A/N: as you may have noticed, I've changed the description of the story as well as the rating. Not because of this chapter, but the next. Please proceed accordingly. I genuinely care that you enjoy the story so please check the trigger warning.
Anyway, on we go. The usual disclaimer as always, is in affect: Cassandra Clare owns the mortal instruments and its characters, etc. I just play around it.
The vampires advance up the hill towards us, and to protect our belongings, and the now scared horses, we run down to meet them. I unsheathe two daggers in my belt, but leave the Morgenstern blade and my two seraph blades. The seraph blades do wonders against vampires, but only if they dare to get close enough, and this group is breaking the Accords advancing on us as they are. I slice at anything that comes near me, not letting their teeth get anywhere near my skin.
The silver daggers cause most of them fall in pain. I know it won't kill them, though, and after they fall, they get back up and try to advance on me again. They won't be dead until I can reach a longer blade to decapitate them.
To my left, I can hear Jace and Alec trying to talk to them, tell us who is their clan leader and who told them to act against us. But they get no answers.
Suddenly, I'm grabbed from behind, a cold hand choking me from behind, slamming me into the ground with superior speed. I yell in pain but it's soon cut off as the vampire squeezes my neck harder. I have no choice but to drop one of my daggers and reach for the Morgenstern blade. Vampire blood sprays me as I slit the vampire's neck and it releases it's hold on me, giving me leverage to cut the rest of the way through it's neck.
The shortsword's hilt feels perfect in my grip, it's blade perfectly balanced. I turn toward the rest of the vampires pursuing me with a new strength and begin to advance on them.
Suddenly a pain cry rips through the fight. Jace. I can't turn, I can't get distracted, or it'll be my voice ripping through the sound of slaughter. But my heart quickens and my moves turn sloppy.
"Jace!" I hear Alec trying to help his parabatai.
Alec will help him, I think. They're parabatai, Alec's got him.
And then there are no more vampires pursuing us, about ten of them start retreating back to the forest, without reason, without any visible sign telling them to retreat.
I put away my weapons before turning and running over to Jace and Alec. Isabelle runs up the hill towards our camp.
"What happened?!" I ask.
Alec pulls down on the shoulder of Jace's shirt to reveal blood oozing out of two teeth gashes. "How much holy water did we bring?" Alec asks.
"A few bottles," I say, looking away from the gashes against Jace's shoulder.
Alec shakes his head. "It's not enough."
Jace groans, "well then, it'll have to do, won't it."
Isabelle comes back down the hill, carrying bottles filled with holy water. "We've got vials, too," she says handing a bottle to Jace. "But they wouldn't help much, and we might need some later…"
Jace chugs down the bottle, knowing what he has to do - it's not the first time any of us has been bit by a vampire - only to vomit it back up seconds later, staining the ground in front of him.
"It hasn't been too long," I say, hand on Jace's back, supporting him. "It might be enough." Even though I believe myself, a rune still flashes in my mind; one I know will help, discard the use of the holy water. But I couldn't dare use it on anyone. Not even myself; I still don't know what the purpose of the one on my forearm is.
Jace barely gets half of the next bottle down before he's vomiting again.
"Let's hope," Alec says.
I cringe as Jace vomits again. "How'd this happen, anyways?"
"Like it always does," Alec says, standing. "Jace plays with them, let's them get too close, makes his parabatai worried sick." Then he climbs the hill back up to our camp.
An hour later, Jace is asleep, face still slick with sweat but without poison in his system; confirmed by him responding to a healing rune. Red light stains the sky from the rising sun, and I watch as it burns the vampire corpses between us and Brocelind Forest.
Isabelle comes over and stands next to me as the corpses turn to ash. "So… you and Jace."
I look over to find her smirking and have no doubt that I'm blushing for the first time in my life.
"Are you guys like… a thing now?" she asks.
I frown. "We never really got to discuss it. It just happened."
"Okay, well just warn me before you have that conversation."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
She shrugs. "I don't know, you guys just don't have relationships. At least, not at the Academy."
At the Academy, Jace and I weren't just smart, we were popular. Not popular in a way where we had a lot of friends, but in a way that people gave us the reckless attention we wanted. Usually it was one time or two and then acting like it never happened the next time we saw the person. Jace and I never got together with each other, but now it feels like it was always bound to happen. For some reason, we were always just comfortable around each other, when we were younger it was like a sibling or best-friend relationship, but lately it's been growing into a real relationship. My stomach clenches thinking about the trust we've found in each other going away if our new-found feelings and relationship turned sour. But now that it's escalated, it's not something we can ignore.
