'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6sAfIS44z
'I'm sorry miss, but...'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXnOoUlb5y
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?'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHFqNkxhqj
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPId1RmY7I
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1nTLREUyi
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3c45dXZ5L
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYJeutMWq4
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzoNKJli9C
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmpH96CuGX
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMmrpNpiqJ
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEbCX2LRqJ
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmacipsVDu
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3PnKuPrOo
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4Cm00X0vx
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk6YKYGgE8
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0visNF1yX7
'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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJDAi7IpiC
'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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WWvxEnRVY
'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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNy1HAxrMmK
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRH0l8VqNdn
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPkCHBP0Xv
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.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRbY6DZPQG
'There's no need to play anymore games.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP0e6Kj4dl
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG73l1lK4XE
'The Bind?'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKef95Asui
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.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLL7rOBVt3
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzDpVQCX3D
'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.'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGYMD5NZ9j
'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...643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXE0qlPztq
'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...643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiN8bVaG0lC
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckseGNNk5Y
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHL53j0tem
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN42tGBzeVL
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.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKXdonzx6K
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndEJfVPmU7
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCYdnwTMkk
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k5kWCu5Wg
Tears and laughter.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCzegaD9sj
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvE24yiNMh
