Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Mary, and some other characters I made up. Besides them, all the other characters belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.
AN: The mountain of Adam will be introduced in this chapter. I have talked about it in my other author's notes, but I wanted to make sure you guys knew that it's more like a cliff than a mountain. Or like a gigantic mountain in width, that has a flat top with a large forest on it.
Sorry it took a month to update, I just wasn't in the mood to write this. Lame, but true.
Thank you for all the reviews! You guys are awesome.
To Annoymus1997: Yes, an important part of the plot is coming this chapter. In the next few chapters we'll meet a lot more characters from TMI.
When Clary woke up in the morning, she couldn't remember the pervious night for she was still frazzled by mysterious pixies trying to kill her. She realized she was in a tent. How she got inside the tent, she didn't know. Clary rolled over to see if Jace was sleeping next to her, but the space was empty. She quickly spied her belt, tied it around her waist, and got out of the tent.
"Good morning," said Jace. Clary turned around to see him. He was brushing Temple's fur. On the other side of their campsite, on a large rock, he had breakfast laid out.
"Good morning," said Clary as she brushed her hair with her fingers. Her hair was extra curly, because of her bath the other day. She took a seat near the rock, between two tree trucks. She closed her eyes, and for just a second, she felt as if she was back home by the Skylack River. Clary wondered if she would ever stop missing home, but the thought seemed almost impossible. She reopened her eyes to see Jace staring at her.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked as he watched at her strangely. Clary nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little homesick," she admitted.
"Ah," he said in realization.
"Are you homesick?" Clary asked out of curiosity. She realized that Jace never had talked about where he was from, or much about the life he had before meeting her. He, however, knew a lot more about her than she knew about him.
"A little," he admitted. "But not so much. I like the sense of freedom. Where I come from, it's hard to feel free sometimes." He then quickly changed the subject. "But it doesn't matter. After our journey through the Mountain of Adam, and Forest of Eve, I have to return back."
"But what if you don't come back?" asked Clary. "You've heard the rumors, I am sure. No one has heard of people who went up the Mountain of Adam and into the Forest of Eve and back."
"We'll have to be the expectation," said Jace, emotionless.
"Why so confident?" Clary asked. "And determined to return home?"
"I have to be. As much as I hate the prison of a home I lived in, I am not a coward. I have to return back." Then he looked into Clary's eyes. "Besides, Green-eyes, how will you help your mother if you aren't confident in returning?"
"True," she said, looking back down. Then Clary asked, "Will you tell me of the life you've lived before?"
"Maybe someday," said Jace, he looked out into a direction in the forest; Clary assumed that it was the direction of his origins. He broke out of his gaze, and then turned back to Clary. "Let's eat breakfast and set off." Clary nodded, but distracted by what Jace was hiding.
OoOoOoOoO
After they finished their breakfast, they put their things away in Temple's saddle. Some of the things on his back were heavy, while some were light. Clary wondered how Temple could carry their food, their tent, and themselves without falling over.
"Did you train Temple to be so fast and strong?" asked Clary as she patted Temple's white fur.
"Yes, actually, I've known Temple since he was foal. I spent every day with him, rode him everywhere, and I still do. I find solace when I'm with him," Jace said fondly. Clary smiled.
"It must be nice to have an animal friend," she said. Jace nodded.
"It is." He then turned to her and asked, "Do you have an animal friend back home?"
"No, unless you call the chickens and goats my animal friends," Clary said. "Not many of the people in my village own horses." Jace's eyes glanced down to Clary's waist. Clary looked down to see what was on her waist that caught his attention, but she didn't see anything. Clary looked up at Jace confused.
"Do many people in your village own daggers?" asked Jace. Clary looked at Jace puzzled. Then looked back down to her waist, and remembered that she still had Jace's dagger on her belt. Clary felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I took it yesterday morning so that I could protect myself if I ran into any trouble." She took it out of her belt, and handed to him. Jace didn't make any movement to take it back.
"At least you thought ahead for once," Jace mumbled, almost to himself. "Do you even know how to use a dagger?" he asked.
"No," said Clary sheepishly.
"Well then, I will teach you," said Jace. Clary raised her eyebrow.
"You are allowing me to keep your dagger?" she asked.
"Yes," he said matter-of-fact. "Like you said, Green-eyes, you might need it to protect yourself if you run into trouble. And if you don't know how to use it, how will you kill?"
"When I took it, I wasn't going to use it to kill," said Clary.
"But you could," said Jace.
"But women don't kill," Clary disagreed.
"No, women can. They just choose not to, or choose not to be too obvious about it," said Jace. "This assumption, although is not true, can be used to your advantage. Especially you, one so young, and helpless looking, your attackers will assume you can't defend yourself. But what you have to do is, before anyone ties your hands behind you. At the moment they least expect it, pull out your dagger, and stab them like this." Jace showed Clary how he gripped the handle of the dagger. "Just remember not to lock your wrist, because that will make it harder for you to hit the target." Clary cringed at the thought. Jace saw the expression on Clary's face.
"You can stab them in the shoulder if you like. That way they have a chance of living without them hurting you," suggested Jace. "Or if you really don't want to stab anyone, you can yell for help and run."
"Alright," Clary agreed. Jace handed the dagger back to Clary. The sun now brightly lit the forest, and the birds sung their morning chorus loudly.
"We should go," said Jace. "Do you have your maps?" She checked to see if the maps were in her pouch.
"I do," Clary said.
"Let's go then. We might even reach to the Mountain of Adam by early afternoon."
"Wonderful."
OoOoOoOoO
Clary and Jace rode for hours. They stopped once midday for Temple to have a drink by the nearby spring, and for them to have a bite to eat. As soon as they started riding again, Clary saw the wide, endless mountain, the Mountain of Adam, from the hill they rode on top of. It was still far away, for it looked burry in its misty white clouds that surrounded it. She couldn't even see the dense Forest of Eve on top of it. Clary wasn't even sure why it was called a mountain at all. For it wasn't triangular in shape, like she'd seen in the paintings of palaces on mountains in John's house. Instead it was wide and tall, and resembled a large rectangle.
"How long do you think it'll take to get there now," asked Clary.
"An hour or two, depending on how tried Temple will get."
They slowly rode down hill. Once they were deep in the forest, Clary started to hear strange noises. An animal that sounded like an owl, hooted. Strong winds blew at her from all different directions, making the trees whisper back and forth. A bird screeched like human every few minute, causing Clary to jump in her seat and hold on to Jace tighter. And there was the sound of rustling footsteps around her, but when she turned her head, nothing was there.
"The legends say that a powerful warlock also put a spell around the mountain to keep the unwanted away," said Jace.
"So the noises are to keep us away," understood Clary.
"Precisely," said Jace as a bird screeched. "There are no footsteps that keep following us, or winds hollowing around us, or no birds hooting and screaming, but rather an illusion, or as some ancients like to call it: glamour"
"How do you know all these stories?" asked Clary.
"When was little, I never fell asleep unless someone told tales of the ancient times," said Jace. Clary waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Instead, they stopped moving.
"Jace? Why did we-" she stopped mid sentence when she saw the base of the mountain in front of them. "How did we get to it so quickly?"
"It was never far away, it was a trick of the mind. A glamour," said Jace.
"How did you see through the glamour?" asked Clary.
"When I began to hear the noises in the forest I realized that we were closer to the Mountain of Adam then we'd thought. So I cleared my mind, and focused my eyes, and saw through it," explained Jace. He got off Temple, and helped Clary down.
"Do you see any more glamour that's tricking our minds?" asked Clary as she surveyed the base of the mountain. The mountain was too smooth to climb, and the evergreen trees that surrounded the mountain made it hard to see.
"No, I don't see anything, but I think there is one," said Jace, as he watched the smooth base of the mountain with concentration. "There must be a strong glamour on the mountain for me not to see through it. Most humans in the tales I've been told, couldn't see through glamour as well, unless they have some knowledge of it." Clary frowned. She didn't come all this way just to turn back again. Clary then remembered the maps in her pouch, and scrolled out the one with a detailed picture of the Mountain of Adam. Clary scrunched her eyes as she looked at the picture in the dime light, hoping for some kind of clue.
"Is that one of your maps?" asked Jace behind her. Clary turned to him and nodded.
"Yes, but there is no writing on it," said Clary.
"Study the borders," said Jace as he glanced at Clary's map. "Maps like those don't write things in the most obvious places." Clary examined the border of the map; she only saw scribbled ink, decorated around it. Scribbled ink! Clary looked at the border of the map, again, and saw that it indeed had writing on it. The letters were so close together that it looked like it was part of a pattern.
"You are right," said Clary. "There is writing on its borders." Jace grinned arrogantly. Clary rolled her eyes when he did so, but couldn't help but smile, too.
"What does it say?" asked Jace. Clary brought the map closer to her eyes to translate the letters into words.
"It says on one side 'Close thy eyes... and turn the rock into-'" Clary looked closer at the untidy writing.
"Ash," they both said at the same time.
"But that's impossible," said Clary. "Rock can't turn into ash in a day, with our eyes closed or opened."
"What does the other side say?" asked Jace. Clary turned the map to the other side.
"'Wash and clean the sin off thin paper,'" read Clary. She looked at the words with concentration. "Hmm, maybe we are supposed to wet the map perhaps?"
"Yes, that is probably it," said Jace as he leaned his hand onto the rock. "But there is no rivers near here to wash the map in."
All of a sudden, Clary's mind without her consent focused in on the base of the mountain where Jace was leaning on. Twist, said a voice. Clary blinked, and shook her head before saying anything.
"Maybe…" Clary said. "Maybe, we don't have to turn the rock into ash. But instead turn the rock."
"I do not understand what you are saying," said Jace confused. Clary walked to the place Jace stood against the rock.
"This might be silly, but it might work." Clary closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put her hands to the base. There was a sudden energy between her hand, and the hard smooth surface. Then, as the voice told her, she twisted the rock. The rock disappeared from her fingers, and she opened her eyes, and gasped.
"How?" asked Jace amazed as they both gaped at the stone path, and the tall waterfall that appeared. The shady forest became brighter and the grass around the stone path glowed vibrant.
"I don't know," said Clary. "It must have been a glamour."
"Let's go wash the map in the waterfall," suggested Jace, after recovering from his shock. They walked through the stone path under the waterfall. Clary first put her hand out to test how hard the water was falling, so she would know how to wet the map without tearing it. The water hit her hand harder than she had expected it. She then got the map, and held it with both hands as she let the water fall through the thin paper. Once she thought it was thoroughly soaked, she took it out of the water, and scrolled out the map to find that nothing inside changed.
"It was suppose to change," said Clary.
"Put it up to the sun," Jace suggested, and she did. Over the whole map there was a sentence written.
"It says, 'Walk up the trail, until you fail, and hope for help,'" read Clary. Jace took the map out of Clary's hands, puzzled.
"We have a lot of walking to do, I suppose," Jace said. He whistled for Temple to follow them as they began to walk up the path to the Forest of Eve.
OoOoOoOoO
"Read your map again," said Jace, irritated, as they walk by the same tree for the fourth time that day.
"I did," Clary says.
"Well, read it again. It's getting dark," said Jace impatiently. Clary huffed at his impatience.
"It still says, 'Walk up the trail, until you fail, and hope for help,'" Clary read.
"But there is no one here to hope to ask," Jace said. There was suddenly a growling noise behind them. Clary quickly turned around, but did not see anything. What could it be, she thought.
"Did you hear that, Jace?" asked Clary. She didn't look up at him, but instead looked in the direction of the noises she heard.
"What noise?" asked Jace. He glanced at the direction Clary looked. A bird came out of a dry bush, and flew away. "Was that the noise?" Clary shook her head.
"I was so sure I heard growling," said Clary, confused.
"I think you are still frightened by the pixies yesterday," said Jace. The growling noise came again, but this time louder.
"Do you hear it now?" asked Clary. Jace chuckled silently at her exaggeration.
"Yes, I do," Jace whispered. "Try not to make a sound." He took his sword out, and stood in front of Clary as if to protect her. Clary grabbed the handle of her dagger for caution.
Out of nowhere, a pack of wolves came behind the trees in the trail. They were larger than most wolves Clary had ever seen, and each had big colorful eyes. In the front of the pack, a large gray wolf with bright blue eyes glared at Jace. The wolf howled causing the rest of the wolves to approach them faster. Clary took out the dagger, and stood next to Jace, when the head wolf stopped to look at her.
In a blink of an eye the wolf turned into a man. He stood tall with clothes that almost resembled as rags. His brown hair was short, and his eyes looked even bluer. He seemed to be around the same as Mary, maybe younger. Clary was too busy studying him that she didn't realize that he was staring at her in astonishment. He opened his mouth as if he were about to speak. But no sound came out. Minutes passed by as he tried to speak again.
"Jocelyn?"
AN: I know, cliffhanger. I never have done one, so I thought why not. If it wasn't clear, Luke thinks Clary is Jocelyn because she is, lets face it, her spitting image.
*I don't know when I'm going to be updating next, because I'm going on vacation next week and I don't know if the place has wifi.
*Please tell me if I made a mistake or not. I figured you guys wanted this out as quick as possible so my beta hasn't edited this.
*Reviewers get teasers and make me happy.
Review :)