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reverberate with the sound of its presence. The two stones
move toward each other as inexorably as the Fates they
represent. We must find the second stone, and we must
delay Belgarion lest he bring the Orb into the presence of
the other stone before we have made our choice. For
should the meeting take place before we have chosen, all
of creation will perish.
BOOK 3
THE BOOK OF TASKS
Now These are the Tasks which have been set us:
ONCE WE SAT UPON THE EARTH in the
shadow of the mountains of Korim, which
are no more, and we made great moan that we
had been made and cast out. And even as we grieved, the
gift of sight came to one of our people, and she became a
Seeress, and she spake unto us of the Feast of Life and of
the Beloved Guest who would one day arrive to partake
of that feast. And she exhorted us to prepare for his
coming. She told us of the signs in the sky and in the earth
and commanded that we learn to read those signs in order
that we might choose between the two who would one
day come to us.
So it was that we turned our faces first to the heavens,
and we despaired for there seemed no sign there. But lo! a
great light streamed across the night sky, trailing clouds of
fire behind it like a veil. And in those clouds of fire read
we the first word in the Book of the Heavens, and the
word we read was 'Peril'. Painfully we began to piece
together the message written in the stars. And as we
labored at this, others of our number strove to hear the
voices which whispered within the rocks. Now there were
whispers which all men might hear, but they spoke in a
language which no man could translate. But lo! in a
certain time the earth was seized by the throes of
earthquake, and the whisper of the rocks became a shriek, and
in that shriek we found the first word of the language of
the rocks, and the word we heard was 'peril'.
For centuries we struggled with the signs among the
stars that we might read them, and for centuries we
wrestled with the whispers in the rocks that we might hear
them more clearly and translate them. And in time it
came to pass that one amongst us lifted his face to the sky
and read clearly there the message of the stars. And the
message read: 'Peril lies at the heart of the choice, for
should ye choose awry all of creation will be bent to the
design of EVIL, and GOOD shall perish and be no more.'
And at the same time, another of our scholars arose and
went to a certain rock and laid his ear against it, and he
heard therein the voice of the rock speaking clearly unto
him. And the rock said: 'Peril lies at the heart of the choice,
for should ye choose awry, all of creation will be bent to
the design of EVIL, and GOOD shall perish and be no
more.
And as we studied further, the Book of the Heavens
became more clear, and the Voice of the Earth more