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Alec cursed as the demon knocked away another arrow and then another, advancing on them. “Isabelle!" Jace was still more than fifteen feet to his left, fighting off two of the same demon, and if this one got any closer, they were going to end up flanked.
"Little busy at the moment!” Izzy shouted back, shoving the end of her staff through a Shax demon until it exploded into ichor. “Only so much I can do big bro!”
Not for the first time, Alec wished that he was one of the lucky shadowhunters to have bonded with a dragon. But no, he’d never been that special, and if he was going to keep these demons away from Isabelle and Jace, he was going to need to do something stupid. Stupid even by their standards, and he was well aware that was saying something.
“Alec!”
Alec ignored the shout from Isabelle and focused on the demon in front of him, breathing slow before he pulled out his Seraph blade, his bow going over his shoulder. There was at least one, if not two more demons coming up behind that one, and Jace and Izzy were busy with their own problems. But he would protect their back, he would. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to them.
Stepping under a swinging tentacle, Alec slashed his way into the mass, chopping and swinging until he was making some sort of progress. His name was screamed again, but reaching the glowing eye in front of him was his goal and he stabbed his blade into it with a grunt and smirked viciously when the demon screamed and began to thrash. He dodged the first desperate swipe at him, but the second one hit him and sent him careening into a nearby wall that was crawling with Shax demons.
“Alec!” Isabelle’s voice was a warning and Alec barely managed to get the blade up and in front of his face before the stinger struck his neck fatally. There were worrying black spots in his vision and everything was blurry. Alec shoved it away from him and felt the stinger sink into his arm instead, crying out. Another Shax demon was there to replace the first and Alec couldn’t move fast enough to dodge the blow of the stinger.
Alec grit his teeth together and ordered his body to obey, but the ground beneath him was slick with ichor and he couldn’t find his feet and the Shax demons were all turning towards him. He felt the lance of panic through the bond from Jace. Alec tightened his hand on his blade, trying to focus on whichever was going to jump first.
“Now that’s just rude,” a lilting voice said from deeper into the alley. “Throwing a man into a wall to take advantage.” A tsk, before the alley lit up, bright blue.
Alec reached out a hand to Isabelle and Jace, wanting to warn them back, when magic exploded out of the warlock, fuck, had to be a warlock, beside him. He forced himself onto his side, panting hard, his ribs creaking in a way they were not supposed to.
“Hold still darling, you’ve got several broken ribs and until I can take a better look at you, it’s best if you don’t move,” the voice purred.
Alec felt a hand stroke over his shoulder, and then the sound of heels walking past him. He squinted at the leather pants and sucked in another pained breath, but the warlock was approaching the demons that Isabelle and Jace were still trying to fight off, their backs to each other. “Please…” he gasped, trying to crawl towards his siblings. “Please, I-”
“Let’s see here. A mid-range should work perfectly fine, I think.”
Alec didn’t have more than a second to think about what that might mean before the warlock was gone and in its place was a magnificent dragon, a shining mix of midnight black and gold belly with wings that were easily as large as any dragon he’d seen at the Institute. Something in him, deep, tugged in recognition and he watched as the dragon, gathering bright blue flames the same color as his magic, into his mouth before destroying the demons as though they were nothing more than a nuisance.
Once he was sure that his siblings were safe, Alec let himself slump to the ground, his chest aching with every single breath and he let out a quiet noise of pain. As long as they were safe, that was what mattered, that was all that-
“Don’t worry, my darling rider, I’m here,” that same voice soothed. “I’m sorry it took me so long. I think we’ve both had quite the journey, haven’t we?”
Alec blinked slow, lazily, because he wasn’t a rider, he didn’t have a dragon, and certainly not one as beautiful as the dragon that had just saved them all. But then the blue magic was back again, and the pain in his chest and his head was easing, and it was too easy to be able to fall into the waiting blackness.
~!~
When Alec woke up, it was to the sight and smell of the infirmary, but in a bed that was comfier than any he had ever laid in. He blinked slowly and looked around, frowning. He felt good, energized, which meant expensive warlock healing, and his Mom would be furious about the cost to her budget for that. He lifted up his hand and blinked at the sight of a tattoo spiraling up his forearm on the right side.
“I believe I should have introduced myself before you passed out, but healing you was a touch more expedient than niceties. How are you feeling?”
Alec turned to look at the man who had walked into the room and his breath caught, his eyes widening as the most beautiful man he’d ever seen was moving closer to him and he was holding what smelled like coffee. “Is that coffee?” he asked hoarsely.
“It is indeed, Alexander. Your siblings said you would appreciate that far more than trying to force you to drink water.” He gave a small bow. “My name is Magnus Bane, Alpha Dragon of the North American territories.”
Alec’s eyes widened and he froze, staring in surprise at the most powerful dragon on the continent who was smiling at him as he sipped his coffee. He shook himself and tried to remember his diplomacy in the face of Magnus’ leather pants and disarming smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bane.” He held out his hand, the one with the shining fresh tattoo.
“Trust me when I say, Alexander,” Magnus purred, soft and easy. “The pleasure is entirely mine.” He pulled up his sleeve a fraction so the runic tattoo was easily visible and shook Alec’s hand.
Alec’s breath caught and he stared at the runes on Magnus’ hand, including the deflect rune that was prominently featured on the back of his hand. He reached up to touch the side of his neck, staring at Magnus. It was a fact that Magnus had never met his rider, had waited hundreds of years and had flown with dozens of riders - but he’d never met his bonded rider, his soulmate.
Magnus smiled faintly and looked down at his hand. “When I imagined my Marks, hundreds of thousands of times, I never imagined that I would have runes, of all things.”
Alec stared at the scales on his hand, that wrapped around his wrist like a glove, all of it glowing with the faint blue sheen of Magnus’ magic. He cleared his throat, his mind swimming at the implication of their tattoos. “We're…”
“We are,” Magnus said with a nod. “I heard you call out. I was in New York on business - but that was the first time I felt you call out for me.” He shivered and took another sip of his coffee. “A lifetime of hearing people describe the experience didn’t prepare me for it. But, more importantly, how are you feeling?”
Alec blinked and shook himself. “I, I’m fine. You clearly healed me, since I don’t feel a thing. But, how are you feeling, Magnus?”
Magnus paused in his next sip and tilting his head. “Me?”
“Yeah, I mean,” Alec shifted and pushed himself upright to meet Magnus’ eyes more easily. “You’re, we’re, I mean. I’m your Rider.” He looked down at the tattoo on his arm and traced his fingertips over the scales, unable to keep from grinning. “This changes things for you, doesn’t it?”
“Far less than you might think,” Magnus said, watching as Alexander continued to stroke over the scales on his arm, wondering what they would look like on his own sclaes. “We will certainly have fun with the Clave paperwork-” he laughed at Alexander’s wince and determined look. “But outside of that, I am perfectly fine.”
“You’re not-” Alec frowned and looked down at the bed.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “I’m not what?”
Alec dropped his hands to the blankets in his bed and forced himself to take a deep breath. “If you’d had the choice, you, you never would have picked a-”
“Alexander,” Magnus interrupted softly. He stepped closer to the edge of the bed and reached out to stroke his fingertips along the deflect rune on Alec’s neck. “I have had several lifetimes worth of my own choices and my own picks. Nothing has ever fit, or felt as right as it feels to be standing here with you, right now.”
Alec’s breath caught and he stared at Magnus with wide eyes. “I, it, really?”
Magnus grinned and leaned in to rub their noses together, keeping his fingers against Alec’s neck to feel him shiver. “Yes, darling rider. Now, will you fly with me?”
“Yes.” Alec didn’t spare a second thought for his duties at the Institute when Magnus lit up, grinning broadly at him. Someone (Isabelle, he suspected) had brought his riding leathers to the Infirmary and Alec changed as quickly as he could, before standing in front of Magnus.
“Don’t you make a magnificent picture,” Magnus purred, reaching out to take Alec’s hand, lifting it to his lips to kiss the tattoos of scales there. “Take me to the courtyard, Alexander, and let’s fly.”
Alec kept his fingers threaded with Magnus as he pulled him through the Institute, ignoring calls of his name. His heart was pounding, and he could feel the preliminary bond between them lighting up with eagerness. Pushing the double doors open, they stepped out into the wide courtyard. His mother was there with her dragon, the two of them speaking quietly together.
Maryse stood up and frowned. “What’s that warlock doing here?” Her eyes dropped to their held hands and her frown grew more pinched. “Alec.”
It was easy to ignore her when Magnus was smiling at him, his whole body almost wreathed in magic. Alec stared at him and his breath caught.
“Do you trust me, Alexander?” Magnus whispered.
Alec swallowed and nodded. “I do. I trust you, Magnus.” Following the nudge of magic that felt like Magnus, Alec stepped up and into the air and raced up the shimmering steps that led into the air. He didn’t know why Magnus was having him climb these until a roar that shook the Institute trembled below him and Alec caught sight of wings almost twice the size as the ones from the night before.
Waiting until Magnus had risen far enough, Alec leaped, landing on his back, his fingers curling against the scales. Magic gathered around his hands, and like that, he was resting in a saddle, and their bond snapped into place. With a flap of his wings that sent everyone below scattering, Magnus launched them into the air.
The air was cold and biting, but the heat of Magnus’ scales, and the comforting weight of the bond between them made sure he didn’t feel it for a second. Alec closed his eyes and leaned forward, his hands tight on the reigns.
“Fly, Magnus!”
Magnus’ answering roar made his heart soar.