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'How remarkable,' the wolf said.
'Truly,' I could not but agree.
And the other Gods and their people came and beheld that which
my Master and his brother Belar had done, and they marveled at it.
'Now is the time of sundering,' my Master said. 'The land which
was once so fair is no more. That which remains here is harsh and
will not support us. Take thou therefore, my brothers, each his own
people and journey even unto the west. Beyond the western
mountains lies a fair plain - not so broad perhaps nor so beautiful as that
which Torak hath drowned this day - but it will sustain thee and thy
people.'
'And what of thou, my brother?' asked Mara.
'I shall return to my labors,' said Aldur. 'This day hath evil been
unleashed in the world, and its power is great. Care for thy people,
MY brothers, and sustain them. The evil hath come into the world as
a result of that which I have forged. Upon me, therefore, falls the
task of preparation for the day when good and evil shall meet in that
final battle wherein shall be decided the fate of the world.'
PREFACE
i
'So be it, then,' said Mara. 'Hail and farewell, my brother,' and he
turned and the other Gods with him, and they went away toward
the west.
But the young God Belar lingered. 'My oath and my pledge bind
me still,' he told my Master. 'I will take my AlomsAlorns to the north, and
there we will seek a way by which we may come again upon the
traitor Torak and his foul Angarak peoples. Thine Orb shall be returned
unto thee. I shall not rest until it be so.' And then he turned and put
his face to the north, and his tall warriors followed after him.
That day marked a great change in our lives in the Vale. Until then
our days had been spent in learning and in labors of our own
choosing. Now, however, our Master set tasks for us. Most of them were
beyond our understanding, and no work is so tedious as to labor at
something without knowing the reason for it. Our Master shut
himself away in his tower, and often years passed without our
seeing him.
It was a time of great trial to us, and our spirits often sank.
One day, as I labored, the she-wolf, who always watched, moved
slightly or made some sound, and I stopped and looked at her. I
could not remember how long it had been since I had noticed her.
'It must be tedious for you to simply sit and watch this way,' I
said.
'It's not unpleasant,' she said. 'Now and then
you do something
curious or remarkable. There is entertainment enough for me here. I
will go along with you yet for a while longer.'
I smiled, and then a strange thing occurred to me. 'How long has
it been since you and I first met?' I asked her.
'What is time to a wolf?' she asked indifferently.
I consulted several documents and made a few calculations. 'As
closely as I can determine, you have been with me somewhat in
excess of a thousand years,' I told her.