'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsODzTuBoO1
'I'm sorry miss, but...'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsemqTNVDY
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?'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBedDTcYzC
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9a4zIWecfn
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVUFrWVfV0
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWICi1wIFk
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTEJoUU75x
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybBwIfLBDT
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfB0cDHwATW
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYDhx9Iv43
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWT3bh8Dwzr
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6onm6tYK8Z
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV49GOMknm1
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf73MmRh0PO
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcbQBDVa7e
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdtYJGflah
'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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JhoYOrlA2
'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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcPGt2HoaS
'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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNM1XyVzt9
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Ejde6hxj6
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mEpcbYC25
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.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAwAdvueEt
'There's no need to play anymore games.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVNRTFxDjo
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmB69a2zuf
'The Bind?'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ9uoEsQ0S
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.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEmYsNoGR4
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGg1UJonad
'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.'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78lSYQ4Hbe
'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...589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzV2uvQHgrj
'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...589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFcu54WOPb
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HSt4pqRWw
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbtctLgAvb
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMNc5L2hvC
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.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96OSVXUug4
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsPGK7tSTR
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYpPiKBB8n
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OzumqBCpI
Tears and laughter.589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVU7mlCejx1
589Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrn5O1ZyQR0
