Their Souls Entwined

One Last Stand

Izzy forged the blade with some blood which had been extracted from both Jace and Clary. It shone bright silver with a tint of gold which could be seen in certain light, indicating the presence of angel blood within it. "Do you think this will work?" Alec asked his sister as she admired her workmanship; Izzy turned to look at him, "I hope so," she said, "I separated the molecules of pure angel blood, but whether or not it's powerful enough, I don't know. It won't be as powerful as Raziel's, but it's the best we've got." Her brother nodded and turned his gaze to the sword before replying, "Now all we can do is wait."

They had contacted institutes around the world, asking them to keep a lookout for heavy and unusual demon activity in the area. Everyone had geared up and was ready to go; they were all wearing thick leather jackets, which protected their skin from most cuts, and they looked like a gang of bikers. "This one is a bit stiff, haven't you guys ever heard of leather conditioner?" Simon said as he pulled his arms into it. "Why is the vampire here?" Alec asked, looking at Izzy. "You know, I was thinking the same thing," Jace added, "I knew there was a reason why I picked you to be my parabatai." He smirked at Simon, who scowled at them both. "Boys," Izzy whispered in Clary's ear, which Clary returned with a giggle. Jace's eyes flicked to her, all confidence and self-importance disappearing immediately when he looked at her. Her heart began to beat faster, in the way it always did when she felt his eyes on her; suddenly something caught her attention, a piece of burning paper which Izzy grasped at. Her eyes widened as she read it, "The Toronto Institute have sighted the demon," she said, "It's making its way toward the CN Tower." Magnus was already working on a portal, and everyone stood in a line as the shimmering doorway began to take shape. Jace turned to look at Clary, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear before taking her hand, "You ready?" He said. She tilted her head to look up at his blue and hazel eyes and nodded. He grinned at her before they stepped into the portal.

It was evening in Toronto, and the stars shone brightly above them like diamonds, as they walked down the street. It was also unusually quiet; there were no mundanes around, which was odd since Toronto, like New York, was always awake and bustling. Clary felt a pang of deep sadness as she looked around her, the last time she had been here, she had faced her brother Jonathan and taken his life. She closed her eyes and his face rested behind her eyelids, all sharp cheekbones and fiery red hair. His words echoed in her head, "Can't you see the family resemblance?" She had denied it before, but now she could kind of see it in his stubborn set jaw and his chiselled features. He was a product of their father's curiosity and ambition. An experiment. She remembered putting her arms around him that day and creating her last rune, which drew the life from her brother. She remembered her tears as his body folded to the ground; the scared look in his eyes when he knew he was dying. She remembered the loss she felt; he may not have been the brother he could have been, but he was still her brother, and she would always love him. He was what Valentine had made him through no fault of his own, and she felt guilty that she couldn't save him.

The sound of a drawn blade brought Clary's attention back to her surroundings; Jace had removed the silver-gold dagger from its sheath, and now held it as he scanned the street. Everyone had gone still. It was eerily silent for a moment; Clary could hear her heart hammering in her chest. Then, there was a gasp, and a few moments later, a crashing sound came from a few feet away. Turning, Clary saw that Izzy, who had been standing behind her, was gone and now lay across the street against a dumpster, her chest rising and falling slowly. In her place rose the dark shadow. The streetlight allowed Clary to see it now, it seemed to be made of wisps of smoke, like a contained tornado with two onyx black eyes, and they were staring straight at her. Clary unhooked her kindjals from her weapons belt, and threw one, it flew straight and true, right between the eyes and through the demon. She heard the clash of metal as the kindjal struck the floor behind the demon, which was now advancing on her. She lifted the second kindjal, but the demon was already in front of her. Before she could move, she was thrown back and onto the cold hard ground. She tasted blood in her mouth and felt a stinging on her lower lip, she must have bitten it when she hit the floor. Her first reaction was to check her body, there was a long tear across the front of her jacket, but the skin under it was untouched, the thick leather had absorbed the blow. She forced herself to rise, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head; Jace was battling the demon with startling swiftness. Clary didn't think she had ever seen him move so fast, wielding the blade as if it weighed no more than a toothpick. This blade didn't pass straight through the demon, and with each cut, the demon gave a blood-curdling screech. Then, almost invisibly fast, the creature lashed out and knocked Jace backwards; his dagger fell to the floor by his feet. Clary cried out to him and with almost the same swiftness, threw her kindjal at the creature. As expected it passed straight through the demon, but it had served its purpose, the demon had turned away from Jace and was now heading towards her. Her body felt heavy and the corners of her vision began to go cloudy; the impact of her head with the ground must have given her a concussion, she thought to herself. She swore under her breath and backed up until she hit the cold surface of a building wall. She was trapped. The demon was inches from her now; it had stopped in front of her, gazing down at her like a lion might gaze at its prey before it pounces. It jolted then; Clary couldn't tell if she was hallucinating or not, but the edges of the creature had begun to shimmer with gold. From the chest of the demon, protruded a sharp tip and from it, the golden fire spread, enveloping the creature. With one last piercing cry, the demon burst apart and vanished; behind it was Jace, his glowing golden eyes focused on Clary.

In a split second, his hands were on her, checking her for cuts or nicks. His eyes had stopped shimmering now and were wide with concern as he looked into hers. Taking his stele, he activated her iratze before he drew her into his arms. He had a tear across the arm of his jacket, but like hers, the thick leather had taken the impact and his skin beneath was unharmed. The two of them made their way to Izzy was now sitting up; Simon on one side, and Alec on the other. Apart from a small scrape on her cheek, she was okay. It was over, it was finally over.