I hear footsteps come up behind us and turn to find Jace walking towards us, slowly, his jaw clenched. Even after watching him throw up all night, I want to kiss him again. Well, I think, he definitely doesn't feel like my brother anymore.
"Hey," he smiles. "Iz, I just want to talk to Clary…"
She rolls her eyes and starts to walk away. "Fine."
When she walks away Jace tips his head towards mine, but I push him back.
His face falls.
"No!" I defend myself, and smirk. "You were vomiting for hours, there's no way I'm kissing you right now."
Jace begins to laugh but ends up coughing instead, bending over at the waist. I panic, not knowing what to do, but then he stops.
I rub his back. "Are you okay? Was it enough holy water?"
He stands straight and nods. "Yeah I think I'm just recovering."
I know he's right. We've all been in the same situation, he just needs a couple healing runes and he'll be fine.
"So we're okay, right?" Jace suddenly asks.
I frown. "Of course we are."
He doesn't make eye contact. "I just… didn't know if you were okay with it. I didn't want you to feel like you were kissing your brother or something…" I watch as he shifts his weight and runs as hand through his hair. I don't think I've ever seen Jace nervous before.
I tuck my face underneath his as he stares at the ground and kiss the side of his mouth. I hear him gasp a little. When I go to pull away he doesn't let me and wraps his arms around my waist.
"We are definitely okay," I whisper in his ear.
"How's that rune on your arm?" he whispers back, reminding me of the slight burn it still gives.
"I don't know," I say honestly. "It hasn't proved much yet…"
"We'll figure it out." He pulls away and kisses my forehead. I shiver goes down my spine.
"Alright! Let's go!" Alec calls, finishing suiting up his horse. "We're already running late on the day!"
We walk back over, on the way, I pull out my stele, feeling the need of extra runes and pull up my sleeve to find it out of room. I don't dare pull up my other sleeve, for fear of Isabelle or Alec seeing the rune they shouldn't.
Jace appears to be fine walking back, but before we head out, Alec insists on drawing another rune on him. I would've done it, but parabtai runes are much stronger.
Soon we're on a non-existent path through Brocelind Forest. It's barely half a day's journey to the Morgenstern Manor now. I can't imagine what it may look like when we get there, I haven't been in ten years. My chest begins to feel heavy with anticipation of seeing the manor again. I wonder if Jace or the Lightwood's may want to see their old homes, but I don't want to mention it; especially to Jace.
Maybe I'll wait until this whole mess is over first…
If we all live that long, I think, and then shudder at the thought.
It goes by quickly, we make the horses run a little faster, all of us eager to find Jonathan. But when we're about halfway there, the rune on my arm is much more than a tickle. It's burning. I hiss through my teeth, and Jace, riding next to me, snaps his head around to look at me.
My head starts to pound.
No not now, I think. Why now?
Darkness floods my vision. I shut my eyes so I don't feel blind. My hands let go of my horse's reins. One hand clawing at my sleeve, at the rune, to make the pain go away.
Clary.
It's the same voice. I want to scream at it, tell it to leave me alone, but this time I can't. The voice isn't cutting into my brain this time, it's quieter, fading.
And then it's gone. The burning… not completely. But the world appears around me again.
"Clary," I hear Jace sigh in relief. His voice coming from above me.
I open my eyes to find my head in his lap. "What happened?" I ask, sitting up, looking around me.
"You fell right off the horse."
"I-"
"I hate to ruin us being relieved that Clary isn't dead," Isabelle says. "But I've never seen that rune before…"
I meet her eyes, and they're full of panic.
I don't tell Alec and Isabelle everything. I don't know everything, anyway. I tell them I don't know what the rune does, that I don't remember doing it. That I see other runes sometimes.
But I think this rune might have to do with Jonathan. It feels different the closer we've gotten to the manor… and that voice. It's fading, and I know I can't let it disappear. I don't tell them this, though. Isabelle looks freaked out enough.
"So why do you keep blacking out?" Alec asks, concern all over his face.
I shrug. "I don't know…" It's only partially a lie. "We should get going though, we're almost there."
I go to get up, and Jace helps me, even though I don't need it. "We're probably only two or three hours away, now. If we go fast enough, we can definitely make it in two," I say, brushing off everything I told them just minutes ago.
Though I see concern in everyone's feature, no one argues. We all want Jonathan back, we all want this all over with.
