"Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
No one ever said elves are nice. Elves are bad."
-Terry Pratchett

"We're getting close." Jonathan turned in another alley. The sensor in his hand vibrated louder as they got closer to the demon.

"You said that five minutes ago." Arthur followed him closely and commented enough for both of them. Jonathan wondered if it would've been better if he had gone alone, now he had to protect Arthur too.

Suddenly he stopped and Arthur bumped into him. Before he could open his mouth again, Jonathan pressed his hand to his mouth. Around the corner was a demon, it was a four-headed Hydra. But he was not alone, there were two elves standing by it. He did not know exactly which species, one looked like a small, living tree. The other one next to him was much smaller and looked suspiciously like a Brownie. Not the pastry, but the little nasty creatures. Treedude carried a spear and the Brownie a number of daggers.

Arthur had been holding his breath the whole time, and Jonathan was afraid he might pass out. But instead, he took his crossbow and notched an arrow. Jonathan followed suit, hiding his sensor and taking his sword. He didn't know what the elves were chattering about with the Hydra, but it couldn't be any good. In addition, they carried weapons and so they were allowed to arrest them. Arthur aimed his bow at the Hydra. Jonathan wanted to tell him to wait a little longer, but it was already too late. The arrow flew just past one of its heads and hit the wall. All six heads turned in their direction and Arthur swore under his breath. The tree elf shouted something to the Hydra in a language he didn't understand, but he was almost certain it meant "Get them!".

The Hydra had thick dark green skin and stumbled toward them, its jaws wide open. The elves ran the other way. Arthur tried to notch a new arrow, but Jonathan jumped in front of him and was able to parry an attack with his sword just in time. Green slime dripped from the Hydra's mouths. Arthur shot another arrow, this time hitting one of his heads. The demon whimpered, but immediately attacked again. Jonathan lashed out with his sword and cut off one of his heads. He hoped this wasn't one of those beasts that would grow two heads instead.

The head wriggled on the ground a little more and then disappeared. A lot of liquid was dripping from the wound, but the demon did not seem completely defeated. Jonathan took advantage of the demon's confusion to run past him.

"Come on, those elves are getting away!" He threw his phone to Arthur. "Call Lisa!" He hoped he could catch up with them, shadowhunters were fast, almost as fast as vampires. Arthur was on the phone meanwhile, and Jonathan looked back. The Hydra was coming after them again, with - to Jonathan's relief - only three heads. He took a dagger from his belt and threw it. The Hydra was hit, but it slowed him down at best.

Meanwhile, it had started to rain and he felt the drops trickle down his back. They had almost caught up with the fey now, but they had brought a few more friends. There were two new elves who looked much like their tree-ish friend, although one looked more like a bush and the other had a large leaf as a shield.

"You have come as soon as possible!" Arthur screamed. "Where to?" he heard Lisa shout with a hoarse voice from the other end.

"Give me that." He took the phone from Arthur's hands. "Come to Kattenstreet! Four elves and a Hydra!" He quickly hung up and rushed towards the elves with Arthur by his side.

*

They raced around the corner, Lisa regretted not taking her bow with her, but a seraph dagger should do it. She had taken Anna and Olivia with her and told them what was going on along the way. Anna led them, she knew Antwerp best.

"Are we almost there yet?" They had been walking for a while, and she hoped they weren't too late. But Anna no longer had to answer, they arrived in a narrow street. Arthur and Jonathan were surrounded by a Hydra, with one head cut off, and four elves. They had not yet noticed their presence. Lisa picked up her seraph dagger and whispered, "Haniel." The dagger, which was as long as her forearm, glowed white.

She felt the chill of battle descend upon her, the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Anna took her whip, the electron released a gold-silver glow. Olivia stepped forward and took a throwing knife. She threw it at the Hydra from a considerable distance, the knife striking him right in one of its large mouths. The beast cried out. But there was no time to congratulate Olivia on her throw, as now the Hydra came straight for them. The elves had noticed them too.

"Stay still, don't move!" Lisa whispered so that only Olivia and Anna could hear her. "Hydras are blind and rely on sound and smell."

Olivia nodded. "I'll distract him," she said firmly.

