'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyaBcyTBQY
'I'm sorry miss, but...'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbb2PI4jIo
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?'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYkwfqcO5e
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pDxFGir7Z
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQNaAJP2OB
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9vVP6mEl7
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftJ7xh2iYI
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MGwbsltTE
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMZYPDmNaS
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzNyRFLWnK
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn76mQcCwjr
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUst5gmG80d
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HiuTMGSRT
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlx3aHaCFe0
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6B0UsieRr
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GTdmk6upv
'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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIMyNXDfpN
'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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWazMItF4C
'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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUC73P3gHF
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEKLRAMhmP
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb4JBJGy4T
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.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWO25BOiz0
'There's no need to play anymore games.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPBYM8NCMA
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOSzlgC6g2
'The Bind?'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdRrz5o66d
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.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKNKvM8mFQ
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNtEPA6dwz
'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.'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLy4Dd5UlMv
'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...671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTywxjUHSao
'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...671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5Mwr2qNK8
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2onDe11X7s
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGlGXEbacd
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsspAKvSrI
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.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCmQLgLDlS
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52BnOoMr1v
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17mTIQdppG
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zs5y74qEJ
Tears and laughter.671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUfMfppzVX
671Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizDaPlZt5m
