Hello my lovelies! here I am as I promised :) I'm sorry I'm giving you a short chapter now but I was rather busy tonight and I preferred to give you a little something on the day I promised to update rather than give you nothing... Let me know if you prefer to wait more for longer chapters? I don't know what you guy find better :) But! I do have a little surprise for you guys ;) I thought about rendering Clary, Sebastian and Magnus meeting but, as I think you guys felt like too, I was feeling in a hurry to get to Malec reunion and was growing a little bored with all the sidelines characters lol... so I kinda chopped it off! :D Okay so I'll update tomorrow or Friday with Alec day before the battle and then, the next chapter, we'll have our Malec back ^^ YAY! Afterward, there's a lot of battle and all so I guess, beside the kiss in the Accord Hall and the final celebration, it will go fairly quick to end CoG ;) After that, we'll jump into Malec vacations XD And updates should come much faster by the end of next week, as I have 2 WEEKS OFF! YAYYYY! And will go back to work only on the 6 ;) So I'll have plenty of free time :D Hope you enjoy this mini-chap lovely :)

Disclaimer : Don't own!

Chapter 26 : Smelling the Storm (Part 1)

Magnus had spent a restless night. He'd thought about all the moments he'd shared with his friend, the good and the bad ones (as the guano, Ragnor hadn't spoke to him for a decade!), how he could have called more often and stayed in contact regularly... All things he didn't do. Being immortal make you care for what is fragile and mortal as well as letting you take for granted what's been part of your life for centuries. He thought about Catarina and Tessa, even Raphael... they'd been part of his life at one moment or another and he could barely remember when he last talked to these persons that marked him deeply. How can moving forward could be a good thing when all you did by acting so was leaving parts of you behind? Magnus had never been more confused than now, looking at the wreckage before him. Ragnor had been an immutable sort of presence and now... he was gone.

He had taken care of his friend's body, freeing him by fire as was the warlock's funeral traditions. He was dizzy just thinking about all the persons he had to contact. Ragnor had been an important warlock in their community. He had been an important friend... He didn't fight the tears rolling down his face as the smoke and fire burned away what was left of once one of his closest immortal companion.

Magnus had started to seek clues and reading Ragnor's message in the morning light, to find out about his friend's fate, when he had to stop himself for a moment, excitement filling his chest. He'd known of the Book of the White but the few inquiries he'd made here and there had been fruitless... But his friend had known where the book was. For a second, the dizziness of his success filled Magnus until he remembered how he had came along such an information. He sighed and rubbed him face tiredly, wondering how he could break the wards around the Wayland Manor, Lilith know how Valentine was a paranoid psychopath and would have made sure nobody would enter his property... well expect one person.

A devilish expression fell on Magnus' features as a plan grew in his mind when he felt the new wards he'd brought up being shaken and alarming him of a visitor. Looking out the window and sending his magic on a search at the same time, he sensed the newcomers... Clarissa. Would this girl ever mean anything else than trouble? He frowned, remembering some random message from a Sebastian Verlac received early today, mentioning a favor to Clary. He hadn't answered of course. That might explain the visit. But then something else caught his attention, something that felt very odd... A brown haired shadowhunter was accompanying young Clarissa, probably Verlac, but Magnus felt a strange echo within him as he observed the other boy, as if their natures were linked somehow. Magnus furrowed his eyebrows and figured he would know soon enough as the couple was walking toward the house.

Smirking, he gave way to his playful nature, as his to honor his friend's memory who never stopped cursing him about his carefree behavior. Smoke question marks escaped the chimney and when he saw the dark-haired boy reach out for Clary's hand, he couldn't help but tease the red-haired girl and sent lopsided heart to replace the question marks, when the boy wasn't looking. He chuckled by himself, thinking that someone was moving fast from her heartbreak... if only he could do the same, he thought, sighing.

Soon enough, the two shadowhunters were standing before his door. He snapped Ragnor's pipe and lighted it, a lump forming in his throat with memories, before he heard the knocking. He beamed, preparing himself for the show. Now that Clarissa was there, offering him a solution to his problem on a silver platter, his mood was lifting.

He opened up grandly, enjoying the theatrics, to come face to face with two speechless shadowhunters. Magnus could have almost laught out loud but the dark-haired boy caught his eye again. He didn't like him. Something foul was emanating from the boy sending cold shivers down his spine and he could almost catch a... demonic scent? But what bothered him the most was the overwhelming suprise that was written in the black eyes as if he wasn't the one the young man had expected... He kept on puffing on Ragnor's pipe, observing and trying to find everything that was amiss, while waiting for someone to speak. He thought Clary would be the first to do so as she was trying to figure out very hard how the famous Magnus Bane could be Ragnor Fell but the black-eyed boy spoke first...

Magnus looked at the two silhouettes walking away quietly. He hoped Clary had caught on his warning when he'd mentioned to leave Sebastian Verlac out of the information's loop. The boy was sure gorgeous and he'd teased Clary about it but he still felt dangerous, wrong. He was although content that he'd come to an agreement with little Miss Fray. He'd have the Book of the White, help dear Jocelyn, that he'd grown somewhat fond of through the years and maybe, maybe... he'd be able to find the solution to his problem. He had to live an uncomfortable moment of pretending to be fine in front of the red-head, as if he was over Alec, what a joke, but all in all, it was worth it.

The warlock moved back toward the wrecked living room and decided to fix the place, if only to respect Ragnor's fondness for order (another thing he'd always reproached Magnus to lack off) and because he had a lot of correspondance to go through before returning to New York. And let's be honest, he wanted to linger a little longer in his friend's presence the old books, the pipe smell, the awfull taste of the furnitures, all that had been part of Ragnor. Young Clary should be back quickly with the book and there was no reason to leave the place as is.

The sun followed his trajectory through the sky, ever changing the lights in the room where Magnus sat, writing restlessly. He had written to Catarina, Tessa and Raphael before moving to less closed friends relations. The sun was falling in the horizon when his magic senses went haywire. He stayed sitting down for a good five minutes, unable to comprehend what his instincts were telling him, most precisely shouting... it was impossible.

Snapping out of his shock, Magnus ran to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, the overwhelming demonic smell and presence was justified. Magnus gaped, unable to understand how so much demons had been able to gather around Alicante without notice. What was the strangest of all was their odd behavior, as if they were waiting for something...

Before further understanding, Magnus was dressing up in his own 'gear', running outside and moving in the shadows, seeking invisibility in the heavy forest surrounding the small house. He couldn't thank Ragnor enough for building such strong wards around his country house, to which he had added his own, making it possible for it to go unnoticed. He rushed in the undergrownth, moving fast to the Capital, knowing the Clave needed to be warned of a demon army waiting at its doors, even if he was here sort of illegaly... But then, as he reached closer to the City of Glass, he knew he was too late.

The towers were bleeding, fire spreading and demons invading. Magnus was shocked to the core. If astonishment had hold of his mind for some time, what soon took place of it was worry. Worry and fear... for one Alexander Lightwood. The warlock felt cold suddenly and his panic gnawed at his guts, swearing to himself about his pride. If he hadn't ignored Alec for the past week, he would have known all the details of their expedition, where he would be at the moment... As of now, he knew nothing. Which was very pointless when your heart beat in eagerness to protect your loved one, that you simply couldn't locate. Growling in anger, Magnus ran toward the city, thinking that his best bet would be to join the Accord Hall, where all shadowhunters would gather to defend the capital.

As he rushed through the streets, it became obvious that reaching his ex-lover before being kill himself was wishful-thinking. He fought and avoided the demons as much as possible but soon found himself trapped in a small alley, looking at the demons surrounding him, knowing he was exhausted and would probably die here. He had a last thought for the blue-eyed shadowhunter, heart heavy knowing he wouldn't get to kiss him one last time and mostly, that he regretted parting so abruptly. So much for his wise words to Clary; regret is such a pointless emotion, don't you agree? Well, at least he wouldn't regret crossing paths with the blushing shadowhunter.

With a fierceness that came with survival instinct, Magnus Bane, High Warlock, threw himself in the fight, giving his all and knowing very well it was now the time to bow low and leave the stage... But not without a last show, he promised himself, smirking ferociously.

Did you like it? Let me know guys :D We've been doing so well the last chapters, with 10 reviews each, I'm sure we can do the same now, can we? ;) Lool review review! 277 sound great to me :P Thanks a lot to everyone who fave, follow, read and review :)