Chapter Twenty-Two

Being in the grasp of a demon was not the most desirable or comfortable position Isabelle Lightwood had ever been in. She had maximum three scratched, her hair was still in place and the demons just kept coming as if they were on a conveyor belt. As she attempted to free herself, a petrified call from Alec and a child-like scream banged on her eardrums and it made her stomach churn and her heart beat irregularly to witness Max plummeting through the air at such a rapid speed. Either due to instinct or incredibly quick thinking, Izzy flung her whip out as far as it could go and with impossible speed. Though only the snake head reached him, it was all she needed to be able to make it wrap around Max and pull him into her before he could hit the floor. The relief of having him crash into her chest and not the ground was sadly short-lived when she remembered the demon she was restricted by.

"Just one second," she sighed as she placed Max carefully on the ground in front of her.

Effortlessly, Izzy took a dagger from her belt, cut the slimy arm around her in half and then did the same to the demon's body with her sword. When she turned to Max, there was more awe in his wide eyes than fear or any other emotion he should've been feeling.

"Magnus will kill me for letting you see that," she sighed as she picked him up,

"What Papa don't now don't hurt him," Max chimed,

"He's like a mini Jace," Clary breathed heavily and threw a dagger through three forsaken at once.

Izzy and Clary could only focus on getting Max to a safe place while getting rid of the demons in their way. Though the bigger mission was to stop a warlock that clearly belonged in an asylum and save the world, it was more important to Izzy to get Max home and more importantly, alive. It was as they reached some bushes that the smell of sulphur increased and Max pushed himself out of Izzy's arms. The smell was so thick and heavy that it put her off of breathing completely and she used the fruity scent of her hair to block it out.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Max cried as his eyes glowed blue.

The outburst filled the air, causing a pulse of energy to push everyone back, as a large bull-headed demon came towards them. The horns of the bull were like Max's but much larger and deadlier, his eyes glowed a similar yet darker blue, black thick vapour slithered from his snout where a large silver ring hung, his body was heavily loaded with muscle and had sizzling chains bonded around it and he had the legs of a bull to match his head. This was a greater demon Izzy hadn't seen before, but the way it stared at Max triggered the cogs to turn in her head. As it came closer, it became evident that the demonic symbols she had thought were written over his body, were in fact carved into his skin and smoke started to emit from them as he held out his hairy hand for Max.

"Oh, you're not taking my nephew anywhere," Clary guarded Max,

"He may be our nephew," Izzy said as Morax lowered his monstrous hand, "but I think he's his father."

Morax slammed his hoof into the ground, creating cracks in it as his eyes focussed on Clary. A sudden scream of pain came from her with the bull grunting with what must've been entertainment. Just the sound of Clary in pain made Izzy's skin itch and she flung her whip around the greater demon's neck and pulled, turning its focus away from Clary, but onto her. It was as if all the fire, hatred, agony and darkness of Pandemonium filled her head, concocting the most excruciating torture she had ever felt. The longer the pain continued, the less control she had over her mind which soon filled with the most horrendous thoughts, including killing Clary. Her whip left Morax's neck and coiled around Clary's leg so she could drag her to the floor and as Izzy struck her sword down, Clary rolled out of the way.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Clary asked.

As she swung her sword at Clary and fought her, Izzy had no idea as to what she was doing; all she knew was that the pain in her head wasn't budging and she was abiding a deep husky voice. The more she attempted to go against the twisted words, the louder the voice boomed and the greater the agony became. When Clary swiped her sword in Izzy's direction, Izzy kicked it out of her hands, slammed her first into her stomach and when she fell to the ground, Izzy tightly wrapped her hands around her neck. Her reflection in Clary's eyes showed that her irises were glowing bright blue and a sinister laugh echoed in her head as Clary fought for breath.

"Aunty Izzy," Max walked cautiously by her and placed his hands on her cheeks.

It was as if a tsunami of quiet stormed through her head, relieving her of the pain and more importantly, the controlling voice. As her grip loosened from Clary's neck, Morax made a large roar and stamped his hoof harder.

"Thank you, Maximus," Izzy smiled as she helped Clary to her feet, "now, let's get daddy dearest back to the void of which he came."

The chains around Morax's body uncoiled into his hands and he threw them in their direction, parting Izzy and Clary. Taking on a greater demon like Morax wasn't something Izzy was used to, but when she saw Max's face full of terror, she cracked her whip and faced Morax with adrenaline eradicating any hint of fear or doubt in her.

"Max, I need you to try to stop him from controlling us," Izzy ordered,

"After that Hobbit reference, I'll do anything," Max giggled.

Clary drew a rune on her hand that emitted pure sunlight which she directed at Morax. Though it didn't kill him, it caused him a great deal of agony, giving Izzy the perfect window to throw a dagger into his chest and get slightly closer to him. Once the sunlight faded, he flung his chains around Clary which burned her skin and clothes as he pulled her into him, however when he attempted to do the same to Izzy, she dodged the chains and kicked them so they wrapped around his body. With a groan, Morax threw Clary to the floor and focussed on Izzy with his eyes glowing. Although they made eye contact, there was a protective wall now in Izzy's mind stopping him from controlling her and in frustration, Morax swung his colossal fist into her, sending her flying through the air and he caught her with his tail. When he brought her inches away from his face, the toxic fumes that leaked from his snout began to choke her, yet that wasn't stopping her. She made her whip slither behind him and wrap around his neck, before tugging at the end, making Morax flip and fall onto his front with his tail still around her. Thankfully, Izzy remained hovering above his back where she noticed three glowing blue marks- one on his neck, one on the middle of his spine and the last one above his tail. After slicing his tail off, she rammed daggers into two of the blue marks, making the greater demon growl in agony which forced the ground to shake. As she steadied herself, Izzy turned to Max and signalled for him to cover his eyes. When he did, Morax got up slowly and grabbed her by the neck, yet his grip was weak enough for her to twist his arm which released her, slide between his legs and plunge her seraph blade into the last blue mark on his spine. She watched Morax spasm before he reduced to black ash that filled the air and disappeared into the ground.

"Hopefully, we won't be seeing him for a while," Izzy breathed heavily as she picked up Max,

Max looked up at her, "You promise?"