Chapter 26 – Ithuriel

"Stephen," said a lovely voice and the scenery changed again. I was standing on the edge of a balcony. A man stood by the balustrade, his back to me, staring out at the green of Idris. The demon towers gleamed on the horizon and the rising sun was reflected in their adamas.

The man slowly raised his head. A young woman – no, she was hardly older than a girl – came towards him with firm steps and stopped short in front of him. She had her eyes fixed on the man who was at least a head taller than her. Her long blond hair glistened in the light, and she wore a loose robe that hid her figure underneath.

The man turned to face her fully and I paused for a moment, thinking I saw Jace in front of me. He had the same golden hair, bright blue eyes, and same angular features. If you looked more closely, you could see that he appeared to be a bit older. Maybe late twenties. The tired look in his eyes made him look even older. When he saw the woman standing in front of him, his expression softened a bit and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's on your mind, dear?" His voice was deeper than Jace's, yet there was an undeniable resemblance. Even his posture, the straight back and the elegant, almost dancelike movements, spoke of Jace.

"How long is this supposed to go on?" the woman asked, her worried eyes wandering up to his face. His touch made her stiffen and she seemed to struggle to stay in place. "You know exactly how loyal I am to Valentine. He and Jocelyn ... they represent everything I ever dreamed of for my own family, but I need you here for that."

Stephen sighed, bowed his head, and then leaned against the stone balustrade. As he looked down, all that could be heard was the gentle breeze rustling in nearby trees and a few birds chirping. "Do you think it's easy for me to leave you here?" he finally broke the silence and searched her eyes. As he spoke, he slid his hand down and pulled her toward him. "I would like nothing more than to be here with you and await the arrival of our son. But Valentine needs me out there, especially now that Lucian has left him."

At his words, my gaze wandered to her stomach. The robe didn't reveal much, and the wind was too weak to steer the light fabric in one direction. And yet you could make out the contours of a small baby bump. I swallowed when I realized who the two were.

"I know that," the young woman whispered and closed her eyes in an almost desperate gesture. "I endorse what he is doing and honor him and any men who join him in battle against these ... savages. But I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you. Look what happened to Lucian."

"Look at me, Céline," Stephen said, his voice firm now to get her full attention. "Valentine has done a lot for us, and I want to go out there and fight with him. I do it for us. I'll come back to you, I promise." He took her hands in his and linked them together. One might have assumed that there should be something loving on his face, that he should show some kind of affection towards her. But he didn't. His expression was warm, caring, and kind, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

Céline didn't seem to notice. His words seemed to calm her a little and she squeezed his hands. "I don't know how to live without you."

The image swam before my eyes again. The world turned again. A deep crunching sound reached my ears from far away. Then the colors were gone, as was the bright light. All that remained was the dark cave under the abandoned manor house. I had to blink several times to adjust to the darkness and peered down at Ithuriel. My heart was beating like crazy in my chest and my breathing was rapid as if I had run a long distance. I turned my head and staggered back.

Someone touched my back and stopped me from going down on my knees. My eyes met Jace's and I had to choke back a gasp. I could see in his eyes that he had seen the same scenes as me. He now knew the truth and that I had not lied. I feared that he would react with defiance. But the look in his eyes showed nothing but melancholy and a brief flicker of longing. He looked away and let go of me.

And that's when I realized how ignorant and stupid I was. Of course, I wasn't the focus of his thoughts. Jace had never met his parents. Had only ever had to be content with stories. Had maybe seen pictures of them. This was the first time he had really seen his parents. So fleshed out that one could believe to be actually standing in front of them. The first and probably the last time. Of course, he wasn't thinking of me. Jace thought about his parents. Of these two people who had been nothing but distant snippets of stories to him. Like leaves in the wind that you chased but never got hold of.

I stared at Jace, trying to empathize with his agony. Noticing that I was still looking at him, he turned his head back in my direction. Only now he had his usual mask back on. I couldn't blame him.

"You have to free him," Jace said tonelessly and there was no doubt in his voice. He believed me.

I opened my mouth, not sure if any words would come out. The feelings in my stomach seemed to be drawn into a torrent. The fatigue in my limbs didn't help clear my mind. What did he say? What should I do? Now that the angel's power had left us, a deep empty hole was left in my chest. It tugged at my strength.

When I didn't respond, Jace repeated his words, then gestured jerkily at Ithuriel. He spoke faster than usual, the grace with which he usually stressed his syllables gone.

As if in a trance, I nodded, turned back to the angel, and then knelt on the floor in front of the rune circle. For a moment I surveyed the situation before my eyes with a cold, oblivious calm. As I stretched out my hand in Ithuriel's direction, I could feel the invisible wall beneath my fingertips for a mere second before it threw my hand back. The shield's power slid through my arm, slamming my wrist against my chest in one painful motion. If I had held my hand a little differently, it would have been broken now.

