A Darker World

Chapter Four

All rights go to the amazing mind that is Cassandra Clare for all the characters in this story.

Jace's POV

Clary began leading us down a path at the back of her house that trailed into the woods. I kept my blade out and looked around as we walked. I looked down at Clary with a frown and stopped. She looked back at me. "What?"

"You're bleeding again." I said worried.

"I'm okay. It's not too bad." She said looking down at her shirt, seeing it soaked with a patch of blood. I took her arm, making her stop and face me. I reached for her top and slowly lifted it up, so not to hurt her. I winced just looking at the wound. She could see my worry as I looked back up at her. "It doesn't hurt too much anymore. It'll heal." I covered the wound again and let go of her top. I looked down at her.

"You'll tell me if it gets worse right?" She smirked slightly.

"Sure." I gave her a look.

"I mean it Red." She looked up at me, seeing I was serious. She frowned slightly. As if wondering why I cared.

"Okay." She promised. We kept walking.

"So," I carried on, looking over at her. "What exactly is it that we're getting?"

"Supplies, I guess."

"Supplies?" She looked up at me.

"Yeah, you know weapons. Seraph blades. Steles. That would be really helpful right now with Grace's leg. I was hoping to find some around the house but it was cleared out."

"Wait, why do you need weapons and steles? Can't you just, you know, magic one up? You could have just given Grace one you'd made and she could have been healed straight away. Would have saved time." She stopped and looked up at me, almost offended.

"It's not as simple as that." She crossed her arms. "Look at your blade." I frowned.

"What?"

"Look at your blade, the one I made for you." I held it up and she pointed to a part of the handle that seemed to be breaking away. I looked up at her. "Anything I make, only has a limited time. It's not technically real and so eventually it kinda just deteriorates. And if I made a stele and let Grace use it, it might be needed again at another point and I wouldn't have it." She started to walk again. I caught up.

"Yeah but couldn't you just keep making one whenever somebody needed it then just say it was the same one?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"It doesn't seem it. I mean I just cracked the solution to that problem." She sighed as she stopped again, looking at me.

"God, you're so arrogant. There are still things you don't understand, Jace."

"Then tell me." I said taking a step towards her. "You know you can trust me. And I thought we agreed not to have secrets." She looked up at me.

"This isn't about the fact that I want to keep it a secret. It's about the fact that we don't have time for me to sit and explain every little thing to you." I kept looking at her. She gave a groan, seeming to give in.

"Doing what I do. Making that blade. It didn't just come out of thin air. It takes power. Energy. It doesn't just happen. Doesn't just appear in my hand. It has to come from somewhere. Right in here." She said pointing to her heart. "It takes a part of me every time I do it. And right now, I'm not feeling too powerful. In fact, I'm worried that I'm not even going to be able to open the portal to get out of here." I looked down at her, now feeling slightly worried. She seemed to notice. "It'll be fine. I'll get us out of here, okay? I'll keep my promise."