City of Heavenly Fire

The Dead City

Ughhh, I am so sorry this took so long! My computer was being beyond dumb and I had to get it cleaned-twice. See, this is why one should never rely on technology.

Even wifi can't be there for you, sometimes.

Anyway, this is the next chapter and the following one will be updated sooner. I'm happy because I finally have figured out how I'm going to end this fanfiction, after beginning it randomly almost two years ago.

Awe. *cue sad melody.*

I estimate this one still has, ohh, maybe a MINIMUM of six chapters left, cause I don't know if that will change, or if I'll add more or come up with another cool idea that I want to include.

But yes, that is my author note. Again, sorry for the lack of activity-BLAME TECHNOLOGY. I hope you enjoy:)

When Clary awoke, her head was pounding.

It felt as if someone had taken a hammer to her skull, which pulsed like a super sized bruise. She rubbed her temples, groaning as she sat up, and tried to see through the dimly lit basement.

Except she was no longer in a basement.

Instead, she was surprised she hadn't noticed the bed she was on, in a room decorated in elegance. The floor was composed in hand laid stone, meeting the body length windows that lined the far side wall. The sun filtered through thick, crimson drapes, which matched the red carpet and cast a tinted sheen over the rest of the room, kept warm by a burning fireplace in front of the four poster bed.

Clary waited for the fog to clear, trying to recall the details of what had happened.

She remembered the old man and Sebastian and felt a shiver go down her spine as she pulled back the covers and walked to one of the windows on shaky legs.

She gingerly peeked through the curtain.

And what Clary saw beyond was very unexpected. She'd thought Sebastian would complete his doom agenda in Idris, but rather, it looked as if he'd planted her at the heart of a ruined city.

The heart of a dead city.

Buildings that she could tell were once great, now crumbled, pillars broken in halves, bent over like cut grass. Stone platforms rose from the earth, chipped and cracked, a million wounds cutting across the body of the city. Its remnants appeared almost corporeal, as if they'd disappear once she looked away.

Her breath caught and her jaw hung wide as she gazed over the city, and her hand twitched for a pencil to capture the eerie, ruined landscape.

She ignored it and stretched her head from either side, debating how far the broken city fell.

"What is this?" she asked herself, swallowing loudly.

"It would appear the guest is awake,"  a raspy voice said from the door. Clary jumped and pulled down the curtain, as if she'd been snooping. Then she became instantly irritated that she'd cared.

At the entrance, the old man stood, Liesel,  a heavy coat draped over hid thin shoulders, eyes watching her intently.

A spike of anger welled up inside her, a shocking vehemence that she'd never directed at any elder before in her life. But she did so now. At a man who had deceived her. Trapped her. Drugged her.

She couldn't consider that an act of vengeance, just cowardice, and she'd done nothing to deserve it.

But that seemed to be the Shadowhunter trend.