Arise || The Dark Lord Series || The Mortal Instruments

Prologue (Edited)

Shanara stared at the flames as they rose higher and higher. The smoke obscured her vision, as the smell of burning flesh choked her.

"Mama! Dada!" she screamed, her voice mixing with the terrorised screams of those around her. She blindly stumbled through the smoke, crying out her parents' names till her voice become a whisper.

Her legs suddenly caught in something, and she fell to her knees. She squinted, and when her vision adjusted, she saw a face; cuts and blood all over. It was a familiar face.

"Mama!" she cried out, taking her mother's face in her hands. She shuddered as the iron smell of blood washed over her. "Mama!"

"Shanara," her mother opened her eyes. "My baby."

"Mama," Shanara sobbed. "Mama, what happened? Where's Dada?"

She looked around wildly. Her gaze went over the many bodies on the ground, writhing in pain, and she stopped at a headless body, wearing her father's shirt.

No.

No.

Shanara screamed, but her voice sounded distant to her ears. The world was spinning, and there was a blackness coming over her eyes. She was drowning, drowning in shock and disbelief and grief so colossal it left her numb. Someone was saying her name, but she didn't care, she-

"Shanara!" her mother shouted. Shanara blinked, trying to focus. To come back to reality. But do you? whispered a voice in her head. Do you want to come back to a reality where your father is dead, and your mother is dying?

"Shanara! Shanara, honey, I need you to listen to me," her mother shook her by the shoulders, snapping Shanara's attention back to her mother. "Stop, I need you to listen."

When Shanara nodded, her mother continued. "You know what we were trying to do, don't you? What led to all this? We were trying to bring Our Lord back. Many have died for this cause, as will I."

Shanara shook her head, the numbness taking over again. "No. Mama-"

"No, child, listen to me," her mother looked at her and when Shanara looked back, she continued. "Though the bonds that hold Him are strong, there is a way. To bring Him back. And you have to do that."

Shanara's eyes widened, but before she could say anything her mother spoke, "Our society is dying around us right now, and I trust you to carry it on," she paused then said, "The chains that keep the Dark Lord prisoner in the Eternal Pit can be broken. But you must open the Gates of Hell first, and to do that, you will need the pure blood of the Angels," her mother took a rattled breath. "And the blood can bring us back."

Sharara's head snapped up. "Mama, where is the blood?" she asked but it was too late. Her mother's unseeing eyes stared at the sky, her mouth still open.

§§§§§§§§§§

Shanara woke up, covered in sweat.

"I will avenge you, Mother," she swore. "I swear on Our Lord, Lucifer, that I will."