Malec Tales Series 1 Chapter six: Something There.

Alec Pov- Everything is so dark. Why is that? Last thing I remember was running into the woods. It was night time but the moon was bright enough to see where I was going. Why was it so dark now?

Why did I even go in the woods in the first place? Oh yeah, Magnus got mad at me for almost touching his Witchlight and threw fire at me, scaring me almost to death.

You need to wake up. You need to move before you get swept up in the war.

In the war? How would I get swept up in war? There's never been a threat big enough to make Nephilim go to war.

Yes there is. There's a war going on right now. You must open your eyes and see it. See the destruction your ancestors left in their wake.

My eyes felt heavy as led but I needed to know what the voice was talking about.

Slowly I opened my eyes expecting to see the bright blue skies of Idris. Instead, I saw a sky dark with clouds and Ash raining down from who knows where.

I sat up quickly looking around me in complete shock. We were in Idris, there was no doubt about it. I have seen enough maps of our lands to know it. The field around me was different however. There were shops and homes turned to rumble mixing with the ash.

"Where am I? This can't really be Alicante."

"You're injured" a soft familiar voice called from behind me. I turned around and a beautiful lady with light blue skin and pure white hair was standing there looking ahead, concerned.

"Catarina? What's going on? Where are we?"

She wasn't looking at me though, or talking to me. In fact, it was like I was completely invisible to her. She ran passed me to another man laying on the ground close by. I didn't even noticed he was there before.

She got to her knees pulling the man onto her lap, immediately making her hand glow in magic as she placed it on his stomach. There was blood soaking his shirt, getting larger every second.

The man had silver hair with eyes to match and couldn't have been any older than me. I know every Shadowhunter my age though and I have never seen him before.

"I… I came to warn you all of the Claves plan. Charlotte sent William and I to tell Magnus… but it seems we were too late," he wheezed, looking around at the ruins and ash.

Catarina nodded frowning. "Nephilim poured in from all sides. They set fires to every building in Alicente."

Alicente? Where is Alicente? This is the south border of Idris right? That's Alicante.

"What happened here?!" another familiar, panicked voice yelled from behind me. I turned around just as Magnus ran passed me, dressed in torn dirty pants and a black shirt. His face was free of any makeup and his hair was flat with no product in it.

He dropped to the ground next to Catarina and the man, grabbing his hand tightly and looking in his silver eyes. "Who did this to Alicente? How were they able to get passed the wards?"

The Nephilim boy tried to sit up but was too weak. He fell back and Magnus caught him before he could hit his head on the ground.

"James don't try to sit up. You're losing too much blood. Conserve your strength and let Catarina heal you."

James smiled weakly at him and Catarina put more power into healing him, her hands glowing brighter. "This isn't good Magnus. I don't think he's going to make it."

Magnus shook his head "just keep healing him."

James hand shook in Magnus's but his smile didn't waver. "William is here. He's still in the heart of Alicente fighting. The Clave has named us traitors for helping you and the other Downworlders. Will is willing to die in order to save Tessa. He can't fight a Nephilim army alone. You must go stop him before he does something crazy. Tessa can't lose both of us here."

"Tessa isn't going to lose any of you. You are going to live James Carstairs. You and William Herondale both will live. Just because Alicente has fallen doesn't mean we will fall with it."

James looked into Magnus's eyes for a moment before reaching up with his free hand and touching his cheek. "Magnus… I don't think this is a war your kind can win. Alicente was the last slice of Downworlder owned land in Idris. They will take over this town and there will be nothing left for Downworld. You need to gather the remaining Downworlders and take them out of Idris."

"We are not going to just run with our tails behind our legs. There's still a chance we can win this thing."

"Magnus, look around you" James yelled making Magnus flinch. "You said it yourself. Alicente has fallen. There is nothing left for your kind to fight for. Don't let Downworlders go extinct because you were too stubborn to admit defeat-"

James plea was cut off by him coughing up blood. The pain in Magnus's eyes was evident as he watched his friend choke on his own blood.

When he got the coughing under control he smiled weakly at Magnus. "Y-you need to go. You need to stop William before… before he kills himself. Take him, Tessa, and the remaining Downworlders and go to the mundane world. All of you can start fresh there."

