Chapter 2

Isabelle Lightwood headed to the weapons room to start her inventory. She took pride in being the youngest weapons master to have ever been named at the New York institute. Her knowledge of weapons far surpassed that of the previous weapons master, and she wanted to keep obtaining more knowledge. She had received a message from the Clave that a new shadowhunter would be arriving in a couple of days. Magnus Bane from the Jakarta Institute came highly recommended and it was mentioned in his file that he was interested in downworld relations, she just wasn't sure if that meant improving their relationships with the downworlders or causing them to take a few steps back from the progress they had made up to this point.

Isabelle wanted to make a good impression on him, but she also wanted to be cautious around the new shadowhunter. Jace wanted her to check that the weapons he preferred were in the weapons room and also make sure that his room was ready for when he would arrive. This was the first time in two years that a new shadowhunter was being allowed to come and stay at the institute. Things had been different since her older brother had disappeared. Her and Jace had searched everywhere for him even though their parents told him that if they hadn't heard anything within a week of him disappearing then he was most likely dead. Isabelle didn't believe them and never gave up looking for her brother. There had been possible sightings of him around the institute, but no one was completely sure if it was actually him. He hadn't actually been seen since shortly after his twelfth birthday. Isabelle missed her brother, but she couldn't dwell on that at the moment. She needed to prepare for the arrival of Magnus Bane.

"Izzy, are you in here?" Jace asked entering the weapons room.

"Where else would I be? You wanted me to make sure that Magnus' preferred weapons were here. I haven't had a chance to look through all the weapons we have here. Although I would imagine that Magnus would be bringing his own weapons with him," Izzy replied looking through the swords that were in the room.

"That would make sense that he would be bringing his own weapons. I don't know why I didn't think of that," Jace stated helping Izzy look through the swords.

"Don't worry about it you have a lot on your plate, and you are doing your best to make sure that the institute is still standing. You have been doing a great job in the last few months that you have been the head and you were name head for a reason. Keep believing in yourself and the institute will be fine. You have made a lot of changes, changes that mom and dad wouldn't have made and they have been good changes. The downworld here in New York has never been better and I think it will continue to get better the more changes you make. As for Magnus it makes more sense that he will bring his own weapons. Even if we were to have some that are similar to his here, they aren't going to feel the same as what he used for years," Izzy explained.

"Izzy, I don't know what I would do without you. If there was a way I could have you as my second instead of Underhill, I would do it. I know that I could have chosen you, but mom strongly encouraged me not to saying that it would be seen as favoritism."

"Look, regardless of what mom or anyone else says I understand why you didn't pick me, and I'm not hurt by it. I have enough responsibilities being the chief medical examiner and the weapons master here. I think Underhill was actually the perfect choice for your second, he actually helps keep you from acting without thinking and that is actually a good thing. Both of us are reckless and don't always think about the consequences of our actions."

"You have a point and I agree with you about appointing Underhill as my second. I really wish that Alec was still here, but I know he isn't, and he may not be for a very long time. I miss him so much Iz and I know that if he hadn't disappeared, we would have become parabatai and he would be the head of the institute. I just hope that wherever he is he is doing ok."

"I hope he is. I just keep thinking that mom and dad know more about his disappearance then they are telling us. I know that they say they don't know anything other than he received his first mark and went missing slowly after that. Well we can keep talking about Alec but there are other things that need our attention at the moment such as getting ready for Magnus to come and the next downworld council meeting."

"Very true. Well thank you for the pep talk and we will keep looking for Alec even though there are other things going on as well. You have a lot on your plate, and we don't have a lot of time to concentrate on searching for our brother. Well enough about that but you came here for a reason besides checking on weapons for Magnus. When is the next council meeting?"

"Yes, I actually did need you for something and it has to do with the next council meeting. Underhill and I have to go to Idris for some business tonight and won't be back in time for the meeting. I was wondering if you could head it up. Since it is earlier in the day the vampires won't be able to attend but it was the only time that would work for the warlocks, werewolves, and seelies. I talked to Raphael and he said it would be fine, but to just send a representative to meet with him tomorrow evening. I was hoping that you would be able to oversee the meeting tomorrow and then meet with Raphael in the evening."

"Jace I can do the meeting tomorrow, but I won't be able to meet with Raphael tomorrow night. I have a meeting with Catarina about the recent demon activity. She has a shift at the hospital right after the meeting tomorrow and will be available to meet after her shift tomorrow to let me know what she found out about the markings that were at the scene of the last demon attack. Clary can come to the meeting with me tomorrow and she should be able to meet with Raphael to go over what was discussed."

"I'll talk to Clary to see if she available to attend the council meeting with you and meet with Raphael tomorrow night. Thanks for being available for the meeting and for meeting with Catarina about the markings from the last demon attack. There is something about them that looks familiar, but I don't know what it is yet. Well I have some things I need to take care of before I need to head to Idris in a few hours. I hope that everything will go well and good luck with your preparations for Magnus. I think you should be getting a fire message from him sometime today to let you know what he needs and what he will be bringing with him."

"Thanks bro and I'll see you later. I have some inventory I need to finish up here and they some autopsies to finish down in the morgue. Let me know what Clary says about the meeting tomorrow and if she is available to meet with Raphael later. When I get the fire message from Magnus then I can finish the preparations for his arrival in two days."

Jace left the weapons room shortly after that. He had some messages to respond to and he needed to talk to Clary about attending the council meeting tomorrow. He was feeling the pressure of being the head of the institute along with being a Herondale. It hadn't been that long ago that he had found about his family and it was still taking him awhile to adjust to all the changes that he had gone through. At least he had Clary and Isabelle to help with everything. He wished that Alec was there to help him through all of this or even take some of the burden off his shoulders. He knew thinking that was unfair to him and to Alec but there has been a part of him missing since Alec's disappearance. He knew he needed to let go and move on, but it was hard to do that with someone who had been your best friend and brother.

He heard footsteps coming closer. He knew that it was time for his training, the sparring part of the training wasn't so bad, but he enjoyed the time that he got to spend with his bow and arrows. It was a time for him to practice and just focus on the target. He didn't have to listen to the instructions of his trainer and it really just him and his bow. He was a good archer and had started training with the bow and arrow when he was ten, two years before the day that everything changed.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this. He had to keep thinking and planning for the future and when he could make another chance to escape. He wanted to know what was outside of the two rooms where he spent the majority of his life. He didn't know anything about his siblings or what was going on with the institute. He hoped that his parents would have a change of heart in the way they interacted with downworlders. It had always bothered him when he would hear the way his parents would to talk to and interact with downworlders. They always talked to them as though they were better than downworlders. He didn't think they were better than downworlders. The whole purpose of being a shadowhunter was to protect mundanes and downworlders. Not all downworlders could protect themselves against demons, they didn't have the strength or the same powers as other downworlders.

He had hoped he could make the institute better when he got older and hopefully make a difference for those around him. He knew that there was a way out, there was just the small matter of him being able to find the way in time. He had been thinking and he figured all the other times that he had failed to escape it was because he couldn't use his magic, if he could figure out a way to get rid of the shackles on his wrists and ankles. The best way to do that would be to find a way to get the keys or a stele to unlock the shackles. He didn't think either of those were a possibility because he was watched so closely, but if he got the opportunity, he would take it.

He kept heading towards the training room and thought about all the possibilities of how he could escape. He knew he could keep thinking about it and the chance would come to him. Once he got to the training room, he immediately went to the center of the room to begin sparring. He knew that his opponent would arrive shortly and would be expecting him to be ready to go. He went through his warmup routine and waited for his opponent to arrive. He didn't have to wait long, but when he looked up to begin sparring, he saw that his opponent was someone that he hadn't trained with before. He didn't know who this person was. He hadn't seen him around and he wasn't one of the regulars that he sparred against.

He actually wasn't sure where they had found this guy. He didn't even look like he would last ten minutes with him. The boy was tall and lanky, his brown hair falling in his face. He watched as the boy pushed his glasses up on his nose. He shook his head thinking that his captors had lost it, they didn't think that this boy was really going to be a challenge for him did they.

"Listen up, this will be your new sparring partner for the next few weeks. You aren't expected to beat him. You will actually be training him. If he is able to beat you by the end of four weeks, then you will have earned your freedom. If he cannot then you will remain our prisoner for as long as we decide to keep you. Think about this carefully and don't set him to beat you, the fight has to be fair and he has to be able to beat you on his own. Do you understand?" asked his main guard.

"Yes, sir I understand. I will train him to beat me and hope to earn my freedom," the boy responded looking at the main guard.

He didn't realize that there would be an opportunity for him to earn his freedom. He didn't think this was really possible, but he would train the boy to beat him and hope that the guard was telling the truth and finally he would be able to leave his prison. This may be his last chance for freedom, but he would still come up with a backup plan just in case they didn't keep their word about if the boy beat him in a fight, he would be able to go free. He would bide his time and hope that the lanky boy would be able to beat him.