"Go help Jonathan and Arthur, we can handle it here!" Anna got ready to attack the Hydra. Lisa nodded and sneaked past the Hydra, who was looking for the person who had thrown the knife.

"What's up slimeball?" she heard Olivia calling. Jonathan was trying to disarm a faerie with a spear, and Arthur had also taken out his seraph blade. An elf with a leaf shield came up to her and wanted to knock her down with the shield. She dodged him and hit the shield with her dagger, which was of no avail. Behind her, she heard the demon scream. She turned her head, the Hydra had exploded and Anna and Olivia walked towards them.

Because she wasn't paying attention, she was unable to dodge the elf's attack in time. Everything seemed to be moving very slowly. The shield, which appeared to have a very sharp edge, hit her in the face and she fell to the ground. Anna emerged and lashed out her whip, which curled around the arm of the elf with the shield. Anna gave it a tug, the fairy dropped his shield and screamed. She offered her hand to help Lisa get up, but she couldn't see the elf - or the moving bush - behind her. Lisa jumped up and pushed Anna aside, they were nearly hit by a spear.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Arthur had taken out the tree elf, he was groaning on the ground and had a big cut on his leg. Olivia had her hands full with a little Brownie lashing out at her legs with his daggers. The moving bush suddenly dropped its weapon and held its hands in the air, the Brownie did the same.

"Are you giving up already?" Jonathan said disappointed, although he was out of breath. His short blond hair, normally in a small tuft, was now wet and hung flat against his forehead. She feared he would collapse at any moment, but he straightened up and picked up his phone. "I'm calling mom to say we've intercepted four armed elves." Arthur looked tired too, he had a smear of blood on his neck. He took his stele from his pocket and began to draw an iratze. Anna walked over to her bag, which she had dropped somewhere. Lisa also took her stele, she wasn't really hurt, but Jonathan and Olivia seemed to be able to use it."

Does anyone need an iratze?" She held the stele in the air, relieved that they had overpowered the elves so quickly.

Suddenly she felt a sharp, burning pain in her back. The burning sensation quickly spread all over her back, she doubled over and fell to her knees to the floor. She cried out in pain. Anna screamed something and Jonathan grabbed her before she would fall all the way to the floor. Lisa reached for her back and felt the hilt of a dagger protrude from her back. She looked back, the Brownie laughed out loud, and the four elves headed for the hills. The shadowhunters assembled around her in shock.

"Go after those elves by the Angel!" she cried. Olivia was the first to come into motion, Jonathan glanced at Lisa again, then followed her. Anna was mumbling to her, but she only heard a beep. She reached for the hilt and pulled it out. The blade was only half red, her outfit had reduced the impact a bit.

In a moment of fascination she looked at the dagger, the blade was made of fairy metal and the handle was decorated with leaves. Coughing, she threw the dagger to the ground. Anna immediately put her hand to the wound and began to draw two healing runes on her neck with her other hand. Clearly nothing major was hit, otherwise the rune would not be of much help.

"Are you okay? Do you need another rune?" Lisa shook her head, tried to get up, but fell back to the floor. The pain in her back was already diminishing, but she still felt dizzy and her back kept burning. Worst of all, she saw Jonathan and Olivia walk back without the elves.

"We almost got them, but when we turned in another road, they had suddenly disappeared," said Olivia. Jonathan crouched down next to her and took her pulse. Everyone was staring at her and she said she was already feeling better. Anna didn't seem to believe her immediately, but supported her when she got up.

"How could they have disappeared so suddenly?" Arthur asked, she'd already forgotten he was there.

"Probably fairy magic," Jonathan said absently. They were already walking back to the Institute and Lisa was trying to pretend she couldn't collapse any moment. The wound had already healed and was probably a scar now. But the iratze should have taken away most of the pain, right? Perhaps the dagger had been poisoned. She was already able to walk better and felt less nauseous, but the burning sensation in her back remained. Anna kept saying she'd better lie down in the infirmary, but she just wanted to lie in her own bed.

When they entered the Institute, she suddenly felt the urge to sit on a pew, her legs felt as if they were made of spaghetti. Before she realized it she was on the ground with four worried heads hanging over her. She was drawn into the darkness.

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Can they save Lisa? And will they ever be able to find the elves who did this to her? -->
Also remember: Don't trust anyone