The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,69
with me. We can protect you—”
But Ragnor was shaking his head. “You don’t know,” he said. “You don’t know what it’s like, to be in his presence. You’ve felt the thorn, but you haven’t felt when it’s his hand truly wielding it.”
“We can reverse it,” Magnus said. “We’ll go to the Spiral Labyrinth. We’ll get Catarina, and Tessa…” He trailed off. Ragnor was smiling a toothy smile that was completely un-Ragnor-like.
“Magnus,” he said. “It’s too late for me.” He put his hand on Magnus’s chest, over the X-shaped wound. “It’s too late for both of us. You just haven’t accepted it yet.” He looked up at the Portal in the sky, roiling with demons and a storm, lightning pulsing in the unnatural color of arterial blood. “You can close the Portal from the other side,” he said. “From Diyu. But not from here.”
He was there one moment and gone the next, ascending into the sky so fast Magnus barely saw him go. Magnus had a lot more he wanted to say, but with Ragnor gone, he could turn his attention back to the Shadowhunters. They were fighting on but beginning to wear down. All five of them had gathered together in the center of the square, back-to-back, and as fast as they struck down demons, more came to take their place.
Magnus ran toward them—his friends, and the love of his life. He felt the unfamiliar weight of White Impermanence on his back; how did the Shadowhunters carry these heavy hunks of metal around with them all the time? Alec was swinging Black Impermanence before him, knocking Baigujing demons away. Magnus hadn’t even seen them enter the fray. Alec called Magnus’s name and held up the sword before him.
Magic thrashed in Magnus’s chest like a wild animal in a cage. He prepared to feel it thrum along the chains in his arms, as it had been doing, when he had an idea. He concentrated, felt the weight of White Impermanence on his back, and allowed his power to flow from his heart to his spine, to the back of his neck, and into the blade of the sword.
With a crack like thunder, crimson lightning burst from the end of the blade. It sought its twin and passed into the blade of Black Impermanence as Alec held it. Tendrils of magic flared from the lightning, and demons scattered. The dusk was lit up with a hellish red light—but it was a light that could save them.
The demons nearest to the lightning strike simply vaporized. Others nearby burst into flame and fled, screaming. The lightning stopped and for a moment, all was clear and still. In the distance above him, Magnus could see streaks of light: Ragnor and Shinyun descending as fast as their magic would allow.
Magnus closed the distance to the other Shadowhunters, who had grouped together loosely, their weapons out. “Listen to me!” he called. “I need to close the Portal from the other side. From Diyu. It’s the only way.”
Alec whirled to stare at him. “I’m coming with you. Obviously.”
“No,” said Magnus, though he saw the look in Alec’s eyes, fierce and resolute. “But Max—”
“Magnus,” said Alec savagely. “This is my job. This is our job. We go. We save all these people. We close the Portal.”
“We’re all coming,” said Jace. His face was smudged with dirt and blood, his pale gold eyes alight. “Obviously. And then we’re all coming back.”
“Might as well,” said Simon. “What’s one more hell dimension?”
“We can’t all go,” protested Clary. “We can’t just leave the Market under attack by all these demons.”
Magnus pointed. “Luckily for us, the cavalry is finally arriving.”
They looked. At the edges of the square, through the gloomy blue light of dusk, they could see seraph blades lighting up, one after another. Ragnor and Shinyun both stopped descending, still well above the ground, and cautiously moved to face the newcomers.
“Someone found the Conclave,” exhaled Isabelle. “Thank the Angel.”
“Maybe Tian went to get them,” said Jace. “Is he there?”
“We could stay and fight with them until it’s done,” Simon suggested.
Magnus shook his head and was surprised to see Alec doing the same. Alec said, “We need to get the Portal closed or it won’t ever be done.” And we don’t want to answer questions about me, or Ragnor, Magnus thought, and exchanged a glance with Alec, who nodded.
“But how do we get up there?” Isabelle said, turning her face up to the massive tear in the sky.