'That's right, magic. Don't you believe me?'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrD3NZm8bpd
'I'm sorry miss, but...'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7b6ac3B6t
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?'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTP7TjQCDk
Stunned, the officer could barely manage a nod.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5W5lY4Ojuc
What was I thinking? The police can't help with this. I have to do this on my own.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMctL0qVOLX
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpxd37XoZv
Where would she find them? No doubt they would have vacated their hideout, so... WestGo.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHMR8mJbMR
If she ran, it'd take her almost 20 minutes to get there.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGHZwK7911
Christine looked at the parked cars in the street. She had a better idea.
Dammit!857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFk6te1Ezv
Hughes and the others were already at the WestGo office building. As the screaming began, Christine realized that the fire had started.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7fJZ4Xkej
'Hughes! Stop it now! Thousands of people work in there!'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsN0sV4CXH
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7421xBXu24
Hughes smiled. The High Priestess was powerful, no doubt, but all of Floor Twelve Minus could tire her out.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzuP6QLzFl
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEVjHSBd5v
'STOP IT!' She yelled, straining to keep all the cars down.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDzO9S2qbJ
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyEuL8CZGU
'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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4tEEEg6iI
'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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUVDAUc645
'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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOo6oZR6S8
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0njeRuvuR
'Give it up, Hughes. I'm not going to let you kill them.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9XUhI4aV7
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.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH91ldY5Ysu
'There's no need to play anymore games.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qM5cBS2y0
'Magic is not a game. The Bind is not a game.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNZuzd6V3E
'The Bind?'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHojxbV2tYE
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.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99lQ3qYGZE
'Oh my god, no...' The crackle-crackle-crackle of the flames, all the screaming...857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAbiMYMkDR
'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.'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerMaVDeUQN
'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...857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdpP2hxP9R
'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...857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKV4qMRoGn
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ310Hv2hMBH
'No...' A thousand three hundred and seventy two lives. More than what was needed. The Bind was held, the Void was satisfied.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFH8KOONCI
Hughes' barking laughter could still be heard even as the collapse finished, a mountainous pile of burning rubble, dust, and bodies.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdS9sD4mEm
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.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SKPdHtq7E
Christine closed her eyes, and she, too, collapsed onto her knees, tears carving tracks into the dust and grit on her face.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCFm3FLGEo
'Sir, ma'am, are you two alright...'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSgHEgD42n
'Come with us please, sir, ma'am...'857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpWCp5TLPw
Tears and laughter.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4ZKlu49aR
857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4wsD8chGr
and then Add to home screen.