New ‘Chain of Gold’ flash fiction focuses on Christopher Lightwood

Happy 4th of July to all the Shadowhunters in the USA and happy summer to all of you! We hope you’re having lots of time to read or do other fun stuff. One thing we highly recommend reading is July’s Chain of Gold flash fiction. Cassandra Clare has been sharing short pieces about her The Last Hours characters for the past three months to prepare her fans for the release of Chain of Gold next year. This month’s flash fiction focuses on James and Lucie Herondale’s cousin Christopher Lightwood:

London 1901

One of Christopher Lightwood’s earliest memories was of his mother, Cecily Lightwood, being rushed to the infirmary after a fight with a pack of Raum demons. Christopher and his older sister Anna were at the London Institute at the time, being looked after by their aunt Tessa and uncle Will while their parents were out on patrol. Tessa whisked Christopher away quickly, but not before he saw the worried look on Will’s face as he went to summon the Silent Brothers.

Later, Christopher sat by his mother’s bedside as she recovered from the Raum poison. She drifted in and out of consciousness, waking and smiling when she saw him and then falling back into sleep. Uncle Will waved his arms about a great deal, despairing that his sister was entirely too brave for her own good. Christopher’s father, Gabriel Lightwood, reminded Will that courage against all odds was what made them Shadowhunters, wasn’t it? This caused Will to splutter. But Christopher could tell that his father had been truly frightened, and was deeply relieved that Cecily was recovering. Christopher leaned against his father.

“Is hunting demons scary?” He asked.

Gabriel sighed, and drew Christopher closer. “It can be scary, but a world overrun by demons is much scarier.”

That made sense, but Christopher continued his line of questioning. “Fighting them with swords and daggers, that is scary. But what if there are other ways to fight them?”

His father looked puzzled. “Like with ranged weapons? Bows and arrows?”

Christopher couldn’t explain the ideas that were rushing through his head. He didn’t have the language for them yet. Instead he just smiled. “Not exactly,” he said. “But don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.”

Read the rest of Christopher’s story on Cassie’s website.

I’m a big fan of this flash fiction because we got to see Christopher in a totally new light and I can’t wait to read more about him next year!

You can read the other flash fiction pieces here and here.

Chain of Gold is going to be published on March 3, 2020.
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