Magnus shook his head, tears clinging to the edge of his eyes. "The Nephilim will never allow us to be around mundanes."

James closed his eyes, his face looked pained. "You have to try. It doesn't have to be the mundane world. Just take them somewhere they can be safe. Take Tessa and Will somewhere they can be safe."

The light surrounding Catarina's hands was dimming and she looked up at Magnus shaking her head. "I'm sorry Magnus. He only has moments left."

Magnus shook his head glaring down at James. "We did not cure your addiction to Yin Fen just to have you die in this useless war."

"This war isn't useless Magnus. Nephilim are the ones who started it. The Downworlders just wanted a equal world. Don't let all those people who died, die for nothing."

Magnus wiped his tears on his sleeve. "If we just turn and run then they would have died for nothing. What is the point of being in a war if we don't win?"

James's smile was small as he looking into Magnus's eyes. His own silver eyes getting dimmer.

"Magnus, what is the point of winning a war when no one is alive to enjoy it?"

Magnus seemed struck by the question. It struck me too. He was right. If all but a handful of Downworlders were left, then there wouldn't be much of the new world they fought for.

"Please Magnus, you don't have much time. Go stop William and take him back with you. Alicente was the Homeland of Downworlders. Now that the Clave have concurred it, there is no doubt that they will turn the area into the new City of Glass just to spit in your faces. You can't stay here."

Magnus closed his eyes tight, fighting himself before giving in and standing up. "I'll go try to stop William. Thank you for all you've done to aid us James Carstairs. I will never forget your sacrifice."

He looked at Catarina next. "Take him somewhere more peaceful. I don't want ashes and destruction to be the last thing he sees. Once he has passed, meet me in the center of the woods."

She nodded before using magic to make herself stronger. That's the only reason I can think to why she so easily picked James up and carried him away. Magnus watched them go, taking a moment to compose himself before he turned his back to me and ran toward the center of the still burning city.

I ran after him, screaming out his name but of course, he couldn't hear me. He just kept running until he got to the center of a town square. There on his knees in the middle of the square was another young Shadowhunter with black hair and blue eyes. Tears streamed down his face as he turned to look at Magnus.

"Magnus! Magnus where is James?! I felt the bond break but it couldn't be true! James can't be dead!"

The bond? So this guy was James's Parabatai? If that was the case then James must have died and he felt it.

I was so distracted by the guy sitting on the ground that I didn't notice the group of Nephilim soldiers standing a little ways away from him. They were smirking at him as if he deserved to lose his Parabatai.

As if reading my mind, one of the Shadowhunters yelled, "traitors of the Clave don't deserve to have the Parabatai bond! You're going to die here along with him!"

Magnus glared at the Nephilim but was talking to the guy on the ground when he said, "William. James's dying wish was for me to take you back to Tessa. You can't win here by yourself. Come with me and return to your wife and children."

That's right. This guy is William Herondale. He's the same guy I saw in that portrait with Tessa and their two children.

William stood up, looking down at the ground with his fists clenched. "I'm not running away Magnus. We have fought too hard to give up now."

"Will there is nothing we can do. We need to get somewhere safe. Tessa and your children need you alive. We have lost the war Will. Alicente was all that was left. There's nothing to fight for now."

"I am fighting for my wife and children's rights! That will always be worth fighting for" he yelled glaring at Magnus.

"Will it be worth it when you are dead? You can't leave Tessa alone!"

He shook his head, keeping his back to Magnus. "She won't be alone. She will have you, Magnus. Take care of her and my children for me."

Magnus looked shocked. I was shocked as well. Just like James he was going to sacrifice himself in order to help the Downworlders. I've never seen such selfless Shadowhunters in all my life. No one in my day and age would ever do something like that for anyone.

"William, you can't be serious. You and I both know that I can never take care of Tessa as much as you can. She wants you to stay alive and come back to her. You promised her that you wouldn't die! Are you really going to go back on that promise so easily?"

"You think this is easy for me?! Magnus, there is nothing easy about leaving my family. I won't run away like a coward and let them degrade my wife and children. I know I won't survive so I am asking you to take care of them. Will you do that or not Magnus?"

Magnus stood in silence, his hair blowing in the ash mixed wind. He looked so conflicted with what he should do. Once again tears clung to the corner of his eyes. "I will fight with you. Let me fight along side you and maybe then we will win."

I frowned watching him. Even with Magnus's magic they are still outnumbered. He would die too if he stayed to fight. William must have come to the same conclusion because he shook his head no. "I need you to take care of Tessa. All the remaining Downworlders are going to need you."

Magnus shook his head, tears now streaming down his face. "Why must it fall to me? Why am I the one who carries this war on his back? From the very beginning everyone looked to me to lead them even though I didn't ask them too. Why is it up to me to make sure everyone lives?"

William smiled sadly at Magnus. "I know you didn't ask for this war. No Downworlder did, as didn't Tessa and I. A war is what we got though. I know it's hard to be the hero but it's what your people need you to be. They will need you to lead them and you need to feel up for the task. I believe in you Magnus. Now you need to believe in yourself."

Magnus watched Will in silence for a moment before nodding.

"It was an honor knowing you William Herondale."

Will smile was sad as he looked back at him. "The honor was all mine. Thank you for showing me that Downworlders have worth too. Hopefully the other Nephilim will see it someday as well."

Magnus smiled at William one more time before turning and running back toward the woods. I went to follow him but suddenly I couldn't move. When I looked down I gasped seeing that I was stuck in black muck that looked and smelled like demons blood.

It started out as a small pile constricting only my feet but it quickly spread, rising up like an ocean at hide tide. I turned to look at William Herondale but he was gone. Him and the other Nephilim that he was preparing to fight. Even the burning city and ash was now gone.

The muck rose higher and higher until it was passed my head, making me hold my breath and close my eyes tight.

Once Magnus and the remaining Downworlders are gone, demons will be free to take over both Idris and the mundane world. Another war is coming soon. Only this time, the Nephilim won't be able to win it. They will fall as well and the world will finally belong to me!

That voice again. Who is saying all these things to me? What did they mean another war was coming? I don't understand what's going on.

Without you, Magnus Bane will finally fall. With him out of the way, a new world will be reborn and I will be the leader of it. Nothing and no one will ever be able to stop me! Not even the angel himself!"

The further I sank down, the heavier the muck felt on my body. I thrashed around trying to swim up but it was no use. I was stuck. My lungs started burning from holding my breath for so long and I soon wasn't able to hold it any longer. I opened my mouth to breathe and the blood flooded into my mouth, choking me and making everything around me go dark.

"Alec… Alexander open your eyes." Magnus's soothing voice called, anchoring me back to reality. My eyes snapped open and I gasped for breath, my eyes meeting Magnus's above me. He, Catarina and Tessa were all surrounding me, looking at me with concerned looks on their faces.

I swallowed the dryness in my throat away before asking, "w-what happened?"

Tessa sat on the bed, running her hands gently through my hair that was drenched in sweat. "You ran out into the woods last night and was attacked by a powerful demon. You would have died if Magnus didn't go get you. He brought you back to the castle and healed you along with Catarina."

I stared at her for a moment, letting that all sink in before looking at Magnus again. He just stared down at me silently.

"You threw fire at me" I said simply.

"You were in the war wing. I told you to never go there and you didn't listen." He answered.

"So you throw fire at me? A simple 'hey, get out of my room' would have sufficed."

Magnus shook his head, crossing his arms. "You were going to touch my witchlight. You would have doomed us all if you had. That gives me every right to be angry."

I frowned at him confused, going to ask him what he meant but Catarina held up her hand, stopping me. "Magnus, he is recovering from a demon attack. Stop being so rude to him now that he's awake. You were so worried and panicked while he was asleep."

"You were worried about me" I asked shocked. The thought of Magnus being worried about me seemed a little taboo. Especially since him almost killing me was the whole reason I fled the castle in the first place.

He shrugged glancing away from me. "I risked my life going to get you. It would have been a shame if you died anyway and wasted my time."

"gee, thanks" I mumbled before slowly sitting up, holding my pounding head in my hand.

"No need to thank me. I just hope you won't do anything stupid like that again. I won't always be there to save you."

Tessa and Catarina shook their head disapprovingly at Magnus and I smiled slightly at them before looking down at my waist. I had wrapping around it from where I was injured.

"It feels like a chunk of my side is missing" I sighed touching the wrapping and hissing in pain.

"Well, in a way it is. The demon scratched you pretty good. That wrap is covering up some nasty claw marks. They were pretty deep too."

I stared down at the injury frowning and Magnus watched me before sighing and putting his hands on my shoulders, gently pushing me back to lay down.

"You need more rest Alexander. Get some more sleep and then in the morning you can try to walk around."

His voice was softy, as if he actually was concerned about my health and me pushing myself.

I remembered the dream I had frowning. "Can I ask you a question, Magnus" I asked pulling my covers back up.

He gave me a skeptical look before nodding. "Fine but I have the right to not answer if I don't like the question."

I nodded before asking "was Alicante once called Alicente?"

The shocked looks on all of their faces would have been comical any other time. Magnus stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head asking, "how do you know about Alicente?"

"I had a dream while I was sleeping. Catarina was with an injured Shadowhunter with silver hair and Magnus, you were begging him not to die. He did die though but not before telling you to save William Herondale. You went to try and asked him to come with you because Alicente had fallen and there was nothing left to fight for. He ignored your plea though and went to fight."

They all stared at me shocked. Magnus and Catarina for mentioning Alicente and Tessa because I mentioned her late husband.

Finally Magnus's shocked expression turned to a somber one. "A long time ago Idris wasn't just a Nephilim place to live. There used to be land divided between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Downworlders main city was Alicente. Slowly the Nephilim took our land away one by one until only Alicente was left. Soon even that was taken from us and was turned into the city of Glass."

"Alicante was made to spit in the faces of the remaining Downworlders? That's just horrible." I said thinking about it.

Magnus nodded. "Nephilim have always found ways to embarrass our kind. Now you see why I didn't take kindly to your siblings showing up here. When the war ended we made a treaty with Nephilim that we would stay away from them if they stayed away from us."

I frowned glancing away. "It's hard to follow a treaty that no one besides you remembers. Why don't you leave this Castle and remind the Clave about the war and the treaty."

Magnus frowned walking away from the bed and standing in front of the window, looking out into the trees. "Believe me Alexander, the Clave knows about us. They do know about Downworlders and the war. They just don't want to acknowledge us."

I frowned more, thinking about that. If that's true then that means my father has been lying to me all this time. Every time I tried to convince him Downworlders were real he always brushed me off. I thought it was because he thought I was crazy. Maybe he denied me for another reason.

"Enough about this. Alec you really need to get some rest. As your nurse I demand it. As for everyone else, get out and let him sleep," Catarina commanded.

Tessa was the first to go but she looked hesitant on doing so. I'm sure she has lots of questions about William.

Magnus walked away from the window, heading toward the door but stopped in front of it, looking back at me. "I'm sorry that I overreacted Alexander. We still have a deal to keep up. I hope when you are healed you won't try to leave again. I didn't peg you as one who breaks promises."

I cocked my head to the side surprised. "Is that your way of telling me that you like having me around?"

He smirked slightly at me. "I'll never tell" he said before walking out of the room.

I smiled slightly, shaking my head before laying down and closing my eyes; this time having a dreamless sleep.

Magnus Pov- "Do I really need to tell you how much of an idiot you are" Ragnor asked the moment I got to my room. He's been standing guard by the witchlight since I ran after Alec.

"If I didn't go after him he would have died. Then we really would have been doomed. He is our last chance to not lose our souls."

Ragnor raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you didn't want him here. "

I shrugged crossing my arms. "Opinions can change. The kid is growing on me. As long as he doesn't try to touch the Witchlight again then we should be okay."

Ragnor shook his head "speaking of the witchlight. You should see how much you messed up" he said moving away from the rock.

The witchlight was dim. So dim that it didn't look like it was glowing at all.

"What the hell happened to it?!" I yelled pressing my hands against the glass.

"You left the castle grounds Magnus! You knew that this would happen. With it being this dim, I estimate that the light will go out in a week. Two if we are lucky."

"But… but we had half a year left. How can it go out that quickly?" I asked panicking. This was bad! Really, really bad!

"You were out there for almost an hour Magnus. You went out for five minutes before and we lost two months."

I started pacing the room, putting my hands in my hair and clenching it. "This means I only have a week to make Alec fall in love with me! I don't even know if I'm in love with him! If we don't fall for each other then every soul in the castle gets taken by Asmodeous. By my father.

I found out a few years ago that the demon that is trying to take me out of the world also brought me in it. He raped my mother and created me.

I stopped pacing and looked at Ragnor. "Does anyone else know about this?"

He shook his head no and I nodded.

"Don't tell the others about this. As far as they know we still have a year left."

The next day I walked into the study seeing Alec looking over some of the warlock books I gave him. He looked so engrossed in what he was reading and honesty it was adorable.

"You really like reading don't you" I asked suddenly making him jump in surprise. He looked up at me quickly closing the book.

"Are you going to tell on me with Catarina? She told me I wasn't allowed to get up but I got bored just laying in bed all day."

I shook my head walking over and sitting next to him. "As far as she's concerned I never saw you."

Alec smiled slightly at me before opening his book again. "I'm on the chapter about warlocks demon fathers. Do you know who your demon father is?"

I frowned at the question but nodded. "I do but I don't like talking about him."

I expected Alec to push me on the subject like before but instead he just nodded saying, "that's okay. I understand."

Was he afraid that if he pushed me I would throw fire at him again? I really should address that.

"You don't have to worry about me getting mad and throwing fire at you again. I won't try to hurt you."

Alec glanced away thinking before looking at me again. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little afraid. It's not every day fire gets thrown at me."

I nodded. "It would be strange if you weren't a little afraid. You don't have to be though. I won't attack you no matter how mad I get."

"I don't want to make you mad. I know I was wrong for going in the War Wing even though you told me not to. You set boundaries and I didn't respect them."

I smiled surprised he admitted he was wrong. I didn't think Nephilim knew how to do that. Pride and stubbornness is usually in their DNA.

"How about we start fresh from today onwards. Let bygones be bygones?"

Alec nodded stroking the cover of the book he was holding. "I would like that. We got off on a really rocky start."

I nodded watching him, thinking he looked lost in thought. "Is something on your mind?"

He shrugged putting the book down with the other four books sitting next to him. "Just thinking about home. I miss the town library. It wasn't very big and I already read every book there but I felt comfortable there."

I thought about that for a moment before standing up smiling. "Come with me" I said holding out my hand to help him up. He looked at my hand before looking up at me confused.

"Where are we going?"

"Come with me and see."

He put his hand in mine and I helped him off the floor before leading him out of the study, not letting go of his hand. He didn't pull away so I guess he didn't mind.

I led him down the long hallways and he looked around as we went. We passed Simon as we went and I didn't miss the big smile on his face when he looked at our joint hands.

Ignoring him, I stopped in front of two big wooden doors. Alec looked at the doors before looking at me confused. "What's this room?"

I didn't answer him. Instead, I just pushed the doors open and gestured for him to go in. He raised an eyebrow in question before starting to walk forward. He stopped and looked back at me when our still joint hands were keeping him from going any further.

I quickly let go of his hand smiling sheepishly at him. "Sorry about that. Go on ahead."

He walked in looking around and I stayed in the hallway until I heard him gasp loudly. I took that as my queue to go inside. Alec was standing in the middle of the huge library, staring dumbfounded by the thousands of shelves' filled to the brink with books.

He turned around looking back at me. His jaw was practically on the floor. "I've never seen such a big library in all my life!"

"I take it you like it then" I asked moving over to a couch sitting by the window. He nodded following and sitting next to me, once again looking around at the shelves.

"This is so amazing. I could only dream about reading this many books."

I shrugged "The only books I read are in the study. I never really looked at what kinds of books are in here. I predict that it's mostly Downworlder books and mundane stories."

That made Alec even more excited if that was even possible. "I've never read stories written by mundanes before. They aren't in the Idris library and dad didn't let me buy books when we lived in New York."

