Chapter 76 – Rune to Heaven's Gate

--- 2 days before the start of the war. ---

A few more hours of research later, Isabelle threw the last book of her now completed stack across the aisle. Having finished my half of the list a few minutes earlier and now returning the books to their places on the shelf, I heard the book fly past my head just a few meters away. Spinning around, I saw it land edge-first on the floor and tumble several times before coming to a stop. The violent impact had visibly damaged the book.

"If Alandra Gladstone ever finds out, my family won't be your biggest problem anymore," I blurted out, only half joking.

But Isabelle ignored me entirely. "Those damn idiots," she fumed, throwing the next book right after the last one. With a crash, it hit the shelf opposite me and then slammed down onto the wooden parquet floor. My eyes widened in shock as she unleashed a string of curses that she must have picked up in the underworld. "Fools, all of them. How can they just forget the legends surrounding such an important cultural artifact like the mirror? It's not like we wouldn't all be here without it! It's not like it played a crucial role in Raziel's appearance! But no, it's fine, let's just forget all the secrets around the mirror because we're all dumb, useless idiots!"

Silently, I put the remaining books in my hands back on their shelves and then sat down across from Isabelle at the table. Sighing, I massaged my temples. All that reading had turned my brain to jelly, even though reading had always been one of my daily duties. No wonder Isabelle's head was about to explode.

"I swear to you, Clary, if we had the time, I would personally force you to create a resurrection rune. Just to disturb our past leaders in their eternal rest. Just to shake them until they wished to be dead again. Just because they're idiots and they deserve nothing less."

I wondered if she was aware of how hard she was pounding on the book in front of her. "Then they're probably lucky that Nephilim burn their dead. Not even one of my runes could bring a pile of ashes back to life."

Isabelle's dark pupils flared accusingly. "Aren't you the one who should be just as upset? Where does this sudden relaxation come from?"

I shrugged slightly and pulled the stack of books out from under her arms before she could throw them around or damage them in any other way. "I got used to failure after Jonathan's visit to Imogen. Since the chance of finding something here wasn't high anyway, I didn't even set my expectations high."

"No wonder we fail if you don't believe in anything else! You can only achieve goals that you believe are possible," she said reproachfully.

But I was only half listening to her. I lowered my gaze, pondering, and stared at the books between my fingers, not really seeing them. Just to disturb our past leaders in their eternal rest. Isabelle's words had stirred something in me, like a desire that appeared out of nowhere and just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard you tried to push it out of your mind. An idea that made the skin under my fingernails itch.

"What if we can't resurrect the dead, but we could visit them?" I whispered during one of Isabelle's breathing pauses, and her swelling tirade got stuck in her throat. Our eyes met across the table, hers wide in speechless shock, as if she could only half follow my words.

"You mean ... you want to create a rune that transports us to the afterlife?" Her voice shot up again, this time a mix of panic and admiration.

"Ithuriel has called my soul to Heaven before. Maybe I can summon the same power. I'm not sure if we can really talk to our ancestors. I didn't gather enough information last time. But someone has to be there to greet us."

"That sounds so freaking terrifying and cool at the same time." Isabelle leapt to her feet and gestured for me to follow with a sharp hand movement. She rushed through the aisles between the bookshelves like a storm, every fiber of her body charged with adrenaline. She only stopped after we had crossed half the library.

We found ourselves in the farthest section of the library. In front of us lay a deserted corner that looked like no one had been there in a long time. On the left side ran a long, final bookshelf, and on the right, the massive, light-gray marble wall of the building. The ceilings were so high that the windows were set several meters above the floor. With the way the light fell, this part was in the shadows of the sun. A few witch-light adorned the intricately decorated wall at regular intervals. This corner must be on the opposite side of the entrance, far enough away from Alandra Gladstone's usual territory.

I was about to ask what Isabelle was up to when she left me standing in the corner and ran a few dozen meters down the corridor. She stopped in front of a decorative tapestry. It showed nothing special, nothing more than a few runes worked into the burgundy background in dark gold tones. Isabelle didn't bat an eyelid as she roughly ripped the carpet off the wall. A surprised sound burst out of me, but she had already turned around and was heading towards me with a self-satisfied grin.

If Alandra Gladstone caught us doing this, heads would definitely roll.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder as she walked past me, unceremoniously throwing the rug onto the floor in the corner. She kicked off her boots and sat cross-legged, her expectant gaze fixed on me. "Heaven may wait for us forever, but why keep them waiting?"

