'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRiFncph8F
'I'm sorry miss, but...'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtTSMLN3K4
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?'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrkt8pVmh6
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M12OFF1mu
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3v1ok28xnx
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4KLCCP0JL
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaIlElz5ZM
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7HT1XWKTF
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuTwwXpuvG
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdckbM0Tccf
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiygr8wTgY
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6H3qgJPMu
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xl1fg8d6R
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEtsoRUdej
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60RB6jJmz8
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeYdXiKAE1
'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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0dk4DoqzE
'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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BCchv9a4p
'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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi82fibvoTA
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCcpHSUOyt
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMHSRxhj7N
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.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHJVQQzs9Q
'There's no need to play anymore games.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwqPoKa1pU
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9sJUmogoN
'The Bind?'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgLclQHsVh
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.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclEREZcAQS
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAUdrDi2rR
'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.'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwELq9HkdYE
'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...560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooaaD9F1nu
'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...560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqvaTmskGI
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHbTCPma0M
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDludYRmwz
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprRMSs6S7X
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWfCmShcyL
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡup0kS4jxqb
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7weHf73B4
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAh8sIuJfy
Tears and laughter.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAHx9VjVLF
560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCKZLnVSfI
