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and maintain the marches of the north against the Angaraks and
against Kal-Torak. Take thy people and thy goods and thy cattle also
and return no more, lest the marches be unguarded.'
And to Algar he spake, saying, 'Turn thou also aside here,
Fleet
foot, and maintain the plains to the south against the enemy. Take
thy people and thy goods and thy cattle also and return no more lest
the plains be unguarded.'
And to Cherek he spake, saying, 'Upon thee, Bear-shoulders, lies
the doom of the sea. Go thou onward even unto the peninsula of the
north that is named for the Alorns. And build thou thereon a
seaport and a fleet of swift ships and tall, and maintain the seas that the
enemy come not by water against Riva, thy son. And maintain there
thy people and thy goods and thy cattle. And teach unto thy people
the ways of the sea that none upon the waters may prevail against
them.'
And he raised up his face and spake in a great voice, saying, 'Hear
me, Torak-One-eye. Thus is the Orb defended and made secure
against thee. And thou shalt not prevail against it. I, Belgarath, first
Disciple of Aldur, proclaim it. In the day that thou"comest against
the west shall I raise war upon thee, and I shall destroy thee utterly.
And I will maintain watch upon thee by day and by night. And I will
abide against thy coming - yea, verily, be it even unto the end of
days.'
And in the wastelands of Mallorea Kal-Torak heard the voice of
Belgarath and was wroth and smote about him in his fury'
destroying even the very rocks, for he knew that in the day when he went
against the kingdoms of the west, in that day would he surely
perish.
And then did Cherek Bear-shoulders embrace his sons and turned
away and saw them no more.
And Dras Bull-neck turned aside and abode in the lands drained
by the Mrin River, from Aldurfens north to the steppes and beyond,
and from the coast to the mountains of Nadrak. And he builded a
city at Boktor east of the junction of ' and Atun. And men called
this northern land the country of Dras, or, in the language of the
Alorns, Drasnia. And for a thousand years and yet another thousand
years dwelt the descendants of Dras Bull-neck in the north and
stood they athwart the northern marches and denied them unto the
enemy. And tamed they the vast herds of reindeer, and the homed
beast became as cat or dog unto them, and they took from the rivers
and marshes furs and skins most luxuriant; and bright gold they
found and silver also and did commerce with the kingdoms of the
west and with the strange-faced merchants of the east also. And
Drasnia prospered, and Kotu at '-mouth was a city of wealth
and power.
And Algar Fleet-foot turned aside and went to the south with his
THE HOLY BOOKS
people and his goods and his cattle. And horses were there on the