I closed my eyes and waited for the power of the rune circle to leave my body. But it didn't. Instead, it ran up my shoulders and spread throughout my body. This time I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my lips, and I threw my head back. The power of the shield raced through my veins, seeming to grow more powerful with the passage of time, with every second. Could I keep this energy under control? It was like the craving that had come over me when I had dreamt about this very place. When I had felt the urge to write the rune.

"I need the stele," I said, my voice shaking uncontrollably, and a look down revealed that my fingers were shaking as well. The strength coursing through me was uncontrollable and I feared it would soon tear me to pieces. My hands went to my weapons' belt, but it was empty. My thoughts feverishly jumped back, and I wondered where I had lost Adam's stele. It must have fallen out of my hand after I had opened the portal.

"Here," I heard Jace say firmly. I looked up but moved much too slowly considering the situation. Jace knelt beside me, grabbed my trembling fingers, and placed his stele in my hand. I stared at him, surprised at his reaction. But Jace just shook his head and squeezed my fingers shut.

Actually, I wanted to say something to him, to thank him, but the power of the stele gripped me with such intensity that my entire body moved in the direction of the circle. Not a moment later, the cool adamas touched the floor of the cave, touching the runes that imprisoned Ithuriel. And suddenly I could see the runes in my mind's eye. They were clearly written in front of me. I knew their meaning without ever having seen them before. I didn't hesitate.

I began to rewrite the circle's runes. I rewrote them and changed their meaning. I dissolved what had been set in stone years before. Captivity became freedom, weakness became strength. I freed Ithuriel from his magical bonds and gave him his life as he had given mine to me. The ground beneath my body trembled and the runes I drew glowed as their effects took hold. In the distance I heard the angel scream. An unearthly beautiful sound and at the same time heartbreaking.

And suddenly the rune circle broke. My father's runes dissolved and vanished from the face of this world forever. I lifted my head and looked at Ithuriel, who now stood in all his glory. I wanted to get up and go to him, but my legs failed me.

Thank you, Clarissa Morgenstern. We stared at the angel and watched as he lifted his blood-soaked wings and grabbed the weapon belt of his dirt-covered suit. Its golden color was barely visible beneath the stains of blood and dirt. When he turned to us, his fingers had closed on the hilt of his sword. May you win this fight.

Ithuriel raised the hilt of the sword to his chest, pointing toward the ground. For a moment I wondered what he was up to. But as the blade gleamed in the dim light of the cave, I realized. The angel's hands didn't tremble as he rammed the sword into his chest. The adamas pierced through his body as if it was cutting through butter.

I flinched, as did Adam and Jace. We stopped moving and couldn't take our eyes off this superhuman being in front of us. None of us stepped in to save Ithuriel from this suffering. He had no other way of returning from this world to his own. Only death remained for him to enter heaven.

No gasp escaped his lips as he collapsed onto his knees. His eyes were closed, but his chest was still heaving. The pain of death seemed no burden to him, he accepted it without batting an eyelid. I couldn't help but admire Ithuriel for his strength. I was pretty sure I could never show the same determination in the face of death and the lonely years of despair.

A small smile crept onto my lips as I watched the deep wound around the sword begin to glow with a brilliant light. His blood, which had just spilled a dark red on the floor, turned to drops of gold. The angel shone in all its glory one last time, then Ithuriel faded into nothingness in a blaze of golden light.

For an eternal moment, our eyes rested on where Ithuriel had been crouched just a few seconds ago. Neither of us dared to speak. We had rescued him and freed him from the life my father had forced him to live. But how would things continue now? Who would we tell about Ithuriel, could we even do that? What consequences would it cost me if I reported about Ithuriel to the Council? What would Jace tell the Inquisitor? His words would carry more weight and could determine my credibility.

A deep thunder snapped me out of my thoughts, and I raised my head. I staggered sideways and had to stretch out my arms to keep my balance. Only then did I realize that the ground was shaking. I turned to Adam and Jace who were looking at the cages with scared eyes. The tremors of the earth increased, causing the metal boxes to bang against each other, creating a high-pitched metallic clank.

"We have to get out of here," Adam called, pointing in the direction of the stairs. Whatever had triggered the tremor was now making it swell. The ground shook beneath us, and a look at the ceiling of the cave revealed that it wasn't designed to withstand such a tremor. Cracks formed in the rock and earth trickled down on us. If the quake didn't subside soon, we would soon be buried under larger debris.

