunters against Downworlders. He had no idea how Valentine fit in with the Queen's devious game of chess but at this point, it didn't really matter. He needed to get to Jace and Clary.

"Where is Izzy?" Magnus asked.

"She went to Raphael, to warn him about what happened. During the day there like sitting ducks in the Hotel Du Mort, so..."

Worry creased Magnus's brown. "And you are okay with that? With Izzy going to Raphael?"

Actually, he wasn't, not really. "She's come a long way since then," was all he said.

"So you just decided to go at it alone?" Magnus demanded incredulously. "My god, Alec, that's just..."

"At this point, I don't know who I can trust." Alec cut him off abruptly.

A flash of hurt lit up in Magnus's eyes and he immediately regretted his choice of words. "That didn't come out right," he said softly. "I do trust you, Magnus."

"Even after I violated the Accords?" Magnus asked.

"I didn't give you much choice." Alec shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we go? Jace told me that Valentine used to take him to a cabin by the lake when he was still a kid. Maybe that's a good place to start."

"Something is not right," Magnus noted after they had been walking in silence for ten minutes in the woods surrounding the lake.

"Yeah, I noticed that too." It felt as if the world was holding its breath before it would deal one last devastating blow. "Magnus, for what it's worth..." Alec took a deep breath. "I didn't know about Lake Lynn being the Mortal Mirror when you left Max' room. And I wanted to tell you, Raphael and Luke during the emergency Council meeting the next day, but then the Seelie Queen was there as well, so..."

"I understand. It's just that -"

"Wait." Alec grabbed Magnus by the arm. "Did you hear that?"

Above them was a rustling of wings and all of a sudden a gust of fire swept through the woods. Alec didn't hesitate one second and immediately pushed Magnus to the ground and covered Magnus's body with his to protect him.

"Magnus, are you okay?" Alec whispered, his hand involuntarily moving to brush Magnus's hair out of his face, catching himself just in time as he realized that he no longer had the right to touch Magnus. He rolled of Magnus and pushed to his feet. The unexpected physical contact had startled him, Magnus's scent filling his nostrils... But there was no time for that now. From the corner of his eyes, he saw that the trees were catching fire and they needed to get away from here.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. What was that?" asked Magnus, standing up beside Alec.

"Looks like another dragon. Or maybe it was the same one I encountered in Central Park. Don't know, but we need to get to the shore. The forest is catching fire. Listen..." He turned to Magnus, a pleading look in his eyes. "Portal back to New York, Magnus. This isn't your battle."

Anger flashed up in Magnus's eyes. "The hell it is, Alexander! The future of my people is at stake here."

"I know, I know... I'm sorry, it's just..." Alec screamed in agony and doubled over.

Magnus was immediately by his side. "What's wrong, Alec?"

"It's the parabatai bond," Alec gasped. "Jace's life is in serious danger. We need to move, now!"

"Are you okay to walk?" Magnus asked, worry etched all over his face.

Alec didn't respond but grabbed Magnus" arm and started running.

"Wouldn't we be like sitting ducks on the shore?" Magnus asked.

"Better a sitting duck than a fried duck."

They had reached the edge of the forest and hid behind a tree. The dragon was suspended above the water, its magnificent wings flapping as if it was waiting for Alec and Magnus to come out of hiding.

Alec looked at Magnus. "Any ideas on how to kill a dragon?"

Magnus gave Alec a bewildered look. "You mean you walked into Central Park this morning to kill a dragon, without actually knowing how to?"

Alec gave a lopsided grin. "Pretty much. There wasn't time, we were just winging it. No pun intended."

Magnus shook his head. "None indeed." But the thought about what could've happened to Alec chilled him to the bone. "I don't know how to actually kill a dragon, but from what I've heard there is a spot on his throat that immobilizes his ability to breathe fire if you pierce it."

"Okay. Where exactly do I need to hit him?" Alec asked, retrieving an arrow from his quiver.

"Small spot that's lighter than the rest of his skin. Or so I've heard."

"I need to get closer to him."

Magnus grabbed him by the shoulders. "Alec, are you crazy? The minute you step away from the trees, it will pounce on you."

"Then I will just have to be quick, won't I?"

