Sorceress of Darshiva

far side of the clearing.
    "Maybe it didn't come out exactly the way I'd intended," he half apologized.
    The snowy owl came drifting through the forest of dead trees. She hovered for a moment near the fire, then shimmered back into her own form.
    "What did you do out there, Pol?" Belgarath asked her.
    "I found a dormant volcano," she replied, taking her cloak from Durnik and wrapping it around her shoulders. "I reignited it. Did the Hounds go off to investigate?"
    "Almost immediately," Garion assured her.
    "So did Zandramas," Silk added.
    "Yes, I saw her." She smiled faintly. "It worked out rather well, actually. When she gets there, she'll probably find the Hounds slinking around and decide to do something about them. I don't think they'll be bothering us any more, and I 'm sure Zandramas would be filled with chagrin if she found out that she's helping us."
    "Were you that clumsy on purpose, Pol?" Beldin asked her.
    "Of course. I wanted to make enough noise to draw off the Hounds—and any Grolims who might be in the area. Zandramas was just a bonus. Could you build up the fire again, dear?" she said to Durnik. "I think it's safe now to start thinking about supper."
    They broke camp early the next morning. Polgara's Volcano was still belching smoke and ash high into the air, where they mingled with the pervading overcast to cause a sullen kind of gloom. The murky air reeked of sulfur.
    "Flying in that isn't going to be very enjoyable," Beldin said sourly.
    "We need to know what's ahead," Belgarath told him.
    "I know that," Beldin replied. "I'm not stupid, you know. I was just making an observation." He bent slightly, changed form, and drove himself into the air with powerful strokes of his wings.
    "I'd pay a fortune to have a hawk like that," Zakath said wistfully.
    "You might have trouble training him," Belgarath said. "He's not the most tractable bird in the world."
    "And the first time you tried to hood him, he'd probably rip off one of your fingers," Polgara added.
    It was nearly noon when Beldin returned, flying hard. "Get ready!" he shouted almost before he had completed the change. "Temple Guardsmen—about ten—just over that rise! They're coming this way and they've got a Hound with them!"
    Garion reached for his sword, and he heard Zakath's blade come whistling out of its sheath. "No!" he said sharply to the Mallorean. "Stay out of it!"
    "Not a chance," Zakath replied.
    "I'll take care of the dog," Sadi said, reaching into the pouch at his belt for some of the powder he had used so effectively in Karanda.
    They spread out with their weapons in their hands as Eriond led the women to the rear.
    The Hound came over the hill first, and it stopped when it saw them. Then it wheeled and loped back.
    "That's it," Belgarath said. "They know we're here now.''
    The Guardsmen came over the top of the hill at a rolling trot. Garion noticed that they weren't carrying lances, but each mail-clad man held a sword and wore a shield. They paused for a moment to assess the situation, then they charged. The Hound came first, running smoothly and with his lips peeled back from his teeth in a fearful snarl. Sadi spurred forward to meet him, holding a fistful of the powder. When the Hound reared up on his hind legs to drag the eunuch from his saddle, Sadi coolly hurled the powder full into the animal's face. The Hound shook his massive head, trying to clear his eyes. Then he sneezed once. His eyes grew wide, and his snarl turned into a terrified whimper. He shrieked suddenly, a dreadful, half-human sound. Then he turned and fled, howling in terror.
    "Let's go!" Garion barked, and he charged toward the oncoming Guardsmen. These were more serious opponents than the Darshivan soldiers had been, so the choices in dealing with them were greatly reduced. One, somewhat larger than his fellows and astride a heavy-bodied warhorse, was leading the charge, and Garion cut him out of his saddle with a single stroke of Iron-grip's great sword.
    Garion heard the sound of steel on steel off to his left, but he dared not take his eyes off the still-charging Guardsmen. He chopped two more from their saddles, and Chretienne crashed into the horse of a third, sending the rider and his mount tumbling. Then Garion was through the ranks of their enemies, and he wheeled around.
    Zakath was being hard pressed by two mailed men. He had, it appeared, already felled a third but then the other two had come at him, one from either side. Garion kicked at