Authors note: Hi everyone! This is Potterlove. I hope you liked the previous chapter. We're doing our best to keep the chapters flowing and interesting. Thank you Ermahgerd for reviewing. It means a lot to us. Hope you like this latest chapter ;)

"We're here." Jason remarked suddenly, stopping everyone from their wearisome long trudge. They had been walking for 24 hours without any break. They stopped only once for a few minutes to drink some water and eat some fruits. During that break, they had rested their trembling legs and had applied some sap and crushed medicinal herbs to their cuts.

Clary was in agony. During the fight she had fallen down and as a result the little toe of her right foot had become squashed and twisted. It seemed like a hairline fracture to her. She gingerly examined the wound when they took their break. Earlier, she had applied an iratze to the wound. But the rune was acting slowly, and when she sat down to rest, she saw that the wound had turned from an amalgam of a hideous blue and a raw purple to a blackish color. She had covered the wound with leaves and had just somehow managed to mitigate the pain, even applying another iratze. She didn't tell Jace about it. It would seem stupid to bother him about trivial minutiae, when he had obviously got greater problems to deal with. It was anguishing to walk and further anguishing to walk without limping, so as not to draw attention of the others. The only one who seemed to suspect that something was wrong was Hermione.

"Are you quite all right Clary?" she had asked in that British accent of hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clary had replied, giving Hermione a strained smile.

Hermione didn't look convinced but she let the matter rest there.

Now, as Jason told them that they had reached, it seemed miraculous to Clary. She felt relieved and tensed at the same time. If another fight broke out now, she would definitely not be able to fight to her full potential. And depending on others for her security was a bit too much to ask. She would just have to do her best.

"Clary" said a voice from behind which made Clary jump as she was lost in her own depressing thoughts.

It was Simon.

"Oh, it's you" said Clary, turning back.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you" said Simon. "Are you fine?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" lied Clary, not wanting to burden Simon with the task of looking after her when he, himself was so behind on his training.

"Are you sure?" he asked, scrunching up his eyebrows, "You looked pained when we stopped for a rest"

"So you noticed?"

"You're my best friend. Obviously I noticed. I just didn't say anything…." Simon's voice faltered.

"Why?" Clary asked. Though she had not wanted anyone to know about her pain, it stung a little bit that no one except Hermione noticed. Even her best friend failed to realize that something was wrong.

"It's just that you're so strong. You don't need me or Jace or anyone else for that matter, to look after you. I thought it was just some wound and you'd get annoyed if I over reacted." Simon said. "Let me see where you got hurt."

Clary pointed toward her ankle. Simon bent down and examined the wound. He took out a stele and inscribed another iratze. (The iratzes were fading pretty fast)

"Thanks" whispered Clary and hugged him.

Clary had found it surprising how quickly Simon had adapted to the Shadow World twice. He had always been there for Clary, he had believed Clary when she had explained to him about her being a Shadowhunter, and Clary doubted anyone else would have accepted it as calmly as Simon. That was how strong their friendship was.

"It's gonna be okay." said Simon, hugging her back.

"Yeah, you're right." said Clary taking a deep breath, "It's going to be okay."

-X-

'That's it' thought Jason 'We're here. All we have to do now is to free the hostages and...'

'Then what?'

They were too unprepared for this. All of them were fatigued, evidently and way too exhausted to fight if another horde of monsters and demons were on their way.

"Guys, wait" said Jason.

"Shouldn't we plan?" he asked looking at the other's worn out faces.

He was surprised to hear a chuckle from Ron, who said, "I don't know about you people but for us, our plans have never worked"

"Yeah, that's true" said Harry, joining in, "However faultless Hermione's plans are... we usually mess up"

"Same here" said Leo, "I ruined Wise-Girl's plan once when-

"You always do." said Annabeth cutting him off. "What about you guys?" she asked the shadowhunter group.

"Well" Isabelle said, "They do work out sometimes.... Only sometimes."

"So... What are we going to do?" asked Jason.

"Okay then" said Annabeth "One person from each group will go and rescue the hostages and the others will stay behind and fight any monsters that are certainly going to come. So basically we'll distract while the others go and rescue the hostages.

She paused for a reply and was satisfied by several nods.

"Only one flaw in the plan." said Percy.

"What?"

"I can't even see the hostages."

They had been so caught up on saving the hostages that they forgot the reality. There were no hostages to be seen and in fact, there was nobody to be seen at all. The sun was almost down by now. Their faces were slick with sweat and their shirts were torn by brambles and now, they realized what fools they were. Was this a trap? Had they been lured into death's hand? Nobody uttered a word. They were too exhausted. Physically as well as mentally.

The silence was pierced by a voice.

"Why are you all so quiet?"

They all turned in the direction of the voice. In the growing darkness, they could see a silhouette of a towering body. Realization dawned upon them. They knew where they had heard that voice before.

It was that same blood chilling voice.