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Belgarath the Sorcerer assumed again the form of the wolf and
waylaid the spies of Torak, and they followed no more.
And behold, the Gods of the west did hold council, and Aldur
advised them. And he spake unto them, saying, 'It may not be that
we ourselves make war upon our brother Torak, for in the warfare of
Gods shall the world itself not be destroyed? Must we then absent
ourselves from the world that our brother Torak
make war ur)on us and thus destroy the world.'
not find us and
And the other Gods were silent, each loath to leave the people
THE HOLY BOOKS
he loved, but all knew that Aldur spoke truth, and that if they
remained, would the world be destroyed.
And Belar, the youngest of the Gods, wept, for he loved deeply
the Alorn people, and Aldur relented. And he spake unto them,
saying, 'In spirit might each remain with his people, and guide them
and protect them, but in no wise may Gods themselves remain, lest
Torak find us and make war upon us and the world be unmade and
our people perish utterly.'
'And wilt thou, my brother, bear away the Orb which is thy
chiefest delight?' quoth Chaldan, God of the Arends.
'Nay, my brother,' quoth Aldur, and sad was his heart in the
speaking. 'The Orb must remain, for only in the Orb lies that which
will prevent our brother Torak from lordship of the world. So long as
the Orb remains, Torak shall not prevail against it, and thy people
will be safe from his enslavement.'
And so it came to pass that the Gods departed from the world
which they had made, and in spirit only did they sojourn each with
his people. And Torak only of the seven Gods did remain, but he
was restrained by the Orb of Aldur from lordship over the world
and prevented from the enslavement of all peoples of the world.
And in the wastelands of Mallorea in the east did the maimed God
know this, and the knowledge cankered in his soul.
And Belgarath spake unto Cherek and his sons, saying, 'Hearken
unto the words of the Gods, for behold, this is their judgement and
their doom* upon you.
*'Doom' originates in Scandinavian mythology, and the word in contemporary
English
derives from the Scandinavian 'dom'. It does not mean 'preordained death', but
rather
'destiny' or 'fate'.
Here must we part and be sundered one from
the other even as in the day wherein all men were sundered.'
And to Riva he spake, saying, 'Thy journey is longest, Iron-grip.
Bear thou the Orb even unto the Isle of the Winds. Take with thee thy
people and thy goods and thy cattle, for thou shalt not return. Build
there a fortress and a sanctuary and maintain it and defend the Orb
with thy life and with the lives of thy people, for know ye that the
Orb alone hinders Torak from Lordship and Dominion - even over
the whole world.'
And to Dras he spake, saying, 'Turn,thou aside here, Bull-neck,