In time my distaste for it grew less. The more I studied it, the better I came to know it, and I eventually grew fond of it.
Then one day my Master suggested that I might learn more about it if I burned it and studied its ashes. I indignantly refused.
And why not, my son? he asked me.
Because it is dear to me, Master, I said in a tone probably more firm than Id intended.
Dear? he asked.
I love the flower, Master! I will not destroy it!
Thou art stubborn, Belgarath, he noted. Did it truly take thee twenty years to admit thine affection for this small, gentle thing?
And that was the true meaning of my first lesson. I still have that little flower somewhere, and although I cant put my hands on it immediately, I think of it often and with great affection.
It was not long after that when my Master suggested that we journey to a place he called Prolgu, since he wanted to consult with someone there. I agreed to accompany him, of course, but to be quite honest about it, I didnt really want to be away from my studies for that long. It was spring, however, and thats always a good season for traveling. Prolgu is in the mountains, and if nothing else, the scenery was spectacular.
It took us quite some time to reach the place my Master never hurried and I saw creatures along the way that Id never imagined existed. My Master identified them for me, and there was a peculiar note of pain in his voice as he pointed out unicorns, Hrulgin, Algroths and even an Eldrak.
What troubles thee, Master? I asked him one evening as we sat by our fire. Are the creatures we have encountered distasteful to thee?
They are a constant rebuke to me and my brothers, Belgarath, he replied sadly. When the earth was all new, we dwelt with each other in a cave deep in these mountains, laboring to bring forth the beasts of the fields, the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea. It seemeth me I have told thee of that time, have I not?
I nodded. Yes, Master, I replied. It was before there was such a thing as man.
Yes, he said. Man was our last creation. At any rate, some of the creatures we brought forth were unseemly, and we consulted and decided to unmake them, but UL forbade it.
UL? The name startled me. Id heard it quite often in the encampment of the old people the winter before I went to serve my Master.
Thou hast heard of him, I see. There was no real point in my trying to hide anything from my Master. UL, as I told thee, he continued, forbade the unmaking of things, and this greatly offended several of us. Torak in particular was put much out of countenance. Prohibitions or restraints of any kind do not sit well with my brother Torak. It was at his urging, methinks, that we sent such unseemly creatures to UL, telling them that he would be their God. I do sorely repent our spitefulness, for what UL did, he did out of a Necessity which we did not at the time perceive.
It is UL with whom thou wouldst consult at Prolgu, is it not, Master? I asked shrewdly. You see? Im not totally without some degree of perception.
My Master nodded. A certain thing hath come to pass, he told me sadly. We had hoped that it might not, but it is another of those Necessities to which men and Gods alike must bow, He sighed. Seek thy bed, Belgarath, he told me then. We still have far to go ere we reach Prolgu, and I have noted that without sleep, thou art a surly companion.
A weakness of mine, Master, I admitted, spreading my blankets on the ground. My Master, of course, required sleep no more than he required food.
In time we reached Prolgu, which is a strange place on the top of a mountain which looks oddly artificial. We had no more than started up its side when we were greeted by a very old man and by someone who was quite obviously not a man. That was the first time I met UL, and the overpowering sense of his presence quite nearly bowled me over. Aldur, he said to my Master, well-met.
Father, my Master replied, politely inclining his head. The Gods, Ive noted, have an enormous sense of propriety. Then my Master reached inside his robe and took out that ordinary, round grey rock hed spent the last couple of decades studying. Our hopes notwithstanding, he announced, holding the rock out for UL to see, it hath arrived.
UL nodded gravely. I had thought I sensed its presence. Wilt thou accept the burden of it?
My Master sighed. If I must, he said.
Thou art brave, Aldur, UL said, and wiser far than thy brothers. That which commands us all hath brought it to thy hand for a purpose. Let us go apart and consider our course.
I learned that day that there was something very strange about that ordinary-looking stone.
