The Rise Of The Morningstar (Eng. Version)

Chapter 11 - A Turning World

Chapter 11 "A Turning World"

Jonathan's triumphant smile vanished the second the nails of my left hand had reached his cheek and scratched it open. His head tilted in an elusive move, his legs staggered for a brief moment, but he had expected me to throw myself at him. His head hit the stone-floor and a gasp escaped his lips.

He needed exactly three seconds to orient himself. I felt the muscles of his arms tense up and then, he pushed me aside. My sight was weak. Due to the pain I could barely see his outlines, and when I lost the contact to the ground and his body, I was at his mercy.

Confused and disoriented, I wheezed for air and blindly tried to get his arms away from my shoulders. My body's pain came back all at once. Angrily, I pressed my lips together, so no sound would come across my lips. I was too weak to flee his grasp. All I could do was to look up, in hopes to identify anything.

When the next wave of pain ebbed away, my sight became clearer. I heard quiet murmurs from the background. Then, my body lost contact to the floor, and someone pulled me to my feet. I stumbled backwards and almost plunged again.

Valentine had ascended from my mother's body and interposed himself between Jonathan and me. He rose his hand imperiously. His face equaled an emotionless mask, the lips firmly pressed together. But his hands were shaking.

"This isn't the way siblings should behave", he finally said with a toneless voice, but he still sounded authoritative. "Clarissa, it'd be stupid of you not to accompany us back to Idris. All those sacrifices would've been in vain." Unlike Jonathan, he gave me a choice. He didn't want to have anyone by his side who didn't support his actions and ideologies themselves.

And now I was standing there, staggering and covered in blood. Meanwhile, the room spun slower, but it was still difficult to breathe. This short moment of silence made me pause and I wondered what I was doing here all along. I turned my head and looked at Adam, who was withhold from reaching us by a horde of demons, just as all the other Shadowhunters. No party attacked the other. For the Nephilim, a fight would have ended in a defeat anyway.

Alec still lay motionless on the marble floor while Isabelle knelt over him. Maryse stood behind her but seemed at odds as to which event to focus her attention on. Jace stood to one side, in a combat ready stance, his seraph blade in his right hand. He had to squeeze his hand with all his strength, because from here I could see his veins bulging on his forearms. My gaze traveled up to his face and for a moment his eyes met mine and time stopped again.

The look in his eyes had changed. The painful expression had been replaced by a cool, almost detached one. I felt my stomach twist. I didn't know what think of this.

"Clarissa." I flinched as if he had hit me. My father was waiting for a response, but I had already come to a decision.

I nodded and tried to approach him with steady steps. Valentine's face softened as he saw my reaction and outstretched his hand in my direction. With huge effort, I raised my arm and took hold of his hand. His skin felt rough and uneven. When I stood directly in front of him, I stopped and looked up at him. Then, I flung my arms around his neck.

I felt my father tense for a second, surprised by my reaction. Then he responded to my hug. Valentine had never been a man of huge emotions. I broke away from him and glanced over his shoulder to Jonathan, who eyed us skeptically.

Slowly and cautiously, I made a step aside and stood askew to my father now, Jonathan was only two meters away. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to change your mind", my brother said, and his voice was ice cold.

"Sometimes people surprise you", I answered and this time he was the one who didn't see it coming. With surpassing speed, my hand wandered to my father's belt, grabbed a dagger and tossed it at Jonathan at full tilt. A split second later, the dagger bored into his chest, directly into his heart.