"You mean ..." I caught my breath. "I should do it here?"

Isabelle nodded excitedly and waved me over again. "You create the rune, put it on me and then on yourself. And then we go looking for ghosts."

I clicked my tongue disapprovingly. "I have no idea if this will work, you know that, right? Maybe it won't work at all. Maybe the rune will kill us and we'll end up in Heaven, but forever. Are you prepared for that?"

Isabelle shrugged and dramatically threw her hands up to the sky. "Whether we die today or in three days doesn't really make that much difference. And now we still have the chance to change our fate. In three days it will be too late if we don't have results by then."

I took my time removing my shoes and settling down next to her on the wide carpet. Inwardly, my pulse was racing. The insides of my hands were sweating at the thought of somehow transporting us to Heaven. I had only just learned to use my gift. Sure, it had worked the last two times I created a new rune. But separating our souls from our bodies, sending them to the damned afterlife, and then bringing us back unscathed seemed like a lot for a single rune.

Once I was seated on the carpet, I fished out my stele. As with every touch, the contact sent a pleasant tingle through my body. Like a device being plugged into a power source, the lights inside me turned on instantly. It felt as if my full consciousness was only now booting up, only now unfolding, when I was so close to my power.

My senses seemed clearer than they had moments before, and I couldn't only hear Isabelle breathing next to me or feel her warmth — I could perceive the tension bubbling within her, urging her to say something. I raised my hand, and the electrified atmosphere cooled.

"I'm going to start now," I said in a rough voice. "A rune of this magnitude will require a lot of concentration and energy. It's best if you stay as still as possible beside me." Gently, I took her arm and placed it on my knee so that I could easily grasp it even with my eyes closed.

We looked at each other one last time. "Good luck," Isabelle whispered, briefly squeezing my hand before becoming as still as a statue.

My eyelids fluttered shut. Darkness enveloped me. The pulsing energy in my center awoke from its sleep as I let my consciousness slip deeper into my body. It beckoned to me, reached out to me, invited me in.

As soon as I was through the door, my five senses faded into the background of my perception. Or my mind had simply sunk so deep into the lake of my power that the control of my body slumbered far away, above the surface, and switched to automatic. A bit like a dream, except that down here I could perceive everything crystal clear.

I leaned over the hole that opened before me like the bud of a flower going through its ripening process in fast motion. The darkness disappeared so abruptly that it felt as if it had never been there. The dazzling light of power shone towards me, embracing me with its warmth. I let myself fall.

The images seemed to conjure up by themselves.

The endless meadow. The endless stairs. The feeling of peace. Ithuriel's glorious figure under the tree.

Send us up, I ordered. Send us back to where it all began.

Isabelle's body. As faded and transparent as my own. Kind of there, but not really.

Give us the time we need. No infinity. No finality.

The beating of feather wings. The deep bass of voices. The ringing soprano of laughter.

Separate soul and body. Reconnect them when time runs out.

The light surrounded every inch of my perception. As if I were at the center of the sun. As if I could fall for a lifetime without escaping it. But then something appeared on the horizon of my perspective, stretching across my closed eyelids like a barely perceptible shadow in midsummer. I reached out for it before the light could bleach it out.

The rune was weak. So weak that it was barely visible. So weak that I shouldn't have reached for it.

My hand moved, and I broke the surface with such a rushing pressure that it might as well have been frozen. My fingers clamped around Isabelle's arm like claws. Whether she wanted to or not, she couldn't escape this anymore. The stele might as well have been a knife, slicing through her skin.

Isabelle screamed. But once started, I couldn't stop. There was no turning back.

Only when I applied the stele to myself did I realize the forces I was unleashing. The sound that scratched agonizingly over my tongue drained my strength. So greedy. So hungry.

And then it was over. The rune was complete, and every perception, every sensory impression, every feeling left me.

No. I left them.

The jerk that cut through me split me in two, tore me apart at my core, opening a gaping wound. Too deep for any earthly healing to mend. The pain that should have been omnipresent in such a catastrophic event was entirely absent.

When I opened my eyes, I was dead.

-

Hi guys,

I predicted my next upload wrong again, sorry! I arrived in Croatia and it's so hot and I love it! I wanted to upload earlier but my life was busy the last few days and then there were issues with my laptop because at home, I have a real computer and somehow the Microsoft system messed up.

Well ... the new chapter is here now, I hope you like it. A like and review would make my vacation even better! ;)

See you soon,

Skyllen