Sorceress of Darshiva

morning, Garion," Zakath said as the two were saddling their mounts.
    " I was just wondering if mere might be some way to stop what's going to happen today."
    "Not really," Zakath told him. "Their positions are too firmly fixed. It's too late to turn it back now. The Darshivans will advance, and Urvon's army will ambush them. I’ve organized enough battles to know that at a certain point things become inevitable."
    "The way Thull Mardu was?"
    "Thull Mardu was a blunder," Zakath admitted. "I should have gone around Ce'Nedra's army instead of trying to go through it. The Grolims had me convinced that they could hold that fog in place all day. I should have known better than to believe them. And I definitely shouldn't have underestimated the Asturian bowmen. How can they possibly shoot arrows that fast?"
    "There's a knack to it. Lelldorin showed me how it's done."
    "Lelldorin?"
    "An Asturian friend of mine."
    "We've always been told that Arends are stupid to the point of imbecility.''
    "They're not overly bright," Garion admitted. "Maybe that's what makes them such good soldiers. They don't have enough imagination to be afraid." He smiled in the darkness. "Mandorallen can't even conceive of the possibility that he could lose a fight. He'd attack your whole army—all by himself."
    "The Baron of Vo Mandor? I know his reputation." Zakath laughed wryly. "It's entirely possible that he'd win, you know. ‘ ‘
    "Don't ever tell him that. He has enough problems as it is." Garion sighed. "I wish he were here, though—and Barak and Hettar and even Relg."
    "Relg?"
    "He's an Ulgo mystic. He walks through rock.
    Zakath stared at him.
    "I don't know how, so don't ask me. I saw him stick a Grolim into a large boulder once. Then he just left him there with only his bands sticking out."
    Zakath shuddered.
    They mounted and rode slowly up the ravine with Ce'Nedra's carriage jolting along behind them. The sky gradually grew lighter overhead, and Garion saw that they were approaching the edge of the cliff that overlooked the site of the impending battle.
    "Belgarath," Zakath said quietly, "would you mind a suggestion?"
    "I'll always listen to suggestions."
    "This is probably the only place where we'll be able to see what's going on down below. Wouldn't it be a good idea to stop and make sure that the armies down there are fully engaged before we move on? If the Darshivans outflank Urvon's ambush, we'll have them no more than a few leagues behind us. We'll need to run at that point."
    Belgarath frowned. "You might be right," he conceded. "It never hurts to know the whole situation." He reined in. "All right," he said, "we'll stop here and go ahead on foot. There's cover enough at the edge of that cliff so that we can watch without being seen." He swung down from his horse.
    "The ladies and I will wait here, father," Polgara told him. "We've seen battles before. I don't think we need to watch another one." She glanced at Eriond. "You stay with us, too," she told him.
    "Yes, Polgara."
    The rest of them moved forward at a crouch and took cover behind the few boulders at the edge of the cliff. The gloomy overcast that hung perpetually over Darshiva covered the blasted and decaying plain below with a sullen twilight. Out on the plain, Garion could make out tiny-appearing figures moving forward at what seemed no more than a crawl.
    "I think I've detected a flaw in what was otherwise an excellent plan," Zakath said wryly. "They're too far away to make out any details."
    "I can take care of that," Beldin growled. "A hawk's eyes are about ten times more acute than a man's. I can circle over them at a few hundred feet and pick out every detail."
    "Are you sure your feathers are dry?" Belgarath asked.
    "That's why I slept near the fire last night."
    "All right. Keep me advised."
    "Naturally," The grim hunchback crouched and blurred. With an agile leap the hawk settled atop a boulder, his fierce eyes looking out over the plain. Then he spread his wings and dropped headlong off the cliff.
    "You people always take that so casually," Zakath noted.
    "It's not really that," Sadi murmured, rubbing his scalp. "It's just that we're numb. The first time I saw him do it, my hair stood on end, and for me that's a neat trick."
    "Urvon's army's hiding in shallow pits along the ridge tops on either side of that long gorge," Belgarath repeated the silent words of the hawk soaring through the murky air for below them, "and the elephants are moving directly toward