Valentine's Arrow

32: Bleed the Water Red

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

REBECCA

They could see it, finally. A half-ruined fortress, with Endarkened clustered all around it - a warped mirror of Alicante's Gard Hill. The structure resembled the Gard they knew, but with a massive wall around it, the fortress enclosed within like a garden in a cloister.

"You know what's interesting?" Rebecca said. "I've seen a few flying demons, but they're staying well away from the Dark Gard-"

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Dark Gard?"

"Got a better name?" She shrugged. "Anyway, they're staying away from the Dark Gard and the hill. They serve Sebastian, but they seem to be respecting his space."

"Well, they can't be too far away," said Jace. "I doubt he would take that chance."

"Or they could be inside the fortress," Rebecca said.

Alec sighed. "Let's get back to the others."

Simon was standing by Isabelle, and Clary had her sketchpad and a pen out and was drawing runes. From the way she was shaking her head, tearing out the pages and crumpling them up in her hand, it wasn't going as well as she might have liked.

"Are you littering?" Jace demanded as they jogged to a stop beside the other three. Clary gave him what was probably meant to be a withering look, but which came out fairly soppy. Jace returned it with a look just as soppy.

"Jace, this world has been burned to a cinder, and every living creature is dead," Clary said. "I'm fairly sure there's no one left to recycle."

"So, what did you see?" Isabelle demanded. Rebecca could tell she wasn't pleased at being left behind.

"Here." Jace pulled his stele from his pocket and knelt down, using the pointed tip of the stele to draw in the yellowish dirt. "Here's the Dark Gard. There's one way in, and that's through the gate in the outer wall. It's closed, but an Open rune should take care of that. The question is how to get to the gate. The most defensible positions are here, here, and here"-his stele made quick swipes in the dirt- "so we go around and up the back. If the geography here is like it is in our Alicante, and it looks like it is, there's a natural pathway up the back of the hill. Once we get closer, we split here and here"-the stele made swirls and patterns as he drew- "and we try to herd any demons or Endarkened toward the center." He sat back, worrying at his lip. "Rebecca I can take out a lot of them, but we'll need you to keep them contained while we do it. Do you understand the plan?"

Everyone stared for a few silent moments. Then Simon pointed. What's that wobbly thing?" he said. "Is it a tree?"

"Those are the gates," Jace said.

"Oh," said Isabelle, pleased. "So, what are the swirly bits? Is there a moat?"

"Those are trajectory lines - honestly, am I the only person who's ever seen a strategy map?" Jace demanded, throwing his stele down and raking his hand through his blond hair. "Do you understand anything I just said?"

"No," Clary said. "Your strategy is probably awesome, but your drawing skills are terrible; all the Endarkened look like trees, and the fortress looks like a frog. There has to be a better way to explain."

Jace sank back on his heels and crossed his arms. "Well, I'd love to hear it."

"I have an idea," Simon said. "Remember how before, I was talking about Dungeons and Dragons?"

"Vividly," Jace said. "It was a dark time."

Simon ignored him. "All the Dark Shadowhunters dress in red gear," he said. "And they're not enormously bright or self-driven. Their wills seem to be subsumed, at least in part, by Sebastian's. Right?" He looked to Rebecca for confirmation.