Chapter 40 – Demonic Ambush
The short stretch of front yard just in front of the steps of the property, where Clary had been standing when he had entered the house, was empty. Jace spun around, already fearing the worst, when his eyes caught movement on the right side of the property. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he recognized her.
Clary was crouched at the edge of the adjoining forest, a slumped Shadowhunter at her side, holding out her arm. The woman's face was covered in fresh, bright red blood, but Jace could still recognize her as part of the patrol that Aaron Wrayburn had sent into the surrounding area. Now that he stopped for a moment and looked more closely, he noticed that not only her face but also her shoulder was bleeding. Something had torn her gear at shoulder blade level. Whatever she had gotten hold of her didn't look too serious at first glance.
And yet the uneasy feeling in Jace's chest forced him to move his legs again. He couldn't tell what it was, but he trusted his instincts. They had never disappointed him in the past either. Neither Clary nor the other Nephilim had noticed his presence, and even when he started jogging towards them, neither of them raised their heads.
Clary's right hand went down to her empty weapon-belt to grasp the only tool she was allowed to carry. She pulled the woman's arm a little tighter while her eyes searched for the right place for the Iratze. The stele's adamas reflected the sun's rays as a tearing sound pierced the stillness. Again Jace realized how quiet it actually was here.
Clary's eyes widened in astonishment when the woman's chest suddenly split open and a gout of blood spurted out at her. She jumped back, startled, and rubbed her red face with her right arm, her gaze fixed on the now-dead Shadowhunter's chest. A dark, limp creature with long, thin, spidery legs climbed out of the split chest and hissed when it spotted Clary. She grabbed her weapon-belt again; it must be an old habit because her eyes widened again as she remembered that she was unarmed. The demon, which was about the size of a small watermelon, started to leap and Clary lifted her stele into the air.
Jace's walk had turned into a sprint. He reached Clary just as the demon lunged at her a second time, letting out another hiss of dissatisfaction as she rolled onto her side and then got to her feet. Her eyes darted up to him, and to his surprise, relief reflected in her gaze. He didn't hesitate as he threw the sword at her and grabbed his own seraph blade to pierce the demon before it could make another attack.
"We have to get out of here immediately," he said as he carefully knelt down next to the Shadowhunter's corpse. "What the Archangel was that?"
"A latrodectus," Clary replied mechanically, as if quoting something. "They shouldn't even appear here."
"No demon should be in Idris," Jace remarked, almost sarcastically, then looked up at her. The woman, he didn't know her name, was beyond help. Clary stared down at her as if she had just seen a ghost. Demons were nothing new to her, except for the brief terror of the unexpected she should be okay. And yet there was a fear in her emerald eyes that seemed more than uncharacteristic.
"We have to take her with us," she said then, and suddenly it dawned on Jace what it must be. He didn't let it show, because he was sure that she would think it better that way, but he couldn't suppress the burgeoning astonishment. In her eighteen years under her father's harsh and rigorous training, far from civilization, she had never seen a Shadowhunter die. The way she stared at the lifeless woman, she probably hadn't even seen a human die.
Except for her mother, a voice whispered in his head, bringing Jace back to reality. "That's not possible," he tried to explain. "We don't have time. We have to get out of here immediately. Your father ... Jonathan, they know we're here."
Her brother's name brought Clary back to the here and now. She looked away from the corpse and raised her eyebrows. A calculating seriousness entered her expression. "Are they here?"
Jace shook his head. "They left you a bloody note to say it properly, though. Come on." Before she knew it, he had grabbed Clary's wrist and was trying to yank her back toward the mansion. She stumbled after him for a second, too surprised to elicit a proper reaction. Then she broke free of him and took a quick step beside him. She was about to open her mouth, her facial muscles already twisted into an angry mask, when a man's scream echoed across the clearing.
Both Clary and Jace snapped their heads up, their eyes fixed on the other side of the treeline. A Shadowhunter charged around the corner of the stables, heading straight for them, but the Morgensterns' compound was large, and he was too far away for anyone to help. He had just left the small brick building behind him when a twisted being leaped out of the undergrowth in one smooth motion. It was about the size of a panther and actually looked quite similar to the animal except for the head. The demon's snout was tapered and longer than a cat's. Its red eyes sparkled like raw rubies, and when it opened its jaws to let out a deafening high-pitched screech, it revealed a row of thin, needle-like teeth unlike any Earth creature. A moment later its strong muscles had catapulted it into the air. The Shadowhunter had a good head start, but it seemed like the demon was just waiting to get onto an open plain, free of trees and other obstacles. The distance to the creature vanished into thin air within a second. The force of the impact with which it landed on the man's back caused him to fall to the ground. Blood spurted skyward as the creature's fangs dug into the Shadowhunter's neck and he jerked its head back.
A scream escaped Clary's mouth and she stopped moving so abruptly that it took Jace several meters to stop and turn to face her. The sheer shock that crossed her face made her look completely out of place for a moment. As if she didn't belong in this world of demons and death. But the sword in her hand, which she clutched with a skillful grip, testified to the contrary.
The head of the decapitated Nephilim flew into the manor gardens and the demon seemed pleased with itself. Then, as if only just realizing Clary and Jace, it turned to face them. The distance between them was too great for a single leap to cross. Another hiss escaped its throat and it let go of the corpse to take a few cautious steps closer to the two.
Jace drew his sword and Clary moved to his side, still not fully in control of her facial muscles. He wondered how she could have maintained such a composed, controlled facade for the past few weeks, only to start cracking it on the battlefield. Had she ever killed a demon? They would have to kill this one. As soon as possible. Something in his stomach told him it wouldn't be the last of its kind they saw today.
Jace turned to Clary and opened his mouth to share his plan for encircling the demon. The words stuck in his throat. Instead, he hesitated when he saw the change in emotion in Clary's green eyes. It was like someone flipped a switch. Any trace of fear was suddenly swept away and an unbridled rage made her face freeze into a cold mask. Her right hand twitched and the black and gold sword reflected the white snow around her.
For a moment time seemed to stand still. Jace stared at Clary, who was staring at the demon with such hatred that the look in her eyes could have caught fire. The wind blew her red hair forward over her shoulders and she raised the sword level with the creature, who stopped in its movement and also looked at Clary. She looked as if she would bring death itself. She looked like she could take on an entire army of demons on her own.
Unlike Jace, who enjoyed throwing himself into battle, there was no smile on Clary's lips. She darted forward so suddenly that he opened his mouth to call her back. Except for raising her weapon, there hadn't been any indication of such a direct attack on her part that even he, who should have known better, hadn't expected it. Clary ran straight for the demon, which in turn started to move as well. Its powerful legs cushioned its every step as they closed the gap between them in a matter of moments. This time it didn't jump, it opened its mouth and screeched. Clary didn't return its battle cry. Her feet pressed against the wet ground and then suddenly it was she who was flying through the air. The demon stopped abruptly, but it hadn't anticipated her move. Clary threw the sword at the creature, which was now busy dodging. The screeching had turned into an angry growl. The blade struck the demon in the chest and a piercing howl rippled across the clearing. Clary landed meters away from it and snatched her sword from it as quickly as she had thrown it. Then she launched a second attack, but this time the demon was fast enough to dodge. It lunged sideways and its claws darted in Clary's direction. Her legs buckled as she ducked and swung her sword again.
Jace roused himself from his rigid state. His feet carried him in Clary's direction and when he reached her, she gave him a knowing look. He could read in her eyes the plan he had just been about to present to her. With two, it was almost child's play to keep the wiry demon in check. They circled it until it was at a loss as to which of the Shadowhunters to turn its attention to. Clary pierced its heart and it dissolved into a haze of dust.
