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journey to the north in performance of a duty which had been
laid upon him. And he came to a certain place and sought
shelter there from a storm which had overtaken him Now
this certain place was in the care of the Grolims, but the
master of the house was not Grolim nor Angarak nor any
other man. Our kinsman had come unaware upon the
house of Torak; and as it happened Torak was curious
concerning our people, and he sent for the traveler, and
our kinsman went in to behold the Dragon God. And in
the instant that he looked first upon Torak, the Third Age
ended and the Fourth Age began. For lo, the Dragon God
of Angarak was not one of the Gods for whom we waited.
The signs which were upon him did not lead beyond
him, and our kinsman saw in an instant that Torak was
doomed and that which he was would die with him.
And then we perceived our error, and we marveled at
what we had not seen - that even a God might be but the
tool of Destiny. For Behold, Torak was of one of the two
Fates, but he was not the entire Fate. And as we grew to
understand this difficult truth, we realized that the two
contending Necessities contained the ultimate power in
the Universe and that even the Gods must bow before
them. Now the world moved on as we pondered this, and
we observed the touch of the two Fates as they guided
and turned events into the unalterable courses which must
in the fullness of time cowde.
Now it happened that on the far side of the world a
king was slain, and all his family with him - save one.
And this king had been the keeper of one of the two
stones which lie at the center of the division which mars
creation. And when word of this was brought to Torak, he
exulted, for he believed that an ancient foe was no more.
Then it was that he began his preparations to move
against the kingdoms of the west. But the signs in the
heavens and the whispers in the rocks and the voices of
the spirits told us that it was not as Torak believed. The
stone was still guarded and the line of the guardian
remained unbroken, and Torak's war would bring him to
grief.
And now for the first time we began to feel the echoes
of another presence, far away. Faintly down through the
years we had felt the movements of the First Disciple of
the God Aldur - whom men and Gods call Belgarath.
Now we perceived that he had been joined by another - a
woman - and between them they moved to counter the
moves of Torak and of his minions. And we knew this to
be of the greatest significance, for now events which had
previously taken place among the stars had moved to this
world, and it was here that the final meeting would take
place.
The preparations of the Dragon God were long, and the
tasks he laid upon his people were the tasks of
generations. And even as we, Torak watched the heavens to read
there the signs which would tell him when to move
against the west. But Torak watched only for the signs he