often
what the
sky did
not say,
the earth
did
And upon a certain day we gathered together upon the plains of Temba to consider our task and what we might do to complete it. And we brought together all that we had learned from earth and sky, from the living and the dead, from the spirits and the beasts and the trees. And when it was all before us, we were amazed that we had discovered so much, for often what the sky did not say, the earth did, and if neither earth nor sky spoke to a matter, the spirits did. And when it was all joined together we discovered that our first task was complete. We had learned of the division which marred creation; we have learned of the two spirits at the core of the division; and we have learned of the two stones which once were one but will never be rejoined.
And as we contemplated this, an aged man arose from our midst and did bind his eyes with a cloth and spake unto us in the voice of vision, saying:
‘BEHOLD! Thy first task is complete, and now thou wilt turn unto the second. The two spirits which mar creation with Division contend with one another upon this earth even now. One of the two stones is here and the God-form of the other Destiny also. Even now the God raises the stone against the earth. Seize upon this opportunity to study the two Fates. Learn all that may be learned of them that thou might make the choice between them.’
And even as the seer set this task upon us, the
for the
one stone
there was
another;
for the
God,
there was
another
God
earth heaved and split asunder as the God and the stone joined to crack the world. And we turned all of our effort to the study of the two Destinies which were revealing themselves by their acts. The First Destiny we found to be obdurate and unforgiving, and some among us seized upon this, saying: ‘Surely this Destiny must be the Evil one, since Good cannot be so.’ But we pointed out to them that we had considered only the aspect of the Fate which was represented by the stone, and it is most natural for a stone to be obdurate and unforgiving. And in like manner we found the Second Destiny filled with pride of Self and with a great longing for praise and adulation; but these were the natural attributes of a certain kind of God, and it was such a God which represented the God-aspect of the Second Fate.
And so we bent our minds to the task of seeing beyond the aspects to the true nature of the two Fates. And in the Book of the Heavens we found the pages which spoke of the First Destiny before the arrival of the Second. The fate then of all that was all that is and all that is yet to be bent toward one EVENT, which was to come at a certain time and was to be the fulfillment of creation. And then we turned to the pages which spoke of the Second Destiny before it became aware of the existence of the First; and Behold! the Second Destiny also moved inexorably toward one EVENT. At a certain time the two Fates will confront each other in all their aspects and the fate of creation will be chosen.
And as we learned more, we discovered more and more of the aspects of the two Destinies; and we found them always to be in balance. For the one stone there was another; for the God, there was another God; for the hero, a hero; for the woman, a woman; for the sword, a sword. In all things were the two Fates so balanced that the weight of a single feather might tip the course of the ultimate EVENT.
And behind it all we found that the First Destiny of creation was unchanging and immutable, permanent and unmoving. The Second Destiny we found to be bent on change and alteration, transmutation and progression. And we saw evidence of these differences in all of the acts of the two Destinies, and we argued among ourselves concerning the nature of GOOD and the nature of EVIL, and at last we were still unsure and unable to state with certainty that change was good or evil or that absolute immutability was the Fate we should choose.
And even as we considered all that we had learned, ancient Belgarath, himself one aspect of the First Destiny, moved to retrieve his master’s Orb from the City of Endless Night. And as the morning of that day dawned, a Seeress we had not known before came down from out the mountains bordering upon Darshiva, and the voiceless man who guided her was of a strange race. And the Seeress raised her voice and laid our third task upon us.
‘Behold,’ she said, ‘the Third Age of man has begun, and this is the Age of Prophecy. And it shall be thy task to gather up all the Prophecies which are spoken by the one Destiny or by the other. Seek ye, therefore, among the lands of all men for the Prophets who will speak the words of the Fates, and gather up all that is said and carry the words of Prophecy to the speakers, who will wrest the meaning from them.’ And so saying the nameless
for the times themselves seemed mad
Seeress turned and went her way, and we saw her no more.
And the task the Seeress had lain upon us was long and hard, for Prophecy hovers ever on the verge of madness, and we were perforce obliged to seek out every madman in all the kingdoms of the world and to take down all the ravings of gibbering insanity. And some of the words of the madmen of this world seemed to be the words of Fate, and some of the words of true Prophets seemed to be the ravings of the deranged, and we knew not which was the Voice of Prophecy and which the Voice of Madness. And so, that we leave no true Prophecy un-gathered, we carried all such mouthings back to the Seers at Kell, where they winnowed Prophecy from madness.
And sometimes we despaired, for the times themselves seemed mad. And we found, moreover, that sprites and Devils oft-times in mockery would speak through innocent mouths in the tones of Prophecy to lead us astray. But we persevered, and when the Age of Prophecy ended, we found that of all that we had gathered, scant few grains were the true voices of the Fates, and all that remained was dross, and the knowledge was bitter to us.
And in the midst of our sorrow the Seeress Onatel came to us with words of comfort, saying:
‘Grieve not, nor let your shoulders be bowed down in despair, for the greatest task lies yet before ye, and all that has gone before is a preparation and a testing. And this is the task which ye must perform. All that is needful has been given. In this Age must ye make the Choice.’
And we heard her words in astonishment, for we knew not that the Third Age had ended and the Fourth Age had begun. But in time our kinsman returned from the north and told us what he had seen in the house of Torak, and we began to understand. Torak was not the culmination of the Fate which ruled him, and we must look further to find the God who would one day come to us. Yet the Seeress Onatel had told us that we had all that was needful to make the choice. How could we choose between two Gods who had not yet come to us? Clearly we had received some knowledge which we had overlooked—some sign which had escaped us. And so we gathered on the plains of Kell to consider all that we had learned.
