COVCtltt of
White
teathet
she sn’Aeci at uve and blurted,
encourage, -U Olnen.
by her I&I of a her eyes at
,,,stbeaut touched
the ,suse touched InY
I.y Lady, thou a,,, of ple a,,cx gently
t litile glow I h
And a secre checl. fortOnd Youth v-now.
cls and she rea
WOT 0 cl saylnlgt d she sipake
Try e “plie i cavely, all
“OWcheek/ and $h’ looked at Ine W and thou be
cl then she stranger here’ It wiu not
An Thou art a toplace.
father, sayln&
or why thou cal:,tesl lr
est not how y ‘ Ine. then
lkely. WY
long eTe thou awa heart wten'” ‘he
0, I said lny . wo.re teal ‘ t
I 70 lied g’ I5ekly peolple
bu’ a dtea”n. she rep I g’ to I ‘hey
N,Y, dear YOU coine. ‘hei:n that t
%C’h thou and tell t Cl when
I0 a froln W hu yxast seens . lhath arrive
vlhat t the Choice A not colne into
tell thei e for choose,
ow that the t” . lands. V OT I Sb, theyn to
nxay Vn , Tne abroad in theis til it . “e . for, “a so saying,,
they see peo-gle un SI.P.led. “cl so
of thy I
the lands nay tzace UIY co’y’ as a nd’v an’s
and theyclyeey, againt turtveclan , a swoon. OPUIOUS
‘he touched inY f ell do, s not in the I)
s I awoy vay,but
great was iny eino’tvon that I elwa, v
hold, ”vhen d where I had lost I*AY ed
And Be ‘Iwoo
cX ‘e ovjn b .
city nor in the dis 0″ house an ha been but a
. I in I had seen. let Of Iny bed a
,e agau t what
was Onc oncluded tha ‘held’apolx the covet the Lady of I:ny
“d I c bt then I be. ancx I Vnels ‘ seen bet
atealn – bite featheT/ t I -nacl truly coun”
)it W t.’ and tixa the
,”le 5( 0’ken i’he A cotne do” into
vision had sP’ she W OUI( of Inypeople,
and that one day d a choice . dutieso
Of Try birth to deinan a cer’ f the
,the VJest U’Pol Isle 0
LC into ,to the
,Wlhen I -had 9Or ‘,utney Up
(nce, to ine that I inust
it came
i
Winds to behold a wonder that I might tell my brothers
and sisters of it when I returned at long last to Kell.
It was the worst time of the year for a journey, for the sea
raged and the wind oft-times threatened to drive the boat
which bore me to the distant isle beneath the hungry
waves. At length, however, I landed upon the strand at
the city of Riva upon the very eve of that holiday which all
men in the west observe. And the city was alive with the
news that the Orb of Aldur, which had been stolen away,
was to be restored on the morrow, and I contrived to be
present in the Hall of the Rivan King to witness the
restoration, for I believed that this was the wonder I had
been sent to witness.
But lo, as the child who bore the Orb and the young
Sendar who guided the child’s steps entered the Hall, a
rapture seized me and all unbidden, the Vision descenddd
upon me, and I saw that the young Sendar was clothed all
in light, and when the child presented the Orb to him, I
heard a chorus of a million voices resounding from the
farthest star, and I knew that Belgarion had come at last.
And as the young man affixed the Orb to the pommel of
the great sword, and the blade leaped into flame to
declare his identity to those in the Hall and to all of
mankind as well, my vision continued, for lo, all
unnoticed, the child who had carried the Orb turned, and I saw
his face bathed in ineffable glory, and I knew that I beheld
the face of one of the two Gods between whom we must
one day choose. And because of what I had just seen, my
eyes grew dark and I fell down in a swoon.
there in
the
dimness
I beheld
the ruins
of an
ancient
temple
I wandered as in a dream through the marshes of Temba
and came at last to the shore where a small boat awaited
me. And all unbidden I stepped aboard the boat which
then without oars or sails bore me out to sea. At length the
boat brought me to a shoal, and I saw ahead of me a grim
reef of ancient rock where the sullen sea beat itself to
frothy tatters. And, as one compelled, I debarked upon
that reef to wander through a wilderness of brine-crusted
rock until I came at last to a fissure which tended
downward
into the darkness beneath.
Fearfully I descended into that grim cavern, and there in
the dininess I beheld the ruins of an ancient temple, and
on the steps thereof I beheld the hooded and veiled form
of a woman. And her aspect chilled my blood within me.
Wordlessly she pointed to the door of the temple,
commanding me to enter, and, unable to resist, I did as she ordered.
Within the temple I beheld an altar and resting
thereupon I beheld a dark stone of some size. And I wondered
why I had been brought to this place. But as I stood, the
woman came forward, and in her arms she bore a
newborn infant. And as she approached the altar, the
stone thereon began to glow with a dim fire, and it
seemed that of a sudden I could see within the stone and
what I saw there terrified me. And the woman reached
forth the newborn child as if she intended to press it into
the stone itself, and Behold, the stone opened to accept the
child. But of a sudden I beheld the grim form of Belgarion
the Godslayer standing before the woman, With his face
contorted in anguish and with tears streaming from his
eyes, he raised his flaming sword to smite down the
woman and the child in one dreadful blow. And as I cried
i
I
out to stop him, the sound of my voice shattered the
vision which had come unbidden to me and I awoke
shrieking in terror.
But truly I tell thee, my brother, my vision was not a
misty imagining but a truth as solid as the earth upon
which thou standest. Hear my words, for they are truth.
The shoal and the reef are there, and the temple within the
cavern doth truly exist. And within the temple lies the
stone. One day will the woman and the child and the
Godslayer himself come to that dim place, and at that
moment must the choice be made, for that is the EVENT
toward which all hath been moving since before the
beginning of time.*
The Mallorean Gospels took three months to write. It was worth the
time and effort, since in a rather obscure way these Gospels provided a
philosophical basis for The Malloreon. This is what Cyradis believed,
and Cyradis was ultimately the core of Malloreon.
CURRenT eVenTS
5376-5387
from the personal
journal of ‘king anheg
Of cherek’
5376
iN THE SPRING of the year following the Battle of
Thull Mardu and the enormous events which took
place at Cthol Mishrak, we gathered all of us – at Riva
for the wedding of young King Belgarion and the
imperial Princess Ce’Nedra. I have some personal
reservations about the wisdom of so closely allying the house
of the Keeper of the Orb with the Imperial House of
the Tolnedran Empire; but, since Ran Borune is elderly
and the last of his line, I suppose no great harm can come
of it. Moreover, despite her occasional flightiness, I found
Ce’Nedra to be a remarkable young woman. It may well
prove that the strong-willed girl will complement
Belgarion’s somewhat diffident nature, which has given us
all some concern. Their marriage promises to be stormy,
but I expect that my young friend will seldom be troubled
with boredom. As for me, I’d sooner shave off my beard
than have such a wife.
* I always liked Anheg. He has his faults, but he’s a lot of fun.
in the summer of this year word reached us that
‘Zakath had brought his siege of Rak Goska to a
successful conclusion. His capture of the city’ by all reports, was
particularly savage, even for an Angarak. I have no great
sympathy for Murgos, but I suspect that ‘Zakath may live
to regret his butchery of the inhabitants of Rak Goska.
Kin Urgit, the son of Taur Urgas, unfortunately escaped,
and he is certain to use the atrocity to fan Murgo
sentiments to a white heat. I plan to sit quietly on the sidelines,