Introduction | Chapter Two | Chapter Four
As the vast tremors that had collapsed half of the ruined buildings in the City of Night subsided, Torak, still holding the Orb, turned away from Garion to see the figure of Polgara lying prostrate on the ground, exhausted by her failed effort at resisting the God's Will not long beforehand. "My bride," he almost crooned. "Bride of Destiny, Queen of the World." He did not move towards her, though; instead, he caught sight of the Rivan King's companions, who had all watched the entire spectacle aghast, huddled around the body of the smith Durnik. "Belgarath," he said quietly. "And the one who carried Cthrag Yaska to Belgarion. And the rest of you. You will all come with me and my bride to Ashaba."
Belgarath drew himself up, the broken chain of his amulet hanging from his hand, apparently preparing for some last, fruitless resistance. Then another figure emerged from the shadow of a partially collapsed building, a figure surrounded by a nimbus of pure blue light.
It was Poledra.
"No, Torak," she said calmly. "This was never part of the agreement between the Destiny I serve and the Destiny thou, for the moment, dost embody."
"I will have them," Torak told her calmly, even superciliously. "As companions of the vanquished, they are mine by right."
"I will not let thee," she said, interposing herself between the God and Belgarath.
The God laughed. "How canst thou stop me, woman? Power thou dost indeed have, but thou art but mortal."
"I have more power than thou dost think, God of Angarak. I was once the Child of Light, but, more than that, I speak with the authority of thy Father."
"UL is defeated with his Destiny," Torak disagreed. "Thy authority is meaningless."
"The Destiny of Light is not so far defeated as thou wouldst have us believe, Torak; but, even were that not the case, wilt thou challenge thy Father directly? Thou art mad no longer. Dost thou truly believe that thou canst challenge UL?"
As she spoke, a beam of pure white light descended from above them, and it was soon surrounded by beams of red and blue and green and other shades, in each of which appeared a figure like that of a man. Belgarath, as ever, felt the presence of his Master, and he was unsurprised to see the figure of UL, Father of the Gods, now standing in the centre of the circle formed by the other six Gods.
"Follow thou thy Destiny, Torak," UL said sternly. "The agreement was ever that thou shouldst have only thy bride and thine enemy."
"The Light Destiny is departed, Father," Torak stated, surprisingly acknowledging the being in white as one who had preceded him. "Surely, agreements forged between the Necessities are no longer of importance."
"There is yet more to come," the elder God told him. "When thou dost return and read once more the Oracles thy hand didst pen, thou wilt discover much that was hidden from thee hitherto."
"Be that as it may," said Torak, moving towards Poledra, "the Oracles foretold that I should be the sword of Destiny, and supremacy I will have." The tawny-haired woman held up her right hand towards the God, and he stopped in his tracks as though he had walked into a wall.
"I am the Disciple of UL and of Aldur," she said, "and my Masters are here. Leave this place, Torak, scene of thy victory. Take Polgara and Belgarion and go to Ashaba, but know that the battle between our two Destinies still remains to be decided."
The Dragon-God stood locked in indecision for a moment, evidently unwilling to confront his father and brothers so soon after the titanic battle of a few minutes beforehand. "I will go," he said after a moment, "but we shall encounter each other again, Poledra, and in that battle shalt thou learn respect." He gathered up Polgara almost tenderly in his arms and motioned curtly to Garion to stand beside him. A shroud of darkness enveloped them for a moment, and, when it dissipated, the three were gone.
Aldur took Belgarath's hands in his. "Be not yet disheartened, my son," he said. "We have lost a battle here today, but thy studies should tell thee that there is one more EVENT to come, and in that EVENT a final CHOICE. The Vale doth yet remain inviolate through the earth's upheaval. Take now thy companions and go there, where for now you shall be safe."
"What of my daughter, my Lord? Am I to leave her in the hands of a being she has hated since her childhood? And what of Garion?"
"You have no choice, Belgarath. Shouldst thou attempt to rescue them now, thou wilt surely be destroyed, and all shall fail forever. Go back now and keep a corner of the world free and true. Study the prophecies, for they have much yet to reveal. And, above all, do not lose hope. We must depart now, but we shall speak anon."
UL had been standing over by the body of Durnik, beside which Ce'Nedra and the little boy Errand still knelt in mournful vigil. Laying a hand on Errand's head in silent benediction, he stooped and lifted the body in his arms. Then, drawing once again into their circle, the Gods began to glow once again in their varicoloured beams of light. By the time Belgarath could look in that direction again, they had disappeared.
"At least one thing hasn't changed," he muttered to himself. "Come on, all of you. We have a long way to go and we'd better get out of Mallorea as soon as we can."
"We're just going to leave Garion and Lady Polgara in the hands of that monster?" Ce'Nedra asked tearfully.
"You heard what Aldur said," Poledra said. "We can't do anything. Besides, I think they'll be safe. Something happened to Torak when the Orb healed him. He's still arrogant and twisted and he's still the Child of Dark, but he's no longer mad. With a bit of luck, that should work to our advantage. I don't know what we're going to do next, but if there's going to be another EVENT as Aldur says, we ought to stand a fair chance of winning it."
"Against Torak?" Silk asked. "He's beaten Garion. What sort of chance can we have against him now?"
"It might be Torak. Or, on the other hand, it might not. Torak's been the Child of Dark up to now, but there's nothing to say he's going to stay that way. The Prophecy of Dark isn't known for its gratitude toward its servants."
"We can talk about this later," Belgarath said. "Come on, let's get out of here."
And so, leaving the scene of devastation behind them, the dispirited companions of the Child of Light wound their way amongst the ruined buildings of Cthol Mishrak, embarking upon the long journey in search of whatever remained of their homes.
Introduction | Chapter Two | Chapter Four