Chapter Text
The silence from Alec’s familiar, from his dragon, was deafening and Magnus took a second, then another, to simply try to breathe through the agony choking him. Now Ridaier knew. Now he knew why he needed to leave. Why he had to leave. Why they were all better off without him. “If, if I was able to do it once, and it tore the realm apart, what if, what if I, the damage I could do, Ridaier, it’s-”
“Magnus,” Ridaier interrupted, shifting so he could place his head partially in Magnus’ lap. “Did you intend to stop time? Was that your thought when you cast the spell you did?”
“I,” Magnus shook his head. “No, no, I didn’t even cast a spell, I was panicking, all I wanted was to save and protect you both.”
“Then you have broken no laws, Magnus. Your magic simply reacted towards your will and picked the simplest option to do so,” Ridaier said. “Your fears are unfounded.”
“I could do it again!” Magnus snapped, anger making fire grow around his hands. “That isn’t danger enough?!”
Ridaier blew another stream of smoke at him. “Will you?”
Magnus scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Not intentionally, but this realm cannot risk a being with that kind of power! With someone who could .”
“Magnus,” Ridaier said, looking up at him. “I could destroy all of Alicante. I could destroy New York in a matter of hours, especially now. It would take a warlock as strong as you, if not stronger, to bring me down. If we were acting together, I am not certain there is a single person in this world who could stop us.”
Magnus’ hand tightened against Ridaier’s scales, protectiveness surging in him. “You would never-”
“But I could,” Ridaier growled, looking up at him. “As you, yourself, could use the power in an unintentional way.”
Magnus sighed. “It’s not the same.”
“It is in every way that matters, little one,” Ridaier corrected. “But if you are so worried, there is a simple solution.”
A hoarse laugh escaped his throat and Magnus forced himself to lift his hand off of Ridaier. There was a simple solution, but he didn’t know if he was strong enough to walk away from them all.
“Stop that,” Ridaier growled, prodding his snout into Magnus’ chest. “Whatever you are thinking that makes you look like that. Stop it.”
“I don’t think I’m strong enough to walk away from you all,” Magnus admitted, looking back out across the lake. He closed his eyes and imagined a world where he would never get to see Alexander or Ridaier again. His heart ached at the idea, soul deep, magic burning around his fingertips at the idea, dripping flames into the grass.
Ridaier hummed and settled his snout more thoroughly against Magnus’ legs. “Did you ever wonder why I am Alec’s familiar and not yours?”
Magnus blinked and brought his attention back to Ridaier. “What?”
“In the history of the riders, there has never been a non-warlock bonded. Why now? Why Alec?” Ridaier asked.
“I don’t know,” Magnus breathed. He’d wondered, because of course he had. But they’d seemed to fit. The four of them. Ridaier and Mierda, he and Alec. They fit in ways that were as unexpected as they were certain.
Ridaier shifted a little more solidly against Magnus. “I didn’t either. Until now. Until knowing what has been plaguing you. I think he is my bonded because of you. If it had been you and I, we perhaps would have been turned. The three would have had to bring down the one.”
Magnus closed his eyes, imagining his father’s training if he had been one of four riders. The chance at that sort power, at that level of control over the world. It was no stretch to imagine that Ridaier was right about that. He breathed out hard and nodded, stroking his fingertips along Ridaier’s scales.
“But just as fate protected this world from that outcome, I think she protects you from your fears,” Ridaier said with a gentle nudge at Magnus. “You carry your power alone, Magnus. That is why it sits, barely contained, strangled by your desire for control. But you do not have to. You have never had to.”
Magnus wanted to laugh at the idea of doing anything else, of somehow sharing this burden, when he felt long arms snake around his waist. In another instant, Ridaier had lifted his head so Alec could settle in behind him and then his snout was sprawled across both their legs. He leaned back against Alec and breathed out, long and slow. A quick caw had him looking at Mierda, who was perched on Ridaier’s horns.
Looking between them, Magnus swallowed. “How’d you-”
“Ridaier taught Mierda how to shift sizes, ever since Edom. She’s rather fun to ride. Think you’ll like it more,” Alec said, his voice quiet in Magnus’ ear as he kept his arms wrapped firmly wrapped around Magnus.
Magnus sagged, barely able to register that knowledge, surrounded by the comfort of Alec and their familiars. “How. How much did you hear…” he whispered.
“All of it, dear bonded,” Mierda answered, giving his thigh a quick peck with her beak. “You’ll have to try harder than that to get rid of us.”
Alec nuzzled into Magnus’ neck, holding onto him. “We’ve, I’ve, been so scared. I’m just glad you’re all right. Now, we just need to help you carry things, right?”
Magnus wanted to laugh, even as he let his head fall back to settle in the curve of Alec’s shoulder. “You can’t. You’re not a warlock, and the amount of power we’re talking about-”
“Trust us,” Ridaier said, giving Magnus another firm nudge. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence of fate that we are four. Pour the excess into the bond, Magnus. Let us carry the burden with you.”
Mierda nodded, closing her eyes as she relaxed, reaching along her bond with Magnus, giving his magic a small nudge.
“I don’t know what it’s going to do to you,” Magnus protested, even as it sounded weak coming from his lips. He wanted their help, his body burning with how brimming he was with Edom’s power. “It could hurt you. It could-”
“It’s yours,” Alec said with a shrug, placing a kiss on Magnus’ neck.
“It’s Edom’s,” Magnus corrected, his eyes swinging to Alec. “It’s not mine , this is different.”
