'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvoHkeSNIZ
'I'm sorry miss, but...'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU70VOr5NZ
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?'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNntsS6OSP
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2sHKMvv1F
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpicBHFkeun
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4f79pgI0a
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCMXZEEm6z
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtl4sfHggTM
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEuJqT05vh
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RJxMC11yq
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWw7yLJzyp
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbMmbK2yXn
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT3kudJmjC
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig3PJ9kacd
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3icrBlYuVS
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkkDkVaZsl
'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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQmQXViUgZ
'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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvQy5W8sMZ
'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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljAXAkMgGm
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhr7cciuaH0
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksA1mEYmXm
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.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3vQHUooFj
'There's no need to play anymore games.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2N8XonLIV
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUrNdH76xi
'The Bind?'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEmyCQpi7h
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.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xIATjUTPD
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvZAT8pJ91
'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.'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNtBwZLDf3
'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...683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVUg5o2Zud
'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...683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgETlGJMNf
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tqAm3CjC6
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjScUAY57Q5
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaA6AjwaqaX
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.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9PJR5zTWb
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscoOWEbaHa
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKDR9LD7uH
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVFjFmzObM
Tears and laughter.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cQ99kZJJ3
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3ruCNxG9h
