'Christine, could you look over these files for me? Thanks!' The board director dropped the stack of papers on her desk and sipped his coffee.799Please respect copyright.PENANA9k4LzMjQuA
'Sure...' But her words went to no one. Brandon had already left the room.799Please respect copyright.PENANAjQgkxJ1xjL
She glanced down at the uppermost page with a sigh.799Please respect copyright.PENANAA2f2fIed4C
TAXES PENDING ANNUAL REPORT, AS COLLATED BY CEO GARETH GREENE...799Please respect copyright.PENANAVq40ftA0Vt
Christine rubbed her eyes, and rose to get a cup of much needed water. Had she really not had anything to drink yet?799Please respect copyright.PENANArJknsmNjfZ
She stopped at the cooler next to the window, graced with the view of suds and scrapers. Wednesday window wash.799Please respect copyright.PENANAE8ETvjKDKr
She downed the cup in one gulp and went to refill, when -799Please respect copyright.PENANANODksePb1i
'SHIT!' The man on the other side of the glass slipped, and with a sickening snap the safety cable broke, releasing the man to the clutches of gravity.799Please respect copyright.PENANAWsY6APtaia
'Oh my god!' Christine yelled, as a sudden faintness took over her and she collapsed onto the ground.799Please respect copyright.PENANAHRov4XNzTv
People came rushing over, some trying to help Christine, some trying to peek through the opaque soapy bubbles to see what happened.799Please respect copyright.PENANA4DIkFISg6F
Broken cables.799Please respect copyright.PENANArHSUegfxT4
And behind that, safely in the crane, the man who fell upwards.
'The trial of fire.' The High Priestess said, as she placed an unlit candle in front of Xavier.799Please respect copyright.PENANA8bF1BLBGfu
Focus, he thought. He brought the tip of his finger down to the wick, gently calling the power beneath his feet, feeling it run up his legs and out through his arms -799Please respect copyright.PENANAoXLLKYbYi2
With a soft hiss, a flame spurted into life, the candle burning brightly.799Please respect copyright.PENANAYwXoe5715K
'Very well done.' Orla gave an almost imperceptible nod. 'To the next,' she stated simply, as another cloaked figure passed her a cage with a dead mouse inside.799Please respect copyright.PENANAJ2R5PT3No8
'The trial of revival.'799Please respect copyright.PENANAebKT5mAlc8
Xavier was surprised. The smaller the living creature, the easier the act of revival was. He had practiced before, on frogs, and even a rabbit (which left him tired for a week). A mouse barely required any concentration.799Please respect copyright.PENANAb90RheKaNw
With a raise of his fingers, the mouse lifted up it's head and began sniffing the High Priestess' hands.799Please respect copyright.PENANAI5oAeMum9i
'Good.' She whispered, as she opened the top of the cage. 'Now lift the mouse out. The trial of telekinesis.'799Please respect copyright.PENANAL21nRsNqY6
'You want me to perform telekinesis on the mouse?' Xavier knew there was a catch. Telekinesis was the hardest of the magics, and was harder still to perform on a living creature.799Please respect copyright.PENANAWpGQ8R3ikk
'Yes. Can you not do it?' Orla smiled mischievously.799Please respect copyright.PENANAsA4ZI63X88
'No! I can do it.'799Please respect copyright.PENANALokr9RUNGk
Xavier closed his eyes - and with a gasp, he began the telekinesis.799Please respect copyright.PENANA9npllsMNzO
Feel yourself walking over to the cage, feel your hand holding onto the soft fur, feel it's breathing through your skin. Feel yourself lifting it up. Lift it. Lift it! Lift it, goddammit!799Please respect copyright.PENANAtQtKxc50OT
He opened his eyes. The mouse was still in the cage, nibbling curiously at one of the plastic bars.799Please respect copyright.PENANAZym4bQCP8z
'I can do this. Give me one more try.'799Please respect copyright.PENANAr5dcu8qx9O
Lift the fucking mouse. It's a goddamn mouse. All you have to do is lift your hand. Just like lifting a can of beer. Lift the mouse.799Please respect copyright.PENANATKi2WBBHDS
He was vaguely aware of Orla, cackling viciously at his struggle.799Please respect copyright.PENANAKxIWwBnVgr
Don't fail dad. He needs me to join him in Floor Twelve Minus. He taught me everything. He made me lift bowling balls, for gods sake, you can lift a fucking mouse!799Please respect copyright.PENANAIz9dBWeTkl
'Aaargh!' Xavier strained at the effort, veins rising on his forehead.799Please respect copyright.PENANAkUtKz22h3L
Lift. The goddamn. Mouse.799Please respect copyright.PENANAyMO8fGVaq2
There was a momentary squeal, and a crack, as the mouse flew out of the cage. It's neck had been broken by the invisible hand that flung it.799Please respect copyright.PENANA1JApc8kpwv
'...very good, Xavier.' Orla closed the cage. 'There is just one more thing. Your father mentioned the Bind to you, no?'799Please respect copyright.PENANAOelTGzKrJ0
The Bind was the most sacred secret of magic - Hughes had talked about it only once before, saying that Xavier was never to know the Bind until he was ready to join Floor Twelve Minus.799Please respect copyright.PENANApxV0cafbz3
'Yes. I'm ready to know.'799Please respect copyright.PENANAIfIHXpJv5q
The High Priestess stood, and cued the others to stand as well, as she broke the table in two and flung the halves to the sides of the room.799Please respect copyright.PENANArMSCyFyTgm
She walked towards Xavier and leaned into his ear.799Please respect copyright.PENANA6eieBv8D5k
'Do you really want to know?' She whispered, and murmured the ancient pact that bound them all.
