Sorceress of Darshiva

know."
    She laughed her warm, rich laugh and held him even tighter.
    Beldin was grinning crookedly. "Nice job, brother mine," he said to Durnik. "Hot work though, I'd imagine." He reached out his hand and took a foaming tankard out of the air and handed it to Aldur's newest Disciple.
    Durnik drank gratefully.
    Belgarath clapped him on the shoulder. "It's been a long, long time since we last had a new brother," he said. Then he quickly embraced Durnik.
    "Oh," Ce'Nedra said with a little catch in her voice, "that's just beautiful."
    Wordlessly, Velvet handed her the wispy little handkerchief. "What is that on his amulet?" the blond girl asked, sounding just a bit awed.
    "It's a hammer," Belgarath told her. "What else could it be?"
    "If I might make a suggestion, Ancient One," Sadi said diffidently, "the armies down there on the plain seem to be in a state of total contusion. Wouldn't this be an excellent time to depart—before they regain their wits?"
    "My thought exactly," Silk approved, putting his hand on the eunuch's shoulder.
    "They're right, Belgarath," Beldin agreed. "We've done what we were sent here to do—or Durnik has, at least." The hunchback sighed and looked over the edge of the cliff. "I really wanted to kill Urvon myself," he said, "but I suppose this is even better. I hope he enjoys his sojourn in Hell."
    A shrill laugh suddenly came from the top of the ridge, a laugh of triumph. Garion whirled, then stopped, frozen with surprise. Atop the ridge stood the black-robed figure of the Sorceress of Darshiva. Beside her stood a blond little boy. Geran's features had changed in the year and more since he had been abducted, but Garion knew him instantly. "Ye have done my work well," Zandramas declared. "I myself could not have found a more fitting end for Torak's last Disciple. Now, Child of Light, only thou standest between me and Cthrag Sardius. I will await thy coming in the Place Which Is No More. There shall thou be a witness when I raise up a New God over Angorak, whose dominion over all the world shall endure until the end of days!"
    Geran reached out his hand imploringly to Ce'Nedra, but then he and Zandramas vanished.
    "How remarkable," the she-wolf said in surprise.

    Here ends Book IV of The Malloreon .
    Book V, The Seeress of Kell , will take up the final result of the War of Destinies and of the people involved.