'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOknDVA2Fh
'I'm sorry miss, but...'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64B11rwI63
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?'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP08Y6za9tg
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYPRBbkYdo
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonpxV8mwtF
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeCiST9skY
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEF0218zF2o
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFAnSCv8jC
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsII3gtmXD
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5vuvcJOr1
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aI8jke4G1
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxCfTppiJx
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcw24ueGh9
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ggNI8zrKw
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsjYhn4Zi1
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkGvDiS1H6
'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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZNEmcTWmH
'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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKURmJjHz8
'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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtTBmXX3gt
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7OnnzSuIU
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQOPoEdgFK
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.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKGFrQ454h
'There's no need to play anymore games.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7RpfwTaoo
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEAowyMDJM
'The Bind?'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxolwt6N2YS
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.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2ss2KJ7Tg
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRG6mfLwaDG
'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.'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzw8UWj47D
'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...599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjysfXlYvBW
'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...599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiwtfIfrg2
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIicXhEuU3S
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyt8FEMWScu
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKb54Gjl2R
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.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2JZ8tyLQY
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOsRiaG8Kh
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3K88CoV5R
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkcNeOOsK7
Tears and laughter.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2JlsnjUxs
599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVacfGOMKNY
