TID short story ( Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

Charlotte was pretty ruffled that they had gone ahead without them, but she very well knew that it was not the time and place for scolding of any sort. The Shadowhunters had all been dressed up in gear as black as the night. Isabelle's whip was grasped in her slim hand, Alec had his bow drawn, Clary had Heosphoros resting against her shoulder while Jace had his double seraph blades ready in hand. Johnathan drew Phaesphoros from its scabbard, brushing his snowy hair out of his green eyes. Magnus' palms sparked with blue flames and the London Shadowhunters drew out their weapons one by one till they exchanged nods and swarmed down the corridors in a tight pack.

They ran into a group of ten automatons not long after.

"Runed blades don't work on them!" Jace announced, switching his blades as he sailed through the air and landed on the shoulders of the first automaton, burying his dagger into its neck and making a spine-chilling screeching noise as he sawed its head off. Johnathan helped to truncate off the legs of the automaton, sending it collapsing into rubble.

Henry and Charlotte took down the one beside it in a fearless fury, easily dismantling it with the help of the two Magnuses. Isabelle lashed about with her electric whip, sending the bodies of automatons to split open and crack, and Simon and Clary took the chance to wedge them open and cut the wires inside.

Will, Jem and Cecily tackled the next in line, while Alec stood in a distance and busied himself by firing arrows rapidly at the heads of the automatons, his blue eyes blazing with concentration. Gabriel and Gideon were working together hand in hand to destroy the next few automatons that dared to advance. Older Tessa guided younger Tessa through the chaos that erupted, shielding her from the pandemonium on every side of her. Zachariah was tagging closely behind them, his long sword slashing left and right to clear their path.

Once the corridor had been reduced to the shredded remains of metal and demon blood, the shadowhunters had only a few seconds to get a breather before they charged on. The rest of the passageways were clear, and it eventually brought them to a huge domed room, with only a balcony situated on the very top, close to the glass ceiling. Mortmain was perched against the railing, peering at them critically as the rest of his clockwork army rested beneath him.

It was obviously bigger than they had expected. Even Jace skidded to a halt, his eyes widening as he took in the full extent of Mortmain's army. The rest of the Shadowhunters warily held their weapons as they filed out into the room and glanced about, neither of them prepared for a battle so enormous.

"Mortmain, we give you one last chance to surrender, or we will raze you and your army to the ground," Charlotte stepped forward, her head held high and confident although her hands trembled slightly on the hilt of her sword.

"Surrender?" the man perched high in the balcony barked a laugh. "Look around, puny Shadowhunters," Mortmain spat with contempt. "I am invincible! And with the demon Aeshma sharing my body, you will never to be able to kill me or my army. Seize them!"

On cue, the clockwork army whirred to life and began staggering towards the Shadowhunters, their clawed hands outstretched.

"What are we going to do?" Cecily said despairingly as she whirled around desperately, watching in dismay as the clockwork army advanced all around them. They were trapped, and had nowhere to run.

"We fight," Will wiped the sweat off his forehead and drew his swords. "This has gone on long enough."

"I like the sound of that," Jace nodded with agreement. "But if this is going to be our last fight, I just wanted to say that I love you guys."

"Spare us," Alec reached for an arrow behind him. "But I love you too."

Older Magnus backed up to elbow him in the ribs playfully. "Hey, what about me?"