“My,” Beldin said, “aren’t we testy this morning? Pol, have you got any beer handy?”
“Before breakfast, Uncle?” she said from beside the fireplace where she was stirring a large pot.
“Just as a buffer for the gruel,” he said.
She gave him a very steady look.
He grinned at her, then turned back toward Belgarath. “Seriously, though,” he went on, “why not let me deal with all the lurkers in the bushes around the house? Kheldar could dull every knife he’s carrying, and Liselle could wear that poor little snake’s fangs down to the gums, and still wouldn’t be sure if you’d cleaned out the woods hereabouts. I’m going off in a different direction anyway, so why not let me do something flamboyant to frighten off the Guardsmen and the Karands and then leave a nice, wide trail for the Chandim and the Hounds? They’ll follow me, and that should leave you an empty forest to ride through.”
Belgarath gave him a speculative look. “Exactly what have you got in mind?” he asked.
“I’m still working on it.” The dwarf leaned back reflectively. “Let’s face it, Belgarath, the Chandim and Zandramas already know that we’re here, so there’s not much point in tiptoeing around anymore. A little noise isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“That’s true, I suppose,” Belgarath agreed. He looked at Garion. “Are you getting any hints from the Orb about the direction Zandramas took when she left here?”
“A sort of a steady pull toward the east is all.”
Beldin grunted. “Makes sense. Since Urvon’s people were wandering all over Katakor, she probably wanted to get to the nearest unguarded border as quickly as possible. That would be Jenno.”
“Is the border between Jenno and Katakor unguarded?” Velvet asked.
“They don’t even know for sure where the border is.” He snorted. “At least not up in the forest. There’s nothing up there but trees anyway, so they don’t bother with it.” He turned back to Belgarath. “Don’t get your mind set in stone on some of these things,” he advised. “We did a lot of speculating back at Mal Zeth, and the theories we came up with were related to the truth only by implication. There’s a great deal of intrigue going on here in Mallorea, so it’s a good idea to expect things to turn out not quite the way you thought they would.”
“Garion,” Polgara said from the fireplace, “would you see if you can find Silk? Breakfast is almost ready.”
“Yes, Aunt Pol,” he replied automatically.
After they had eaten, they repacked their belongings and carried the packs out to the stable.
“Go out through the sally port,” Beldin said as they crossed the courtyard again. “Give me about an hour before you start.”
“You’re leaving now?” Belgarath asked him.
“I might as well. We’re not accomplishing very much by sitting around talking. Don’t forget to leave me a trail to follow.”
“I’ll take care of it. I wish you’d tell me what you’re going to do here.”
“Trust me.” The gnarled sorcerer winked. “Take cover someplace and don’t come out again until all the noise subsides.” He grinned wickedly and rubbed his dirty hands together in anticipation. Then he shimmered and swooped away as a blue‑banded hawk.
“I think we’d better go back inside the house,” Belgarath suggested. “Whatever he’s going to do out here is likely to involve a great deal of flying debris.”
They reentered the house and went back to the room where they had spent the night. “Durnik,” Belgarath said, “can you get those shutters closed? I don’t think we want broken glass sheeting across the room.”
“But then we won’t be able to see,” Silk objected.
“I’m sure you can live without seeing it. As a matter of fact, you probably wouldn’t want to watch, anyway.”
Durnik went to the window, opened it slightly, and pulled the shutters closed.
Then, from high overhead where the blue‑banded hawk had been circling, there came a huge roar almost like a continuous peal of swirling thunder, accompanied by a rushing surge. The House of Torak shook as if a great wind were tearing at it, and the faint light coming from between the slats of the shutters Durnik had closed vanished, to be replaced by inky darkness. Then there came a vast bellow from high in the air above the house.
“A demon?” Ce’Nedra gasped. “Is it a demon?”
“A semblance of a demon,” Polgara corrected.
“How can anybody see it when it’s so dark outside?” Sadi asked.
“It’s dark around the house because the house is inside the image. The people hiding in the forest should be able to see it very well ‑too well, in fact.”
