'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2ymhRuwxO
'I'm sorry miss, but...'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90qWXC4Jcg
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?'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxtKTwD5gt
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK68Bwzlpz8
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfXAne2Y5v
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgRoogVeVB
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hUk8ZPdl3
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vMh7UAT9H
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5g9b8ICtrv
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIFPbaZ9Sq
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1i1hEFL7Yf
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtS5i2L2P33
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJSF8fgweN
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaB1tOZr5ET
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjd9azZCeG
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXO7kNtXrc
'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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKN4Xzf5p3n
'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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFuHP6659s
'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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnDj2HGeNz
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUA88VkjTjK
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFY6hF2nyx
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.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBRJn6c3uG
'There's no need to play anymore games.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lwTwcOoOD
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NemLQudM0
'The Bind?'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1y0xoas6F
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.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SD7Kv4lfp
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKK8ITXWTc
'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.'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGPxFlXXUC
'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...499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT8boLJ4Q8
'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...499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2T3fQ17aN
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQQYK5Smqw
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiv2upmlfkk
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xjD3cZUuF
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.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIYEtSsni5
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSA4ZTASFp
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUIUaGpQqv
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4ckv9NJSx
Tears and laughter.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzUcHlW0fp
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5kWy8Vr7j
