'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpSaLNTHni
'I'm sorry miss, but...'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapDP5har84
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?'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZaGFk4yMp
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEqwB2gtwR
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59FpZETfRY
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXJCOmtO1f
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkW2tq7KRO5
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3NEozaDsd
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvBG9EcoT0
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MiSW6SFO2
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9J84YlbFj
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FZUloDGKq
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53FkmuHP5Y
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfnLX5LD8w
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBeOkoFYl2
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBEiJCbaYZ
'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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjq1puTyXRk
'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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE4RYiALPW
'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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9a5GM7xSI
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kfvtLKaAu
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujVGsWOhbH
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.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFwiA6mqW5
'There's no need to play anymore games.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0rOMmMm3P
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ILOrZynWc
'The Bind?'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzREauCsG2
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.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gaob86oW3
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Bt69HWVGJ
'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.'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmRCCu2smV
'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...680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pp5XkC6Fu
'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...680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2TXj7d8Fl
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxC8MqFfVb
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHTjf5QUOu
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1zPoLLsNo
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.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACa9pxEt5Y
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhf46nkKPf
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoyfq8DCCn
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4sAcpGFe6
Tears and laughter.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKtDWEZOIo
680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrwAAevUeI
