Chapter 10
Jace was still a bit wound up about the whole faerie situation and Alec's reaction had only made the situation that much worse.
In an attempt to calm him down, Clary had decided to go for a walk. "Some fresh air will do you some good. It will help clear your head," she had said.
That was how Jace found himself walking through Central Park with Clary. It was late afternoon and the sun was blocked out by clouds, creating a slightly cool temperature.
Jace smiled down at Clary. "You know, it's nice to just be alone with you. And it's a nice afternoon..."
Clary smiled in return as she looked up at Jace. "See, I told you some fresh air would do you some good. I think this is the happiest I've seen you lately. You seem... carefree and..." Clary said, trailing off as she caught sight of something over Jace's shoulder.
"Jace, look out!" She suddenly exclaimed.
Jace whirled around just in time to see a pixie charging at him, a weapon in her hand.
Jace ducked, pulling Clary down with him. The pixie swung her weapon again– it appeared to be a bat or club of some sort – and Jace and Clary rolled out of the way.
The club hit the ground and the pixie turned towards Jace, completely ignoring Clary.
As Jace reached for a weapon, he noticed – from the corner of his eye – another few faeries approaching.
Jace swung his blade up at the faerie above him and then launched himself to his feet to face the approaching threat.
The approaching faeries swarmed out towards Jace and he realized there were more than he thought.
He blinked and raised his blade, pausing for only a brief second when he realized Clary was beside him, a dagger gripped in her hand.
His eyes briefly passed over her face and he took a deep breath, turning back to the threat. He didn't want Clary fighting but he didn't have the time to argue with her now. It would have to wait until later – if they made it out alive that is.
The thrill of the fight kept Jace going, as it always did. His blade collided with the faeries weapons – the weapons they shouldn't possess – and he was satisfied when it made contact with the faeries bodies.
A sudden scream forced Jace's attention away from the battle though. His eyes scanned the immediate area and soon fell on Clary who was clutching at her shoulder. Her dagger was on the ground and there was a dark stain spreading across her shirt – blood.
Jace sucked in a breath as he watched Clary drop to her knees, a pained expression appearing on her face.
She doubled over and before Jace could do anything, he felt a sudden, sharp pain across his back. Spinning around faster than he had before, he saw a faerie standing behind him, a long-sword in their hand.
Ignoring the pain, like always, Jace launched himself back into the fight, glancing over at Clary every now and again. In doing so, Jace allowed himself to be distracted and the faeries used that to their advantage, landing hits whenever Jace's attention wasn't on them.
Jace felt something hit his shoulder and he thrust his blade to the side, sending it through the armour of one of the faeries.
Occasionally, Jace's vision would blur and then come back into focus and he was starting to feel the true pain of his injuries.
He blinked a couple of times in an attempt to clear his vision and he noticed the faeries retreating.
He forced himself to move forwards towards Clary and he dropped down beside her. Dropping his blade on the grass, he pulled out his stele and placed the tip of it on Clary's skin where her shirt was ripped.
He traced the familiar pattern of an iratze onto her skin and then lifted his stele before looking down. The dark lines faded into Clary's pale skin and only part of the wound seemed to close up.
Despite the dizziness Jace was feeling, he tried another iratze, only for it to have no effect.
Jace shoved his stele back into his belt and did the same with his blade before he reached down to pick Clary up.
Once he was able to support her, he stood up properly and started making his way back to the institute.
The sun was setting and the sky was filled with various shades of orange, red and pink. Jace let out a shaky breath, knowing that more danger came with nightfall. If he didn't make it back to the institute soon, he would risk running into demons and he wasn't in any condition to really handle that.
Despite the fact that his ankle was hurting and he was feeling dizzy, he pushed himself forward, along the sidewalk. He weaved between the mundanes and dodged the cars as he crossed the streets.
The light was quickly fading and stars were starting to appear overhead when the institute finally came into view.
Jace pushed himself forward and the gates opened up.
He made his way across the courtyard at the front of the institute and managed to get the door open.
It creaked as it slowly opened and Jace had barely taken a few steps inside when he felt a sudden, strong wave of dizziness.
He stumbled and dropped to his knees before closing his eyes in an attempt to stop the dizziness.
When he opened his eyes again, the dizziness hadn't gone away and his vision was still slightly blurry.
The room seemed to sway and Jace could barely make out a few approaching figures before he passed out.
-o-O-o-
Alec heard the institute door creak open and, with a glance at Isabelle, he got up and made his way towards the front door.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Magnus and Isabelle following.
The foyer soon came into view and Alec saw Jace on his knees, cradling Clary in his arms.
Just as he started descending the stairs, Jace swayed and his arms gave way, causing Clary to fall to the ground just before Jace did.
Alec, Magnus and Isabelle broke into a run and came to an abrupt stop just beside Jace and Clary.
Isabelle went to shut the door and Alec dropped down beside Jace. Now that he was closer, he could see Jace's injuries.
Bruises were forming on various parts of his body, he was covered in scrapes and his ankle was swollen and appeared to be twisted at an odd angle.
He immediately pulled out his stele and placed the tip of it on Jace's skin before tracing an iratze.
"What the hell happened?" Isabelle asked, appearing beside Alec.
"I don't know, but it doesn't seem good," Alec replied, staying focused on the iratze.
Slowly, Alec noticed some of Jace's bruises start to fade and some of the scrapes started to heal.
With a sigh of relief, he turned to look at Clary. Magnus was already hovering over her and Alec had to move slightly to look at her.
His eyes immediately fell on her shoulder which was covered in blood.
He glanced up at Magnus and noticed the confused look on his face. "What's wrong Magnus?" he asked.
"It's just... she seems to have faerie poison in her... I haven't heard of this for decades..." Magnus replied.
"Faerie poison?" Isabelle asked. "I didn't even know that existed."
"It's uncommon... faeries haven't used poison in decades and for some reason, you guys don't seem to learn about it. I guess because it's so uncommon, the Clave doesn't feel like you need to know about it."
"Well... is she going to be okay?" Isabelle asked.
"She should be... I just need to get an antidote put together," Magnus replied, carefully picking Clary up.
Alec picked Jace up and they headed to the infirmary, placing Jace and Clary on the beds.
"Isabelle, get some bandages for Clary's shoulder. Alec... I need you to find these," Magnus said, writing something on a piece of paper before handing it to Alec.
Alec nodded and headed off to find the things that Magnus needed.
-o-O-o-
Magnus helped Isabelle with the bandages and about fifteen minutes later, Alec returned with the stuff Magnus needed for the antidote.
He took the stuff from Alec and told him to just stay in the infirmary and watch over Clary while he went to mix up the antidote.
It didn't take too long – ten minutes at the most – and Magnus was back in the infirmary.
He carefully added a few drops of the antidote to Clary's wound and waited a few moments before allowing Alec to try an iratze.
The black lines swirled out from the tip of Alec's stele and the wound closed up.
Considering the amount of blood Clary had lost, he also drew an amissio rune on her.
"Smart thinking," Magnus said, giving Alec a quick kiss before he went to check over Jace.
"So if Clary had faerie poison in her, that means they were attacked by faeries," Alec said.
"Exactly. It's not very safe for Jace to be out at the moment. I still need to talk to the fey and try to plead his case. The more he goes out, the more he'll get attacked and the worse things will be," Magnus said.
"Yet if he hadn't killed the queen, none of this would be happening," Alec said.
"I know... he's irrational sometimes and when on a high from a battle, he often doesn't think straight. I know he regrets his actions but he honestly didn't have a reason to kill the queen. I mean, yes, she tried to kill you and yes she was sanctimonious bitch but he could have simply turned her into the Clave... I will plead his case to the fey though. I've said that enough times lately that you should know that I mean it. I will make sure Jace is once again safe," Magnus said passionately.
"You know... I think this is the first time I've ever heard you speak so passionately about Jace. You normally just ignore him or speak about him in bored tones," Alec said.
"Well... he normally does make me bored... and he annoys me with his whole 'I'm better than you' attitude... much like his ancestor Will but he is important to you and you are important to me. And in case you haven't noticed... I am kind of warming up to him..." Magnus said.
Alec just smiled. "That's good," he said.
Magnus smiled at Alec and walked around the bed. Seeing the worried look on Alec's face, he spoke.
"I've told you so many times Alec, I won't let anything happen to him. I will talk to the faeries and he will be safe again."
With that, Magnus kissed Alec once again.
A/N: Sorry that this chapter was a bit shorter than normal. I was going to put some Sizzy in here, but I just couldn't think what to put. BTW, I made a reference to another fandom in this chapter! Can you find it?
If you can guess/name the fandom and the line/words, you will get a sneak peak at the next chapter!
If you can guess/name the book in which the line came from, you will get a sneak peak at the next chapter AND you can ask me any question about the future of this Fanfiction and I will have to answer! (So long as you have an account of course)
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