Page 27 of Rise of the Morrigan

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What did theDagda mean when he said "the three shall become one?" Babd supposed it wasn't unheard of that a god might want many wives—even three sisters which, she figured, was probably the fulfillment of some kind of weird fantasy of his. Yes, even the gods had to have fantasies. Why wouldn't they? Babd and her sisters all followed the Dagda into his tent.

The place was enchanted. On the outside, the tent appeared to be barely large enough to accommodate the Dagda alone. But when Babd walked inside it was like she'd entered a great hall lined with cold smooth stones, torches consumed with red magic flames lining the walls. All the girls' footsteps echoed as they walked, following the Dagda, with Fear Doidrich following close behind. Babd practically felt Doidrich gawking at her behind as he followed them.

The hallway opened up into a larger dome-shaped room. In the middle was an altar, and in front of it, a giant cauldron bubbled with a liquid that seemed to sparkle beneath the magical lighting of the place.

"Sit on the altar," Doidrich said. "All three of you."

"Please don't sacrifice us!" Macha begged. "We're too young to die."

"My dear," the Dagda said, "I would not dare to snuff out your life. I intend to grant you each—all three of you together—a great gift. The gift of divinity!"

"Divinity?" Anand asked, choking on the word.

"Marriages between a god and mortals never end well," the Dagda said. "But of three human souls, one goddess might be forged."

Babd and her sisters exchanged glances. What girl wouldn't want to become a goddess? It wasn't the prospect of divinity that frightened all three of them. It was the loss of their individuality, the notion that they'd be forged into one person, one divinity.

But they didn't have a choice. To resist a god... it would have been pointless.

"Join your hands," Doidrich said.

Babd felt each of her sisters, standing on either side of her, grab her hands. Doidrich dipped two bowls into the cauldron and handed one to Macha and the other to Anand, who each took the bowls with their free hands. Then Doidrich dipped the third bowl into the cauldron and put it to Babd's lips.

"You must all drink at the same time," Doidrich said. "Place the bowls to your lips."

All three sisters did as they were told—they each drank from their bowls. Babd sipped carefully at first. It was unlike anything she'd ever tasted. Sweet and inviting. She instinctively gulped—it was as though she'd tasted divinity itself and couldn't get enough.

A tingle consumed her body. When Doidrich pulled the bowl from her lips she looked down at her body. Her eyes were blurred, her vision divided into threes—the sort of sensation one might have after consuming too much wine. Then the three visions coalesced into one...

She looked around—she didn't see her sisters. They were gone. And the body she had, it was different. Her skin, no longer pale and white, but a light shade of purple. A strength coursed through her limbs. She felt her chest.She had breasts...Babd gasped!

It was as though when all three girls combined they'd collectively aged into maturity. Babd seemed to be in control of the body... at least for now. But she wasn't alone. Her sisters were there. She felt them. She sensed them. They were there with her... or was she with them?

Babd's heartbeat accelerated as the Dagda approached. She stood, nearly matching his height. "A fitting wife. The beauty of one, the intelligence of the other... and the intrigue of the third. It is for that fleeting intrigue I shall name you, wife. For you are something of a phantom."

Babd nodded. She didn't dare speak. She was too shocked, too confused by whatever she'd become, to even begin forming words. She managed to crack a smile, but she hadn't willed it. Was that Macha or Anand who'd grinned? It must've been Macha...

"Behold, my apprentice," The Dagda said, gesturing toward Fear Doidrich. "Bear witness now to our marriage. The union of the good god and his phantom queen, the Morrigan!"

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