As quickly as they might have finally brought it down, Clary's stunt at the beginning hadn't been necessary. She had taken an unnecessary risk and why? Jace wiped the blood off his sword, then lifted his head, ready to rebuke her. Again he paused. Clary, who had just been standing next to him, was now crouching a few meters away in the snow, which had meanwhile turned a dark red color. Her fingers traced the mutilated body of the Shadowhunter who had tried to flee from the demon. She looked sad, Jace suddenly realized with a start. A hint of regret crossed her face before she closed her eyes and her lips parted in a low murmur. Her words were too soft to make out, even with his audibility rune.
Jace moved toward her. The only sound in the clearing was the creaking of the snow under his boots, and it gave him goosebumps. Clary's fingers left the corpse and she lifted her head to meet his gaze. He didn't know what emotions he had expected on her face. A deep-seated anger fought a new kind of grief, and both sides seemed evenly matched.
She feels guilty, a stunned voice realized in Jace's head, and he almost automatically knelt in front of Clary. She thinks she's responsible for her family's actions because she can't stop them. He knew it was the truth. It felt like instinct and his instincts never let him down. His right hand touched Clary's shoulder in a feathery touch, but her green eyes never left his. It was as if she was caught in a rigidity from which she could not free herself.
"We will find them," Jace said in a low, insistent voice. "We will stop them, Clary."
Clary's head moved in a absent nod and she lowered her eyes. "But at what cost?" Her voice simmered and trembled, as if anger and grief were still fighting. "How many more will have to die before I can thwart their plan?"
"We," he replied, and a smile crept onto his face that he couldn't hold back. He jumped to his feet and held out his hand to Clary. "Now come on, we have a battle to fight."
An indefinable expression crossed Clary's face. For a moment she seemed to be considering something. Then she took Jace's hand and stood up. At that moment another screech sounded from the forest. Louder, yet further away than the demon before. The sound echoed across the clearing, seeming to come from all directions at once. A direction of the threat could no longer be made out. Clary and Jace shared a quick look before turning on their heels and running toward the stables.
A rumble was heard from inside the house. The doors flew open and the rest of the Shadowhunters, Aaron Wrayburn at the forefront, stepped out into the open. Dismay showed in their eyes as they surveyed the scenery in front of the property. It couldn't be Wrayburn's first mission to turn out to be an ambush, for his reaction was prompt and unhesitating.
"Saddle the horses," he called, pointing to Jace and Clary, who were entering the smaller brick building that second. The Shadowhunters moved even before he had finished speaking, as if reading his mind. "We ride in the same formation as on the way here–"
Aaron's words were drowned out by a cracking sound that sounded like two gigantic stones being smashed together. For a minute the ground shook and the Nephilim stopped moving; waiting. On the other side of the property, beyond the gardens from where they had ridden a few hours ago, brown dust billowed. Shrubs and ferns bowed under the weight of the demons fighting their way through the thicket and out into the clearing. They paused there for a moment, at the edge of the forest, allowing the Shadowhunters time to gasp in perplexity. Demons in Idris were rare. A horde of so many different species was unthinkable. It wasn't natural. This was Valentine's doing and he gave them time to admit it.
Then the demons charged forward and the Nephilim started to move at the same time. Clary and Jace threw open the stable gates and the first of the Shadowhunters rushed in to get their horses. The animals, more sensitive than the people around them, sensed the threat on the other side of the clearing without seeing it. Panicked whinnies cut through the boxes and some, particularly nervous ones, kicked at the wooden doors with their hind legs to free themselves from the trap.
"Herondale and I are holding the position here," Wrayburn said as he reached the stables. Jace nodded and drew his sword while Clary turned and went inside the building to get her own horse.
The first demons had passed through the gardens and were now heading for the stables around which the Shadowhunters had swarmed. Aaron tossed Jace a bow and drew his own, which had been slung over his shoulder. A moment later, a shower of arrows rained down on the creatures. They managed to knock out most of them. With a final angry hiss, they crumbled to dust. Jace dropped his bow and sprinted to slay the last of the first wave's demons with his sword. Aaron's arrows gave him the backup he needed to distract them enough to keep their full focus on him.
