Seal Upon the Heart
Anyone who visited Venice and could see behind its wards was awestruck by the red and white brick campanile that guarded the entrance to the Venice Institute. Not only did its pyramidal spire reached almost a hundred meters towards the heavens, but, unbeknown to the mundane world, it also stood less than a hundred meters away from its identical twin, the Saint Mark's campanile. For those arriving by boat and through the Grand Canal, the identical towers resembled two sentries standing guard at the entrance of Saint Mark's square and mirrored one another in the same way that the mundane world and the shadow world mirrored one another: the former completely oblivious to the existence of the later. Together with the Saint Mark's Basilica, the Saint Mark's campanile constituted one of the city's most important landmarks. By contrast, its twin sibling guarded the square and the city in silent and invisible magnificence, as it had done for the hundreds of years that the Nephilim had had close connections to the floating city.
Below this invisible bell tower stood the Venice Institute housed in a building showcasing the same Romanesque styles of the surroundings constructions, including the marble and tile accents and arched passageways. Due to the closeness between the building, the Venice Institute was not only warded and glamored, but its location was also hidden in the same way that Idris was hidden. Mundanes walking across its front did not notice that space seemed to fold in that location, and that with just one step they walked across almost a whole block.
Up until the 17th century, the Venice Institute had been one of the busiest Institutes in the world due to the strategic importance that Venice had, first as a trading post, later as a city state, and eventually as the most influential mercantile empire of its time. With the decline and eventual fall of the Venetian Republic, the city acquired a reputation for being a place for sin and debauchery which made it a magnet for demonic and Downworld interference. Many thought that demonic forces had played a major role in corrupting and eventually destroying the Venetian empire, and for centuries, its narrow passages, canals and waterways, as well as its idle wealth, and an aristocracy with an insatiable taste for excess made of Venice the target of regular demon attacks.
In the last hundred years, however, Venice had grown quieter and had become more like a tourist attraction than a sin city. The size and influence of the Venice Institute had shrunk in relative measure, and it now housed a rather small detachment of Shadowhunters. As a result, Eldermark and his team were largely unprepared to deal with the sudden increase in demonic activity, the rogue vampire attacks and the imminent battle with warlocks that, if Annaliese remained true to her MO, would likely be waged a few meters from the Institute.
In the hours following their arrival in Venice, Jace took charge of coordinating the teams of Shadowhunters from the other European cities that began to arrive through the portals that Kat and Catarina opened on the roof of the palazzo. As Shadowhunters in full combat gear stepped out of the portals, they shook hands with Jace and nodded at the warlocks with different levels of unease.
Not wanting to alert Annaliese of their activities, Eldermark and Alec agreed to coordinate troop movements from the palazzo. Jeremy, with the assistance of one of the Venetian Shadowhunters, quickly converted the living and dining rooms into a field command center, equipped with computers, tracking equipment and all other available technologies needed for tracking demon, Shadowhunter and Downworld movements. From there, Alec and Eldermark handed in assignments and deployed groups to patrol the city and deal with the incessant demon, vamp and warlock attacks.
As casualties began to arrive, Catarina set up a makeshift infirmary in the bedrooms and with the assistance of two Shadowhunter field medics, whom she ordered around as if they were members of the football team and she their coach, began to treat the injured.
As soon as night fell, Raphael and Izzy set out to meet with the local vampire clan to coordinate a plan to bring the rogue vamps under control. Before they left, Kat took a small amount of blood from Raphael's heart by the use of a simple spell and handed him a small enchanted flask to carry with him. "Do not lose it," she instructed, her voice resembling a parent speaking to her small child. She then hung the charm Magnus had sent Catarina around Raphael's neck and told him that it would keep the demonic poison under control.
"Thank you," was Raphael's only and quiet reply.
"We need to find that cruise ship," Luke said as he walked into the living room, "or we won't know how many vampires Annaliese made, or how many mundanes hostages she still holds."
Finding the ship had been a priority for Eldermark from the very beginning, but all efforts to track it had proven futile. "It is a big ocean," argued Eldermark. "The mundane coast guard and some of my troops have been searching for the last twenty-four hours."
"We do not want the coast guard to stumble on it by chance," observed Alec. "That would only put more hostages in Annaliese's hands."
"The last of the Shadowhunter reinforcements are from the London maritime search and rescue team," said Clary. "They will be arriving in a few minutes. Luke and I can go with them and assist in the search."
Alec turned towards Eldermark, deferring to him the decision on Clary's proposal. He didn't want to step on the toes of the Head of the Venice Institute. Since their arrival, he had constantly reminded himself that he was a guest in this city and needed all the cooperation he could get from the local Shadowhunters if he was going to accomplish his mission.
"We need all the help we can get, but can you spare them Alec?" asked Eldermark.
"Yes, I think so. We will call if we need you," Alec replied turning to Clary. Luke was a good tracker even in water and his help would be invaluable in trying to locate the ship. As long as Clary was with him, Alec knew that Kat would be able to reach Luke if and when she needed him.
"In that case, I will come with you and introduce you to the leader of our maritime search team," Eldermark said. "There is nothing more I can do from here, and we need all available personnel out in the field." Turning to Alec Eldermark extended his hand for a shake. "Good luck," he told him and patted Alec on the arm before heading out.
"Luke, check in with Kat before you leave; she needs to take some blood," Alec reminded the werewolf before he too left the room.
"Take care of Jace please," Clary asked as she embraced Alec at the door. "I know he will insist on going with you all the way. Bring him back to me Alec."
"I will," Alec promised with a reassuring smile. "You keep Luke safe; we need him," he added and Clary nodded in silent agreement.
When a few minutes before midnight the power went off and all of Venice was submerged in complete darkness, Alec knew the time for the final battle was finally here. He looked out the window and saw candles being lighted in several windows across the canal and was thankful that the evening was cold and that the blackout was likely to make mundanes stay in their houses rather than venture out onto the streets. Still, with the blackout, the number of demon and vamp attacks increased, likely another of Annaliese's strategies to distract the Shadowhunters and keep them busy and away from the center of the city. The only difference was that the Nephilim became the almost exclusive target of the attacks.
After asking Kat to reinforce the wards and Jeremy to ensure that their angelic power generator was functioning properly, Alec and Jace readied themselves and their small team to leave. Izzy returned to the institute as soon as she got Alec's call, and she along with two of Eldermark's best soldiers were the only other members of the team. As they had done when they pursued the warlocks to Florence, they had decided to go small and stealthy, hoping not to call too much attention to themselves. If it wasn't for the fear of getting lost in the labyrinth that was the city, Alec would have preferred not to bring any one else except for his brother and sister. But if Venice was a maze in the daylight, he could only image how hard it would be to negotiate its narrow streets, canals and innumerable bridges in a blackout.
"Alec, keep this with you at all times," instructed Kat as she attached a small charm to Alec's quiver. "It will act as a homing beacon allowing me to track you and deliver what you need when the time comes." Alec replied with a nod that conveyed the trust he felt towards the warlock that in the last few weeks had become an ally and a friend.
"And please do your best to bring that annoying and troublesome warlock back to us," added Catarina as she handed Alec, Jace and Izzy small bottles containing healing potions. "A little warlock magic to complement your 'superior' healing powers," she said when Jace gave her a questioning look, adding a sarcastic inflection to the world superior.
"Thank you, Catarina. I will bring Magnus back," stated Alec his voice conveying a conviction that he hoped sounded genuine.
Kat took Alec by the arm and guided him towards a quiet corner of the room. "There is a magic connection between you and Magnus," she said. "A connection like I have never seen before. You have felt it, haven't you? You have felt the magic that constantly flows between you. At times, it is very faint, but at others I can almost see it. That connection will be critical in this battle. Trust it to the very end, Alec. You know that this battle will be won only as long as the two of you work together." Alec's reply was a single but decisive nod.
"We are being herded," Jace whispered beside Alec almost three hours later, the glow of his seraph blade faintly illuminating his face.
Alec glanced towards his parabatai and, despite the almost complete darkness, saw the look of exhaustion on his face. Alec thought that Jace's energy rune must be almost completely depleted and his own was not much better. Their night vision rune was also faltering, but they dared not use witch light for fear of being detected. They had been fighting almost nonstop since they had walked out of the palazzo. Packs of vampires and demons had ambushed them and tried to either stop them or delay them as Alec and his team attempted to reach the Venice Institute on Saint Mark's Square. Only once, they had been attacked by warlocks, but Alec had repeatedly felt their presence following at a distance as if shadowing them or checking in on their progress.
Venice had proven to be the worst possible place to be confronting demons and downworlders. Its narrow streets, alleyways full of blind corners, bridges and canals made for a traitorous battle field, and the constant need to jump across canals while avoiding falling into the dark waters put their endurance and stamina runes to the test. They also had to remain glamored and avoid mundanes; yet, as their invisibility runes also became depleted, invisibility became harder; glamors had also always been tricky and required more power near the water.
Alec and his team had killed several vampires and more demons that they cared to count. Most of the vamps had been too weak or feral to put up much of a fight. The shax and ravener demons had been another story, and their attacks had been particularly vicious and put their fighting skills to the test. By the time they could see the twin campaniles glowing against the starry night as if fire was being stoked under them, they had lost one of the Venice Shadowhunters to a ravener.
And then, a couple of minutes ago as they creeped along a canal closing in on one of the entrances to the square, they had run into a group of shax demons led by two warlocks. One of the warlocks and three demons had pushed Jace and Alec across a bridge, and, as soon as they were at the other side, the other warlock had cast a spell in the direction of the canal and had raised a wall of water that finally separated Jace and Alec from Izzy and their companion. Jace had quickly dispatched the warlock and Alec had killed the demons, but the warlock standing at the other side of the canal had maintained the water wall in place. "Keep going Alec," Izzy had yelled from the other side of the barrier. "We will find another way."
Alec now nodded in response to Jace's statement. He had suspected for a while that the warlocks were herding them, barring their way or letting them advance according to a predetermined design. They had been under constant attack, but the warlocks had not tried to kill them yet. Instead, they were exhausting them, pushing them beyond the limits of their endurance, making sure that they arrived where they were expected too fatigued to effectively put up a fight. As they creeped, walked and at times run along dark and narrow alleys, over bridges and around blind corners, Alec had felt like a rat trapped in a labyrinth, forced to follow the route already demarcated by Annaliese. He also suspected that they wouldn't be allowed to approach the square until Annaliese was ready for them. He just hoped that by then it would not be too late.
