Demon Lord of Karanda

understand. It was something that our Master impressed upon us."
    "And Zedar was also one of your brothers?" She suddenly stared in horror at Belgarath.
    The old man set his jaw. "Yes," he admitted.
    "But you- "
    "Go ahead and say it, Ce'Nedra," he said. "There's nothing you can possibly say to me that I haven't already said to myself."
    "Someday," she said in a very small voice, "someday when this is all over, will you let him out?"
    Belgarath's eyes were stony. "I don't think so, no."
    "And if he does let him out, I'll go find him and stuff him right back in again," Beldin added.
    "There's not much point in chewing over ancient history," Belgarath said. He thought a moment, then said, "I think it's time for us to have another talk with the young lady from Kell." He turned to Toth. "Will you summon your mistress?" he asked.
    The giant's face was not happy. When he finally nodded, it was obviously with some reluctance.
    "l'm sorry, my friend," Belgarath said to him, "but it's really necessary."
    Toth sighed and then he sank to one knee and closed his eyes in an oddly prayerful fashion. Once again, as it had happened back on the Isle of Verkat and again at Rak Hagga, Garion heard a murmur as of many voices. Then there came that peculiar, multicolored shimmering in the air not far from Urvon's shoddy throne. The air cleared, and the unwavering form of the Seeress of Kell appeared on the dais. For the first time, Garion looked closely at her. She was slender and somehow looked very vulnerable, a helplessness accentuated by her white robe and her blindfolded eyes. There was, however, a serenity in her face -the serenity of someone who has looked full in the face of Destiny and has accepted it without question or reservation. For some reason, he felt almost overcome with awe in her radiant presence.
    "Thank you for coming, Cyradis," Belgarath said simply. "I'm sorry to have troubled you. I know how difficult it is for you to do this, but there are some answers I need before we can go any further."
    "I will tell thee as much as I am permitted to say, Ancient One," she replied. Her voice was light and musical, but there was, nonetheless, a firmness in it that spoke of an unearthly resolve. "I must say unto thee, however, that thou must make haste. The time for the final meeting draws nigh."
    "That's one of the things I wanted to talk about. Can you be any more specific about this appointed time?"
    She seemed to consider it as if consulting with some power so immense that Garion's imagination shuddered back from the very thought of it. "I know not time in thy terms, Holy Belgarath," she said simply, "but only for so long as a babe lieth beneath his mother's heart remains ere the Child of Light and the Child of Dark must face each other in the Place Which Is No More, and my task must be completed."
    "All right," he said. "That's clear enough, I guess. Now, when you came to us at Mal Zeth, you said that there was a task here at Ashaba that needed to be accomplished before we could move on. A great deal has happened here, so I can't pinpoint exactly what that task was. Can you be a bit more specific?"
    "The task is completed, Eternal One, for the Book of the Heavens sayeth that the Huntress must find her prey and bring him low in the House of Darkness in the sixteenth moon. And lo, even as the stars have proclaimed, it hath come to pass."
    The old man's face took on a slightly puzzled expression.
    "Ask further, Disciple of Aldur," she told him. "My time with you grows short."
    "I'm supposed to follow the trail of the Mysteries," he said, " but Zandramas cut certain key passages out of the copy of the Ashabine Oracles she left here for me to find."
    "Nay, Ancient One. It was not the hand of Zandramas which mutilated thy book, but rather the hand of its author."
    "Torak?" he sounded startled.
    "Even so. For know thou that the words of prophecy come unbidden, and ofttimes their import is not pleasing unto the prophet. So it was with the master of this house."
    "But Zandramas managed to put her hands on a copy that hadn't been mutilated?" he asked.
    The seeress nodded.
    "Are there any other copies that Burnt-face didn't tamper with?" Beldin asked intently.
    "Only two," she replied. "One is in the house of Urvon the Disciple, but that one lieth under the hand of Nahaz, the accursed. Seek not to wrest it from him, lest ye die."
    "And the other?" the hunchback demanded.
    "Seek out the clubfooted one, for he will aid thee in thy