Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instrument series. Everything recognisable belongs to Cassandra Clare.
So I'm updating again, just so you can get a bit into the story. Tell me if you like the chapter. It's the longest chapter so far, so i really hope you like it.
The next week passed without much trouble for the Herondale boys. Jace continued his exhausting training program, while Iwan desperately tried to keep up with him.
From time to time they were joined by Isabelle and Max, who both trained for next term to begin again.
Max and Iwan were starting their first year at the Academy of Alicante in the beginning of October, and neither wanted to hang behind the rest of the new trainees.
Isabelle and Jace would begin their last year, but both were as good as finished with their education already. They could both kill a demon with their eyes closed, and had been sent on innumerable assignments from the New York Conclave already.
Jace walked in to the great library of the Institute when he stopped brusque.
"No, there's already been two of them Luke." The voice of Jocelyn Fairchild spoke hushed.
"We don't know for sure this got anything to do with Shadowhunters." Another female voice rang a bit louder in Jace's voice. It was Maryse Lightwood, the mother of the three Lightwood children.
An older voice made an impatient noise and spoke "By the Angel, we will not get anywhere if you people are going start a fight every time I give you the slightest of information!" the comment left an amused expression on Jace's face and his eyes found the older woman.
Imogen Herondale continued telling the other Shadowhunters about the strange occurrences that had happened the last week.
As none of them had discovered Jace as he stood behind one of the great bookshelves, he listened closely to the conversation.
"Everything points toward the fact that the two attacks were carried out by Shadowhunters; and there must've been some good ones as well. First the clan of vampires in Philadelphia all slaughtered, their heads cut off. From the investigations we've made, it looks like they put up a good fight, but none of them came out of it with their heads still attached to the body." The inquisitor spoke with a ruthful voice.
"Only a few days later there was another attack, this time in the heart of New York. Werewolves." She said, giving Luke a quick, stern face, before she carried on with her explanation.
"As we all know, there's a few werewolf packs in New York." This time all the heads turned toward Luke, but he just nodded in agreement of her words.
"Last Wednesday the pack in New York City was raided and again no survivors. It was a small pack, only 7 members, but still it seems strange." She stopped and licked her lips.
No one spoke for the next few minutes, Robert Lightwood being the one to break the silence.
"Why do the Council believe these two attacks are carried out by the same group of people?" He said, and looked straight at the Inquisitor.
"Same ways of ruthless killings." She shook her head as flashes of the scenes rolled before her eyes.
"They don't leave any traces behind, it's like they disappeared into nothing." She finished with a bothered gaze toward her son and the other Shadowhunters.
At the last line Jace's head rushed up, 'disappeared into nothing, where had he heard someone say that before?' he asked himself as a million thoughts ran through his head. 'Into nothing. Nothing.' He kept saying for himself as the others kept on speaking.
He looked around the large library before shutting his eyes hard. After standing still for what felt like five minutes he opened them again and the memory of the morning a while back came rushing back at him.
"But he can't just disappear into nothing." His own voice rang in his ears. He opened his mouth slightly as he remembered the encounter a few months ago with the mysterious Shadowhunter, who alone had killed a Greater Demon.
'No, it couldn't be.' Jace told himself.
At the same moment he realised seven pairs of eyes had landed on him and he was no longer hidden behind the bookshelf.
The boy stood motionless for a moment, just staring at the elder Shadowhunters in front of him. His face expressed confusion and bewilderment. "I.." He began, but stopped his explanations.
"I've seen a Shadowhunter disappear into nothingness." He could make out the blurry image of Stephen looking at him with an expression telling him he should shut up.
"I mean, you all remember when Alec, Isabelle, Jon and I went on an assignment a few months ago, the Shadowhunter who killed the Greater Demon. He disappeared, leaving no trace after him." He explained.
The others sent confused glances at one another, not sure what to tell the boy.
It was Stephen who answered, "Jace, I don't think now is the time." He said and gave his son a firm wave with the hand, motioning for him to step outside.
"No, you don't take this seriously!" Jace brushed off his father's order walking with rushed steps toward the table. "You didn't see him. He fought the demon in a matter of a few minutes. It was even in its true form. Even you couldn't have done that!" He gave his father a raging nod and sat down. His father was an exceptional fighter; he'd been the one to train Jace.
"Jace!" His mother exclaimed, shocked over her son's behaviour.
"No, I think he's got a point." It was Luke who spoke.
"What? It was bad weather and honestly, they were standing too far away to see what happened." Maryse told the werewolf, who only gave her a small smile back at her, the smile not reaching his eyes.
"They were four. All of them saw the same thing Maryse." Luke defended the golden haired boy sitting next to him. Jace gave the man a sincere smile, mentally thanking him for taking his side.
"Celine," Imogen's voice rang out, a little rusty as she hadn't spoken in a while, "Can you call for Brother Jeremiah. I think he might be able to help us in the matter." The others gave the old woman a puzzled look, but Celine didn't question her mother in law and did as she asked.
"Why do we need him?" Robert asked.
Imogen eyed her grandchild and gave him a reassuring glance before answering.
"We are going to take a look at this 'invincible' Shadowhunter ourselves."
xxxx
One could barely make out the faint screams of the man behind the sealed door. He was covered in sweat and dirt from head to toes, his legs had abandoned the task of holding him up a long time ago. His hands locked in chains, his body was held up by them.
He felt the stinging pain of the metal as it carved deeper and deeper into his wrists.
"I don't know." He whispered again. "I don't know anything." His voice had become hoarse and failed him when he tried to speak.
"I think you know very well where the thing I'm looking for is hidden." The only other voice in the room spoke to him.
He let out a cry as another knife cut his cheek open, red, warm blood welling out of the new wound.
"Please, no, no more." He tried to beg for mercy, but Valentine Morgenstern was not one to forgive and forget. He let out a deriding laughter and hit the man over the fresh cut in his cheek.
"You know, I used to trust you Jeremy. You could have done great things, but instead you left me." He said in a bitter voice.
"I thought you were dead." Jeremy Pontmercy whispered with eyes closed, the pain in his whole body became overwhelming and he was sure he would soon pass out.
"Liar." Valentine hissed, before Jeremy could say anything, a sharp pang shot through his body and he looked up into Valentine's eyes. They showed nothing more than callousness.
"Pangborn!" Valentine shouted and a stiff, muscular man walked through the door.
"Get the traitor off my floor." He snarled before moving out of the door, leaving his follower alone with the dead body of his once so faithful follower, now with a sharp dagger sticking out of his heart.
He walked down the dark corridor when someone came up on his side. He was about to lash out after the person disturbing him when he was in such an unpleasant mood, when he saw the bright emerald eyes staring at him in impatience.
"Clarissa." He said coldly.
"Father." She replied, showing just as much affection as him.
"Do you need something?" He asked her, opening the door to his study room.
Clary followed him inside, closing the door carefully after her.
"No. I just wondered why you felt the need to torture that man for hours before killing him. Did he tell you anything of importance?" she asked with chide in her voice.
"No. He did not." He said angry and sat down looking over the papers on his desk.
Clary stepped closer to him, watching him determine his next moves on how to get his precious Mortal Cup.
He ignored her for a few minutes before looking up. "If you are only here to disturb me, I suggest you leave now Clarissa." He told her with an irritated mien.
"I just don't think those strategies are one of your greatest." She replied and walked over to the couch in the middle of the room.
"I think I know what I'm doing Clarissa." He said, and Clary suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at him.
"I'm not saying you don't know what you're doing. I am merely suggesting other ways of doing them." She explained and took up a book from the table in front of her.
"You are sixteen. I think I can figure out how to get the cup on my own." He brushed off her comment and went back to his papers.
Clary sighed and looked up from the book, "And still, you are sending me to do the job." She informed him with a smirk playing on her lips.
"Yes, that's because you know what you are doing when it comes down to carrying out the plans. You don't know how to plan them." He explained without taking his eyes off the paper.
xxxx
Brother Jeremiah came inside the library a few hours after the meeting. His appearance sent a shiver down Jace's back. He wore the official attire of the Silent Brothers, a parchment-coloured, hooded robe that was belted at the waist. His eyes and mouth sealed with the runes of the Silent Brothers.
Celine sat silently next to Stephen, Jocelyn and Luke, while the others spoke with the Silent Brother.
After another ten minutes they walked over to the table.
In the next moment, he spoke to Jace. Or "spoke" might not be the right word for it; his voice rang inside her head, rather than outside it. Jace Herondale, I will perform a non-damaging ritual on you, which will allow me to enter your mind and display the encounter to the other people in this room.
Jace nodded and swallowed, "Fine, as long as you don't tamper with my perfect mind or pure soul I'll be okay." Jace told him, his mother sending him a scowl.
The Silent Brother didn't respond, taking a few soundless steps toward the blond boy he said in his mind, and I should inform you it can be a bit discomforting.
Discomforting, was the Silent Brother making jokes? A gruesome stinging pain shot though his head as the memories of the night they saw the Shadowhunter take down the Greater Demon flashed before his eyes.
