'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLJhiHdrdw
'I'm sorry miss, but...'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLooFycn2fm
In frustration, Christine flung the officer out of his chair. 'That's called magic. They're either going to try to track me down, or launch an attack on the WestGo building. You know the one?'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BDEVHAGQD
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIYcUfaonB
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsV8UmWAtal
She left the station without another word. I can't just hide. If I stay in the shadows without confronting them, they'll just continue on with their business. I have to take them down.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoTB55w1ay
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjBqQOaPtX
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y9JEQT2mW
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsxKuT29Zs
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4c7U2pMGUv
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4SC638Yy9
He had locked the doors of the building. A construction crane in the neighboring street began turning ominously towards the offices, and with a groan, Christine held out a hand to stop it in it's tracks.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOlArB4bGY
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DEuyXr6bu
One by one, cars began rising into the air, and when the first one was launched into the 26th floor of the building, she realized what they were doing.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFwjcDNLCq
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTdsO0c9P7
Hughes flung one to Christine - and with a shock, she quickly diverted it away into a small cluster of magicians. But it had served its purpose - her attention had been taken away from the crane, and it began tipping into the building.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjYqsSev3H
'Don't you dare - ' She shrieked from exertion as she tried to stop the crane from falling, but Floor Twelve Minus added with the force of gravity was too much for her, and she collapsed onto the ground.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iy7TrQ4ok
'NO - ' She could do it, she could save them all, she knew she could, and with a scream that drowned out all the ones coming from the building, she rose onto her feet and the crane followed suit with a metallic groan.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuxCJqbGkt
'Hughes! You can't go any further!' But she didn't need to say it - he and the others had been exhausted trying to move such a large object at that altitude.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwmqFqjM50
With ragged breaths, Christine sent all the magicians to collapse on the side of the street in a pile, leaving Hughes standing by the base of WestGo.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07W3fQt3a9
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hnqO8aabn
As Hughes fell onto his knees, he let out a scathing laugh. 'You think you've saved them all?' Ignorant bitch. He gave a smug roar. 'You don't know anything about magic, Christine.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xMYyYVSFc
'There's no need to play anymore games.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzALf9iEHFm
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfd7nP4mQMB
'The Bind?'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6G43eOWOZ
As realization began settling into Christine's face, Hughes laughed again. 'The ancient Bind of magic, Christine. No power comes for free. For every time you draw magic from the Void, you have to give back to it.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2kbRACqnU
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeh114UvSfq
'For every spell you cast, a person needs to die by the hands of your bloodline. And it looks like I'm doing it on behalf of us both.'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBDgeDUBHl
'My god, stop it, stop it -' She had forgotten about the fire. The crackle-crackle-crackle as the fire erupted to engulf glass, concrete, and flesh...623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCg2zPZNka
'No, no, no no no...' She watched in despair as the flames rose, a pillar of fire in the center of the city. She couldn't put it out, there was no magic she could do to stop the crackle-crackle-crackle of the screaming shimmering red of the house fire where her parents burned...623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZD81griWQ
The internal structure of the building had been destroyed - and with a monstrous sound all forty flours of the building began to collapse like a series of vertical dominoes.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GKx4pmSSx
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUDQSDsr6x
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XjceXHyEL
The firefighters, the ambulances, all started arriving, but it was too late, just like it was too late when she was just a little girl - because it was impossible to save them. Her parents had been the price of that little bit of wonder.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnSnfKJoE2
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtA681RcGRQ
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvs6p7n46d6
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0twBW9FLH0
Tears and laughter.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jhqj9Dhbm
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunFSOdcCxz
