Exile of the Clave

Exile of the Clave - Chapter 15

The late afternoon light was fading away along the western horizon and darkness chased it back over the tops of the trees as the last glimmers sparked off the surface of Lake Matilija. The smell of char was sharp in the air from the smoke rising to the north, and Jace tested the wind again carefully.

He had set up a base camp along highway 33 just above Ojala with the hopes that the road would provide a sufficient fire break and safe escape route if things got too hot. He was counting on having the lake as an option for retreat if the dragon fire proved to be too much for Max and Magnus. The town had been evacuated hours ago, but it had been easy to slip past the barricades with his stolen prize and its deadly contents; a shiny red fire engine.

Sloping mountains enfolded the ragtag band of Shadowhunters and the pair of warlocks where they were scattered across the roadway around the lone firetruck, its red and white lights flickering hypnotically to give the scene a pulsing life of its own that ticked steadily closer to the pending battle. The truck's headlights had been left on, shining northward along the pavement toward where the fires were still burning out of control miles away.

Izzy, Simon, Rafe, and Max had arrived soon after the camp had been set up, and there had been a great deal of fierce hugging as the boys were reunited with their fathers. Jace was standing on top of the rig, surveying the others as they made ready to fight what he hoped wouldn't be another losing battle. He took a quick head count. Unlucky thirteen.

Carolina Monteverde flashed a thumbs up at Jace from the south side of their camp as she jogged easily back up the deserted highway. "It's all clear, all the way down to Ojala," she called. The Argentine Shadowhunters had been out scouting for over an hour to make sure there weren't any Mundanes left in the area. Common courtesy, Jace had insisted, when dealing with dragon demons.

He jumped down and went over to the side of the road behind the firetruck where a handful of crates from the Adamant Citadel sat open. Simon was testing the draw on a bow nervously as Jace clapped him on the shoulder from behind, startling him.

"Jace," he gasped.

"Yeah, just me," Jace reassured him as he leaned against the crate Simon had been rooting through. "Not a dragon. Yet."

"So, uh, you're super sure that it is dragons, right?" Simon fidgeted with a quiver of runed arrows. "Like, I mean, how do you know?"

Jace brushed his golden hair back out of his eyes with one black-gloved hand and shook his head wistfully. "Well, dear Simon, not to put too fine a point on it, but what goes up must come down, and after the first few giant, steaming piles of..." he trailed off as he caught sight of Izzy standing a few feet behind Simon. She arched an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed. "...tracks. Um. You can see where they landed." Izzy's nails drummed along her arm in warning as her dark eyes bored disapprovingly into her adopted-brother's. Simon looked bewildered at the loss of bravado, and Jace flashed a dazzling smile to cover. "And you know, the part where over 60,000 hectares of forest are already toast. It's a big tip-off."

Simon held up his hand cautiously. "So, what you're saying is, it could just not be dragons, right?"

A look of hurt clouded Jace's features. "I thought you, more than anyone, would be excited," he pouted.

"Oh, I'm excited," Simon protested faintly. "But for like, level 7 dragons. I'm not sure I'm ready for raid boss dragons right now."

Jace pushed away from the crate, and Izzy's watchful eyes, and moved over to join Alec and Magnus as they worked out the strategy with Max for the two warlocks in the battle to come. "Oh, where's mister 'I-killed-two-Greater-Demons' now?" Jace swore under his breath.