"No." Magnus's grip on his shoulder tightened. He had once said that Alec Lightwood would blow up the very ground he was standing on in order to make things right, but there was no way Magnus was going to let him go out there and face a dragon on his own. "I'll wrap my magic around him first, hold him still and then you can shoot your arrow. Understood?"

Alec nodded. "Okay."

Magnus released Alec and started to work on the dragon. It required an immense finesse to wrap the blue tendrils of his magic around the dragon without the creature noticing it. Sweat furrowed his brow and he could feel Alec's worried gaze resting upon him. After what felt like an eternity all the tendrils were in place and Magnus gave a mental pull, securing the dragon in place.

The dragon realized it was captured and released an earsplitting roar, followed by a gust of fire. It was strong, o so very strong...

"You need to do it now, Alexander," he panted. "I am not sure how long I can hold him."

Alec nodded. "Don't worry." He moved away from the trees, out on the beach, towards the dragon, making sure to stay out of the line of fire. He looked up, frantically searching for a slight discrepancy on the scales of the creature's throat. But the dragon was too far up for him to properly see. "Fuck," he muttered. He retrieved his stele from his pocket and activated his Farsighted rune. To his surprise, his hand trembled when he picked up his arrow again. If he missed, it could cost Magnus his life... He could lose Jace, Clary...

No, he couldn't let his emotions get the better of him, he scolded himself. He was born to do this. Once again, he looked at the dragon. At first, he didn't see it, but then all of a sudden he saw it. A small spot on its throat that had a slightly lighter color than the rest of his scales. It was also one of the most difficult shots he had to make. He took aim, released his arrow and... Just as he released the arrow, a new surge of pain jolted through his parabatai bond. The arrow missed, hitting the dragon at the side of his face and it roared in agony.

"Alec, look out!" he heard Magnus screaming from the tree, and he could barely dive out of the way of the gust of fire the dragon shot at him.

"Not sure how much longer I can hold him!" Magnus yelled.

"I know," Alec responded. "Just hold on." Quick as lightning he grabbed another arrow, took aim and released without thinking.

This time, he didn't miss, hitting the creature at that one tiny spot on his throat. The dragon reared its head furiously, flapping his wings, straining against the blue tendrils of Magnus's magic.

Alec ran back to the forest, just in time to see Magnus falling on his knees to the ground.

"Magnus, by the Angel..." Instinctively, he pulled Magnus against him and grabbed his hand. "Take my strength. Take what you need, now!"

"Alec, I can't -"

"You have to, Magnus. You've depleted too much of your magic and the Angel knows that we're going to need it later." He felt a faint crackle of electricity as Magnus gently pulled some of Alec's strength towards himself,

Alec looked over his shoulder. Even though the tendrils of Magnus's magic had vanished, the pain seemed to have immobilized the dragon. For now, Alec thought. They were running out of time.

Magnus felt his magic regenerating and pulled his hand out of Alec's. Holding the dragon in place had depleted his reserves, but he was afraid to take more of Alec's strength. For now, he had enough magic to conjure up a portal to escape should the need arise.

A chilling scream pierced the silence.

"Clary!" Alec exclaimed. He stood up, but he immediately surged to the ground like a rag doll, trashing and throbbing.

Magnus felt a crippling fear like he had never felt before wash over him. "Alexander! Alec! For the love of God, what's wrong!"

Alec grabbed Magnus's hand as if it was the only thing left that tethered him to this mortal existence. "It's Jace..." Alec panted. "Jace is dead."

"You –"

"I can feel it. I can feel it through the bond." Sweat shone on Alec's brow and his hand felt clammy to the touch. "I'm not... I'm not going to make it, Magnus."

Tears welled up in Magnus's eyes. "Yes. Yes, you are, Alec. Just stay with me."

Alec looked up. His physical pain didn't even come close to the pain in his heart. He hadn't been able to save Jace and Clary. He had betrayed Magnus, and now Magnus was possibly going to die because of him as well. "Magnus... I'm so sorry. About everything. It's all my fault," he choked. The pain nearly made it impossible for him to speak, but there was just one more thing he needed to say. One more thing that Magnus needed to hear. "Magnus, I love you." And then the whole world went black.