'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSbUymCY9j
'I'm sorry miss, but...'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK49q10alG
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?'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJizpDZLmE
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxUvOlHM9P
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDR8TAaVZ6
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7YtdkcKaq
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KV0y3Vbtt
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWtNJ38O8t
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeKW5X7f84
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPNzBLx76k
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgs7VBehff
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrmKENqbnP
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjLEkwqeyL
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxj5dDhs9v
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdzVnBWw4G
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qC0IFW8rV
'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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI6fNxHmbs
'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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn9O9JfKuU
'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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6p6ZSZWukP
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCnpqSwajU
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBq7HIM7fLT
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.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyj7s3Pk8vZ
'There's no need to play anymore games.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaNeKGUq7a
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz3lDxkHUb
'The Bind?'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbpxoGrQQG
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.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVjpnkw4Yl
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKc3gKVHC9
'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.'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc7y2LbjGu
'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...661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbd2dDiEnI
'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...661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xJGdHXYmV
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDXXzY5w0c
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxYiM03lUQ
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ507pmOZBSV
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.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7ei232ZfJ
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIORgJdJXQf
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57KYnavNNd
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOPX7rDmwt
Tears and laughter.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2P2Q3XOVFy
661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofafChMYQG
