Demigods and Shadowhunters

Prologue

The beautiful moonlight illuminated a tall girl with flowing long ink-black hair carefully perched on a window sill. Her dark brown eyes shone with excitement as she eyed the view below. Taking a deep breath, she leaped gracefully through the air and landed soundlessly on a balcony below in a crouch. 

She had been taking a midnight walk outside the New York Insitute when she heard something rustle. Just as she expected, four Shax demons were lurking in a nearby bush. Quickly uncoiling her whip, she spun and brought it down in a wide arc, instantly taking them out. Satisfied, she had smiled and was heading back to the Institute when she spied another Shax demon. For hours, she had run after it all over Manhatten. At one point, it disappeared and she had to run across the rooftops scanning the area with her Sensor. 

And finally, in her hand, it started to warm and vibrate slightly. Following its pulse, she found herself led to an abandoned run-down building in a small, dark alley far away from the main commotion of the city. Cautiously, she slid into a fighting stance at the mouth of the alley and started to approach the Shax demon scurrying around the garbage cans and cardboard boxes dumped to the side. 

As if on cue, a thick mist started to envelop her surroundings and she couldn't even see two feet in front of her. It was nothing like morning fog. It was more dense and seemed to have a mind of its own as it swirled and danced around her. And she swore she saw different images whirl and flash by so fast they all blurred together. Suspicious sounds of something scurrying, and shrieks that definitely could not belong to any human echoed into her ears.

Knowing that the Shax demon, or even worse, whatever that was controlling the mist, something even more powerful than the demon, could attack her at any moment, she started to back away quietly.  Holding her breath and hoping that she didn't trip over anything on the ground, or worse, go in the wrong direction, she slowly made her way back to the mouth of the alley. When she saw her own shadow on the uneven sidewalk, she allowed herself to breathe again.  

She looked up again, to her astonishment, the whole alley was gone. No run-down buildings, garbage cans, cardboard boxes, and abandoned furniture she saw earlier laid around. Only dirt, a couple of rocks, and rats scurrying around remained. Rubbing her eyes, she was tempted to walk through it to make sure what she saw, but in the end, she knew she would need back up before she could explore it again. She didn't know what was in the mist that had surrounded her, or the building. 

Looking up at the sky, she saw that it had started to lighten slightly and broke into a run. A meeting at the Institute would start when the sun rose. She couldn't arrive late. In the next twenty minutes, she would have to race back, put on non-blood stained clothes, wipe the rest of demon blood off of her whip, and make herself look presentable. 

Cursing herself for not checking the time while demon hunting, she jumped and vaulted onto a fire escape mounted on a nearby building and raced up the steps. Running on rooves would be faster, she decided. That way, she could avoid dodging cars and early joggers. At last, she saw the top of the Insitute and poured in last-minute speed to her legs. And almost skidded to a stop. 

There was a big road was sandwiched between the roof she was on and the one she had to get onto next. In less than three seconds, she had to make a decision. Either make herself stop, or take a huge risk and try to jump the gap. Praying that her strength and agility runes she Marked earlier still worked, she pushed off the edge of the roof with her foot as hard as she could and...

... a laugh of delight escaped her lips as she flew through the early morning air nimbly. Successfully landing softly on the roof, she started sprinting for the Institute once more. 

Scrambling down a fire escape, she dove through the window into her room. Checking the clock, she realized that she made a mistake when estimating the time she had before the meeting. There was still more than half an hour left. Which meant she had time to eat too if she kept up her pace. 

Smiling in relief, she kicked off her boots, took off her fighting gear, jumped into the shower, got into fresh clothes and quickly tidied up her hair before calmly walking into the kitchen. 

"Good Morning," Isabelle Lightwood said to no one in particular, plopped down in her regular chair, and accepted some eggs from her brother.