What had just happened?799Please respect copyright.PENANAZEZmXNSf4G
The man had fallen. He had definitely fallen. And there was no way he could have fallen into the crane, the crane had been above him!799Please respect copyright.PENANAithlCV0sWH
Christine had been granted the rest of the day off after her collapse. And she needed it. She felt completely and utterly exhausted, and spent the afternoon lying still on her sofa as hour after hour of soap, scifi, and news played on her TV.799Please respect copyright.PENANAQ5UMkccJsX
She checked the date. Her birthday. How had she forgotten?799Please respect copyright.PENANACDV4EIKVYj
Well, she thought wryly, happy birthday to me.799Please respect copyright.PENANAtnQSwJ5ETY
...And on the eight o clock news, we have a shocking case involving Eclipse Equipment where a harness used for highrise cleaning broke. The man involved, Winston Jones, was not injured, but is filing a lawsuit against the company. Eyewitness accounts say he was extremely lucky to have landed in the crane, saying that it was as if he was launched upward to safety...
The door to the antechamber opened, and Hughes woke.799Please respect copyright.PENANAPhs6fVw1Ex
'Xavier! You did it!' Hughes laughed.799Please respect copyright.PENANAnLb80jKNxi
His son didn't share his joy.799Please respect copyright.PENANAfjSJtHzclN
'Well, come on, Xavier. You know what you have to do. You don't have a choice.'799Please respect copyright.PENANARCKwY3rkSb
The young man was sweating under the watchful eyes of the High Priest. He couldn't do it. He couldn't do what she asked of him. He couldn't kill his own father.799Please respect copyright.PENANAujj3XszoTO
'Son. Don't fail me now.' Hughes pulled out a knife from his breast pocket, and gave it to his son, his apprentice, his successor.799Please respect copyright.PENANASsiCyRZqRX
Xavier simply looked at the metal object in his hands for a few moments, mesmerized by the reflections in the candlelight.799Please respect copyright.PENANA8dtSb0KZke
'Come on, Xavier.' Orla smiled. This was the final trial.799Please respect copyright.PENANAyoX4aJaCm1
'Xavier. You're stronger than this. I had to satisfy the Bind on your behalf for months, don't you let me down now.'799Please respect copyright.PENANAmzf94n2wSr
Xavier's mouth was agape, arms shaking as he tried to lift the knife.799Please respect copyright.PENANArZoE6BsMWK
'... I... I can't do it....'799Please respect copyright.PENANAMYXFclqmKW
Orla's grin grew wider. 'You failed.' She rose her hands with the intent of setting Xavier on fire, and the members of Floor Twelve Minus watched on gleefully.799Please respect copyright.PENANAk6PeJqETZS
'Kill him, dammit, kill him!' She shrieked, with sudden anger, and someone must have obliged, for a moment later Xavier was in flames, shrieking on the floor.799Please respect copyright.PENANAdi3aZMAXv5
Hughes spat on the burning body. 'I didn't know you were this weak.'799Please respect copyright.PENANA7cnyaBpcsA
It had only been momentary, but nothing escaped Floor Twelve Minus' attention. The High Priestess had failed to cast a spell.799Please respect copyright.PENANALUwcJBWWaW
The High Priestess was the most powerful magician of them all, and there was only one woman gifted with such skills each generation.799Please respect copyright.PENANAdkJDnqyrSH
Orla had lost the power, which meant only one thing -799Please respect copyright.PENANAlV6wUS79EG
There was a new High Priestess.