So I flew east instead and dropped in on the Tolnedrans. Theyd built a number of cities since the last time Id seen them. Some of those cities were actually quite large, though their habit of using logs for constructing walls and thatch for roofs made me just a little wary of entering those freestanding firetraps. As you might expect, the Tolnedran fascination with money hadnt diminished in the fifteen hundred years since Id last seen them. If anything, theyd grown even more acquisitive, and they seemed to spend a great deal of time building roads. What is this thing with Tolnedrans and roads? They were generally peaceful, however, since wars bad for business, so I flew on to visit the Marags.
The Marags were a strange people as Im sure Relg has discovered by now. Perhaps their peculiarities are the result of the fact that there are many more women in their society than there are men. Their God, Mara, takes what is in my view an unwholesome interest in fertility and reproduction. Their society is matriarchal, which is unusual although the Nyissans tend in that direction as well.
Despite its peculiarities, Marag culture was functional, and they had not yet begun the practice of ritual cannibalism that their neighbors found so repugnant and which ultimately led to their near-extinction. They were a generous people the women particularly, and I got along quite well with them. I dont know that I need to go into too much detail. This book will almost certainly fall into Polgaras hands eventually, and she has strong opinions about some things which arent really all that important.
After several years, we all returned to the Vale and gathered once more in our Masters tower to report on what we had seen.
With a certain delicacy, our Master had sent Belsambar north to see what the Morindim and the Karands were doing. It really wouldnt have been a good idea to send Belsambar back into the lands of the Angaraks. He had very strong feelings about the Grolim priesthood, and our journeys were supposed to be fact-finding missions. We werent out there to right wrongs or to impose our own notions of justice. In retrospect, though, we could have probably saved the world a great deal of pain and suffering if wed simply turned Belsambar loose on the Grolims. It probably would have caused bad blood between Torak and our Master, though, and that came soon enough anyway.
It was Belzedar who went down to the north side of Korim to observe the Angaraks. Isnt it funny how things turn out? What he saw in those mountains troubled him very much. Torak always had an exaggerated notion of his significance in the overall scheme of things, and he encouraged his Angaraks to become excessive in their worship. Theyd raised a temple to him in the High Places of Korim where the Grolim priesthood ecstatically butchered their fellow Angaraks by the hundreds while Torak looked on approvingly.
The religious practices of the various races of man were really none of our business, but Belzedar found cause for alarm in the beliefs of the Angaraks. Torak made no secret of the fact that he considered himself several cuts above his brothers, and he was evidently encouraging his people to feel the same way about themselves. Its just a matter of time, Im afraid, Belzedar concluded somberly. Sooner or later, theyre going to try to impose their notion of their own superiority on the rest of mankind, and that wont work. If someone doesnt persuade Torak to stop filling the heads of the Angaraks with that obscene sense of superiority, theres very likely to be war in the south.
Then Belsambar told us that the Morindim and the Karands had become demon-worshipers, but that they posed no real threat to the rest of mankind, since the demons devoted themselves almost exclusively to eating the magicians who raised them.
Beldin reported that the Arends had grown even more stupid if thats possible and that they all lived in a more or less perpetual state of war.
Belmakor had passed through the lands of the Nyissans on his way to Melcena, and he reported that the snake-people were still fearfully primitive. No ones ever accused the Nyissans of being energetic, but youd think they might have at least started building houses by now. The Melcenes, of course, did build houses probably more than they really needed but it kept them out of mischief. On his way back, he passed through Kell, and he told us that the Dals were much involved in arcane studies astrology, necromancy, and the like. The Dals spend so much of their time trying to look into the future that they tend to lose sight of the present. I hate mystics! The only good part of it was that they were so fuzzy-headed that they didnt pose a threat to anybody else.
The Alorns, of course, were an entirely different matter. Theyre a noisy, belligerent people wholl fight at the drop of a hat. Beltira and Belkira looked in on their fellow Alorns. Fortunately for the sake of world peace, the Alorns, like the Arends, spent most of their time fighting each other rather than doing war on other races, but the twins strongly suggested that we keep an eye on them. Ive been doing just that for the past five thousand years. It was probably that more than anything else that turned my hair white. Alorns can get into more trouble by accident than other people can on purpose always excepting the Arends, of course. Arends are perpetually a catastrophe waiting to explode.