The old man who had accompanied UL was named Gorim, and he and I got along well. He was a gentle, kindly old fellow whose features were the same as those of the old people Id met some years before. We went up into the city, and he took me to his house. We waited there while my Master and his spoke together for quite some time. To pass the long hours, he told me the story of how he had come to enter the service of UL. It seemed that his people were Dals, the ones who had somehow been left out when the Gods were selecting the various races of man to serve them. Despite my peculiar situation, Ive never been a particularly religious man, so I had a bit of difficulty grasping the concept of the spiritual pain the Dals suffered as outcasts. The Dals, of course, traditionally live to the south of the cluster of mountains known only as Korim, but it appeared that quite early in their history, they divided themselves into various groups to go in search of a God. Some went to the north to become Morindim and Karands; some went to the east to become Melcenes; some stayed south of Korim and continued to be Dals; but Gorims people, Ulgos, he called them, came west.
Eventually, after the Ulgos had wandered around in the wilderness for generations, Gorim was born, and when he reached manhood, he volunteered to go alone in search of UL. That was long before I was born, of course. Anyway, after many years he finally found UL. He took the good news back to his people, but not too many of them believed him. People are like that sometimes. Finally he grew disgusted with them and told them to follow him or stay where they were, and he didnt much care which. Some followed, and some didnt. As he told me of this, he grew pensive. I have oft-times wondered whatever happened to those who stayed behind, he said sadly.
I can clear that up for you, my friend, I advised him. I happened across them some twenty-five or so years ago. They had a large camp quite a ways north of my Masters Vale. I spent a winter with them and then moved on. I doubt that youd find any of them still alive, though. They were all very old when I saw them.
He gave me a stricken look, and then he bowed his head and wept.
Whats wrong, Gorim? I exclaimed, somewhat alarmed.
I had hoped that UL might relent and set aside my curse on them, he replied brokenly.
Curse?
That they would wither and perish and be no more. Their women were made barren by my curse.
It was still working when I was there, I told him. There wasnt a single child in the entire camp. I wondered why they made such a fuss over me. I guess they hadnt seen a child in a long, long time. I couldnt get any details from them, because I couldnt understand their language.
It was still working when I was there, I told him. There wasnt a single child in the entire camp. I wondered why they made such a fuss over me. I guess they hadnt seen a child in a long, long time. I couldnt get any details from them, because I couldnt understand their language.
They spoke the old tongue, he told me sadly, even as do my people here in Prolgu.
How is it that you speak my language then? I asked him.
It is my place as leader to speak for my people when we encounter other races, he explained.
Ah, I said. That stands to reason, I guess.
My Master and I returned to the Vale not long after that, and I took up other studies. Time seemed meaningless in the Vale, and I devoted years of study to the most commonplace of things. I examined trees and birds, fish and beasts, insects and vermin. I spent forty-five years on the study of grass alone. In time it occurred to me that I wasnt aging as other men did. Id seen enough old people to know that aging is a part of being human, but for some reason I seemed to be breaking the rules.
Master, I said one night high in the tower as we both labored with our studies, why is it that I do not grow old?
Wouldst thou grow old, my son? he asked me. I have never seen much advantage in it, myself.
I dont really miss it all that much, Master, I admitted, but isnt it customary?
Perhaps, he said, but not mandatory. Thou hast much yet to learn, and one or ten or even a hundred lifetimes would not be enough. How old art thou, my son?
I think I am somewhat beyond three hundred years, Master.
A suitable age, my son, and thou hast persevered in thy studies. Should I forget myself and call thee boy again, pray correct me. It is not seemly that the disciple of a God should be called boy.
I shall remember that, Master, I assured him, almost overcome with joy that he had finally called me his disciple.
I was certain that I could depend on thee, he said with a faint smile. And what is the object of thy present study, my son?
I would seek to learn why the stars fall, Master.
A proper study, my son.
And thou, Master, I asked, what is thy study if I be not overbold to ask.
