*’You were doing all right.” The dwarf shrugged. He belched and tossed the remains of his breakfast to the she-wolf.
“One is grateful,” she said politely as her jaws crunched into the half-eaten carcass. Garion could not be sure that Beldin understood, though he guessed that the gnarled little man probably did.
“What’s an Etdrak doing here in Mallorea?” Belgarath asked.
“It’s not exactly an Eldrak, Belgarath,” Beldin replied, spitting out a few soggy feathers.
“All right, but how did a Mallorean Grolim even know what an Eldrak looks like?”
“You weren’t listening, old man. There are a few of those
things up here in these mountains. They’re distantly related to the Eldrakyn, but they’re not the same. They’re not as big, for one thing, and they’re not as smart.”
“I thought all the monsters lived in Ulgoland.”
“Use your head, Belgarath. There are Trolls in Cherek, Al-groths range down into Arendia, and the Dryads live in southern Tblnedra. Then there’s that dragon. Nobody knows for sure where she lives. There are monsters scattered all over. They’re just a little more concentrated in Ulgo, that’s all.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Belgarath conceded. He looked at Zakath. “What did you call the thing?”
“An ape-bear. It’s probably not too accurate, but the people who live up here aren’t very sophisticated.”
“Where’s Naradas right now?” Silk asked the injured Grolim.
“I saw him at Balasa,” the Grolim replied. “I don’t know where he went from there.”
“Was Zandramas with him?”
“I didn’t see her, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t there. The Holy Sorceress doesn’t show herself very often anymore.”
“Because of the lights under her skin?” the weasel-faced little man asked shrewdly.
The Grolim’s face grew even more pale. “We’re forbidden to discuss that— even among ourselves, ‘ ‘ he replied in a frightened tone of voice.
“That’s all right, friend.” Silk smiled at him and drew one of his daggers. “You have my permission.”
The Grolim swallowed hard and then nodded.
“Stout fellow.” Silk patted him on the shoulder. “When did those lights start to appear? ‘ ‘
“I can’t say for sure. Zandramas was off in the west with Naradas for a long time. The lights had started to appear when die came back. One of the priests at Hemil used to gossip a great deal. He said it was some kind of plague.”
“Used to?”
“She found out about what he’d said and had his heart cut out.”
“That’s the Zandramas we’ve come to know and love, all
Aunt Pol came up along the path trampled through the snow, followed by Ce’Nedra and Velvet. She tended the Grolim’s wounds without comment while Dumik and Torn went back to the lean-to and led out the horses. Then they untied the tent
26
SEERESS OF KELL
canvas and broke down the frame. When they led the horses up to the place where the wounded Grolim lay, Sadi went to hi saddle and opened the red leather case. “Just to be on the safe side,” he muttered to Garion, taking out a little vial, Garion raised one eyebrow.
“It won’t hurt him,” the eunuch assured him. “It’ll make him tractable, though. Besides, since you’re in this humanitarian mood, it should also numb the pain of his wounds.”
“You don’t approve, do you?” Garion said. “That we didn’t kill him, I mean?”
“I think it’s imprudent, Belgarion,” Sadi said seriously. “Dead enemies are safe enemies. Live ones can come back to haunt you. It’s your decision, though.”
“I’ll make a concession,” Garion said. “Stay close to him. If he starts getting out of hand, do whatever seems appropriate.” Sadi smiled faintly. “Much better,” he approved. “We’ll teach you the rudiments of practical politics yet.”
They led the horses up the steep hill to the caravan route and mounted. The howling wind that had accompanied the blizzard had scoured most of the snow from the track, although there were deep drifts in sheltered places where the road curved behind bands of trees and rock outcroppings. They made good time when the road was in the open, but it was slow going when they came to the drifts. Now that the storm had passed, the sunlight on the new snow was dazzling, and even though he squinted his eyes nearly shut, Garion found that after about an hour he was beginning to develop a splitting headache.
Silk reined in. “I think it’s time for a precaution or two,” he announced. He took a light scarf from inside his cloak and bound it across his eyes. Garion was suddenly reminded of Relg and the way the cave-born zealot had always covered his eyes when out in the open.
“A blindfold?” Sadi asked. “Have you suddenly become a seer, Prince Kheldar?”
“I’m not the sort to have visions, Sadi,” Silk replied. “The scarf is thin enough so that I can see through it. The idea is to protect the eyes from the glare of sunlight on the snow.” “It is rather bright, isn’t it?” Sadi agreed. “It is indeed, and if you look at it long enough, it can blind you—at least temporarily.” Silk adjusted the covering on his eyes. “This is a trick the reindeer herders in northern Drasnia came up with. It works fairly well.”
“Let’s not take any chances,” Belgarath said, also covering
KELL
27
his eyes with a piece of cloth. He smiled. “Maybe this is how the Dalasian wizards struck the Grolims blind when they tried togotoKell.”
“I’d be terribly disappointed if it was that simple,” Velvet said, tying a scarf across her eyes. “I like to have my magic nice and inexplicable. Snow blindness would be such a prosaic thing.”
They plowed on through the drifts, climbing now toward a high pass between two towering peaks. It was midafternoon when they reached the pass. The track wound up between massive boulders, but straightened out when they reached the summit. They stopped to rest the horses and to took out over the vast wilderness that lay beyond the pass.
loth unbound his eyes and gestured to Durnik. The smith pulled down his protective scarf, and the big mute pointed. Durnik’s face was suddenly filled with awe. “Look!” he said in a half-choked whisper.
The rest of them also uncovered their eyes.
“Belar!” Silk gasped. “Nothing can be that big!”
The peaks around them that had seemed so enormous shrank into insignificance. Standing quite alone in solitary splendor rose a mountain so huge and high that the mind could not comprehend it. It was perfectly symmetrical, a steep, white cone with sharply sloping sides. Its base was enormous, and its summit soared thousands of feet above nearby peaks. An absolute calm seemed to surround it, as if, having achieved everything dial any mountain could, it simply existed.
‘ ‘It’s the highest peak in the world,” Zakath said very quietly. “The scholars at the University of Melcene have calculated its height and compared that with the heights of peaks on the western continent. It’s thousands of feet higher than any other mountain.”
“Please, Zakath,” Silk said with a pained look, “don’t tell me how high.”
Zakath looked puzzled.
* * As you may have noticed, I ‘m not really a very large person. Immensity depresses me. I ’11 admit that your mountain is bigger flan I am. I just don’t want to know how much bigger.”
Tbth was gesturing to Durnik again.
“He says that Kell lies in the shadow of that mountain,” the unith said.
“That’s a little unspecific, Goodman,” Sadi said wryly. “I’d
28
SEERESS OF KELL
guess that about half the continent lies in the shadow of that
thing.”
Beldin came soaring in again.’ ‘Big, isn’t it?” he said, squinting at the huge white peak looming into the sky.
“We noticed,” Belgarath replied. “What’s on up ahead?”
“A fair amount of downhill going—at least until you get to the slopes of that monster there.”
“I can see that from here.”
“Congratulations. I found a place where you can get rid of your Grolim. Several places, actually.”
“Exactly how do you mean ‘get rid of,’ uncle?” Polgara
asked suspiciously.
“There are quite a few high cliffs alongside this track on the way down,” he replied blandly. “Accidents do happen, you know.”
“Out of the question. I didn’t treat his wounds just to keep him going until you found time to throw him off a cliff.”
“Polgara, you’re interfering with the practice of my religion.”
She raised one eyebrow.
“I thought you knew. It’s an article of the faith: ‘Kill every Grolim you come across.’ ”
“I might even consider converting to that religion,” Zakath
said.
“Are you absolutely certain you’re not Arendish?” Garion said to him.
Beldin sighed. “Since you’re going to be such a spoilsport for this, Pol, I found a group of sheephenders below the snow line.”
“Shepherds, uncle,” she corrected.
“It means the same thing. If you really look at it, it’s even the same word,”
“Shepherd sounds nicer.”