A Silent Brother No More

A Silent Brother No More Pt 9

:: PART 9 ::

!! SPOILER ALERT !! I wrote this part of Jem's story as a flashback, so in other words, this part of the story has a retelling of of events from Cassandra Clare's City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth book in the Mortal Instruments series of The Shadowhunter's Chronicles. If you have not yet read City of Heavenly Fire continue reading at your own risk! Otherwise, enjoy!

This chapter starts in Alicante just after the battle outside the Iron Sister's citadel, and after Jem awoke in the Basilias. I wanted to visit Jem's perspective of his interactions with Jace, and some of the other things that happened in City of Heavenly Fire, as Jem was figuring out how he was going to fit in with the Shadowhunters following his transformation. Enjoy!

Looking in the mirror, Jem marveled at the transformation he had undergone in such a short period of time. Only a matter of days ago he had been fighting the Endarkened outside the Iron Sister's citadel, trying desperately to make his way to Jace Herondale's side to do what he could to protect him; and now here he was in a hospital room seemingly cured of the damage the yin fen had wrought in his body, and no longer a Silent Brother.

He couldn't believe it, and was even a little scared of what all this could mean. Cured? How was it possible? Becoming a silent brother was meant to be permanent. There was not meant to be an escape, or an option once the decision was made.

It had been a very long time since he had stood in front of a mirror and truly looked at himself, truly taken in the reflection, the face of the man staring back at him now. As a Silent Brother he hadn't had the desire to look in a mirror, and to do so had never occurred to him either. Vanity was a wasted emotion when you were ageless.

While most of his features had changed when he had taken on the Brother's Marks, there were still differences to be seen now. His features no longer seemed frozen, there was a life in his eyes. He still looked pale, but he looked healthy beneath it all. The Marks of the Brothers were still visible, but they were fading. It was remarkable to behold.

He moved to sit in a chair positioned by one of the many windows in the room and as he closed his eyes he, no Brother Zachariah, was back on the battle field, the chaos of battle all around him.

Cries of pain and desperation filled the air as Shadowhunter and Endarkened collided. This was no regular battle with demons or Downworlders, this was a battle with humanlike beings that shared the faces of brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, wives and husbands. Parabatai were pitted against one another in the worst kind of conflict imaginable; only one could possibly survive the conflict, leaving the survivor to live in torment knowing he had destroyed the other half of his soul.

He could even remember the smell. The smell of iron tinged the air, from the blood being spilled on the ground, and the smell of fire from the Sister's forges; iron and fire mixed with the cries of battle. It was a sour mixture, and it spoke of death.

He turned as his opponent fell to the ground to see Sebastian Morgenstern and Jace Herondale locked in battle. His mind was racing, remembering that Jace was not supposed to be here, and recalling that all the reports the Clave had before engaging in the battle indicated Sebastian was not present for the attack on the Sister's citadel.

At first it appeared Jace had the upper hand in the mellee, but then Jace was on the ground narrowly missing a slash of Sebastian's blade by rolling out of the way. Jem began to fight his way toward Jace and Sebastian, hoping he would not be too late to intervene if necessary.

As he ran, edging closer, he watched as Sebastian brought the sword down again in a powerful arc. Jace again rolled to the side, but this time it was neither fast enough nor far enough and the blade collided with his shoulder. Jem hesitated only briefly and then he surged forward.