****Clary's POV****

She sat comfortably on Jace's back, neither of them saying a word for some time. Per Alec's orders Jace kept himself firmly tied to the ground as they moved about. There would be no dragon flight for her to enjoy, at least, not while Alec disapproved of this action so greatly. The trees swayed in their quiet tune. Moonlight was shining down through the gaps of branches and leaves. It dyed Jace's scales a gray gold, her fiery hair licked with silver too. An owl was cawing in the distance.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going to or . . .?" She trailed off her question.

"Nah. You'll find out when we get there."

"Of course. So I'm to be surprised." She stated drolly.

"Yep." Jace nodded enthusiastically.

Jace's footsteps sank into the mud, tail swishing over the overgrown grass. It was strange for him to be this silent. Steam circulated out of his nose. She wondered what had left him so contemplative, and why his body was so heated. Likely for my benefit. Their short period sleeping side by side left her feeling extra warm. Jace had said that all dragons had this ability to extend their body heat to other sources. It was an advanced technique dragons had come to learn over the centuries, mainly to protect their young in the harshest of winters. When she heard this information, it reminded her once again that dragons were not the bloodthirsty creatures Magnus claimed them to be.

Hopefully Alec changes his mind.

The dragon prince seemed capable of a great many things. She was willing to acknowledge this, even if it was apparent he didn't like her. Oddly enough, he stood the best chance of influencing Magnus, making him see the light. So she would hope for the best from him, even if they did have a bad first impression of one another. Because Clary was no fool. She'd seen the way Magnus and Alec looked at one another. And there's definitely something going on between the two of them.

"Down we go."

That was all the warning she got, roughly getting broken out of her trail of thoughts. Clary fell forward when Jace took a sudden dip down. The incline of the grassy plain they'd been in for the past half hour was dipping down, weeds jutted out from the cracks in scraggly rocks. There was a sharpness to some of the stones and it took a couple blinks for her to recognize what they were.

"Ugh. What are crystals doing in a place like this?" She wondered.

Jace chuckled. "Don't know why you're surprised. Dragons love gems of all kinds."

"Hmm. I suppose that makes sense."

Clary tilted her head, readjusting her grip on Jace's spines. Unlike Alec and Isabelle, his scales were not the type to stick out into sharp protrusions. Most of them stayed flat, with the exception of when Jace felt threatened. She remembered how they had raised when Alec left to head into the cave alone. He had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown, something she knew all too well from her mother. Jocelyn went anywhere from fully aware to completely estranged. It was hard to deal with her when she went into one of her moods. As a child, Clary had a hard time understanding what was going on with the frantic shaking and nightmares and screaming. Luke always made things better and had taught Clary over the years how to be a good mediator too.

Only once she asked Luke why. Where did all this start?

Flashback . . .

"Why is Momma like this?"

"Something happened to her a long time ago. She was hurt."

"Why would anyone wanna hurt Momma?"

She'd been seven years old, sitting with her father by the fire. They were under the same blanket together all cuddled up. It was four years before Clary learned she was adopted. Everything had been confusing about Jocelyn, because all too often she was confused by her mother. To say the woman made no sense was putting it lightly. In town, people were always whispering about her, casting glances when they thought no one else was looking.

But Clary knew what they were doing; she just said nothing about it.

Until now.

Luke sighed, a frown forming on his lips. "Not everyone in this world is as sweet you Clary. Or as understanding."

But she didn't understand. Try as she might there were so many mysteries in their family.

"But why don't they try to understand?"

Luke hugged her closer. He was always so warm. "I wish they would sweetheart, I wish they would." There was a distance to his voice, like there was more he was unwilling to say. Clary had wanted to ask more, had truly thought about it.

Creak.

But then the door was opening. In walked her mother followed by a man with purple eyes. The memory faded from there with the raising of voices. She went to bed without a bedtime story that night, barely getting any sleep for all the questions swirling in her mind.

Flashback end . . .

"—so then Alec told Isabelle that all her boyfriends were terrible and she was all like "at least I have a boyfriend" which only made Alec more mad and . . . uh, Clary, are you listening?"

She was jolted out of the memory by Jace shaking his back slightly. At some point a cave had come into their view. Their was a glowing green light seeping out from its depths. The closer they approached the more evident it became. The mysterious coloring was enticing, whispering words long lost. She blinked once, then twice, to gather herself. Her mind had caught on to only part of the conversation. The rest was snipped out like a child going overboard on an arts project. There was a reason why her Mom didn't let her play with knives. Well, really it was Luke, but what can you do?

"Er. Sorry. I wasn't really paying attention." She admitted, figuring it best not to lie after being caught in the act.

"Oh. I suppose you didn't miss much, so it's fine." Jace muttered.

Clary shook her head. "No it's not. I-I shouldn't have ignored you." Something told her Jace was the one used to apologizing, not the other way around, otherwise he would've accepted hers willingly.

"Maybe, but it's okay."

Spines fluttered. A marked change in body language she couldn't understand for the life of her. Maybe with enough studying she would come to understand. Maybe then she would know more about the world of dragons and all it entailed. Since coming to the Star Flower Valley, things had been so different. Like something inside her was threatening to burst.

What a strange feeling.

She did her best to ignore the tightness in her chest, focusing on Jace and all those golden scales, made a tinge of silver by the moonlight.

"No. It's not." Clary argued.

"Clary . . . Can we please not argue over something so trivial. Like I said, it isn't a big deal."

"But it is to me." She murmured.

"Well, that's your problem then." Jace replied, his even tone beginning to shift into clear irritation. He had never snapped at her before. She wondered what might push him over the edge.

It wasn't exactly fair to be pushing his buttons like this, but some part of her was begging for a fight. Something she was capable of doing. Of handling. A distraction to this strange tightening in her chest. It was yanking at the core of her, the pulsating sensation making her grow weary. Something about the the cave was making the feeling surge. Why was that?

"Well it should be your problem too." She reasoned.

"Oh. How so?" He asked.

"Because I said so."

Jace snorted. "Sorry Clary, but I could care less. Because I don't care. Even if you ignore me sometimes, that doesn't change the fact that I like you a lot. So, I'm willing to let it slide."

"I . . ." Well, that was unexpected. Clary had nothing to say.

"I know you can be argumentative at times, and can grate on Alec's nerves, but this, your reaction right now, isn't normal. Something's bothering you, and I don't know what that is. But I'll be ready to hear about it if you decide to share. And on that note, we're here," Jace said.

The cave was right in front of them now, the green light reflecting off all the gemstones embedded in the walls. They were wonderful, little rubies and diamonds and sapphires most people could only dream of. Several of them were the size of human heads. They formed a strange puzzle of multiple colors, though the vast amount of emeralds outdid the rest. It almost distracted her from the pain, key word being almost.

"Wow! What is this place?" She asked.

Jace let her down, right on time for her to see his sly smirk. "You'll find out very soon."

*******

A/N: Alec and Magnus will be back next chapter! So stay tuned.