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past grim-faced Rivan and cat-eyed Ulgo and haa borne away the
body of the maimed God.
And Brand was troubled and took counsel with his two closest
advisers, the grizzled old man whose name none knew and the
dark-haired woman with the silver-touched brow who strode
through the camp as she were Queen of the World. And between
them they cast auguries and were troubled, and the aged man spake,
saying, 'Behold, Warder of Riva, thine enemy hath escaped thee.
Torak is not dead, but sleeps only and will arise again.'
And Brand spake, saying, 'He is slain. The nameless sword I bear
hath bereft him of life. None may withstand such a stroke as the
Accursed One was dealt.'
And the aged man spake, saying, 'Be not over-proud, Warder of
Riva. Torak, King and God of the Angaraks, is not of mortal kind.
He is a God - a dark God and an evil ' but a God nonetheless.
No stroke by mortal weapon, though it pierce his very heart, may
slay him. Even now hath Belzedar, the traitor, borne him away and
concealed him lest we find him and chain him against his
awakening.
And Brand was chastened by the words of his counselor, and he
spake, saying, 'And when will the Dark God awaken? I must know
that I might prepare the kingdoms of the West against his return.'
And the woman spake, saying, 'When once again a King of the
Line of Riva sits upon his northern throne; when the fire of Aldur's
Orb is rekindled by his touch and the halls of the Rivan King are
filled with the light of that Orb, then will the Dark God awaken
and come forth from his sleep to do war against the West and
against the Rivan King. And then it shall come to pass that they shall
meet - even as thou and Torak have met, and one shall slay the
other, and the fate of the world shall be decided by that meeting.'
And Brand spake, saying, 'But the line of Riva is no more, and the
halls of the Rivan King are dark and unused. How shall the line be
renewed when it lies dead? How may a dead tree bear fruit? And if
Torak be a God as thou has said, how may even the great sword of
the Rivan King overcome him?'
And the woman answered him, saying, 'The dead tree hath
borne its fruit, and the seeds thereof have lain concealed many
centuries and will for many more. When the time has come, he
will arise to claim his own, and the fire of Aldur's Orb will be
kindled in rejoicing as a sign unto thy people that their King has
returned.'
'And know,' quoth the aged man, 'the Sword of the Rivan King is
not a mortal weapon. Aldur's Orb which is its pommel-stone is the
creation of the God Aldur, and the two stars which fell and were
forged by Riva to make the hilts and the blade were sent by the God
Belar, and behold, the Spirits of the two Gods are in the Sword. With
that Sword may Torak One-eye be overthrown - and with that
Sword only.'
'But the Sword hangs upon the great black rock at the back of the
throne in Riva,' quoth Brand. 'The Orb which thou didst command
that I put in this shield is no longer attached thereunto. The
throneroom of the Rivan King is dank and unused, and the dampness of
the sea hath crept in, and the Sword bleeds red rust from its point
onto the black face of the rock, weeping away its substance, since the
Rivan Kings are no more.'
'Behold, Brand, Warder of Riva,' quoth the woman, ever