fallen hero | matthew fairchild

chapter 03 | red star

Matthew Fairchild had been in New York City for a few hours, and he was already fighting demons.

He had been exploring the city, strolling across Central Park when the nasty inmortui demon had spotted him.

Matthew sighed, "My work never ceases," he muttered as the demon sprang towards him.

Inmortui demons were disturbingly human-like. They were shaped very similarly to human bodies and fought like undead people.

Matthew rolled out of the way before the demon could catch him. He tried not to grimace at the grass stains forming on his freshly pressed trousers.

Quickly, he unleashed a seraph blade. "Gabriel." The blade glimmered at the activation.

The demons rushed towards him, releasing disturbing noises of groans. Matthew shot out his dagger in an attempt to stab the demon, but it quickly moved out of the way.

In the blink of an eye, he could feel a shooting pain across the back of his right calf.

He whirled around and saw the inmortui demon watching him.

Except, it wasn't alone.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Matthew as he beheld the sight of two more inmortui demons.

Matthew didn't think as he slashed his blade at the demons. He took one down, but rapidly the other two demons replaced their brother.

When one got too close to him, he suckered-punched it straight in the face. He then used the force of his punch to plunge his seraph blade into the stomach of the other demon. Ichor splattered on his sleeve, staining it black.

Matthew backed up, breathing hard.

Then he heard the faint rustling behind him.

High off the scent of battle, Matthew twirled around to the sight of three more inmortui demons. He didn't have a second to make another exasperated comment before they were upon him.

They were a blur, running towards him with a speed that startled him. He barely registered the pain as one demon's teeth latched onto his shoulder.

I have survived literal Hell and back, Matthew thought through the pain, and just one night in America and I'm dead.

Matthew was sure the demons were going to tear him limb for limb when suddenly the noise of hungry demons was overpowered by a shrill shriek.

The demons were next to him, and then in a matter of moments, they were scrambling away. Matthew blinked as he watched them disappear into the night.

The only time he had seen demons run that fast was from James and Cordelia.

The mere thought of them sent a chord of melancholy down his spine. He had been gone for barely any time at all and he was already plagued with the feeling of emptiness. An emptiness that could only be filled by his friends.

Matthew huffed a deep breath and turned his head to see what could make a demon run.

To his immense surprise, it wasn't a warlock or any kind of downworlder, but rather, a shadowhunter girl.

He blinked at the sight of her.

She was... stunning.

The girl wasn't very tall and had a fairly slim figure. Her dress seemed to be a light shade of blue, but he couldn't tell with all of the dirt that had accumulated on the fabric. Her skin was a light shade of brown and her dark hair was akin to a lion's mane, thick and framed the heart shape of her face.