“It’s that big?” Sadi looked stunned. “But this house is enormous.”
Belgarath grinned. “Beldin was never satisfied with halfway measures,” he said.
There came another of those huge bellows from high above, followed by faint shrieks and cries of agony.
“Now what’s he doing?” Ce’Nedra asked.
“Some kind of visual display, I’d imagine.” Belgarath shrugged. “Probably fairly graphic. My guess is that everyone in the vicinity is being entertained by the spectacle of an illusory demon eating imaginary people alive.”
“Will it frighten them off?” Silk asked.
“Wouldn’t it frighten you?”
From high overhead, a dreadful booming voice roared.
“Hungry!” it said. “Hungry! Want food! Mow food!” There came a ponderous, earthshaking crash, the sound of a titanic foot crushing an acre of forest. Then there was another and yet another as Beldin’s enormous image stalked away. The light returned, and Silk hurried toward the window.
“I wouldn’t,” Belgarath warned him.
“But‑“
“You don’t want to see it, Silk. Take my word for it. You don’t want to see it.”
The gigantic footsteps continued to crash through the nearby woods.
“How much longer?” Sadi asked in a shaken voice.
“He said about an hour,” Belgarath replied. “He’ll probably make use of all of it. He wants to make a lasting impression on everybody in the area.”
There were screams of terror coming from the woods now, and the crashing continued. Then there was another sound ‑a great roaring that receded off into the distance toward the southwest, accompanied by the fading surge of Beldin’s will.
“He’s leading the Chandim off now, “ Belgarath said. “That means he’s already chased off the Guardsmen and the Karands. Let’s get ready to leave.”
It took them a while to calm the wild‑eyed horses, but they were finally able to mount and ride into the courtyard. Garion had once again donned his mail shirt and helmet, and his heavy shield hung from the bow of Chretienne’s saddle. “Do I still need to carry the lance?” he asked.
“Probably not,” Belgarath replied. “We’re not likely to meet anybody out there now.”
They went through the sally port and into the brushy woods. They circled the black house until they reached the east-side, then Garion drew Iron‑grip’s sword. He held it lightly and swept it back and forth until he felt it pull at his hand. “The trail’s over there,” he said, pointing toward a scarcely visible path leading off into the woods.
“Good,” Belgarath said. “At least we won’t have to beat our way through the brush.”
They crossed the weed‑grown clearing that surrounded the House of Torak and entered the forest. The path they followed showed little sign of recent use, and it was at times difficult to see.
“It looks as if some people left here in a hurry.” Silk grinned, pointing at various bits and pieces of equipment lying scattered along the path.
They came up over the top of a hill and saw a wide strip of devastation stretching through the forest toward the southwest.
“A tornado?” Sadi asked.
“No,” Belgarath replied. “Beldin. The Chandim won’t have much trouble finding his trail.”
The sword in Garion’s hand was still pointed unerringly toward the path they were following. He led the way confidently, and they increased their pace to a trot and pushed on through the forest. After a league or so, the path began to run downhill, moving out of the foothills toward the heavily forested plains lying to the east of the Karandese range.
“Are there any towns out there?” Sadi asked, looking out over the forest.
“Akkad is the only one of any size between here and the border,” Silk told him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it. What’s it like?”
“It’s a pigpen of a place,” Silk replied. “Most Karandese towns are. They seem to have a great affinity for mud.”
“Wasn’t Akkad the place where the Melcene bureaucrat was from?” Velvet asked.
“That’s what he said,” Silk answered.
“ And didn’t he say that there are demons there?”
“There were,” Belgarath corrected. “Cyradis told us that Nahaz has pulled all of his demons out of Karanda and sent them off to Darshiva to fight the Grolims there.” He scratched at his beard. “I think we’ll avoid Akkad anyway. The demons may have left, but there are still going to be Karandese fanatics there, and I don’t think that the news of Mengha’s death has reached them yet. In any event, there’s going to be a fair amount of chaos here in Karanda until Zakath’s army gets back from Cthol Murgos and he moves in to restore order.”