'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhx2ysNCpg
'I'm sorry miss, but...'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8M1cjdxf4
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?'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nUfKkiwT8
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmId5eBFLvJ
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsSRBqHj7s
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOA0mr3LxyA
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4IEO8OMRG
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEWFJxYMNW
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUrVLgaqW1
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6H2HK3Xxw
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGUE30mQI1
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWJRfN75wb
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYI2brauEe
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyn3raNhyl
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LnpkXN084
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1t39xO7uU
'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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwV96uprxev
'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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeag3hYPWZ
'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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjNLgTlsBV
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNO6M4AqwB
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiFgXMc4Gt
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.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmTdxvOI2z
'There's no need to play anymore games.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5xRvC0Fr2
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ869UkRKZbO
'The Bind?'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQZUEJLp3J
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.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk4dnPAbTN
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvdWMeiUTM
'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.'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0vstbSAwC
'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...543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGl5dR9v7l
'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...543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vUvnlfUxe
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXb05sx3hb7
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcVDymPLuR
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbaguiccdA
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.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmvzA2uj3s
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglrM0x5DW0
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbr1Z6Tbv5
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEqwuMC22D
Tears and laughter.543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJUIBU6KCU
543Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wXFqXk5t2
