‘No, Cyradis,’ Eriond said gently, ‘they won’t. They’ll remain fresh and forever new until the end of days.’
‘I thank thee, God of Angarak,’ she said gratefully.
Durnik and Beldin had retired to a corner near the pool to confer. Then they both looked up, concentrated for a moment, and roofed the grotto with gleaming quartz that refracted the sunlight into rainbows.
‘It’s time to leave now, Cyradis,’ Polgara told the slim girl. ‘We’ve done all we can.’ Then she and her mother took the still-weeping Seeress by the arms and slowly led her back to the passage with the others following behind.
Durnik was the last to leave. He stood at the bier with his hand lying on Toth’s motionless shoulder. Finally, he put out his hand and took Toth’s fishing pole out of mid-air. He carefully laid it on the bier beside his friend’s body and patted the huge crossed hands once. Then he turned and left.
When they were outside again, Beldin and the smith sealed the passageway with more quartz.
‘There’s a nice touch,’ Silk observed sadly to Garion, pointing to the image above the portal. ‘Which one of you thought of that?’
Garion turned to look. The face of Torak was gone, and in its place the image of Eriond’s face smiled its benediction. ‘I’m not really sure,’ he replied, ‘and I don’t think it really matters.’ He tapped his fingers against the breastplate of his armor. ‘Do you suppose you could help me out of this?’ he asked. ‘I don’t think I need it anymore.’
‘No,’ Silk agreed, ‘probably not. From the look of things, I’d say you’ve run out of people to fight.’
‘Let’s hope so.’
It was much later. They had removed the Grolims from the amphitheater and cleaned up the debris which had littered the stone floor. There was very little they could do about the vast carcass of the dragon, however. Garion sat on the lowest step of the stairway leading down into the amphitheater. Ce’Nedra, still holding her sleeping child, dozed in his arms.
‘Not bad at all,’ the familiar voice said to him. This time, however, the voice did not echo in the vaults of his mind, but seemed instead to be right beside him.
‘I thought you were gone,’ Garion said, speaking quietly to avoid waking his wife and son.
‘No, not really,’ the voice replied.
‘I seem to remember that you once said that there was going to be a new voice – awareness, I suppose would be a better term – after this was decided.’
‘There is, actually, but I’m a part of it.’
‘I don’t quite understand.’
‘It’s not too complicated, Garion. Before the accident there was only one awareness, but then it was divided in the same way everything else was. Now it’s back, but since I was part of the original, I’ve rejoined it. We’re one again.’
‘That’s your idea of not too complicated?’
‘Do you really want me to explain further?’
Garion started to say something but then he decided against it. ‘You can still separate yourself, though?’
‘No. That would only lead to another division.’
‘Then how—’ Garion decided at the last instant that he didn’t really want to ask that question. ‘Why don’t we just let this drop?’ he suggested. ‘What was that light?’
‘That was the accident, the thing that divided the universe. It also divided me from my opposite and the Orb from the Sardion.’
‘I thought that happened a long time ago.’
‘It did – a very long time ago.’
‘But—’
‘Try to listen for a change, Garion. Do you know very much about light?’
‘It’s just light, isn’t it?’
‘There’s a little more. Have you ever stood a long way from somebody who’s chopping wood?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you notice that he’d chop and that then, a moment or so later, you heard the sound?’
‘Yes, now that you mention it, I do. What causes that?’
‘The interval is the amount of time the sound takes to reach you. Light moves much faster than sound, but it still takes time to go from one place to another.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
‘Do you know what the accident was?’
‘Something out among the stars, I understand.’
‘Exactly. A star was dying, and it died in a place where that wasn’t supposed to happen. The dying star was in the wrong place when it exploded, and it ignited an entire cluster of stars – a galaxy. When the galaxy exploded, it tore the fabric of the universe. She protected herself by dividing. That’s what led to all of this.’
‘All right. Why were we talking about light then?’