The question that Alec kept asking himself, as he and his parabatai walked along a dark narrow street towards an archway that led into Saint Mark's square, was why Jace was being herded along with him. He checked his watch and realized that it was almost time, that in less than ten minutes, the star that marked the end of the way would finally come into alignment.
"Come on Kat, don't fail us now," Alec thought as he and Jace momentarily stopped under the archway trying to get their bearings. He looked towards the dark square trying to ascertain not whether, but rather where they were more likely to be ambushed.
He and Magnus has spent an enjoyable evening in the square just a few months ago. They had walked around the plaza, Magnus delighting him with stories of his many adventures in the city; of nights spent in the company of more than one prominent historical figure, or with many of the city's downworlders. Alec had laughed, and when Magnus asked him whether his stories of past adventures and affairs bothered him, Alec had said that they didn't, that he liked that Magnus didn't feel he had to censor himself around him. They had sat at an outdoor café listening to the bands that took turns playing on the different stages set up around the plaza, waiting for the lights to come on, and Alec had idly observed that the square was the perfect place for an ambush. It had only three real exit points: the narrow archway under which he and Jace were now standing, and two exits on either side of Saint Mark's Basilica at least two hundred meters away, one leading to the waterfront, the other into a smaller square and a narrow street that run along the side of the Basilica. Once you were inside the plaza, you were pretty much boxed in and there was no escape from it that was not through those entry points, unless, of course, you could fly.
"Always thinking as a Shadowhunter, Alexander," Magnus had said with a flirtatious smile.
"I can't help it, warlock; it is in my nature," Alec had replied, and his voice had carried the full force of a promise. All thoughts of ambushes, traps and battle strategies had been forgotten then because Magnus had closed the distance between them and had begun to whisper promises of his own in Alec's ear. At that moment, thousands of white lights set along the edges of the windows and roofs of the buildings surrounding the plaza had been turned on and suddenly it seemed like the square was floating amid the stars.
The memory of that night offered a striking contrast to the darkness, emptiness and silence that dominated the square now. As Alec looked towards the Basilica at the other end of the plaza, he saw the orange glow of what looked like a fire set between the twin campaniles, and the glow not only broke the relentless darkness that dominated the rest of the plaza, but also marked the end of the line for them, the last target in this bloody war.
"You know we are walking into a trap, don't you?" Alec asked Jace, as he checked to make sure his bow and quiver remained firmly fasten to his back and were still concealed under their invisibility spell.
"Bring it," Jace said and he gave Alec one of his golden smiles, the smile containing self-assurance and not a small dose of arrogance. "I am with you all the way, brother, not matter what."
"Thank you," Alec whispered and thought that even if it was just he and Jace, there was no one else with whom he would rather go into battle. He tightened his grip in the blade in his hand, the blade and a dirk attached to his leg the last weapons left in the arsenal he had been carrying. "Be careful, we will be exposed in the square."
Suddenly, as he was about to step out of the archway, a small piece of paper folded in the shape of a bird materialized a meter above Alec's head. When Alec extended his hand out, it flew down, landed on his palm and immediately caught fire. As the fire message burned and its ashes were blown by the wind, Alec felt a faint rattle in his quiver as if one of the arrows stored in it had vibrated. The fire message burned immediately because it contained no message at all; it was itself a message, a signal, the signal that Alec had been waiting for. He had kept his bow and quiver glamored all through the battle and had not used them even when an arrow would have helped decide the fight in their favor. He had kept them hidden waiting and hoping for the moment when Kat would send the signal that the magic arrow that could decide the battle was ready. He turned to Jace and gave him a small nod, and Jace nodded back, the message clearly received.
"It looks like it is just the two of us brother," Jace whispered, as he followed Alec into the square and began to walk in the direction of where the fire glowed less than two hundred meters away.
However, they hadn't walked more than fifteen meters when four warlocks, red and blue blazing magic balls in their hands, emerged from the dark archways that surrounded the plaza and blocked their way. When Alec looked back, he saw that two other warlocks now barred the entrance through which he and Jace had just come in. They were not only, as he had feared, boxed in, but also outnumbered and surrounded.
As he took a defensive stand, legs apart, knees lightly bent, blade at the ready, he turned to look at Jace and saw that his parabatai had taken out his stele and was activating the last of his stamina runes. "I'll distract them, you go do what you have to do Alec," Jace said. "I'll be right behind you."
Alec took out his own stele and touching it to a spot right above his left wrist, activated his agility rune. Gripping his blade firmly in his hand, he leaped in the air, summersaulted and landed at the other side of the warlocks, the movement so blindingly fast that one of them, a young man that looked not older than twenty, didn't have enough time to turn before Alec's blade run him through and almost cut him in half. The warlock fell to his knees grasping his chest before collapsing to the floor. But Alec didn't witness the last second of the warlock's life because as soon as he pulled back the blade from the warlock's back, he leaped in the air again and this time graciously landed on the roof of one of the buildings. From there Alec saw how Jace's blade deflected each one of the fire balls the warlocks sent in his direction. However, he didn't have time to wait for Jace; for two of the warlocks leaped after him and landed on the same roof just a few meters away.
Alec run along the roof, avoiding chimneys and exhaust tubes, and dogging the fireballs from both the warlocks pursuing him along the roof as well as another that run alongside him on the ground. As he closed the distance between himself and the Basilica, he registered a low murmur coming from a spot between the two campaniles, in the part of the plaza that separated the Venetian central library and the Doge's palace.
