Mark of the Taboo (2)

She cannot fail. Iris reminded herself. This was the only chance they had to save Ricci's life from death. Even if it meant that she would need to sacrifice all the light magic she had and bear the heavenly punishment for the rest of her life, Iris decided to endure all of it for Ricci's sake.

Previously, Iris wasn't sure why Melissa had taught her this spell. It had never occurred to her that there would come a day that she would use it. She had thought it was like she was cheating death by taking advantage of this spell. She also surmised that as long as she and her friends were under the protection of a powerful demon lord such as Queen Asheera and Lord Kieran, there would be no reason for her to cast such a powerful spell.

Iris realized now how wrong she was. She had been naive to believe that as long as she avoided confrontation and stayed out of fights with the darklings, she would be able to avoid death.