Jace and I nodded almost simultaneously and then we started running. The way to the stairs was not far and yet the trembling earth made it difficult for me to get firm ground under my feet. With each new push, new cracks formed in the concrete and my foot seemed to slip a little to the side. It was like slipping on a slippery surface for a split second and then suddenly finding your footing again, only to be thrown forward. The others felt the same way and when we finally reached the stairs it became clear very quickly that it wasn't an option for us.

Portions of the uneven stairway had broken away from the rock and were rolling down the surviving steps toward the bottom. And higher up, where there was hardly any light, another component broke out of the stone at that moment.

"We won't make it," I said, coughing, trying to clear my throat of the dust particles that had been thrown into the air.

"We have no choice," Adam yelled, panicked as he watched our escape vanish into thin air. He turned to us and then looked past us, probably looking for an alternative way out of here.

I looked from Adam to Jace, trying to keep my nerve. Once panic infiltrated the mind, it was difficult to think straight.

"Watch out," Jace called, yanking at our arms to put some distance between us and the stairs.

I whirled around only to see the first part of the ceiling fall down on us. Debris filled the cave, kicking up another cloud of stone and moisture. We were stuck here, in a hole that would soon bury us. If we were lucky, a chunk would instantly relieve our suffering. But if not, we would slowly and painfully suffocate under layers of damp earth. I could see it clearly in front of me, barely noticing as Jace navigated us between battered cages. I could only stare at the debris falling down on them, denting or burying them directly under them with just one blow.

It wasn't until Jace grabbed my shoulders and yelled something in my face that I woke from my trance. I grabbed his arms to keep from being knocked off my feet by the tremor and waited for him to repeat his words. "You must draw the rune that you used to create the portal. It's our only chance out of here."

The rune you used to create the portal. Was he referring to the rune he had demonized yesterday? Had he changed his mind? Or was this just a quick change of mood to avoid dying under a pile of dirt? Did it all matter?

I nodded, then reached for Jace's stele, which I had just clipped to my belt. Just touching the adamas seemed to drain me of more energy and I remembered how much strength it had cost me to dissolve the rune circle. The adrenaline hadn't let me feel it for a short time, but now that I focused on it again, the strength left my limbs, and I sank to my knees. I couldn't really judge the power of the runes, but I had a feeling that the portal would drain what was left of my power.

"Very well," I murmured, recalling the rune. Then I raised my right arm and started to draw. The air resistance felt like an invisible wall on which the golden curves of the rune spread out and seemed to occupy my entire field of light.

When I detached the stele from the completed rune, it briefly glowed with golden light, then exploded in all directions. Blue sparks flew through the air and the portal's oval surface grew. At the same moment I felt the energy leaving my body. It flowed through my feet into the ground and transferred to the portal.

"Go," I demanded in a weak voice, without taking my eyes off the portal. "Think of the Gard when you go through it." If the rune worked like an ordinary portal, you had to think of a specific place, otherwise you would come out somewhere else.

Adam nodded and walked towards the portal. For a second he looked at it uncertainly. The blue reflected in his eyes and gave him a strange effect. As if it would cost him an effort, he slowly started to move again and went through the portal. Wherever he touched the water-like surface, it lit up. Then Adam was gone.

I had to close my eyes to keep from losing consciousness. The cave began to spin around me, and as I waited for Jace to step through the portal, fear swelled in my limbs. I could barely kneel on the ground, could barely sustain the portal. Adam's entrance had felt like a thousand knife wounds at the same time. I wasn't sure how I was even supposed to get up. The tremor and falling rocks, cutting off my breath and filling my lungs with dust, only made my situation worse.

Someone was tugging at my arm and suddenly I lost the ground under my feet. Everything was spinning wildly around me, and I clenched my mouth to keep my stomach from getting the wrong ideas. I opened my eyes a little, but the tiredness was overwhelming. My eyes watered and I had to blink several times to see anything.

Jace's face was so close to mine my heart almost skipped a beat from the shock. He had me picked up, I could feel his arms under my back and the crook of my leg. Shame rose in me as I realized my head was resting on his shoulder and I tried to sit up. But my body lacked any strength, and I could do nothing but stare at the portal that was slowly but surely dissolving in front of us.

I could feel Jace moving beneath me. A moment later he entered the portal. I hoped he was thinking of our destination, because I was no longer able to. The power the portal required seemed to be eating me from the inside out. A tremendous pain shot through my head and robbed me of my sight.

For several seconds I didn't feel anything, and I was already afraid that the portal would swallow us up forever. But then, suddenly, the roar of the portal stopped, Jace cursed, and I hit hard ground.

-

Wohoo, Jace didn't leave Clary to be stoned to death! :D Please let me know what you think!

Skyllen :)