The Rise Of The Morningstar (Eng. Version)

Chapter 10 - The Demon in Him

Chapter 10 "The Demon in Him"

With every word that he mumbled, the Soul Sword seemed to light up even brighter, until it completely merged with the surrounding light. Jonathan hadn't been knocked over by the force wave. He was still standing behind the sword, his fingers closed around its handle. Adam, who was laying some meters away from me, threw me a glance. He looked deeply concerned. He opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, but I couldn't hear him. I couldn't hear anything. Not even the usual static in my ears.

The seconds passed and we stared at one another, speechless. I slightly shook my head to signalize him that I hadn't understood him. At this instant, my hackles suddenly raised. The Soul Sword had stopped shining. Jonathan eyes were closed, he looked weirdly concentrated. The triumphant grin on his lips was gone. Then, he opened his eyes and our gazes met. I was too distracted by him to hear the mob of demons draw closer. I noticed that the others quickly jumped on their feed behind me, but I remained on the floor unable to break free from his eyes. As if they were the only thing holding me here.

Only when the demon stood above me, my body woke up from its trance. I swayed to the side. My palms touched the cold floor and I lifted myself up. I raised my head and saw Isabelle next to Alec, who troubled to stand upright. Then, I registered how many demons there truly were. Not a dozen like I had assumed. It was a whole army, which seemed to occupy every inch of the huge hall with their dark and despicable bodies. And in the middle of it all were we. Adam, Isabelle, Alec, Jace and I.

I grabbed my seraph blades, called their names and struck the demon down which had been standing above me some seconds ago. It was a never-ending flow. As soon as I had killed one of them, three others took its place.

Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw Jace fighting side by side with Adam. They moved fast and determined, but not even they could deny that we were outnumbered by far and it was only a question of time, until they would have overwhelmed us. As everybody could see, Jonathan had indeed the ability to change the Sword's powers. He would be able to summon thousands of demons. The storm of demons would never stop. Only if Jonathan gave the signal.

An angry scream escaped my lips as I struck down the next demon. I didn't know how long or how many I had already killed. But my muscles burned, my breath went wild, and my heart rushed out of effort. I turned around and tried to reach the others. Isabelle made a lot of effort to protect her brother and herself. Alec was anything but keeping well, but he stood on his legs and fought. I couldn't even believe how he managed not to black out in his condition. There was a literal hole in his chest after all. His bow was randomly shooting arrows through the hall, and still he somehow managed to hit them. But one could see that he was far from his top form. His chest was battered, some of his rips must have broken through the stroke by the Forsaken. He moved slower than usual and not quite as fluent as it was expected of a Shadowhunter.

A creature with huge wings had spotted me from the air and plunged itself at me. I could only duck and hope that the demon would stay at the ground and not lift off again. It was much more difficult to catch a flying demon. The demon seemed to know that because it flew up again and uttered a groaning hiss, which sounded amused in an odd and demonic way.

When the demon tried to catch me a second time, I knew how it would try to snatch at me as soon as it would be within range. I took a step aside, performed a volte-face and jumped. I firmly clutched my seraph blades. With a groan, I landed on the demon and clawed his back with my fingers. It squealed and outstretched its wings in order not to lose control because of my weight. For a moment, I feared that we would crash against the wall, but somehow the demon managed to achieve a balance and the ground zoomed out.

Quickly, I picked myself up and wielded one of my legs across his back to sit up straight. The demon twisted its head to locate my new position and snarled as it spotted me on its back. However, it was already too late. I reached back and the shining seraph blades bore into the creature's neck. Blood splashed in my direction, and I pressed my lips together so none of it would enter my mouth.