Alec sighed and met Ridaier’s eyes and nuzzled Magnus’ neck again. “Magnus. This power, is it Edom’s?” he asked, gesturing to the flames curling around Magnus’ hands.
Magnus scowled and watched the flames scorch the grass around him. “Yes.” His eyes flew wide as Alexander’s hands were suddenly settling over his and he tried to yank his hands away, but Alec kept them in place. “No, Alec!”
“It’s all right,” Alec said. “It doesn’t hurt. Because it’s your magic, Magnus. It’s a part of you, and your magic would never hurt me. Wherever it originated from, it’s still your magic.”
Magnus stared in shock at Alec’s hands, at their fingers, tangled together. The Lightwood rings they were both wearing, the reminder of their promise to each other. “I…” He swallowed and watched the flames slowly extinguish, the power inside him no longer trying to spill over and escape. “How’d, how’d you know, Alexander? I could have, I could have hurt you.”
“Magnus,” Alec said, laughing as he looked at Ridaier. “My familiar is a dragon who breathes fire. There is no world in which I fear flames, either magical or normal.”
Magnus blinked and twisted, looking up at Alec. “What, really?”
“Yeah,” Alec reassured, stealing a kiss from Magnus. “Now, will you push some of the excess power into the bond with us so you can stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?”
“Alexander, even if I did do that, we still don’t know what it’s going to do to you, to us and-”
Alec shrugged. “If the alternative is seeing you be the way you have been the last few days, I’ll do anything to fix it and make it better. And I do mean anything. If this is that anything, then we aren’t moving until it’s done.”
Magnus turned his attention to Ridaier. “Is that why you brought me to this remote part of the mountains?”
Ridaier grinned and exhaled smoke through his nostrils. “A rather brilliant idea if I do say so myself.”
“There’s no one around for at least a few dozen miles,” Mierda continued. “I made sure of it on our journey up here.”
Magnus would have laughed if he hadn’t felt completely overwhelmed with how much he loved them all. “I don’t want to hurt any of you,” he admitted. “I’m so scared of hurting you all.”
“You’re not going to hurt us,” Alec whispered, pressing a kiss to Magnus’ cheek.
He wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe it so badly he ached with it. “How do you know?” Magnus blinked when both Mierda and Alec started laughing. “What, what’s funny?”
“Magnus, your magic wanted to protect us so badly and keep us safe that you not only tore down a demon realm to do it, but you stopped time. Without meaning to,” Alec said, still chuckling. “If your power does that to protect us subconsciously? Why would it ever hurt us when you’re aware?”
Magnus blinked, his mouth falling open. “That’s, that’s a good point, Alexander.”
“I know,” Alec said, unable to keep from grinning. “So let go, Magnus. We’re here. We’ve got you. Promise.”
Magnus closed his eyes and felt along the bond he had with Mierda, the way it branched off to both Alec and Ridaier and exhaled slowly, sagging into Alec’s arms. Bit by bit, he let the excess magic riding under his skin escape into the bond, and felt the other three absorb it.
“Why does the magic taste like peppermint?” Alec grumbled. “Couldn’t be something I actually like the flavor of?”
“Hush, Alec. It could taste like rotten eggs instead,” Ridaier said, giving Magnus another nudge. “Let go. We have you.”
Magnus couldn’t help the smile that curled his lips as he sagged back against Alec, feeling warm arms tighten around him. He settled more deeply into the bond, pushing more magic into it until it was singing between them and he no longer felt about to burst, but instead much more near his natural power levels.
“Well done,” Mierda said first.
Magnus opened his eyes, looking down at her and Ridaier. There was a faint blue glow around them that was fading by the second and he smiled. Both of them seemed fine and were adapting to the power without issue. He shifted his attention to Alexander and blinked when he realized that the runes on his arms were glowing gold instead of their usual black color. “Alec!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Alec said. “Nothing’s wrong. I think I wasn’t quite expecting the surge of power and it activated them.”
Magnus blew out a hard breath, relaxing back against his Shadowhunter. “That’s all that’s happening?”
Alec nodded and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Yeah, and Jace has had to learn how to manage that, so I can ask him for help. But we’ve got you.”
For the first time since they closed the rift, Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, the pressure and power no longer weighing him down until he felt crushed by it. “Well,” Magnus clapped his hands together. “There’s only one thing to do now.” With a quick flurry of sparks, a picnic blanket was under he and Alec, and several different containers were stacked inside a picnic basket beside him.
“A picnic?” Alec asked, unable to keep from smiling.
“Yes,” Magnus said, lifting the bottle of champagne and two glasses he’d just conjured. “I seem to remember you saying you have the next two days off, and I have every intention of enjoying that time with you.”
Alec laughed and nodded, taking his glass eagerly, watching as Mierda and Ridaier began nudging at the boxes of food. “That, that sounds great.”
Magnus reached out and took Alec’s hand, tangling their fingers together, looking down at the Lightwood rings on their fingers and smiled, leaning into Alec again. “I love you,” he whispered, lifting Alec’s hand, pressing a kiss to the ring, glad when Alec’s arms tightened around him and the echoing sentiment was whispered into his ear.
The peace of the moment was broken by an indignant squawk from Mierda as Ridaier stole a sandwich she had been eyeing, a moment later the dragon to shift to his smaller size with Mierda to begin a play fight across the blanket. Magnus watched the both of them, amused at how ridiculous they were being.
“I could get used to this,” Alec breathed, nuzzling into Magnus’ neck again before he took a sip of his champagne.
Magnus hummed, nodding his agreement as he bit into a sandwich. “I could too, Alexander. I could too.”