Chapter Text
No one saw it coming. That night, the fall of Dumort began.
--
Kaden was sitting in his room, a copy of ‘Game of Thrones’ in his hand. It was peaceful, and quiet, and Axel and him hadn’t talked since that night.
All of the sudden, he heard it. Footsteps. The hammering of running outside his room, and then someone bursting in.
“Maxwell, run! It’s an attack!”
Kaden stood up immediately, and ran outside, where he saw the whole clan rushing out.
“Everyone, listen up!” He hollered, trying to stay as calm as possible. He needed to give a good image, to try to appear relaxed. “Stay! I know it’s not what we’re used to, but we have to take back what’s ours. We know this place better than anyone else, we know how to defend this place better than anyone else. Tonight,” he paused suddenly, because he wasn’t sure of what to say, but then he noticed something. A woman, one of the newest members of the clan, biting her nails, scared for her life. A few new members were looking up at him with wide eyes. “Tonight, we fight. Tonight, we fight for our home, for our dignity, for our honour!”
There was a roar of unison from the crowd, and then they all stood their ground, waiting for further orders.
“Barricade the exists. If you have weapons, use them. Those who don’t know how to fight, room 789, and stay there ‘til further orders. I need a group of three others to come with me. There might be some that are still near the enemy--act fast! Go!” Kaden said, and quickly, everyone got to work. He didn’t even know he could be so--leader-like. They still had to find out where the attack was from, but they knew it was from the back end of Dumort. Kaden took three of the best with him, and then they ran as fast as possible, checking every room.
He then had a thought--Axel.
The blonde moved quickly, and he remembered: he had a sword. It was a very special one, made out of the same material as demon blades, forged in the fires of Hell. He was so used to it being in his belt, the familiar weight of it, the feeling of it pressing against his leg, he’d forgotten. Now, it felt more like an alien object than ever, and he was aware of it as he moved, as he ran opening doors, making sure everyone did as told.
Kaden went back, towards the back of the hotel, where everyone was fleeing from.
He didn’t find Axel, but he found the intruders.
They were definitely vampires, and some were familiar faces...the Crest clan? No. No way. They’re allies, they--the marriage--the treaty--
Well, they definitely didn’t seem like allies when one of them lunged at Kaden, demon blade in hand.
Kaden wasn’t physically strong, not exactly. But he was fast, and his reflexes were uncanny. He attacked like a viper, his precision when delivering blows unlike any other vampire.
He dodged, unsheathing his sword, and then jumped, sending a blow to the other vampire’s exposed neck. The attacker didn’t even flinch--he just dropped dead on the floor, blood spurting out of the open wound.
“Who’s next?” Kaden smiled a wide smile, but it was menacing, and never reached his eyes.
Silverlight gleamed under the pale moonlight, now dripping in blood, which pooled on the floor with every drop.
Another ran towards him, and swung a punch. The woman was strong, and the blow hit him in the chest. Kaden took a step back, and then kicked her knee, which made her kneel, before pulling out her feet from under her. Before she could react, he sunk Silverlight into her stomach, and then pulled it out, cleaning it on her clothes.
There were only three vampires left. He could do this.
All three--two men and a woman--threw their daggers, the singing sound of them cutting through the air at high speed just loud enough for Kaden to roll to the side as one passed two millimetres beside his head.
He couldn’t do this.
They were in one of the largest rooms. It was empty, except for a chair and a sofa, and the fireplace, filled with ash and dust. The door was to the far left side, and a large window was in the middle of the wall.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and in stepped Axel, demon blade in hand, one of his arms limp.
“Parr, come back to join the party, I see.” One of the men said.
“Fuck you.” came Axel’s reply.
Kaden was dumbfounded. What is he doing here? What’s wrong with his arm?
“Axel, I--”
“Behind you!”
Kaden whirled, and then moved to the side. Someone had jumped towards him, someone who was now looking pretty mad at missing their shot.
The blonde took Silverlight in both hands and balanced his weight on both feet, from side to side. His attacker--a guy named Rick--pulled out a demon blade, and swung. Kaden stopped the attack, and fought back, blocking attacks and swinging some of his own. It seemed to be going nowhere, until Kaden jumped up, somersaulting forwards (a perfect flip, Raphael would be proud), and before the other vampire could turn around, Silverlight was buried in his back, the tip protruding from his chest.
