Pika's back! This is my first Mortal Instruments story, taking place right after City of Glass. The Prologue's shorter than the usual chapters (Prologue- 1,400, chapters so far average- 2,000,) Hope you all like it! DISCLAIMER- I don't own the Mortal Instruments Series! Thank you FanFicLoverMe for being a great beta!

The day sky was dark and filled with heavy grey clouds threatening to let pour over the expanse of thick, natural forest spreading as far as the eye could see. A long snake of black, a bumpy uneven road, bordered the edge of the woods, before, at the opposite side, dipping into a small, heavy-sloped valley. The gorge was steep, trees growing on the sides, gnarled roots hanging onto its walls like desperate fingers clutching to life, and at the bottom, there was water collecting, creating a small ravine, cutting the earth like a knife in butter.

The scene would have been boring if you had not seen the single black bus driving across the empty road. Despite its large amount of passengers, about 15, it was mostly silent. Most faces were peering out the windows, eyes searching the tree line nervously, and all of the people, male or female, were wearing black suits, thick stocky belts loaded with knifes and various other killing devices. The driver seemed to be nervous also, continuously adjusting his collar snugly.

Two girls, sitting closer to the front of the bus, were doing the exact same thing. The shorter one, a chocolate-eyed brunette was sitting closer to the window, while the strawberry blonde, a few inches taller than the other, was watching outdoors with narrowed, piercing sea-blue eyes. They were silent, lips pressed together and tensed, despite nothing but silence surrounding them. The low-hanging clouds didn't help the ominous scene, nor the howling winds or dark, creepy feeling that shivered down their spines. Beside was a taller, reddish-haired boy of the same age, watching the opposite window.

The brunette spoke up hesitantly, not liking the tension in the air at all. "H-Hey, L—?" The other girl silenced her, narrowing her eyes to outside.

She yanked the first girl out of the seat, stumbling onto her feet. "... DEMONS!" She screamed, seeing the incoming threat, just managing to get out a blade from her belt before the bus shook.

Almost like a cue, with an ear-shattering screech, the bus was thrown off the road, falling off to the ravine in a tumble. Inside the bus, limbs and luggage were thrown around, entrapped in the bus rolling down the valley.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Luggage flew past in slow motion, people flailing around in the air, and the occasional dark shape passing by the window, it all slowed down to almost a stop; the blue-eyed girl could hear blood pounding in her ears and her fingertips tingling from adrenaline and suddenly, time started again.

The blonde was thrown around in the mess; and her head hit something hard; she must have blacked out for a few seconds, because everything went black before she was heavily aware of the turning on the bus again.

The girl slammed against the wall, shouting out in pain as she heard a sickening snap, then to be tossed over again and again, a tumble of bodies and luggage were pushed down a hill. She struggled to steady herself, ignoring the phantom burning sensation of her arm that she could barely lift. The bus did sideways summersaults before screeching to a halt on flat land on its side, at the bottom of the valley. Chillingly cold water spilled through the broken windows at their feet, soaking the luggage and their boots.

The girl cringed, holding her shoulder, teeth grit. She called out her partner's name, hearing demon's triumphant cries from above, picking herself off the ground and steadying herself with a sideways bench. Her partner answered back, struggling her way out from the rubble. Luckily, she was unhurt, but her eyes widened significantly when she saw the irregular bend in the other girl's arm.

"You need help." The brunette said urgently, getting out her stele.

"Not now!" She snapped back, hissing. "You're the most important one, you idiot!" The strawberry-haired person whopped the smaller girl over the head with her good arm.

"Hey!" She protested. "But, back to reality, how are we going to get out?" The blue-eyed girl looked up, seeing large, hawk-like demons soaring over the crashed bus. The glass had long broken, raining down at their feet. They knew that only the side of the bus covering them is what was protecting them all from the monsters above.

Slowly, more people stirred from the floor and looked up, instantly alert.

"Protecting her is our mission, above all else, don't let them get The Stone." One, who seemed to be the leader of the group, ordered, gesturing to the brunette.

"We're going to be heading out in K-formation, soldiers." The reddish-blonde called out. "That way." She pointed north, where the nearest escape route was. "Protect my partner at all costs. Or else."

"Yes Ma'am." The commanding aura from the girl was enough to make the many shadowhunters, disgruntled as they were from the crash, to listen.

"Good." Most managed to get their weapons as the bus was suddenly rocked back and forth again, and there was a startling shrieking noise from above. Everyone stilled, not daring to move. Gnarled talons hooked onto the roof, what appeared to be a giant, ugly metal vulture with beaky red eyes and sharp beak bent down, the roof completely tearing off.

Glass and shrapnel rained down. The taller girl shouted in the chaos. "RUN!" She reached into her belt, only to realize she'd dropped her weapon in the tumble. She looked around frantically before seeing a dark-metallic glint; she dived, dodging the snapping head, and pulling a single medium-length, slightly curved blade, shorter than a sword but longer than a dagger, off of the floor.

She spun around and slashed her blade through the air at the huge demon, complete with beady eyes and an extra dose of ugly, aiming at her and it shrieked. The sound coming from its throat was terrifying, like metal screeching when torn apart. The bird momentarily scared back, the girl took the open chance and smashed the window next to her with the hilt of her blade, scrambling through.

Another smaller metal-bird demon swooped in, sharp claws aimed for her head. If it wasn't for her skilled reflexes, the girl wouldn't have had enough time to lift her blade. The bird glanced off, luckily for her, but bouncing off her dislocated shoulder and then vaporizing to dust, leaving nothing but three long gashes into the girls arm. The girl's eyes prickled with the effort not to scream.

The air was filled with urgent shouts, high-pitched screeches, and the sounds of battle. Every figure wearing black was grouped up in groups of five or six, back to back fighting the ugly vultures off. The birds swooped into the kill, only to retreat with arrows or Heavenly Blades stuck in their metallic wings and bodies. The strawberry-blonde girl watched, terrified, but she wouldn't admit that, as one of their team mates were picked off by a vulture, thrown into the air, and eaten whole. "Stymphalian birds..." She said breathlessly.

Her parabatai climbed through the window after her, holding a circular chakhram. It was a blade shaped like a halo, with a thick leather handle and an extremely sharp edge. When a bird dived for her head, the brunette ducked, and sliced the demon in half.

"We have to run." The injured girl told her.

"But... the others..." Her eyes started to tear up.

"The demons will be distracted... I'm sorry." She hissed. "If we wait we'll be killed too and they will get The Stone. You know we can't let them." The brunette couldn't seem to believe it.

A red-haired shadowhunter, seeing the parabatai, shouted. "Run! We'll hold them off and catch up with you!" He sliced another demon with his khopesh, grinning triumphantly. The blonde frowned, wet-eyed.

This seemed to win the brunette over, albeit reluctantly, especially seeing her partner next to tears. She nodded sadly, salty tears gathering in the corners of her eyes; they stood up and started to run north, into the tree line and disappearing.

It began to rain.