‘That’s what that sudden light was – the light from that exploding galaxy – the accident. It only just now reached this place.’
Garion swallowed hard. ‘Just how far away was the accident?’
‘The numbers wouldn’t mean anything to you.’
‘How long ago did it happen?’
‘That’s another number you wouldn’t understand. You might ask Cyradis. She could probably tell you. She had a very special reason to have it calculated rather precisely.’
Garion slowly began to understand. ‘That’s it then,’ he said, excited in spite of himself. ‘The instant of the Choice was the instant when the light from the accident reached this world.’
‘Very good, Garion.’
‘Did that cluster of stars that exploded come back again after Cyradis made the Choice? I mean there has to be something to patch that hole in the universe, doesn’t there?’
‘Better and better. Garion, I’m proud of you. You remember how the Sardion and Zandramas broke up into little flecks of intense light when they blew the roof off the grotto?’
‘It’s not the sort of thing I’d be likely to forget.’ Garion shuddered.
‘There was a reason for that. Zandramas and the Sardion – or the pieces of them, at any rate, are on their way back toward that ‘hole’, as you put it. They’re going to be the patch. They’ll get bigger along the way, of course.’
‘And how long—’ Garion broke off. ‘Another meaningless number, I suppose?’
‘Very meaningless.’
‘I noticed some things about Zandramas back there. She had this all worked out, didn’t she? Right from the very beginning?’
‘My opposite was always very methodical.’
‘What I’m getting at is that she made all of her arrangements in advance. She had everything in place in Nyissa before she ever went to Cherek to pick up those Bear-cultists. Then, when she went to Riva to steal Garan, everything was ready. She’d even put things in place so that we all suspected the cult instead of her.’
‘She’d have probably made a very good general.’
‘But she went even further. No matter how good her plans were, she always had a contingency to fall back on in case the original plan failed.’ A thought come to him. ‘Did Mordja get her? I mean, she blew all apart when the Sardion exploded, didn’t she? Is her spirit still mixed up in those stars, or did it get pulled down into Hell? She sounded so very much afraid just before she dissolved.’
‘I really wouldn’t know, Garion. My opposite and I dealt with this universe, not with Hell – which, of course, is a universe all of its own.’
‘What would have happened if Cyradis had chosen Geran instead of Eriond?’
‘You and the Orb would be moving to a new address about now.’
Garion felt his skin begin to crawl. ‘And you didn’t warn me?’ he demanded incredulously.
‘Would you really have wanted to know? and what difference would it have made?’
Garion decided to let that pass. ‘Was Eriond always a God?’ he asked.
‘Weren’t you listening earlier when he explained? Eriond was intended to be the seventh God. Torak was a mistake caused by the accident.’
‘He’s always been around then? Eriond, I mean?’
>
‘Always is a long time, Garion. Eriond was present – in spirit – since the accident. When you were born, he began to move around in the world.’
‘We’re the same age then?’
‘Age is a meaningless concept to the Gods. They can be any age they choose to be. It was the theft of the Orb that started things moving toward what happened here today. Zedar wanted to steal the Orb, so Eriond found him and showed him how to do it. That’s what got you moving in the first place. If Zedar hadn’t stolen the Orb, you’d probably still be at Faldor’s farm – married to Zubrette, I’d imagine. Try to keep your perspective about this, Garion, but in a very peculiar way this world was created just to give you something to stand on while you were fixing things.’
‘Please stop joking.’
‘I’m not joking, Garion. You’re the most important person who’s ever lived – or ever will – with the possible exception of Cyradis. You killed a bad God and replaced him with a good one. You did a lot of floundering around in the process, but you finally managed to get it all done. I’m sort of proud of you, actually. All in all, you turned out rather well.’
‘I had a lot of help.’
‘Granted, but you’re entitled to a bit of conceit – for a moment or two, anyway. I wouldn’t overdo it, though. It’s not a very becoming sort of thing.’
