I would like to say that I woke up to the brilliant sunshine, wrapped up in Jace's arms without a care in the world. Sadly I didn't, although I did wake up in Jace's arms…
"Clary! Clary! Can you hear me? Come on, wake up!" I can barely hear Jace's urgent voice through the ringing in my ears. I open my eyes and wish I hadn't. Fire surrounds us, the trees setting ablaze releasing vast plumes of thick black smoke that makes my eyes water and my throat burn. Jace is carrying me bridal style whilst running at speeds I had previously considered impossible.
"Jace…" I croak, trying to alert him to my presence. He looks down, relief evident on his sweaty, smoke smudged face. A tree collapses behind us and Jace narrowly avoids getting us killed.
"I'm going to have to set you down!" He yells over the crash of another tree collapsing. He stops briefly and sets me on my feet. He gives me a determined look and grabs my hand. I follow blindly, stumbling and jumping here and there to avoid the thick tree trunks. The forest seems like it is closing in around us, I gasp as a fireball shoots passed me.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" I half scream through my hoarse throat.
"It's the circle! They're flushing us out!" He responds, dragging me faster through the thicket. The fire appears to be enclosing us, just as we push through more trees and fire wall appears before us and Jace is forced to take a sharp left. I cough slightly as we run, the smoke does not taste good. My hair is plastered to face with sweat from the intense heat of the burning forest. I'm starting to tire when Jace suddenly stops, I scream as I hurtle into him, completely caught off guard. He catches me as I stumble very ungracefully into a clearing. A clearing that just so happens to be surrounded by a bunch of men, a bunch of men brandishing extremely sharp looking seraph blades. Jace steps forward and pushes me behind him, shielding me with his body.
"You ready to go back to daddy?" The man at the front of the group sneers patronisingly at Jace, whilst expertly twirling his sword.
"I would rather die" Jace responds in a tone filled with so much venom, even I flinch. The man, however, appears unaffected by it.
"Your father was rather….upset when he learnt of your betrayal, I'm sure he wouldn't mind fulfilling that wish for you…or a least give you a taste of hell"
"Because he hasn't doesn't that already" Jace responds, his voice dripping with sarcasm. The man steps forward aggressively, swinging his sword in a wide arc towards Jace who unsheathes his own blade and pushes me further back. The man's cruel eyes flicker towards me at Jace's sudden movement.
"Ah, the little runaway Morgenstern. You're father will certainly be pleased to see you" My hands reach for the place where Jace hid my own blade and I slowly take it out.
"That man is not my father" I say with as much malice as I can muster, raising the blade. The man chuckles.
"Well you are clearly Jocelyn's daughter and unless she hooked up with that filthy Downworlder, you are also Valentine's"
I narrow my eyes and step forward, Jace moves to stop me. The man sneers.
"This is all very touching and I'd love to stay and chat, but Valentine has orders"
He gestures for the men to advance on us. Chaos ensues as Jace gets swept away in the fight. I stab and try my best efforts to win over the men I'm fighting, but I'm still only a beginner. My opponent slashes my wrist and I drop the blade with a cry. He takes the opportunity and seizes me, forcing my arms behind me back. I struggle and kick but the hands are like vices. I glance over at Jace who appears to be having no trouble cutting down the men, slashing them in their arms or legs to disable them. Almost half the men have been despatched by the time he glances up at me. His eyes flash with fury and he advances towards me, his path is obstructed by the man we talked to, who engages him in an intense fight. Even I can see that Jace is losing. I look down in desperation and spot a stray stele. A pattern of swirling, intricately placed lines appears in my head. I swing my foot back and whack my captor in the shins, his grip loosens and I free myself from his grip. He swears as my hand closes around the stele. Without even thinking, I swiftly draw the rune in the air, each line converges and twists around like a snake. Time appears to freeze as everyone turns towards it in shock, even Jace stops fighting. The rune suddenly bursts into light and the men closest stumble back in fear. I recognise the portal instantly, Jace immediately springs into action and sprints towards the open portal, grabbing me and dragging me with him. The men behind us cry out, but by the time any of them take action it's too late and we've disappeared into the depths of nothingness.