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I’m not a murderer. I’m not…I shrank back. Yes, I was. Not wanting to be one changed nothing. I was everything they said and more. The darkness guttered around me, swallowing me as if gaping jaws smothered me into nothing.
A snap jolted through me. A tether breaking.
And the darkness faded, leaving me standing in the murky bog, the water squishing around my legs. The heavy, musty smell assaulted my nostrils.
A power blasted out from me and a scream ripped from my throat.
I was being shredded, torn apart, lacerated.
The bog spun around me in a wild madness. My world split into three suns.
When everything settled, two exact copies of myself stood before me, with triumphant smiles on their faces.
God, it was as Illya said. They looked just like me down to the shirt and pants that I wore.
One hugged herself and spun in a gleeful circle. “We are free, sister! We are free!” She reached out with a hand and the very trees bent, the flowers trembling in her joy.
The other copy of me glared with violence in her eyes. I stumbled back, my heart pounding, ready to run, but she leapt forward, grabbing my throat and slamming me into the bark of the tree.
She squeezed.
And squeezed.
My mouth opened and shut, no air moving through me. I clawed at her hand and twisted, pain ratcheting in my lungs, tears streaming down my cheeks. Oh god, oh god. She was going to kill me. She was going to…
“Look at her,” Badb said to Macha. “Look at her futile struggle. Since the moment we woke, that is all it has been.”
I twisted and pulled. The fire raged in my body. My skin was wet from crying.
Macha’s head tilted, though no pity lingered in her expression. “You do know you cannot die from lack of air, do you not, sister?”
My body spasmed. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t act. I needed air. I needed tobreathe.“Look at how her mouth gapes and then closes, like a fish.” Badb’s face pressed close, her eyes boring into mine. My face. My eyes. So cold. “I have not seen such a weak version of you, Morrigan, since the beginning, when you served us as our slave.”
“Stop.” Suddenly the bog witch stood among the trees. “This is my domain. There is no violence here.”
Badb sneered at me and released me. I sank into the water, on my knees, clutching my burning throat, coughing and sobbing so hard it rattled my whole body.
I’d just lost everything.
Badb turned to Macha. “You are free. Your demon consort is nearby, awaiting you. Go, but do not be seen. Using your powers, keep an eye on this spot. On Morrigan. If she steps out of this bog, restrain her. Send me word, and I shall make sure her measly life is ended. Unless you wish to have the honors, sister?”
“We shall see how I am feeling,” Macha said coldly. She turned and strode off into the forest, the foliage filling in behind her.
Cool fingers slid under my chin, and Badb forced me to look into her cruel face. “And yet, we know what you shall choose, do we not, Morrigan? Go home. You are as free of us as we are of you. This world is no longer your burden.”
I swiped at the tears and snot on my cheeks. “What about Dagda?” Speaking felt as if a thousand needles scraped the inside of my throat.
“What of him?” Badb spoke with no emotion. “If you leave this bog, you are dead. That is now your only concern.” She released my chin. “Forget him. Forget this world. Your human life awaits. Oh, one more thing.” She dug into my pocket, and pulled out a small vial filled with a pink liquid. “A little potion from Ornan, curtesy of your blood.”
I stared in surprise and confusion. Ornan must have slipped it into my pants when he hugged me. “What does it do?”
“That is of no consequence to you.” She dropped the vial into her own pocket. “You should not have left me alone for so long. While you were hiding away inside yourself, the demon lord and I took a little time to make some plans.” She grinned at me. “So you see, even when you were playing me, I was a step ahead. Goodbye, sister.” And with that, Badb stalked from the bog, heading back the way I had come.
Everything was happening as I feared. Did I really think I could confront them and win? The laughable thing was that Dagda believed I could take them on. The water lapped around me. I was empty. Defeated.
I rose to my feet, my throat still tender, and faced the bog witch.
She watched me with solemn eyes. “Well, I shan’t have you here forever. Go. Risk death to save your world. Or…” Her hand swirled through the air and a tree with roots that stood above the stale water of the bog split wide, shimmering. A blast of cool air hit me and I recognized the pond of the park near my house. “... leave here and never return.”