Jace's blade severed the neck of a demon of the same kind that Clary had killed earlier, and he spun sideways to avoid another's teeth. So pack animals. They were quick and agile, and a glance at the gardens made it clear that the rest of the demons had split up. They kept getting closer. Some faster, some slower, but all deadly. Jace's body jumped as something behind his back shattered. He jerked his head around and just managed to leap out of the way to avoid the hooves of Clary's horse. The animal's eyes widened in panic as it came face to face with the demons but was not quick enough to change course. The demon Jace had been planning to target next lunged at the frightened stallion, ramming its jaw into its neck.
A sound escaped Jace's throat, but he wasn't sure if it was meant to be a word or a simple scream. His eyes darted up to the empty saddle, then to two other horses, including his own, who had also bolted but outsmarted Clary's animal and dodged the demons soon enough. Jace didn't hesitate as he stabbed the distracted creature in the ribs and then whirled around to the stables, from whose gate a line of Shadowhunters rode away. Someone had relieved Wrayburn at the entrance, who now took his place at the head of the scattered column.
Wrayburn spurred his horse and it darted off, past the estate to the right and into the woods. In the opposite direction from Alicante, which was closed to them thanks to the demon horde. The rest of the Shadowhunters' escort followed him. Only Clary was nowhere to be seen.
"Jace," a female voice called out at that moment and Jace dared to turn his back on the demons in the distance for a brief moment. Clary sat on the back of a white horse, her horse, and trotted toward him. The demons were almost upon them, it would only be a few seconds before a fight would become inevitable. The stallion stopped dead in front of Jace and Clary leaned sideways to offer him her hand. He didn't hesitate as he grabbed her and heaved himself into the saddle behind her. His feet had barely left the ground when the animal moved beneath them, making a deliberate swerve to the right to follow the other Shadowhunters into the forest.
"Hold on tight," Clary instructed in a concentrated voice as she leaned forward in the saddle and the horse galloped. Jace's left arm automatically reached out to hold on to her and Clary's fingers closed around his like the most natural thing in the world. She pressed his arm against her middle while she gripped the reins with the other.
"Why is he so calm?" Jace asked over the noise of wind, demon screams, and hoofbeats. Her horse had stopped beside him as if the frightening creatures in the clearing had just been part of his imagination. It hadn't been upset, like her horse borrowed from the Lightwoods, or his own. As if it hadn't even been aware of the danger that had come so close to slitting its throat as well.
"I trained Silver to do that," Clary replied, briefly stroking the stallion's white fur before looking back at the forest in front of them, which was getting closer by the second. "He knows I would protect him with my life, so he needn't fear them."
They reached the rest of the column shortly after leaving the edge of the forest. Silver was a fast horse, faster than Jace's own, and he seemed used to charging through nature in the prevailing weather. Aaron Wrayburn gave them a nodding look from the front of the escort before turning left on his horse. His plan was to travel back to Alicante around the demons. They would have no choice, for to the west they were only a few miles from Idris's border.
Clary had other plans. Silver continued straight ahead, sprinting through the trees so fast that Jace wondered if it was training or coincidence that they hadn't brushed a trunk yet. He didn't ask what she was up to because he could guess. They rode for another five minutes until they spotted Jace's brown horse some distance away. It had slowed its pace, probably safe from the demons, and whinnied when it spotted Silver approaching without slowing down.
"Do I have to stop so you can jump over?" Clary asked, half-turning her head in his direction.
It was strange being so close to her, inhaling her scent, feeling her back against his chest. She was so small that Jace could rest his chin on the back of her head if he wanted to. Her form seemed almost petite compared to Isabelle, which intrigued him in a strange way. His arm was still wrapped around the left side of her body, which was primarily for balancing purposes, and yet Jace marveled at his own body not responding to this forced intimacy with negative emotions. Clary's green eyes sought his and her eyebrows were half raised when they suddenly stopped moving. Jace could see that she, too, suddenly became aware of the closeness. He felt her fingers, still entwined in his, clench.
What was on her mind? Right now, Jace wanted nothing more than to read her mind, and for that alone he should have slapped himself. He thought back to the moment in front of the mansion when their eyes had locked in a similar way as now. For a second he was lost in her emerald green eyes. That was dangerous. She was dangerous. Whatever was going on with him, he had to pull himself together as soon as possible. And yet he couldn't help the disappointment that coursed through his veins when Clary's fingers parted from his.
"Jace?" she asked, now completing the movement of her eyebrows. And despite her reaction, he could hear the hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"You don't have to stop," he finally answered her and sheathed his sword, which he had been holding in his other hand until then.
Clary nodded and turned back to face forward, careful not to meet his gaze again. She steered Silver towards his horse, which now began to run faster. Only yards before she caught up with the bay stallion, she pulled on the reins and Silver dug his hooves into the ground. A moment later, Clary leaned left out of the saddle, toward his horse. Her hand was outstretched as Silver matched the pace of the other animal below them. Jace raised his arms in a predictive gesture to hold Clary should she fall. But nothing of the sort happened. She managed to get hold of his horse's reins on the second try and then pulled it towards her as she spurred Silver on. He darted forward and the other stallion had no choice but to follow suit.
Jace swung his leg over Silver's back and balanced his knee on the back of the saddle. The animals ran side by side and a half meter distance was all that separated them. He lowered his gaze and fixed on the right stirrup, which was swaying from the horses' tremendous speed. Their hooves kicked up snow and dirt. Jace forced the cold wind into his lungs, then pushed it out again, pushing himself off Silver's back with a vigorous movement of his arms. For a split second his body flew through the air, hands outstretched and legs wide. Then he felt the leather saddle in his stomach and clawed the edges of the smooth material with his fingers. He swung his leg over the stallion's back, who jumped sideways in alarm, slipped his feet through the stirrups, and then let Clary throw the reins to him, which she had continued to hold until then.
Clary leaned away from him, Silver sprinted past him and turned left. Jace followed suit, picking up his horse's pace to catch up. They galloped through the darkening forest, looking for a trail of the escort. They had a small lead, so they had to find the path they had ridden earlier. And yet it didn't take long for their attention to be drawn to the rest of the Shadowhunters. It wasn't the path that gave them the clue, but the bloodcurdling scream of a wounded man echoing through the forest.
Silver whinnied nervously, but Clary didn't slow down. Over her shoulder, she searched for Jace's golden eyes to be sure he too had heard the scream. He met her gaze with a serious determination. Minutes later, they encountered the first Nephilim. The demons were everywhere. Clary couldn't tell if they were the same ones from the clearing, but in the end it didn't matter. Eosphoros was heavy and solid in her right hand and she used the sword as an extended arm as she approached the fight.
There were fewer demons than first appeared. Clary dispatched a flying creature as she rode by and pulled on Silver's reins, who stopped with a jerk. Jace had also drawn his seraph blade and was dealing with a Ravener demon while the two Shadowhunters who had formed the tail of the column spurred their horses. Clary and Jace followed as the horses made their way through the thick brush.
"I'll take care of the front, you take care of the back," Jace called to her as they approached the rest of the battle. It was a long, wide trail. The formation of the escort was intact save for the last two Shadowhunters. At the front, nearly a hundred yards away, Aaron Wrayburn was fighting, trying to clear an escape route for his soldiers. They couldn't go back. Only death would await them there.
Jace's horse rushed past Clary, down the path. He had the element of surprise on his side: the demons were too busy with their fixed targets to see him coming. His glittering sword pierced everything that stood in his way and soon he had reached the front half of the column.
Clary glanced at the two Shadowhunters beside her, then nodded. Now she could prove what she had learned over the years. She forced Silver forward and stood in the way of the first creature. An angry hiss escaped her as Eosphoros sliced through its wings, light as butter, and it dissolved in a wind of dust. Now Clary was glad that she had trained Silver to shed his natural fear of demons. For a moment she considered dismounting and meeting the nearest creature on foot, but Silver's back gave her an advantage in height, though not as agile as her.
A few meters away from Clary, another panther-like demon started to leap. It had extended its long, sharp claws in her direction and hissed as its body flew through the air towards her. Clary steered Silver sideways and gripped her sword with both hands as she brought the blade down with all her strength. The creature disintegrated into a dark cloud, but she didn't have time to breathe easy. Barely a second later, claws gripped her shoulder. Silver spun around, startled, and Clary let out a startled sound as well. The creature's bony fingers tugged at her armor, preparing to lift her into the air. All she could do was press her legs harder against Silver's body, hoping that it would keep her from slipping. The demon had a thin, cylindrical beak and was about to snap at her face. With its feet it held her sword arm so that she could not angle Eosphoros to kill it.
Throwing the sword up in this situation was risky, Clary's limited mobility could mean she wouldn't be able to catch it again. She had no other alternative to save her life. The hilt flew skyward, spinning on its own axis. Clary leaned as far to one side as the demon's claws, digging into her skin, would allow. A split second later the fingers of her other hand closed around the shaft of the blade and a relieved breath escaped Clary's throat. She didn't hesitate as she pulled her head back. The black-golden metal hissed inches past her nose as she dispatched the demon, who was still tugging at her shoulder to catapult her from the saddle.
Clary looked down at her shoulder and stifled a sigh. The demon's claws had pierced through the gear. Blood spurted to the surface through the holes in the black suit. The battle wasn't over yet. She didn't have time to take care of an Iratze now. Clary forced her head up, ignoring the stab of pain coursing down her arm. The demons barely outnumbered the Shadowhunters enough. The soldiers the Inquisitor had provided Wrayburn were highly trained and precise in what they did. For every Shadowhunter there might have been ten demons at the start of the fight. Now it was five at most. The escort's rigid formation had broken up and the Shadowhunters began to hunt down the remaining demons more indiscriminately.
Clary fought her way past two other creatures and spotted Jace a few feet away. He had his back to her and was shooting over to a man lying wounded in the cold snow. Blood spurted from a flesh wound in his thigh, and Jace was just in time to prevent a Rahab demon from ramming its needle-like teeth into the wound. The demon was a bit reminiscent of an oversized lizard and Clary knew that it fed on the pain of others.
Jace leaned over the left side of his horse towards the wounded man and reached out to help him up. It was an unwise move that left his back an open target because he wouldn't see a demon attack in time. He had to be aware of the risk and probably took it carelessly to avoid having to dismount when helping the Shadowhunter to his feet. Clary was still staring at Jace and couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't at least made sure his back was clear. The cold wind tore at her hair and she had to squint against the snow it blew up.
It was as if time had stopped for a moment. The fighting raged on around Clary, the screams just as loud as before, the thunder of metal echoing through the otherwise dead silent forest just as intensely as before. And yet everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Looking skeptical, Clary raised her hand to make sure her movements hadn't turned into a slow imitation of themselves as well.
A high-pitched, sustained screech caught Clary's attention, and she jerked her head around. The flapping of wings sounded in a dull sound towards her and when she recognized the demon it was almost too late for a reaction. Almost. It had to be the adrenaline in her blood. She couldn't explain it any other way as she propelled Silver forward in a sudden focus and stretched Eosphoros forward in a horizontal line in front of her body. The demon started to dive, the spikes unerringly positioned in its feet. A contented, gleeful giggle escaped the birdlike creature as it lunged straight at Jace.
Clary opened her mouth to warn Jace, but all that tried to escape her throat was a startled, hoarse squeal that was swallowed up by the raging wind around them. It miraculously reached Jace, who spun around at a speed she probably wouldn't have believed possible were it not for her own adrenaline rush turning it into reality.