Garion concealed a smile. ‘Why me?’ he asked, making it sound as plaintive and imbecilic as possible.
There was a startled silence, and then the voice actually laughed. ‘Please don’t go back to asking that, Garion.’
‘I’m sorry. What happens now?’
‘You get to go home.’
‘No, I mean to the world?’
‘A lot of that’s going to depend on Zakath. Eriond is the God of Angarak now, and despite Urgit and Drosta and Nathel, Zakath’s the real overking of Angarak. It might take a bit of doing and he may have to use up a large number of Grolims in the process, but before he’s done, Zakath is going to have to ram Eriond down the throats of all the Angaraks in the world.’
‘He’ll manage,’ Garion shrugged. ‘Zakath’s very good at ramming things down people’s throats.’
‘Cyradis will be able to soften that side of him, I expect.’
‘All right, then. What about afterward? After all the Angaraks have accepted Eriond?’
‘The movement will spread. You’ll probably live long enough to see the day when Eriond is the God of the whole world. That’s what was intended from the beginning.’
‘“And he shall have Lordship and Dominion”?’ Garion quoted with a sinking feeling, remembering certain Grolim prophecies.
‘You know Eriond better than that. Can you possibly see him sitting on a throne gloating over sacrifices?’
‘No, not really. What happens to the other Gods then? Aldur and the rest of them?’
‘They’ll move on. They’ve finished with what they came here to do, and there are many, many other worlds in the universe.’
‘What about UL? Will he leave, too?’
‘UL doesn’t leave anyplace, Garion. He’s everywhere. Does that more or less answer all the questions? I have some other things that need to be attended to. There are a number of people I have to make arrangements for. Oh, incidentally, congratulations on your daughters.’
‘Daughters?’
‘Small female children. They’re devious, but they’re prettier than sons, and they smell better.’
‘How many?’ Garion asked breathlessly.
‘Quite a few, actually. I won’t tell you the exact number. I wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises for you, but when you get back to Riva, you’d better start expanding the royal nursery.’ There was a long pause. ‘Goodbye for now, Garion,’ the voice said, its tone no longer dry. ‘Be well.’
And then the voice was gone.
The sun was slipping down, and Garion, Ce’Nedra, and Geran had rejoined the others near the portal to the grotto. They were all subdued as they sat not far from the vast carcass of the dragon.
‘We ought to do something about her,’ Belgarath murmured. ‘She wasn’t really a bad brute. She was just stupid, and that’s not really a crime. I’ve always felt rather sorry for her, and I’d sort of hate to just leave her out here in the open for the birds to pick over.’
‘You’ve got a sentimental streak in you, Belgarath,’ Beldin noted. ‘That’s very disappointing, you know.’
‘We all get sentimental as we get older,’ Belgarath shrugged.
‘Is she all right?’ Velvet asked Sadi as the eunuch returned with Zith’s little bottle. ‘You took quite a long time.’
‘She’s fine,’ Sadi replied. ‘One of the babies wanted to play. He thought it was funny to hide from me. It took me a while to locate him.’
‘Is there any real reason for us to stay here?’ Silk asked. ‘We could light that beacon, and maybe Captain Kresca could pick us up before dark.’
‘We’re expecting company, Kheldar,’ Eriond told him.
‘We are? Whom are we expecting?’
‘Some friends are planning to stop by.’
‘Your friends or ours?’
‘Some of each, actually. There’s one of them now.’ Eriond pointed out to sea.
They all turned to look.
Silk suddenly laughed. ‘We should have known,’ he said. ‘Trust Barak to disobey orders.’
They all looked out at the gently rolling ocean. The Seabird looked a bit the worse for weather, but she wallowed through the waves ponderously on a starboard tack which was taking her on a course past the reef. ‘Beldin,’ Silk suggested, ‘why don’t we go down to the shore and light a signal for him?’
‘Can’t you do it yourself?’
‘I’ll be happy to – just as soon as you teach me how to set fire to rocks.’
‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that, I guess.’
‘Are you sure you’re not older than Belgarath? Your memory seems to be slipping a bit, old boy.’
‘Don’t belabor it, Silk. Let’s go see if we can signal that oversized barge in to shore.’
The two of them started down to the edge of the water.
‘Was that arranged?’ Garion asked Eriond. ‘Barak showing up, I mean?’
‘We had a hand in it, yes,’ Eriond admitted. ‘You’re going to need transportation back to Riva, and Barak and the others are sort of entitled to find out what happened here.’
‘The others, too? Is that all right? I mean, at Rheon Cyradis said—’
‘There’s no problem now,’ Eriond smiled. ‘The Choice has been made. There are quite a number of people on their way to meet us actually. Our mutual friend has a passion for tying up loose ends.’
‘You’ve noticed that already, I see.’
The Seabird hove to on the lee side of the reef, and a longboat put out from her starboard side to glide across what seemed to Garion to be a molten stretch of water made golden by the setting sun. They all went down to the shore to join Silk and Beldin as the longboat ran smoothly toward the shore of the reef.
‘What kept you?’ Silk called across the intervening water to Barak, who stood, his beard aflame in the light of the setting sun, in the prow of the boat.
Barak was grinning broadly. ‘How did things turn out?’ he shouted.
‘Quite well, actually,’ Silk called back. Then he seemed to think of something. ‘Sorry, Cyradis,’ he said to the Seeress. ‘That was insensitive of me, wasn’t it?’
‘Not entirely, Prince Kheldar. My companion’s sacrifice was made willingly, and methinks his spirit doth rejoice in our success even as we do.’
They were all in the boat with Barak, Garion saw. Mandorallen’s armor gleamed just behind the huge Cherek. Hettar, lean and whiplike, was there, and Lelldorin, and even Relg. Barak’s son Unrak was chained in the stern. Unrak had grown, but the restraints upon him were puzzling.
Barak placed one huge foot on the gunwale, preparing to leap from the boat.
‘Careful,’ Silk told h
im. ‘It’s deep right there. There are a fair number of Grolims who found that out the hard way.’
‘Did you throw them out into the water?’ Barak asked.
‘No. They volunteered.’
The longboat’s keel grated on the wave-eroded stones of the theater, and Barak and the others clambered out. ‘Did we miss very much?’ the big man asked.
‘Not really,’ Silk replied with a shrug. ‘It was just your average, run-of-the-mill saving of the universe. You know how those things are. Is your son in trouble?’ Silk looked at Unrak, who seemed a bit crestfallen in his chains.
‘Not exactly that,’ Barak replied. ‘Along about noon, he turned into a bear, that’s all. We sort of thought it was significant.’
‘It runs in your family, I see. But why chain him now?’
‘The sailors refused to get into the longboat with him until we did.’
‘I didn’t follow that at all,’ Zakath murmured to Garion.
‘It’s a hereditary sort of thing,’ Garion explained. ‘Barak’s family members are the protectors of the Rivan King. When the situation demands it, they turn into bears. Barak did it several times when I was in danger. It appears that he passed it on to Unrak – his son.’
‘Unrak’s your protector now? He seems a little young, and you don’t really need that much protection.’
‘No. He’s probably Geran’s protector, and Geran was in a certain amount of danger back there in the grotto.’
‘Gentlemen,’ Ce’Nedra said then in a triumphant voice, ‘may I introduce the Crown Prince of Riva?’ She held Geran up so that they could see him.
‘He’s going to forget how to walk if she doesn’t put him down one of these days,’ Beldin muttered to Belgarath.
‘Her arms should start getting tired before too much longer,’ Belgarath said.
Barak and the others crowded around the little queen even as the sailors who had been rowing reluctantly removed the chains from Barak’s son.
‘Unrak!’ Barak roared, ‘Come here!’
‘Yes, father.’ The boy stepped out of the boat and came forward.