Just when the trees become as thick as ever, and we think we may have gotten lost along the way, we emerge into a vast valley; one we all recognize but never thought we'd see again so soon. Hills roll around us and in the distance I can see the other family manors. Now all sagging and forgotten. But the one sitting just a short distance from us looks brand new, exactly the way it looked ten years ago. Wildlife continues to grow around it, but it looks as if there were a shield surrounding its edges, keeping it from harm.
Morgenstern Manor.
I immediately dismount my horse, and my chest feels heavy as I stare at my old home. No one says a word, and the Lightwoods and Jace look over the hills at their old homes.
Finally, Alec says, "You sure he's here, right?"
My rune starts to slowly burn, on cue. "I'm positive."
I start forward, balance runes keeping me from stumbling on the uneven ground beneath my feet. It takes a while before I hear the shuffling of everyone else following behind me and I come to a stop at the front door, my hand hovering, hesitating over the door handle. Emotion courses through me. The last time I saw this door it was torn from it's hinges. Jonathan must have put it back up. My friends- my family behind me doesn't say a word. No one forces me to go onward or make my decision, they just wait patiently. Or maybe they feel it, too. Their own childhood homes lurk around us.
Finally, I touch the handle and hear the lock click - the door may have been ripped from it's hinges, but the magic stayed, waiting for one of us to come back.
I can't help it as I step inside and behold my home - tears fall down my cheeks, I swipe them away quickly. It's the pictures of us on the mantle of the fireplace, the soft cushions of the couch, the long dark hallways that still seem warm and inviting. But as I pull myself together I realize something is off. The air is too stale for Jonathan to have been living here. The only thing signifying his presence is the mess all cleaned up.
I can't have been wrong. He has to be here.
"I-" I begin, and then cut myself off, not sure what to say.
"Clary," Isabelle says from behind me. I don't turn to look at her. "Maybe he was here, but I don't think he is anymore. It's quiet. He would've come to us."
I ignore her and take a step, continuing down the hallway to my right, descend a small set of stairs into another sitting room, but keep going. To the library.
My dream of the passageway. I need to know if it's real. Because if it is, I know that's where I'll find Jonathan.
The second our footsteps echo around the library, a whisper fills my head. Clary.
I grit my teeth together and turn towards the bookshelf.
"Clary," Jace puts a hand on my shoulder and I look back at him, into his worried eyes. "Please explain."
I nod. "I think- I think Jonathan is somewhere my parents never told me about. It's behind that." I point at the bookshelf.
"How do we get behind that?" Iz asks as I turn back around.
A rune flashes through my mind. This time I listen to the voice and the image and press my stele into the fading wood of the shelf. The base an angelic rune, but sharp edges surround it. It glows and then the shelf crumbles to dust, leaving a stone archway gaping behind it. The hallway is dark until suddenly a torch lights up on one side, it's flames dancing.
"Angel help us," Alec says as we step through.
The walls are damp like my dream. Torches are lined against the walls and go up in flame as we walk by, only to extinguished once we're past.
We walk for a while, I stay in the front but I can feel the warmth of the bodies behind me. We begin descending a set of stairs.
"Idris's elite children, eh?" Jace whispers behind me. "So isolated and protected from the rest of the shadow world, never lift a finger, get away with everything, get around everyone."
"Powerful, untouchable elite," Iz chimes in.
"Families broken by the creation of The Clave, yet we continue to protect their children? They deserve to face every shadow out there," Alex continues.
"Let them stand together," I say, "and all they'll do is recreate what their parents attempted. Send them away."
Mocking the Clave, the whispers, the rumours in the darkness feels good. Only The Angel can hear us, only The Angel knows that we're innocent byproducts of our parents. The crime they committed.
"Angel help us when we find ourselves in their grasp, when our ashes are spread over Jonathan Shadowhunter's land, when our bones are constructed into the City of Bones," Jace prays.
"Let us be remembered not as the elite children of The Clave, but as warriors who defended our world from infection," Alec continues.
"And," Iz says, "Angel forgive our parents for betraying The Clave, let them go in peace, let them hold their dignity."
I swallow hard and reach my hand back. Jace's hand closes around it immediately. "We pray to Angel Raziel that our families do not die without dignity, that we are not the end."
"And we're sorry we never remembered how to end these things," Jace finishes. I almost laugh.
We come to the bottom of the stairs and walk down a short hallway and into a room full of ghosts of the Circle. My brother in the middle.
A/N: I just want to repeat that you should really check the trigger warning in the description of the story in order to continue reading it with the next chapters. I've finished the story as well and the trigger warning will continue throughout. My tumblr is on hiatus, but if you have any questions, please message me there (waylandwarrior).
As always don't forget to review and give it a follow to see when I post the next chapters!