Our Master considered our reports carefully and concluded that the world outside the Vale was generally peaceful and that only the Angaraks were likely to cause trouble. He told us that hed have a word with his brother Torak about that particular problem, pointing out to him that if any kind of general war broke out, the Gods themselves would inevitably be drawn in, and that would be disastrous. Methinks I can make him see reason, Aldur told us. Reason? Torak? Sometimes my Masters optimism got the better of him.
As I recall, he had been absently fondling that strange grey stone of his as we made our reports. Hed had the thing for so long that I dont think he even realized that it was in his hand. Over the years since hed spoken with UL about it, I dont think hed once put it down, and it somehow almost became a part of him.
It was naturally Belzedar who noticed it. I wonder how everything might have turned out if he hadnt. What is that strange jewel, Master? he asked. Better far that his tongue had fallen out before he asked that fatal question.
This Orb? Aldur replied, holding it up for all of us to see. In it lies the fate of the world. It was then for the first time that I noticed that the stone seemed to have a faint blue flicker deep inside of it. It was, as I think Ive mentioned before, polished by a thousand years or more of our Masters touch, and it was now, as Belzedar had so astutely noticed, more a jewel than a piece of plain, country rock.
How can so small an object be so important, Master? Belzedar asked. Thats another question I wish hed never thought of. If hed just been able to let it drop, none of whats happened would have happened, and he wouldnt be in his present situation. Despite all of our training, there are some questions better left unanswered.
Unfortunately, our Master had a habit of answering questions, and so things came out that might better have been left buried. If they had, I might not currently be carrying a load of guilt which Im not really strong enough to bear. Id rather carry a mountain than carry what I did to Belzedar. Garion might understand that, but Im fairly sure none of the rest of my savage family would. Regrets? Yes, of course I have regrets. Ive got regrets stacked up behind me at least as far as from here to the moon. But we dont die from regret, do we? We might squirm a little, but we dont die.
Unfortunately, our Master had a habit of answering questions, and so things came out that might better have been left buried. If they had, I might not currently be carrying a load of guilt which Im not really strong enough to bear. Id rather carry a mountain than carry what I did to Belzedar. Garion might understand that, but Im fairly sure none of the rest of my savage family would. Regrets? Yes, of course I have regrets. Ive got regrets stacked up behind me at least as far as from here to the moon. But we dont die from regret, do we? We might squirm a little, but we dont die.
And our Master smiled at my brother Belzedar, and the Orb grew brighter. I seemed to see images flickering dimly within it. Herein lies the past, our Master told us, and the present, and the future, also. This is but a small part of the virtue of the Orb. With it may man or earth herself be healed or destroyed. Whatsoever man or God would do, though it be beyond even the power of the Will and the Word, with this Orb may it come to pass.
Truly a wondrous thing, Master, Belzedar said, looking a bit puzzled, but still I fail to understand. The jewel is fair, certainly, but in fine it is yet but a stone.
The Orb hath revealed the future unto me, my son, our Master replied sadly. It shall be the cause of much contention and great suffering and vast destruction. Its power reaches from where it now lies to blow out the lives of men yet unborn as easily as thou wouldst snuff out a candle.
Its an evil thing then, Master, I said, and Belsambar and Belmakor agreed.
Destroy it, Master, Belsambar pleaded, before it can bring its evil into the world.
That may not be, our Master replied.
Blessed be the wisdom of Aldur, Belzedar said, his eyes glittering strangely. With us to aid him, our Master may wield this wondrous jewel for good instead of ill. It would be monstrous to destroy so precious a thing. Now that I look back at everything thats happened, I suppose I shouldnt really blame Belzedar for his unholy interest in the Orb. It was a part of something that absolutely had to happen. I shouldnt blame him for it but I do.
I tell ye, my sons, our Master continued, I would not destroy the Orb even were it possible. Ye have all just returned from looking at the world in its childhood and at man in his infancy. All living things must grow or they will die. Through this jewel shall the world be changed and man shall achieve that state for which he was made. The Orb is not of itself evil. Evil is a thing which lieth only in the hearts and minds of men and of Gods also. And then our Master fell silent, and he sighed, and we went away and left him in his sad communion with the Orb.
We saw little of our Master in the centuries which followed. Alone in his tower he continued his study of the Orb, and he learned much from it, I think. We were all saddened by his absence, and our work had little joy in it.
I think it was about twenty centuries after I came to serve my Master when a stranger came into the Vale. He was beautiful as no being I have ever seen, and he walked as if his foot spurned the earth.
As was customary, we went out to greet him.
I would speak with thy Master Aldur, he told us, and we knew that we were in the presence of a God.
As the eldest, I stepped forward. I shall tell my Master you have come, I said politely. I wasnt certain which God he was, but something about this over-pretty stranger didnt sit very well with me.
That is not needful, Belgarath, he told me in a tone that irritated me even more than his manner. My brother knows I am here. Convey me to his tower.
I turned and led the way without trusting myself to answer.
When we reached the tower, the stranger looked me full in the face. A bit of advice for thee, Belgarath, he said, by way of thanks for thy service. Seek not to rise above thyself. It is not thy place to approve or to disapprove of me. For thy sake, I hope that when next we meet, thou wilt remember this instruction and behave in a more seemly manner. His eyes seemed to bore directly into me, and his voice chilled me.
But, because I was still who I was and not even the two thousand years and more I had lived in the Vale had entirely put the wild, rebellious boy in me to sleep, I answered him somewhat tartly. Thank you for the advice, I told him. Will you require anything else? It wasnt up to me to tell him where the door was or how to open it. I waited, watching hopefully for some hint of confusion.
Thou art pert, Belgarath, he observed. Perhaps one day I shall give myself leisure to instruct thee in proper behavior and customary respect.
Im always eager to learn, I replied. As you can see, Torak and I got off on the wrong foot almost immediately. Youll notice that Id deduced his identity by now.
He turned and gestured, and the stone door of the tower opened. Then he went inside.
We never knew exactly what passed between our Master and his brother. They spoke together for hours, then a summer storm broke above our heads, so we were forced to take shelter and thus missed Toraks departure.
When the storm had cleared, our Master called us to him, and we went up into his tower. He sat at the table where he had labored so long over the Orb. There was a great sadness in his face, and my heart wept to see it. There was also a reddened mark on his cheek that I didnt understand.
But Belzedar saw what I hadnt almost at once. Master! he said with a note of panic in his voice, where is the jewel? Where is the Orb of power? I wish Id paid closer attention to the sound of his voice. I might have been able to avert a lot of things if I had.
Torak, my brother, hath taken it away with him, our Master replied, and his voice had almost the sound of weeping in it.
Quickly! Belzedar exclaimed. We must pursue him and reclaim the Orb before he escapes us! We are many, and he is but one!
He is a God, my son, Aldur said. Numbers mean nothing to him.
But, Master, Belzedar said desperately, we must reclaim the Orb! It must be returned to us! And I still didnt realize what was going on in Belzedars mind. My brains must have been asleep.
How did thy brother obtain thine Orb from thee, Master? Beltira asked.
Torak conceived a desire for the jewel, Aldur said, and he besought me that I should give it to him. When I would not, he smote me and took the Orb and ran.
That did it! Though the jewel was wondrous, it was still only a stone. The fact that Torak had struck my Master, however, brought flames into my brain. I threw off my cloak, bent my will into the air before me, and forged a sword with a single word. I seized the sword and leapt to the window.
No! my Master said, and the word stopped me as if a wall had been placed before me.
Open! I commanded, slashing at that unseen wall with the sword Id just made.
No! my Master said again, and the wall wouldnt let me through.
He hath struck thee, Master! I raged. For that I will kill him though he be ten times a God!
No. Torak would crush thee as easily as thou wouldst crush an insect which annoyed thee. I love thee much, mine eldest son, and I would not lose thee so.