It's an Update!

Hello! I'm here! I'm so sorry I'm not loading another chapter today, I just want to let you know that I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY! There has been a lot of things in my life recently that have kept me from writing/posting for this story.

First, high school. Since I was in my final semester of high school, and final exams were coming up and preparing for graduation and everything, I didn't have any time or drive to write. Every time I opened a document to continue a chapter, I came up blank or the ideas I had felt forced and wrong for the story. I can't post a chapter for you guys if I don't feel that it is perfect/the best I can give you. It wouldn't feel right to me.

Second, along with high school, I've had a lot of personal issues going on at home. I had been debating as to whether or not to keep living half and half between my parents or to take primary residence with one parent. My reasons for making that decision stemmed from a number of factors that twisted me up into an anxiety and depression riddled ball. So, that didn't help with my writers block or anything. I have been so riddled with stress and anxiety about it that some days I was bedridden from becoming physically ill. Don't worry, the decision has been made now, and I'm doing much better. I'm going back to therapy once a week, talkin about these issues with my parents, and working on controlling my anxiety better.

Third, I have a new laptop. Now, having a new laptop is a good thing. However, there is something going on with my Word account that won't let me edit any of the documents that I have transferred from my previous laptop to my new one. When I tried to work on the chapter a few days ago, it wouldn't edit at all. I can't even copy and paste the stuff onto new documents. So, I'll either have to type each chapter onto separate word documents again, or fix what is going on with my Word account.

So those are the three main things that have kept me from writing. But please rest assured, I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY! Just the other day I was reading comments you have left me as fans, and my most recent one really touched my heart. It was from someone named liv2497. When I read it I nearly cried. Their comment and what they said the story means to them is the reason I want to continue writing, so I will not abandon this story! I swear it!

Now, if you have been reading up to this point, I want to say thank you for taking the time. Trust me, I hate these filler/update uploads on stories so much, and I feel so bad about putting one up, but I feel I need to. Now, as a sign of reassurence that I will be continuing this story, I am posting a section from a future chapter here for you to read! Think of this as a sort of "I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my content" apology present. Also, I plan to have a couple short stories published as well, so you can go and read those when they are updated. Hopefully I'll have them up within a month, because I feel you all at least deserve that. They will be related to the main story in some way, it'll depend on which story I put up first.

Anyway, enough talk, here are the snippets that I promised (I have a couple sections I want to post, so enjoy!)

Snippet from chapter 20/21: The Third Mortal War

Magnus, in all his years, had never had so much trouble closing a Portal in his entire life.

Each time he came close, something interfered, from demons to soldiers to magic resistance from the other side. Had it not been for Clary and Alyssa, he would've been torn to pieces by now. Behind him, he felt hot, sticky, disgusting breath on the back of his neck, but it disappeared as he heard a tiger's growl. Then there was the sound of flesh being torn by giant claws, followed by the demon's agonized screeches. Another demon came at him out of the corner of his eye, but he saw a flash of bright red and silver come between them. The demon shrank as ichor gushed out of its shrivling body. Thankfully, the two women were able to keep most of the monsters away from him long enough and, after an eternity, the swirling mist of the Portal vanished.

"Closed!" he called out before turning around. A few feet from him, Clary finished slicing apart a group of Ravager demons. With a brief smile of relief, she made her way over to the High Warlock, the ichor beneath her boots squishing in a stomach-churning way.

"Are you ok?" she asked him hurriedly. "If you need to stop we can get you somewhere safe."

"I'm fine, Biscuit," the cat-eyed man answered, using his hand to put pressure on his slightly bleeding side. "Are you alright?"

"A bit winded, but I can still fight," she answered, taking out her steele to quickly draw a healing rune for Magnus. It was one of the more recent runes she created, to heal Downworlders. The bleeding from his side receded and the pain began to subside. Magnus gave Clary a smile of thanks. His gratitude didn't last, though. He noticed something was off.

"Where's Alyssa?" Magnus asked. Clary gave him a confused look and turned around.

The two of them turned to look around the room full of rotting demon flesh. All around them, demons lay dead or daying, along with a few enemy soldiers that had entered through the recently closed Portal. No doors or windows were broken, and there was no other form of life in the room with them.

Alyssa had vanished.

Another snippet from chapter 20/21

The woman gave a gasp of pain as the sword entered her gut and punctured her heart, and a moment later she lay dead on the floorboards. Above her, Jace stood, trying to shake the blood off his blade as well as trying not to look guilty. He was used to killing demons; they were just soul-less monsters that wreaked havoc. Intentionally killing a being with a soul never sat well with him, no matter how evil their deeds had been. To his left, Isabelle kneeled in front of another woman, this one an ally, gasping for breath as blood filled her mouth due to her wounds. Izzy just held the woman's hand as her breathing stilled. Once it did, she stood up, her face stony but her eyes determined not to give up.

"Rest in peace, my son," Kiara's voice said. The two of them turned to see Kiara cradling a child of about ten years in her arms. It was a boy, one of the few males in the city. His blue pajamas were now stained purple with his blood and demon ichor, his tan skin was pale from blood loss, and his eyes were empty. They watched as Kiara lifted the dead child and placed him on one of the cots, setting him as if he were in a coffin. The two of them also felt pangs of guilt and sadness stab at their hearts, because the boy looked exactly like Max Lightwood had when he had been placed on the pyre years ago. The resemblance to that event was uncanny, and only made the situation more painful to watch. Remaining silent, Kiara turned back to her group, tears in her eyes that swam with rage and despair. She then turned to the remaining soldiers of the squad that followed her.

"Captain, disperse your team to the far reaches of this section. Go in pairs, and search for any spies or holes in our defenses. Protect all you can." The captain nodded before she and her half a dozen followers ran out the door. Three remained: the queen and the two Shadowhunters.

"Let's move," Kiara said firmly. Before they began to make their way to the door, however, the sound of slow, mocking clapping echoed throughout the room, preceding the sound of cruel, amused laughter. Kiara tensed up, and her eyes began to show repressed fear. In that small opening, they were ambushed.

A crowd of nearly two dozen Raum demons barged through the doorway, but the noise of the chaos did not diminish the sound of laughter. In her frozen state, Kiara had no time to register the attack, allowing one of the demons to latch its jaws onto her leg, causing her to cry out in pain. On instinct, Jace advanced and sliced the demon in two, which snapped the queen out of her frozen state. Swift and deadly, the queen danced through the demons with her two comrades, stabbing and slicing through the demons as fast as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of far too familiar sea green eyes that danced with murderous delight.

"Oh my beautiful pet," his silky voice rang out. "How I have missed you."

Well, there you have it! I tried to make sure they were nice and long for you, and kept you excited for what was to come.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! I love hearing from you and what you have to say! Until next time, everyone! Love ya!

-KiaraBaneTMI