Shinyun said. There was a rush of wind and Magnus became aware of two Ala demons rushing at him, one from each side. Shinyun, he thought grimly, was trying to make a point.
Well, fine. How about this point?
With a roar, Magnus thrust out his arms, letting the simmering bubble of magic deep in his chest come to a full boil. Bolts of lightning crackled out from both of his hands, bright blue and knife-edged. The Ala demons were split clean in half by the two bolts and fell away. Magnus lowered his hands—to his surprise, he had had no trouble keeping himself aloft during his attack.
While Shinyun’s face was as unexpressive as ever, Magnus got the distinct impression that she was smirking at him. “You see? Whatever you may think of my master, the Svefnthorn’s power is undeniable.”
“What does your master think of me?”
She laughed. “He doesn’t know anything about you yet. But I think he’s going to be very pleased when he does.”
“Why would he be pleased?” Magnus said incredulously. “Because you’re strengthening one of his enemies?”
She laughed. “You don’t know Sammael at all.”
“I agree,” said Magnus. “I do not.” He looked around. “Looks like my friends are almost finished mopping up your demon army.”
Shinyun shrugged. “There are more where they came from. But I’ll go. I just wanted you and your friends to see a little demonstration of what the thorn makes possible.”
She raised her hands, and as one, the demons far below them froze. As one, they turned to look at Shinyun. Magnus saw one of them crumple and vanish as a Shadowhunter, he couldn’t tell who, took the opportunity to thrust a blade through its back.
Another gesture, and all the remaining demons rose into the air. They rose until they began to be drawn back into the black cloud whose shadow they had been fighting in.
“Wait,” said Magnus. “Where’s Ragnor? I want to—I need to speak to him.”
“I’ll pass on the message,” Shinyun drawled, “but he’s very busy.”
Magnus yelled, “How did he evade our Tracking magic? What are you trying to accomplish? Where’s the Book?”
Shinyun just laughed. She rose into the storm cloud above her, still laughing. Magnus had to grant her a certain classic villainous style.
After Shinyun entered the cloud, all was still. In silence, over about two minutes, the storm cloud faded, lightened, dissipated into wisps of curlicue mist. It was gone; Shinyun and her demons were gone.
It was, again, a sunny day.
* * *
ALEC WATCHED MAGNUS DESCEND, MAGNUS’S curling black hair tousled by the harsh wind. He touched down lightly, graceful as a cat, and looked toward Alec.
Alec was relieved. He was terrified. He had questions.
He also noticed Tian’s expression. He looked stricken, and Alec wondered whether he hadn’t been around warlock magic much before. But Tian wasn’t looking at Magnus.
“Baigujing,” Tian said. He looked at the sky, then back to Alec. “The skeletons. They were the daughters of Baigujing.”
“Who?” said Isabelle.
“Ooh, I know this, I know this,” Simon said, raising his hand and bouncing up and down. Isabelle gave him a look and he put his hand down. “Sorry. I just Ascended this spring,” he said to Tian.
Tian made a go-ahead gesture. “No, feel free, if you want to explain.”
“Baigujing is a Greater Demon. She’s in Journey to the West,” he added. “The novel. Uh, she’s a shape-shifter, but her real form is a skeleton. And she has these… attendants.”
“Her daughters,” Tian said. He took a deep breath. “Baigujing herself is… well, neither she nor her attendants have been seen in our world in a long time.”
“Like you were saying,” said Clary, “demons nobody’s seen for a long time.”
“These demons were part of an army,” Tian said, shaking his head. “Baigujing was a captain in that army. But that army was destroyed and scattered generations ago. This should be completely impossible. And there’s more—”
“A lot of impossible things have been happening lately,” said Magnus, joining the others.
Simon folded his arms and regarded the warlock with narrowed eyes. “So, flying? You can just fly now? That’s a thing?”
“I… don’t really know,” Magnus said. He sounded distant. He gave Tian a wan smile. “Ke Yi Tian, is it? I’m Magnus Bane. High Warlock of Brooklyn.”
“You’ve already been higher today than any other warlock I know,” Tian said.
Magnus pointed a finger at him. “Good one. Do you think there might be somewhere I could lie down for a minute?”
Alec was at Magnus’s side in under a second, his arm around him, letting Magnus lean on