For an agonizingly long moment, their eyes met. The length of time tugged at Clary's limbs, trying to prevent her from completing her attempt. The bottomless fear that emanated from her was transferred to Jace the second he took in the full extent of death before his eyes. Now it was he who parted his lips in panic to hold her back; to stop her. But it was already too late to retreat.
The demon was still falling out of midair, and Clary was closing in on Jace at too high a speed to stop. It was as she had hoped: miraculously she had managed to escape the grip of time. An angry shout cut through the din of battle, but Clary couldn't tell if it was Jace or the demon. Her fingers gripped Silver's reins and yanked with such brutality that in any other situation she would have felt bad about inflicting such pain on the stallion. Silver's reaction was immediate. He dug his hooves into the icy, stony ground and for a second they skidded across the snowy path. Then, when they had almost come to a standstill, he reared skyward. Clary widened her eyes and dug her nails into Eosphoros' shaft as Silver launched her into the air. All her focus was on the sword, which she still had pointed towards the horizon. Realizing someone was about to stand in its way, the demon hissed in a mixture of anger and surprise.
The demon collided with Clary's body and ripped her off Silver's back, who was still arched on his hind legs. It looked like he was floating in the air as she glided towards the ground. Eosphoros pierced the demon's body, which let out a pain-twisted screech. Clary could feel its jelly-like blood on her fingers. Then she hit the frozen ground, and the force of the impact knocked all oxygen out of her lungs. A hot, searing pain came to the fore and for a moment she wondered why it was coming from her stomach when it had been her head that had landed the hardest.
A moan escaped Clary's lips, which turned into a slimy cough in a split second. She spat blood onto her gear and tried to sit up, but the pain shot through her muscles like a bolt of lightning. It was an oddly paralyzing feeling, unlike what she was used to from pain. When it finally dawned on her, her eyes darted frantically down to her stomach. Her fingers still clutched Eosphoros, which lay blood-soaked and useless on her legs. No matter how hard she tried to loosen her grip on the sword, none of her muscles would obey. Clary realized why when her gaze lingered a few inches above the sword. The demon must have hit her with one of its spikes when their bodies had collided, because a hole gaped in the middle of Clary's stomach. She could feel the poison spreading throughout her body.
Quick footsteps rushed toward Clary through the snow. The poison had left her in a paralyzing state, she could only watch with her eyes as Jace threw himself on the ground beside her. Several emotions ran across his face at the same time, but only the panic remained. His golden eyes widened as he stared down at the hole in Clary's center. For a moment it seemed he had forgotten all first aid skills. Then his gaze wandered up to her face and a veil broke from his features.
"Damnit," Jace murmured, more to himself than Clary, and yanked his coat off his shoulders. "I have to stop the bleeding."
To his astonishment, Clary shook her head slightly. Opening her lips was agony. "Save yourself," she whispered. "I don't want my life wasted."
Jace shook his head vigorously and drew an Iratze on Clary's neck. Of course, he knew that the healing rune wouldn't help with such an injury. All it could do was superficially close the wound. "You will not die under my watch."
"Don't be ... stupid," Clary gasped, spitting up another gout of blood. Dark dots danced in front of her vision and the poison in her veins made it difficult for her to think straight. "The demon got me ... with its sting ... I will never ... reach the city in time to keep the poison from ... killing me ..."
Again, Jace just shook his head. The panic on his face, a panic Clary had never seen before, turned into a look of fear. He pressed his arm under her shoulder and forced her body into a sitting position while he wrapped her in his coat.
"You will not die under my watch," he repeated in a toneless voice.
It was the last thing she perceived before the poison dragged her into a bottomless darkness.
I really really love this chapter. So much is happening here, so many small Clace moments. But what do you think?
Also remember to go check out my Pinterest if you want to know how I imagine the protagonists and settings! My name there is ccskyllen. :)
Skyllen
P.S.: To Clary Fray: Girl. I told you that I want to read Harry Potter and the first thing you do is spoiler all the important deaths? :/ Lucky me that I already watched all the movies.