"No Jace, they told us to get back to the Institute as soon as we had dealt with the demons, they might start to worry." The voice of his parabatai spoke loudly. Jace laughed, "Yeah, have you ever heard of a Shadowhunter search-party?" Alec gave him a dumbstruck look, "I thought so." Jace finished and kept on walking towards the old manor ahead of them.
"Fine, but if you land us in trouble we'll not protect your sorry ass." Isabelle called after him.
"Never expected you to either." Jace replied and walked with long steps, a few feet away Jonathan, Alec and Isabelle followed him. They had a few cuts and bruises on their arms and legs, but the Elapid demons, which were massive, snake-headed creatures with thick, scaled bodies, hadn't been putting up to much of a fight for the four skilled Shadowhunters.
Jace was still pumping with adrenaline from the fight, and wouldn't just leave when the sensor still showed demonic frequencies.
As they neared the manor they heard a loud hissing and ran forward. A person dressed in black gear swung a large, glowing Seraph blade in the air, it dug into the demons skin, which caused the demon to lash out at the Shadowhunter.
Jace gave the other teens a smug look, "Told you my inner sensor detected some fun." He said before racing up the hill toward the other Shadowhunter and what looked like the Greater Demon, Hecate; which they had studied along with the other Greater Demons at the Academy.
The teens caught up with Jace at the top of the hill, confused looks smeared on their faces.
The Shadowhunter was gone, and so was the Greater Demon.
Jace let out a pained growl and massaged his forehead, "Liar." He muttered at the Silent Brother before turning toward his parents and their friends.
"So, still not important?" He asked before sitting down on a chair next to Robert.
His head ached slightly, but the intense pain began to calm down.
"Actually, I think this might be extremely important." Luke let out and stared at the others. Jocelyn gave him a surprised look and asked for him to explain.
"Did you see the way the Shadowhunter moved? It's not the same way normal Shadowhunters are trained; they don't use the same techniques, they don't use that many different weapons. Usually you have the Seraph blades and you choose one or two second choice weapons. This one had all sorts of weapons." He finished and saw the sceptical looks the others gave him.
"Maybe, but how does it matter if the Shadowhunter had a lot of weapons? Maybe he's foreign." Celine suggested.
"I don't really think they train that differently in other countries, remember Alicante Academy is the only Academy for Shadowhunters, they all learn the same things. It's pretty clear this one got his training somewhere else, from someone who's uncommonly good." The werewolf licked his lower lip as he finished speaking, waiting anxiously for a reply.
"When you say it like that, the fighting actually reminded me of someone we all knew a bit too well." Stephen made a grimace as he muttered the words.
Jocelyn's eyes darted toward her friend, "Don't speak of him, he's dead. And I want him to stay that way." She snapped at him before Luke took her hand in his and tried to calm her down.
"I'm not saying it was him, I'm only saying the fighting looked similar." Stephen excused himself.
"Sorry." Jocelyn mumbled embarrassed with her own outburst.
"I think we would do well in finding this Shadowhunter, they might be a great ally against whomever it is that attack the innocent Downworlders." Imogen said, her eyes found Jace, who had kept quiet listening to the others talk.
"Will you help?" She asked her grandson with a smile on her lips.
Jace only nodded, but his smirk crept onto his lips as he looked at her.
xxxx
The days passed slowly and both Jace and the other teens grew impatient with their parents. They should've found something on the Shadowhunter by now.
They all sat on the floor in the training room keeping up an easy small talk. Isabelle sighed and swirled her silvery-gold whip around her wrist. The whip was a birthday present from her father when she turned twelve and Isabelle had shown a high level of skill and proficiency wielding the weapon.
"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait before they tell us something?" Isabelle asked the blond boy sitting opposite of her.
He shrugged and answered, "Don't know, but does it really matter?" He asked. He was still angry with his parents and the New York Institute owners, they had told him that if they found the Shadowhunter they would be the ones to face him, as they didn't know anything about him except for the fact that he was a seriously experienced fighter and they wouldn't risk their children's lives.
Jace snapped out of his thoughts as a loud yell could be heard from upstairs. All four of them were on their feet and heading for the sound before Maryse could even tell them to come up and help.
They met a teary eyed Iwan in the door to the infirmary, he was white as a sheet and looked like he was about to faint.
Jace hurried over to his brother's side and kneelt down to match his height. "Iwan, what's wrong?" He asked in a scared voice.
The boy looked up at his brother's golden eyes and whispered through a sob, "Dad, he's hurt."
Ahh, sorry but i couldn't help the cliffie. But I'll update soon, so you'll be able to read what happened! Please review and tell me what you thought.