'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUf7aOSyKo
'I'm sorry miss, but...'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnovCjWipxh
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?'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVbRH5MGcI
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqBUcOhyPG
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkn6YS1wAnT
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOOOBIdaxA
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoaAxWfaJG
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCXoYraUpc
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavJY6jzIja
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiP9me4B5y
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHiQwQQS56
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiB7IfgviB9
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7a0HfZ70zD
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC89DLDHsrc
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyKOE2ovGW
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJBDkLnw8F
'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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyTMppYMG6
'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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdxXwpDVgB
'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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4J4KwkXI8
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXktVEkHaw
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1josCATt4b
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.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayitRDcIWe
'There's no need to play anymore games.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP9mcIk0a8
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquoooH4Y44
'The Bind?'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSliUdMMKWP
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.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixhiC13ddu
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2KTY8z2tM
'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.'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCO5ML3xMS
'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...634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6zfhviPGW
'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...634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZJG7Y0AXR
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeuZJwQvxI
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Zi1xz0Ntt
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtGSwa2NiI
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.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXqOnHAFFO
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNdm0WmPBX
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaZDlwUemv
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg4rBQfqTQ
Tears and laughter.634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORgnzjAYU4
634Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdR8iR28HR
