“That’s a normal condition for Alorns. You realize that Polgara’s not going to be happy when you tell her she has to stay behind, don’t you?”
“I know,” Belgarath replied with a gloomy look. “Maybe I’ll just leave her a note. That worked pretty well last time.”
“Just try to make sure she’s not in the vicinity of anything breakable when she gets the note.” Beldin laughed. “Like large cities and mountain ranges. I heard what happened when she got the last note you left.”
The door opened, and Barak stuck his head into the kitchen. “Oh,” he said. “There you are. There are a couple people out here who want to see you. Mandorallen found them on the outskirts of town -a very strange pair.”
“How do you mean strange?” Garion asked.
“The man’s as big as a house. He’s got arms like tree trunks, but he can’t talk. The girl’s pretty enough, but she’s blind.”
Belgarath and Beldin exchanged a quick look. “How do you know she’s blind?” Belgarath asked.
“She’s got a cloth tied across her eyes.” Barak shrugged. “I just assumed that was what it meant.”
“I guess we’d better go talk to her.” Beldin said, rising from his seat. “A seeress wouldn’t be in this part of the world unless it was pretty important.”
“A seeress?” Garion asked.
“One of those people from Kell,” Belgarath explained. “They’re always blindfolded, and their guides are always mutes. Let’s go see what she has to say.”
When they entered the large main room, they found the others curiously eyeing the two strangers. The blindfolded seeress was a slight girl in a white robe. She had dark blond hair, and a serene smile touched her lips. She stood quietly in the center of the room, patiently waiting. Beside her stood one of the largest men Garion had ever seen. He wore a kind of sleeveless kirtle of coarse, undyed cloth belted at the waist, and he carried no weapon except for a stout, polished staff. He towered above even Hettar, and his bare arms were awesomely muscled. In a curious way, he seemed almost to hover over his slender mistress, his eyes watchful and protective.
“Has she said who she is?” Belgarath quietly asked Polgara as they joined the others.
“No,” she replied. “All that she says is that she has to speak with you and Garion.”
“Her name is Cyradis,” Errand said from nearby.
“Do you know her?” Garion asked him.
“We met once -in the Vale. She wanted to find out something about me, so she came there, and we talked.”
“What did she want to find out?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Didn’t you ask her?”
“I think that if she’d wanted me to know, she’d have told me.”
“I would speak with thee, Ancient Belgarath,” the seeress said then in a light, clear voice, “and with thee, also, Belgarion.”
They drew closer.
“I am permitted a short time here to tell thee certain truths. First, know that your tasks are not yet completed. Necessity doth command yet one more meeting between the Child of Light and the Child of Dark; and mark me well -this meeting shall be the last, for it is during this meeting that the final choice between the Light and the Dark shall be made.”
“And where will this meeting take place, Cyradis?” Belgarath asked her, his face intent.
“In the presence of the Sardion -in the place which is no more.”
“And where is that?”
“The path to that dread place lies in the mysteries, Ancient One. Thou must seek it there.” She turned her face toward Garion, half-reaching out to him with one slender hand.
“Thy heart is sore, Belgarion,” she said with a great sympathy in her voice, “for Zandramas, the Child of Dark, hath reft away thy son and even now doth flee with him toward the Sardion. It lies upon thee to bar the path of Zandramas to that stone -for the stars and the voices of the earth proclaim that the power of the Dark doth reside in the Sardion, even as the power of the Light doth reside in the Orb of Aldur. Should Zandramas reach the Dark Stone with the babe, the Dark shall triumph, and its triumph shall be eternal.”
“Is my baby all right?” Ce’Nedra demanded, her face pale and a dreadful fear in her eyes.
“Thy child is safe and well, Ce’Nedra,” Cyradis told her. “Zandramas will protect him from all harm -not out of love, but out of Necessity.” The seeress’ face grew still. “Thou must steel thy heart, however,” she continued, “for should there be no other way to prevent Zandramas from reaching the Sardion with thine infant son, it falls to thee -or to thy husband -to slay the child.”
“Slay?”
Ce’Nedra exclaimed,”Never!”
“Then the Dark shall prevail,” Cyradis said simply. She turned back to Garion. “My time grows short,” she said to him. “Heed what I say. Thy choice of companions to aid thee in this task of thine must be guided by Necessity and not thine own preference. Shouldst thou choose awry, then shalt thou fail thy task, and Zandramas will defeat thee. Thy son shall be lost to thee forever, and the world as thou knowest it shall be no more.” Garion’s face was bleak. “Go ahead,” he told her shortly. “Say the rest of what you have to say.” Her suggestion that either he or Ce’Nedra could ever under any circumstances kill their own child had filled him with a sudden anger.
“Thou wilt leave this place in the company of Ancient Belgarath and his most revered daughter. Thou must also take with thee the Bearer of the Orb and thy wife.”
“Absurd!” he burst out. “I’m not going to expose Ce’Nedra -or Errand- to that kind of danger.”
“Then thou wilt surely fail.”
He looked at her helplessly.
“Thou must have with thee as well the Guide and the Man with Two Lives -and one other whom I will reveal to thee. Thou wilt be joined at some later times by others -the Huntress, the Man Who Is No Man, the Empty One, and by the Woman Who Watches.”
“That’s fairly typical seer gibberish,” Beldin muttered sourly.
“The words are not mine, gentle Beldin,” she told him.
“These are the names as they are written in the stars -and in the prophecies. The incidental and worldly names which were given them at the time of their births are of no moment in the timeless realm of the two Necessities which contend with each other at the center of all that is or ever will be. Each of these companions hath a certain task, and all tasks must be completed ‘ere the meeting which is to come, else the Prophecy which hath guided thy steps since time began will fail.”
“And what is my task, Cyradis?” Polgara asked her coolly.”
“It is as it hath ever been, Holy Polgara. Thou must guide, and nurture, and protect, for thou art the mother -even as Ancient Belgarath is the father.” The faintest of smiles touched the blindfolded girl’s lips. “Others will aid thee in thy quest from time to time, Belgarion,” she continued, “but those I have named must be with thee at that final meeting.”
“What about us?” Barak demanded, “Hettar and Mandorallen and Lelldorin and me?”
“The tasks of each of you are complete, most Dreadful Bear, and the responsibility for them hath descended to your sons. Shouldst thou or the Bowman or the Horse Lord or the Knight Protector seek to join with Belgarion in this quest, thy presence will cause him to fail.”
“Ridiculous!” the big man sputtered. “I’m certainly not staying behind.”
“That choice is not thine to make.” She turned back to Garion, laying her hand on the massive arm of her mute protector. “This is Toth,” she said, slumping as if a great weariness were about to overcome her. “He hath guided my faltering steps since the day that other sight came upon me and I bound up mine eyes that I might better see. Though it doth rend my soul, he and I must now part for a little while. I have instructed him to aid thee in thy search. In the stars, he is called the Silent Man, and it is his destiny to be one of thy companions.” She began to tremble as if in exhaustion. “One last word for thee, Belgarion,” she said in a quavering voice. “Thy quest will be fraught with great peril, and one of thy companions shall lose his life in the course of it. Prepare thine heart therefore, for when this mischance occurs, thou must not falter, but must press on to the completion of the task which hath been laid upon thee.”
“Who?” he said quickly. “Which one of them is going to die?”
“That hath not been revealed to me,” she said. And then with an obvious effort, she straightened. “Remember me,” she said, “for we shall meet anon.” With that she vanished.