"You thought mundanes wrote those stories about Downworlders didn't you?" I asked watching him get up and walk up to a random book shelf.

He nodded skimming the titles. "I did but now I know Downworlders wrote them. I've always wanted to read mundane fairytales."

"It's been a hundred years since I last read a mundane story. I'm sure they've changed a lot in the years."

He kept skimming the shelves before grabbing a book, looking it over. "Romeo and Juliet? What's this story about?"

"It's a work of Shakespeare. It's one of his most popular stories. It's a tragic love story about a boy and girl torn apart by a family feud."

"Why is it a tragic love story? Don't stories about love usually have a happy ending?" Alec asked frowning.

I shrugged. "Most of the time but not in this case. Romeo pretended to be dead so Juliet killed herself with poison. When Romeo saw she died for him, he used a dagger and stabbed himself to death."

Alec quickly dropped the book putting a hand over his mouth. "That's just horrible!"

I shrugged thinking about it. "It's realistic. Love doesn't always end in happiness. Sometimes bad things happen that tear you apart."

Alec looked down at the book for a moment before looking back at me. "They weren't tore apart though. They both died so they can be together in the end. That's a sign of true love isn't it?"

I shrugged looking out the window. Alec's reflection could be seen through the glass. His eyes shone bright like always.

"I wouldn't know, Alexander. I don't know the first thing about love, let alone true love."

Alec's eyes in the window glanced away before his reflection got closer, until his real body was standing next to me.

"You're telling me that in all the time you've been alive you never fell in love?"

He sat next to me on the couch and I glanced over at him before looking back out the window. The sky was white as if it would start snowing soon.

"Of course I've fallen in love. It was never true love though. Either they didn't want to stay with me or they left me from death. With one, it was both."

He frowned, also looking out the window. "I guess I wouldn't know anything about true love either. I've never dated anyone before let alone loved them. I had a small crush on Jace once but I quickly outgrew that."

"I would hope so. No offense but that Jace guy seemed like a handful. He also had a loud mouth."

I expected him to get angry but to my surprise, he burst out laughing. "Yeah, Jace can be a lot to handle at first. He wears on you after awhile."

"He's a Herondale. It seems that aspect of their personality is genetic," I sighed. He nodded in agreement. "I take it Will Herondale was the same way?"

I nodded, bored of looking at the window and decided to watch Alec instead. He was gorgeous. The sun was setting in a way that shone through the glass of the window and on his face, making his blue eyes even brighter.

"He was a gorgeous man. Nothing compared to you though. You seem to be in a league of beauty that's all your own."

Alec's cheeks turned dark red at my compliment. He glanced around the library avoiding eye contact with me.

"Y-you're wrong. I'm nothing special. Especially compared to someone like William Herondale. He was beyond handsome."

"He was also cocky and idiotic. Your handsomeness seems to come from the inside as well as the outside."

He finally took the chance to look me in the eye. They were hesitant and weary but strong at the same time. I didn't think that was possible but it was there clear as day.

I used to think all Shadowhunters were the same. All of them selfish assholes who had no respect for others. There didn't seem to be a selfish bone in Alec's body.

He's over curious and doesn't respect boundaries, but far from selfish.

"So... since we are starting off on a new foot. Would you maybe consider having dinner with me tonight?"

Alec thought it over for a moment before a playful smirk appeared on his face. "WillI be allowed to eat if I refuse?"

I laughed nodding. "Yes Alexander. I will let you eat dinner even if it's not with me."

He smiled leaning against the window. "That's good to know. It doesn't matter though because I accept your invitation. I would love to have dinner with you."

I was shocked that he actually accepted my invitation. Sure, we were getting along better but I thought it would take a little longer for him to want to dine with me.

"You really want to have dinner with me?" he nodded standing up and walking back over to the book on the floor. He leaned down picking it up before walking back to the shelf to put it away.

"I do. Does seven sound good or is that too late?"

I was still shocked that we were even having this conversation. Alec was really going to have dinner with me. Would he feel disgusted from using plates used by Downworlders? Something tells me that Alec isn't that kind of guy.

"Yeah... yeah Alexander. Seven sounds perfect."