To Love is to Destroy

The Beginning of the End

The blood was beautiful.

It spread like a cluster of crimson roses across the concrete floor, a flush of red in a world of grey, the blush of a storm cloud. The glittering white light of seraph blades lit the dark like deadly candles, burning white flames in the night. The air swelled with the sound of their disjointed clashing, the moans of the injured, the steady footsteps of soldiers in battle.

They were losing. Even as demons fell, splintering into ash at the touch of steel or arrowheads, more still came, clambering out of the shadows  to replace their fallen brethren. Jace's face was a perfect mask of focus, golden hair flying wild as he spun, graceful as a dancer yet performing to kill, not to entertain. Moves practised and perfectly executed he didn't stop, not when the burning stamina runes on his pale flesh burnt out, nor when the tendons in his shoulders screamed at their abuse. He was a weapon, an instrument of destruction. Nothing could stop him now.

Or so he thought.

The battle was mere background noise in Jace's ears as he flew, fingers pushing his blade through the blackened, rotting flesh of his enemy as if it were merely air. His eyes closed for a moment, feeling the rush of battle like fire through his veins, red swirling fire, framed around that pale face and those chestnut brown eyes...

Wait a minute. Damn that girl. Ever since she had wormed her way into their lives she seemed to take up permanent residence in Jace's thoughts, behind his eyelids everytime he let his mind wander from the task at hand. Jace shook his head impatiently, forcing himself to think of something, anything else, but to no avail. Clary was no warlock, but she had certainly bewitched him.

Reality snapped Jace back to the battle like the recoil of an elastic band. His momentary distraction had brought forward a window of opputunity for a lurking Raum demon, dripping black claws swiping the shining seraph blade from his calloused, runed hands in the blink of an eye. Jace was fast, but this time the demon was faster. With a baring of fangs that bared startling resemblance to a maniacal grin, the demon launched forwards...

and struck the black clad body of a blue-eyed shadowhunter who had thrust himself between them.