At that moment, Jeremy and Kat were stealthily approaching the plaza hiding between the columns of the Doge's Palace's archways. Kat had enchanted a gondola to silently and undetectably carry them from their palazzo to the canal that bordered the Doge's palace. They had come to a stop under Ponte del Sospiri, and there Kat had performed the last spells required to assemble the arrow that she hoped had the power of sealing a rift to Hades.
As she, Magnus and Catarina had planned, the spells Kat worked were rather simple. Or rather, they were a set of simple spells intertwined to form a more complex and rather volatile one. Still, due to the distances and the many ingredients needed, the spell drained a considerable amount of her powers. With the flick of her wrist, Kat activated the enchantment she had put in the magic flasks she had given Raphael and Luke. After drawing a small amount of blood directly from the werewolf and the vampire's hearts, the flasks magically transported right onto Kat's palm. Wherever they were, Luke and Raphael had felt a sudden sharp pain on their chest, but the discomfort had quickly subsided. The blood of the innocent had required a little bit more inventiveness, but a quick and carefully timed visit by Caterina to a neighbor's house to borrow a candle was enough to procure the small amount of the mundane blood needed. Likely, when the unsuspecting neighbor opened the door and suddenly experienced a sharp pain in the chest, Caterina told them that it looked like they were experiencing a drop in their blood pressure, and that she was a nurse and happy to check their vitals and make sure they were alright. The only ingredients missing were the blood of the Nephilim and of the beloved, but for that they needed Alec and Magnus. Hopefully Alec would be able to perform that last task, she thought as she sent the fire message to Alec and, using the homing signal emitted by the charm attached to Alec's quiver, sent the enchanted arrow to its destination.
As Kat and Jeremy approached the waterfront entrance to Saint Mark's square, they noticed that there were no demons around and that the warlocks were not as concerned with attacks than they had been on the way there. They were likely confident that the Shadowhunters were occupied by the demon and vamp attacks in other parts of the city, or believed that any attempt of stop them would simply be futile.
Jeremy gently elbowed Kat and signaled for her to look in the direction of the library at the other side of the square's entrance. There Kat saw the soft pulsation of a witch light sending a faint signal in their direction from a dark corner of the building. "It is Izzy," Jeremy whispered recognizing the series of pulsations learned in years of training. He took out his own witch light and sent a faint signal in response, and he was glad that they were not alone, that Izzy too had made it.
As they closed the distance between them and the square, they began to hear the familiar but still faint chanting of the warlocks. Jeremy looked towards Kat and seeing in her expression the struggle she was waging with herself, remembered that she no longer carried the Hades charm that had protected her from whatever force Annaliese had used to summon the warlocks. Turning to Kat, Jeremy held her firmly by her arms. "Kat, stay with me," he whispered, his eyes conveying not only urgency and desperation, but also all the love he felt for this enchanting, mysterious and strong woman, "I need you to fight it."
After a moment of confusion, something in Kat's eyes shifted, as if she had reined in her self-control and she fixed her own eyes on Jeremy and nodded. "I am fine," she said and with a snap of her fingers cast a spell on herself that she hoped would be enough to prevent Annaliese from taking control of her, at least until Alec arrived. "My powers are low," she then told Jeremy, "remember your promise."
Jeremy nodded once, acknowledging that he remembered the promise Kat had extracted from him the night before in the intimacy of their bed; that he would use his seraph blade on her if she lost control of her powers.
As soon as they reached the corner of the Doge's Palace, Kat got her first glance of Annaliese in the more than five hundred years since she met the warlock in Peru. Annaliese was standing on a spot between the two large granite columns that stood at the waterfront entrance to the square. The columns were as well-known as Saint Mark's Basilica, and as old as the twin campaniles that stood in the background less than fifty meters away. The columns had served many purposes over the centuries. Gambling had once been permitted in the space between them and they had also been the site for many public executions. Tonight, the columns seemed to mark the place where the rift to Hades was to be opened. Strategically placed magic bonfires provided the only illumination in the plaza and covered the site and the people standing around in an orange glow.
Kat surveyed the scene unfolding before her and saw the enormous pentagram drawn on the stone floor, its red lines shimmering suggesting that they had been drawn in fresh blood. The source of the blood became quickly evident when she looked to the barely illuminated silhouettes standing around the pentagram. Several warlocks guarded shackled and chained werewolves and vampires, their faces revealing intense agony, as their guards used magic to extract a steady trickle of blood from their hearts; the blood feeding the thin stream that made up the pentagram. Mundane children, apparently unharmed despite their vacant and absent expressions, stood at each point of the pentagram and around them, warlocks continued their steady and low chanting. No blood was being drawn from the children which suggested that their sacrifice would come later, likely at the hands of Lilith.
Kat looked to the familiar lonely figure that stood on Annaliese's other side, somewhat apart from the rest of the group, and recognized Declan, a warlock she had considered a friend once, the one who had taught her the procedure she and Magnus used to remove Alec's rune. Kat wasn't surprised to see the old warlock there; he had always held strong ideas about the superiority of Lilith's Children.
"We are running out of time," Kat whispered when she saw three warlocks escorting Magnus out of the Basilica. Magnus walked with difficulty due to the heavy shackles and chains around his wrists and ankles, but he looked otherwise unharmed. The warlocks took Magnus to the center of the pentagram and one of them fastened the chain that linked the shackles around Magnus' ankles to an iron lop on the ground, and Declan enchanted it likely to make it unbreakable. They then removed Magnus' handcuffs, but as soon as his wrists were free, Declan sent a silvery magic stream that wrapped itself around Magnus' body preventing any attempt to move, resist or run.
"It didn't have to be this way Magnus," Annaliese said, as she approached him, her voice as soft as ever, her face still maintaining its eternal and deceiving look of innocence, her ruby red eyes reflecting the glow from the fires. "You know you belong with us, with me. This has always been your destiny, your home. We have always been your people."
"Annaliese," Magnus said, his voice pleading, "you can still stop all of this."
"But I will grant you a final wish," Annaliese went on as if she hadn't heard Magnus' plea. "I will let you look into the eyes of your Shadowhunter boy one last time." She then signaled to Declan and the warlock made a semi-circular motion with his arms and directed the magic stream that restrained Magnus to turn him to face the opposite side of the plaza away from the waterfront and from Annaliese. Magnus looked out beyond the glow of the fires, towards the darkness that still covered most of the square, and the sudden change in the echo of Alec's heartbeat on his omamori mark told him that Alec had seen him; that he was out there somewhere; that he, Magnus, would not have to face what was coming alone.
At the far end of the plaza, from the place where he was perched on the cornice of the Saint Mark's Clock Tower, concealed in the shadow of its bell, Alec recognized Magnus' unmistakable figure as he was escorted out of the Basilica and towards the center of the pentagram. When the warlock standing beside Annaliese forced Magnus to turn in his direction, Alec' heart jumped in his chest as his eyes landed on the handsome face of the man he loved and would love for the rest of his life, and which Alec could clearly see despite the distance that separated them.
Alec rested his hand on his chest and sent a prayer to anyone listening. "Please grant me the strength to do what I must." Using what remained of his agility rune, he then leaped and landed silently and gracefully on the stone ground four floors below. When he looked back in Magnus' direction, his eyes met the warlock's across the long distance that still separated them and, for a moment, Alex was sure that Magnus could see him, for he faintly smiled, as if to tell Alec that everything would be okay.
From the corner of his eye, Alec perceived movement and when he turned saw that two warlocks were carrying an unconscious Jace towards the pentagram. His parabatai was bleeding, but the connection they shared told Alec that Jace was not seriously injured, at least not yet. The warlocks carried Jace to one of the granite columns and chained him to it. Annaliese approached him, the Chasa staff in her hand and she wetted its tip in some of Jace's blood.
"Since your Shadowhunter boy is to play a different role in tonight's program, I had to get another Nephilim," said Annaliese when Magnus turned his head to look at Jace's inert figure chained to the column. "I need fresh Nephilim blood to reanimate the one I took from the hearts of the dead ones. This one would do nicely because he has the face and the blood of an angel." She then signaled to another warlock, who approached Jace, a knife in hand, ready, Magnus suspected, to cut out Jace's heart at the precise moment during the summoning.
Annaliese looked up towards the star-studded sky in search of the one star that indicated that the moment she had been waiting for all her very long life was finally here. She had gone through so much, suffered so much, given up so much. Now, she would finally achieve her goal; she would finally experience the loving embrace of a mother. Through her connection to Lilith, Annaliese felt her impatience as Lilith stood at the border between realms, eager, ready to finally walk across the threshold and return to the garden from which she had been so unjustly expelled by a god too proud to recognize true love.
As if obeying a silent order, as soon as the star came into alignment, the warlocks increased the pace and volume of their chanting, and Annaliese, eyes closed, began to tap the bloody tip of the staff against the stone ground, right on the point of the pentagram that the ancients assigned to the spirit. As she did, the ground began to shake and a loud sound of cracking wood rose from deep underground. Feeling the vibrations beneath his feet, Alec remembered what Magnus had told him during their last visit, that the city was built on millions of alder tree piles. After almost a thousand years underwater, the piles had become petrified and as strong as stone, but just a short exposure to oxygen was enough to weaken them. Venice stands on water and its foundations are fragile, Alec thought as he cautiously and hastily made his way across the plaza, careful to stay hidden in the shadows.
As Annaliese weaken the already fragile fault line that separated this world from Hades, the stone inside the pentagram began to first crack and then melt, and a whirlpool of lava and water began to slowly form at the edges of the pentagram.
Alec stopped just outside the circle of light cast by the bonfires, and knowing that he was out of time, reached for his last dirk fastened to his leg. With swiftness and certainty, he made a thin cut across his lower arm and willed the blood to carry out some of his life force. He then took out his bow and reaching in his quiver for the enchanted arrow that Kat had sent him a few minutes ago, dipped its tip in his own blood before nocking it. He pulled the bow string with all his strength and aimed it towards the center of the pentagram, his eyes fixed on Magnus, millions of thoughts and feelings rushing through him.
Kat had been precise in her instructions, Alec had to pierce the space inside the pentagram, seal it by the combined life force of Nephilim, Downworld and mundane, and for the seal to hold, they needed Magnus' demonic blood, not just any blood, but blood straight from the heart.
"Magnus," he whispered, knowing that Magnus would not hear him. "Magnus, get out of the way. Don't make me do this."
But surprisingly, Magnus replied, just a small gesture, a nod, a smile on his lovely face. "Do your job Shadowhunter," he mouthed. Alec clearly read the words in Magnus' lips just before what looked like steam or smoke began to raise within the pentagram.
"Do your job Shadowhunter," Alec whispered echoing Magnus' words, and at that moment, all other thoughts disappeared and just he, Magnus and their mission existed. That, and the memory of what Kat had told him; that there was a strong connection between he and Magnus, a magic bond that he had to trust.
Annaliese briefly opened her eyes and through the veil of smoke rising within the pentagram, saw the dark silhouette of the Shadowhunter, his bow lifted and aimed, and a triumphant smile rose to her lips. She had known all along that when it came to their angelic duty, the Nephilim didn't care for love or loyalty. Their incapacity to love those they could not accept, their incapacity to see downworlders as their equal, their prejudice and bigotry would be their undoing. Nephilim hatred would be her most secret and powerful weapon, and at the end, she would show Magnus, Magnus who had always been so naïve, that she had been right all along: the Nephilim are only capable of loving themselves.
What happened next happened almost simultaneously and at such a speed that anyone would have a hard time recounting later the exact order of events. Perhaps a split second before Alec made up his mind, Izzy, responding to a signal from Kat, run out of the shadows where she had been hidden and uncoiling her whip from her arm, unleashed it in Annaliese's direction, its tip making a cracking sound as it flew through the air and caught the warlock in the wrist, momentarily halting the tapping of the staff against the ground, and weakening the veil of smoke rising within the pentagram. The action was meant just to distract and gain time, and Izzy was not completely surprised when another warlock sent a stream of dark red magic in her direction, the blow so powerful that it threw her backward several meters and she landed half-unconscious in a heap on the ground.
However, that was all the distraction Kat needed to step out of her and Jeremy's hiding place and throw her own magic fireball in Declan's direction, weakening his hold on Magnus, and forcing him to stumble backwards a few steps. The old warlock looked in Kat's direction, astonishment clearly written on his face. Taking advantage of his surprise, Jeremy threw his last seraph blade directly into Declan's chest.
At that precise moment, oblivious to everything else going on around him, Alec inhaled and closed his eyes and, as he exhaled, he released the arrow straight into Magnus' chest. For a millisecond, a millisecond that seemed to go on forever, the arrow stood still, as if unable to reconcile the kinetic forces exercising influence over it: gravity, friction and push causing the arrow to bend before push prevailed and the arrow took off with unbelievable force.
Taking advantage of the weakening in Declan's magic restrains, Magnus reached for Alec with all his powers, as if his powers were luminescent tendrils in search of home. Alec responded, sharing his energy across the distance, without the need for touch, for his life force was already intertwined with Magnus'. Magnus experienced a sudden surge of power, as he received the energy Alec shared, and the energy that built between warlock and Shadowhunter was enough to break Magnus' restrains at the precise moment that Alec's arrow reached Magnus' chest.
The arrow, which tip was made of Hades stone and fortified with werewolf, vampire and mundane blood, pierced skin, sinew and muscle as it unrelentingly journeyed towards the warlock's heart. When it reached his heart, Magnus willed some of his own blood to impregnate the arrowhead before he gave it an additional push that forced the arrow to continue on and leave his body through his back.
As the arrow exited, Magnus, finally free of his restrains, fell on one knee. Using the last of his strength, he turned in Annalise's direction and extending his arms projected all his remaining power as well as the strength that Alec had shared with him into the arrow. For a millisecond, the arrow floated in midair just before Magnus altered its course, and sent it with renewed speed towards Annaliese's midriff, directly into her center where he had felt Lilith's dark powers calling to him before. Since the moment he had felt the energy emanating from Annaliese's abdomen, Magnus had known that to ensure the permanent closure of the rift, they needed to also severe Annaliese's connection to Lilith.
"Nipa ẹjẹ angeli ati ẹmi baba, ẹnu-ọna si Hédíìmù titi lailai," Magnus whispered with the last of his breath. (By angel's blood and father's breath, the door to Hades forever be sealed).
The Hades metal in the arrowhead recognized its destination; the magnetic force that called to it; the place it had desperately wanted to return to since, as part of a magma rock, it had been thrown out of its home. As if pulled by an irresistible force, the arrow veered slightly downward and propelled by Magnus and Alec's shared power, hit home in the middle of Annaliese' abdomen with such force that Annalise was thrown back a few meters. Just before she hit the ground, she looked at Magnus with a look of utter surprise, and as she let go of the staff in her hand, the ruby red light in her eyes went out. By the time she hit the ground, she was already dead, all glamour gone.
Annaliese's hatred of the Nephilim was founded on her absolute belief that the Children of the Angel were incapable of loving anyone with demon blood. She thought that incapacity was her most powerful weapon; the key to unlocking Magnus' magic connection to his father, Lilith's most beloved son. Annaliese didn't know that, just like Kat had used the same ingredients needed for opening the rift to devise a spell strong enough to seal it, the love Magnus and Alec shared was stronger than any demonic connection, a force so powerful that no demonic power could undo its magic. Annaliese didn't know that when Alec's arrow made contact with the omamori mark on its way towards Magnus' heart, it also picked up some of the magic created by Magnus when he bound his and Alec's life force. That magic was the last ingredient needed to seal the rift.
Even before the arrow reached its final destination and killed Annaliese, Alec began to run at full speed in Magnus' direction, and as he went, he released arrow after arrow hitting and injuring as many astonished warlocks as he could. When he reached Magnus, he fell to his knees just in time to catch the warlock as he fell backwards, his eyes closed, his chest still.
"Magnus, Magnus," he called, his voice imploring, "please don't leave me, please, please, please don't leave me, don't do this to me."
Completely oblivious to the chaos unleashing around him, to the Shadowhunters running into the square, to Izzy freeing Jace, to warlocks running in a panic, Alec held Magnus and searched for any sign of life in his beloved warlock. Perhaps by instinct, or perhaps obeying commands only he could hear, Alec laid Magnus on the ground, and undoing the top buttons of his own shirt, took out his stele and brought its tip to his own heart. He then slid his other hand underneath Magnus' shirt and gently rested it on the omamori mark, the mark now barely visible under the blood that poured out of the wound inflicted by the arrow. Alec closed his eyes and began to draw a rune on his chest, a rune that erased the last vestiges of the scar left by the Inquisitor's hatred. As he did, he willed bone to fuse, and sinew and muscle to knit together, projecting his very life force into the echo of his heartbeat on Magnus' chest. As he carved the rune, a multitude of images began to play in his mind: Magnus' attentive eyes on him the first night they met; Magnus' flirtatious smile the night Alec helped him treat Luke's injuries; Magnus' look of surprise the first time Alec kissed him; Magnus' wondrous expression when Alec took him to bed that fist time; Magnus telling him that he loved him; Magnus looking up at the stars in the desert; Magnus touching him; the taste of Magnus' lips, the scent of his skin, the feel of Magnus' hair between his fingers; Magnus, only and always Magnus.
As he finished drawing the rune, Alec spoke in a low voice, repeating a spell, or perhaps a blood oath, whispered in his ear by the wind in the soft voice of a woman, a spell or an oath he had never heard before and in a language Alec didn't know he spoke: "Tetapkan aku sebagai segel di hatimu; karena cinta lebih kuat dari pada kematian. Bangun sayang, bangun sayang."
Alec then held Magnus once again and waited, Magnus's head resting in the crook of Alec's arm. After a long moment of still silence, a moment that seemed to have no end, Magnus stirred and took a deep breath.
"Set me as a seal upon your heart; for love is stronger than death. Rise up my beloved," Magnus whispered and opened his eyes and looked up at Alec, his expression full of wonder.
Alec smiled, one of those smiles that illuminated rooms with the strength of the sun. He then lifted his hand from Magnus' chest and saw with surprise that the wound that had been there a minute ago was now completely gone, not even a scar left, nothing to blemish the beauty of the omamori mark on Magnus' golden skin.
The Nephilim had no magic powers of their own. The powers of rune and steles were external and could only protect them and enhance their human abilities. But that night for just a moment, Alec became a creature of magic, a being with the power to reach beyond the veil, to seize Magnus from the grips of death and bring him back. With those words, Alec sealed his bond to Magnus, his very life becoming inexorably linked to the warlock, the way Magnus had sealed his bond to the Shadowhunter the night he embedded Alec's gift in his chest.
Alec helped Magnus to his feet and, placing a hand against his cheek, kissed him with a passion borne of not only love, but also of immense happiness and gratitude, for he would never stop thanking his lucky stars for the gift of Magnus' life.
As soon as Magnus was back on his feet, the true magnitude of the situation downed on them. Suddenly aware of the events still unfolding around them, Magnus smiled and told Alec to go do his duty. "I also have a lot to do," he added, after kissing Alec and briefly resting his hand on Alec's chest.
After the sealing of the rift and the death of Annaliese, Shadowhunters and Downworlders faced the daunting task of bringing the city back to some normalcy before daylight brought the mundanes out of their homes. With Annaliese dead, her loyal warlocks were easily captured or they voluntarily surrendered to the authority of The Clave. Kat and Magnus assisted those who had been compelled to join Annaliese against their will, and promised them quick release if they cooperated with The Clave in the investigation. Alec thought that it was fortunate that the Council now had Downworld representation; for that would ensure the fair treatment of those who had been forced to participate in Annaliese's plan.
A little while later and after the situation in the square had quieted somewhat, Alec found Magnus standing by Annaliese's body, the eyes of the dead warlock now close, her hair spilling like a cascade of black water on the stone floor, her horribly scarred face completely exposed. "She wasn't born bad, you know," Magnus said when he felt Alec's presence beside him, and his voice carried unexpected sadness. "She wasn't evil; she wasn't even a very powerful warlock. In fact, I think that the demonic blood in her was rather weak. She was an innocent child once; a lost child like me; a child in need of love; a child that was abused and tortured by people who should have loved her."
"I don't believe anybody is born evil Magnus, no matter whose blood run through their veins" Alec responded. "We learn to hate and love as we navigate life. You loved Annaliese once, and perhaps in the time you were together, she experienced what love is like." Magnus looked at Alec and smiled, and Alec smiled back, and Magnus could see not a thread of resentment or rapprochement in the eyes of the Shadowhunter.
"What is going to happen to her body?" Magnus asked.
"I don't know yet, but I will make sure it is treated with respect," Alec promised and was determined to keep that promise.
Thanks to Sarah, the warlock child, the mundane children remained completely oblivious to what had happened and they were quickly returned to their parents aboard their disabled cruise ship. After searching most of the night, Clary, Luke and the other Shadowhunters had finally located the vessel adrift in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, no warlocks or vampires left onboard.
Magnus, Kat and Catarina portalled onboard the ship and with no small amount of magic, and with the help of several Shadowhunter teams, made it appear that a terrible explosion had disabled the vessel and thrown some of its passengers overboard. They spellbound the surviving passengers and crew to forget anything connected to the shadow word they might have seen and to believe the story of the explosion. Before they portalled out, the Shadowhunters shot emergency flares in all directions alerting the mundane coast guard of the ship's location. The news would report the incident the following day as an unfortunate and tragic accident that cost the lives of at least thirty passengers and crew, many of whom were still unaccounted for. The coast guard would search for days but no bodies would be found.
As soon as the rift was sealed in Venice, the effects that the demonic poisoning had on vampires and werewolves also disappeared, making it easier for Raphael and the Venice vampire clans to bring the remaining of the rogue vampires under control. Very few of the vamps that Annaliese made survived and those who did had a long road ahead of them before they came to terms with their new reality.
Hours later, the first of the morning's sunlight shone on the ancient floating city and found Magnus and Alec sitting by one of canals, their feet dangling over the edge and almost touching the greenish blue waters. They each held a cup of coffee which Magnus had magically materialized a few minutes before when he realized that neither him nor Alec could take another step without sustenance. They drank their coffees in silence, Alec's eyes fixed on the gentle waves that barely seemed the disturb the calm surface of the water. Magnus looked up towards the morning sky and thought that Venice in Fall had its charms.
"Magnus, I love you more than I ever thought possible to love anyone," Alec said after a moment, and he looked Magnus straight in the eyes, not a hint of hesitation or doubt in his expression. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you; I am sure of it. But you have to tell me about the effects of the spell you cast on us."
Magnus smiled faintly and the smile contained not a small amount of hesitation, and Alec understood that Magnus was afraid of this conversation. "I don't know for sure Alexander what effects it will have on you."
"But you do know what effects it is having on you, don't you?"
"Yes," Magnus replied. "But I don't know for sure whether the effects are permanent or reversible. Kat and Catarina believe that they might wear off and that, in time, I will go back to normal." Magnus had noticed the effects of the spell a few days after leaving Alec in Barcelona. He had been in the bathroom in an apartment in Berlin to which Khuno and his warlocks had taken him. He had stepped out of the shower, his mind lost in thought, trying to come up with a way out of the impossible situation he was in. Without giving it much thought, he had glanced at his reflection in the mirror, and then he had had to look again.
Magnus remembered precisely the moment he realized he had stopped aging, the moment he knew he would look like a man in his late twenties for all eternity. He had seen it in his reflection in a mirror, the way the image the mirror returned to him seemed suddenly cold as if frozen somehow, as if immortality had transformed his reflection into a marble statute impervious to the ravages of time. Since then, every mirror had shown him a reflection that seemed like a photograph taken with a lens that colored it in an icy blue hue. However, when he looked in the mirror that morning in Berlin, his reflection hadn't had that cold frozen quality. In fact, for the first time in three hundred years, his reflection seemed to glow with warmth, a warmth he had forgotten was possible. He had touched his reflection, a look of astonishment and surprise in his cat eyes, and at that moment, Magnus had understood that the clock that had stopped three hundred years before had somehow restarted. He was aging again, slowly, more slowly than normal mortals aged, but aging nonetheless. He should have been alarmed at the potential loss of his immortality, but somehow and for reason, he wasn't. For when he cast that spell, the that protected and entrusted Alec with his powers, the spell that bound him to a Shadowhunter, he had been willing to pay any price and accept any consequence.
"When will the effect wear off?" Alec asked now, apprehension evident on his face.
"Declan, the magic diagnostician, told me that the aging effect would go away when your life force is no longer tied to mine Alexander." Declan had been extremely puzzled by the spell and its effect. "What reason could you possibly have to cast such magic?" the old warlock had asked, and Magnus had understood that, in the same way that Annaliese could never believe that a Shadowhunter could love a warlock, Declan could never imagine that a warlock could love a mere mortal. "The spell is structured to wear off once your link to the Shadowhunter is severed, and I think it is meant to make you experience aging without aging becoming permanent," Declan had declared, his voice unsurprisingly resembling the voice of a doctor.
"Does that mean that when I die you will revert to normal?" Alec asked.
"That is what Declan thought," Magnus replied, his voice unconcerned and rather casual.
"And that doesn't concern you Magnus? Alec asked surprised. "You could undo the spell now."
Magnus reached for Alec's hand and took it in his. "Alexander, I too love you more than I have ever loved anyone, and in my very long life, I have never desired to get old with anyone like I do with you. In fact, I find the prospect of experiencing what a finite life is like rather exiting. I want to get old, cranky, grey and wrinkled with you. Hopefully not bold though; I love my hair too much. If you would have me, I want to do all that with you."
Alec smiled broadly and then kissed Magnus, the kiss full of promise and passion and, at that moment, it didn't matter what life was yet to bring, or how many years he would get to spend with Magnus; for he was exactly where and with whom he wanted to be.
This chapter still needs some work, but I thought I would post it anyway.