Even as before, Belgarath, he replied, holding up that fatal round stone. It hath been placed in my care by UL himself, and it is therefore upon me to commune with it that I may know it and its purpose.
Can a stone have a purpose, Master other than to be a stone? The piece of rock, now worn smooth, even polished, by my Masters patient hand made me apprehensive for some reason. In one of those rare presentiments that I dont have very often, I sensed that a great deal of mischief would come about as a result of it.
This particular jewel hath a great purpose, Belgarath, for through it the world and all who dwell herein shall be changed. If I can but perceive that purpose, I might make some preparations. That necessity lieth heavily upon my spirit. And then he lapsed once more into silence, idly turning the stone over and over in his hand as he gazed deep into its polished surface with troubled eyes.
I certainly wasnt going to intrude upon his contemplation of the thing, so I turned back to my study of the inconstant stars.
Chapter 3
In time, others came to us, some seemingly by accident, as I had come, and some by intent, seeking out my Master that they might learn from him. Such a one was Zedar.
I came upon him near our tower one golden day in autumn after Id served my Master for five hundred years or so. This stranger had built a rude altar and was burning the carcass of a goat on it. That got us off on the wrong foot right at the outset. Even the wolves knew enough not to kill things in the Vale. The greasy smoke from his offering was fouling the air, and he was prostrated before his altar, chanting some outlandish prayer.
What are you doing? I demanded quite abruptly, Ill admit, since his noise and the stink of his sacrifice distracted my mind from a problem Id been considering for the past half-century.
Oh, puissant and all-knowing God, he said, groveling in the dirt, I have come a thousand leagues to behold thy glory and to worship thee.
Puissant? Quit trying to show off your education, man. Now get up and stop this caterwauling. Im no more a God than you are.
Art thou not the great God Aldur?
Im his disciple, Belgarath. What is all this nonsense? I pointed at his altar and his smoking goat.
It is to please the God, he replied, rising and dusting off his clothes. I couldnt be sure, but he looked rather like a Tolnedran or possibly an Arend. In either case, his babble about a thousand leagues was clearly a self-serving exaggeration. He gave me a servile, fawning sort of look. Tell me truly, he pleaded, dost thou think he will find this poor offering of mine acceptable?
I laughed. I cant think of a single thing you could have done that would offend him more.
The stranger looked stricken. He turned quickly and reached out as if he were going to grab up the animal with his bare hands to hide it.
Dont be an idiot! I snapped. Youll burn yourself!
It must be hidden, he said desperately. I would rather die than offend mighty Aldur.
Just get out of the way, I told him.
What?
Stand clear, I said, irritably waving him off, unless you want to take a trip with your goat. Then I looked at his grotesque little altar, willed it to a spot five miles distant, and translocated it with a single word, leaving only a few tatters of confused smoke hanging in the air.
He collapsed on his face again.
Youre going to wear out your clothes if you keep doing that, I told him, and my Master wont find it very amusing.
I pray thee, mighty disciple of most high Aldur, he said, rising and dusting himself off again, instruct me so that I offend not the God. He must have been an Arend. No Tolnedran could possibly mangle the language the way he did.
Be truthful, I told him, and dont try to impress him with false show and flowery speech. Believe me, friend, he can see right straight into your heart, so theres no way you can deceive him. Im not sure which God you worshiped before, but Aldurs like no other God in the whole world. What an asinine thing that was to say. No two Gods are ever the same.
And how may I become his disciple, as thou art?
First you become his pupil, I replied, and thats not easy.
What must I do to become his pupil?
You must become his servant. I said it a bit smugly, Ill admit. A few years with an axe and a broom would probably do this pompous ass some good.
And then his pupil? he pressed.
In time, I replied, if he so wills. It wasnt up to me to reveal the secret of the Will and the Word to him. Hed have to find that out for himself the same as I had.
And when may I meet the God?
I was getting tired of him anyway, so I took him to the tower.