Kaden closed his eyes, and, just for the heck of it--took a deep breath. He saw Axel stride across the room, his own blade covered in blood. Axel, wordlessly, stepped in front of him, looked him in the eyes, and put an arm around his waist, pulling him up to kiss him. Kaden gave in, kissing him back, putting an arm around his neck.
“How touching,” came a voice. Axel broke the kiss.
“Go,” he whispered, not letting go of Kaden yet.
“No. What about you? I’m not leaving you on your own--your arm--” Kaden whispered back, looking at him with eyes filled with worry.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Axel smiled, but it was a sad smile, and Kaden tried to fake that he couldn’t notice. “I always am.”
“Axel, I-I-” Kaden couldn’t finish the sentence, the words caught up in the knot in throat. His eyes were red rimmed, and he blinked back the tears.
“Me too.” the brunette replied, kissing his cheek. “Now go. You’ve got more important things to do.”
Kaden nodded, the unspoken ‘I’ll see you again’ between them understood with a nod. He left, with a glance back, enough time to see Axel crane his neck to either side and let out a: “Let’s dance, you son of a bitch.”
--
“Santiago, Raphael Santiago.” Simon opened his eyes slowly to find himself staring at a purple-clad Magnus Bane.
“Magnus it’s--really early…” Simon whined. It was only nine PM.
Magnus ignored the young vampire, and shook Raphael until he woke up.
“What. The. Hell. Do. You. Want.” Raphael glared at Magnus like he wanted to murder him.
The warlock ignored the vampire’s antics, and cut to the chase. “I’ve got a fire message for you, from Kaden Maxwell.”
Raphael immediately sat up. He knew that a fire message meant trouble.
Magnus handed him the piece of paper, where, in surprisingly good handwriting, it read:
“Come back immediately. Urgent. Dumort under attack. Crest Clan.”
Raphael shot out of bed and started gettting dressed as fast as possible. Simon read the burnt piece of parchment, and then got out of bed too.
“Raphael, wait for me, I’m coming too--”
“No!” his husband said sharply. “It’s too dangerous. Stay here, you’ll be safe. Magnus, go warn the Shadowhunters I’m leaving.”
Magnus did so wordlessly as soon as he saw Simon opening his mouth to retaliate. It was no use to be in the middle of a lover’s spat.
“It’s my clan as much as it is yours now! And I can fight, excuse you.” Simon said sassily as he jumped and squirmed to get into his jeans.
“But not like this! It’s a full-on attack! You won’t last two minutes there. Stay here with the Fray girl, and the others. You’ll be safe here.” Raphael said, and then noticed the harshness in his voice. He pulled Simon towards him, in a hug. He messed up the younger’s hair, and then kissed the top of his head. “I’ll come back for you. Lo prometo .”
Simon looked up at him, with worried eyes. He didn’t want him to get into fights, to possibly get injured, or--
“I’m not going to die, Simon. Stop looking at me like it’s the last time you’ll see me.” Raphael’s hand was tangled in Simon’s hair, the other around Simon’s waist. The shorter boy simply closed his eyes, and pulled Raphael down to kiss him properly. Simon kissed him like he’d never kiss him again, putting his hands on the sides of Raphael’s face and winding his hands in his hair.
When they pulled apart, Raphael leaned his forehead on Simon’s.
“Goodbye,” Simon muttered.
“ Adios ,” Raphael replied, and pecked his lips before removing his hand from Simon’s hair.
--
Simon watched as Raphael nodded at Magnus before disappearing through the Portal. He was full of mixed feelings, but the one that stood out the most was regret. He should have told him what he felt, he should have convinced him to take him along--now it was too late.
Or was it?
In a sudden flash of feelings, and maybe craziness--he sprang forward across the field, running as fast as possible, the image of Dumort clear as day in his head. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and, ignoring Magnus’ warnings and the Shadowhunters yelling out his name and one or two threats, he leaped through the Portal.