And in time we despaired, for we found no certainty in all that we had gathered—no truth which emerged which could guide us without the possibility of error. And again the Seeress Onatel came to us, saying:
‘Behold! I will tell you a mystery. The choice will be made by one of ye—not by all. And the choice between the two Fates will not be made in wisdom, but in desperation. At a certain time, the Fates will confront each other, and one of ye will see at last what none have seen as yet, and that one will choose.’ And with that Onatel left us.
And we reasoned that the Fates must meet in one of the great EVENTS which were written large in the Book of the Heavens, and we journeyed about the world to be present at those EVENTS. One of our number was present when the Rivan King was slain, but there was no choice to be made at that EVENT. And one of us was present when Torak set his forces in motion against the West. And one stood
they
must be
enlisted
by sub-
terfuge,
and
this is
perilous
indeed
nearby at Vo Mimbre wh
en maimed Torak met in single combat with the Warder of Riva and was struck down by the power of the Orb. And one of us was in the rude village where Belgarion was born and not far from the burning house in which the Godslayer’s parents perished. We were at Riva when the Orb was delivered into Belgarion’s hand and hovered for an instant on the verge of choice, but forbore a moment and the EVENT slipped past us.
Then came we at last to accursed Cthol Mishrak in the diseased basin where it lies, and once again the moment escaped us. For behold, the EVENT in that place was not the death of Torak at the hands of Belgarion, but rather it came and passed in the moment that Polgara spurned the God of Angarak. And as Torak fell and all of creation shuddered to a stop, we feared that it might never again grow light. The EVENT had passed and we had not chosen, and we had always believed that in that instant all must be destroyed.
And we came away from Cthol Mishrak shaken and afraid. Had our failure to choose been in fact the choice of EVIL over GOOD? We knew not, and fearfully we watched the Book of the Heavens for some new and dreadful sign.
And at last there came to us the seer Gazad, and his face was stern and angry, and he spake rebukingly to us, saying:
‘Behold! Ye have failed in the task which was lain upon ye by Onatel. All of creation has been marred by your failure. Your task remains the same. Choose! Fail not again, for in your next failure, all that is or was or is yet to be shall perish, and creation shall be no more.’
And the words of Gazad scourged us, and he drove us ever into new efforts to complete the task which we had failed to complete in the previous Age. And as a part of this task we strove more urgently to find that other stone which counters the Orb of Aldur, but the Destiny of which the stone is the center moved ever to conceal the stone from us and from all men and Gods. None among us was powerful enough to break through the barriers of mind and spirit with which the Destiny protected its secret, and we determined at last to follow a dangerous course. Of all the power in this world, that which lay in the hands of Belgarath, Polgara and Belgarion was the greatest. Could we in some way enlist their aid in our search for the other stone, we might succeed; but in so doing we must conceal our intent from them, for they were the servants of the First Destiny. Should they find the other stone before we, they will surely attempt to destroy it, and this cannot be permitted. Thus they must be enlisted by subterfuge, and this is perilous indeed. Moreover, we must seek out and identify the shadowy, veiled woman who is even now moving and shaping EVENTS to her own purposes.
These, then are portions of our great task. Let each strive with all his might to accomplish that which is assigned to him, but keep ever in mind that the paramount task is to choose, and should circumstances compel it, any one of us might be forced to make the choice unaided and alone. Share all of thy knowledge with thy brothers and sisters therefore, for should one of them be compelled to make the choice, it may be that some fragment of knowledge withheld could cause them to choose awry. For
Behold, the choice, once made, can never be unmade, and what ye choose shall endure until the end of days.
BOOK 4
THE BOOK OF GENERATIONS
Now These are the Generations of the Seers:
KNOW BEFORE ALL ELSE that thou art not exalted above others by the sight. We know not from whence it comes; we know not why some are chosen to receive it and others are not. Know also that the sight is not thine instrument. Thou art but the tool of the sight, and it will use thee for its own purpose, and thou wilt never know what that purpose may be. Submit, therefore, in humility and in patience.
The sight first came to the woman called Ninal. Now Ninal had been a wife and a mother, but when the sight came to her, she turned forever from her husband and children. And the rapture of seeing brought her to her feet, and to darken her eyes against the common light of day that she might more clearly see what the sight revealed to her, she bound a cloth about her eyes. And from that day until her last, Ninal never again unbound her eyes. And she spake unto the people of what had been revealed to her. And the people listened in wonder as she told them of the Feast of Life and of the Beloved Guest who would one day come. And all knew that her words were truth because of the way her voice
reached into their hearts. And when Ninal had finished speaking, the people stood in awe of her—all save one.
Among the people at that time there was an unfortunate man called Jord. And he was taller than any other man and his thews were mighty. But Jord had never spoken or uttered a single sound since the day of his birth. And Jord took up a staff from the earth and went with it to Ninal and put her hand upon the staff and led her out from the midst of the people. And ever after, Ninal and Jord dwelt apart from the people, and he cared for her and protected her from all harm, and though she may have revealed many secrets to him, those secrets were forever locked behind his silent lips. And it hath ever been thus: for every Seer upon whom the sight descends there is a mute to be the guide and protector.
In the years that followed the great revelation, the Seeress Ninal spoke unto the people many times, and the words she spoke were sometimes clear and sometimes dark and obscure. And in time the Sight descended upon others, and they too bound their eyes against the common light that they might better see; and for each of them as well a mute came forth to guide and protect. Now some of the Seers spoke of the revelation which had come to Ninal, and others spoke to other matters. Some spoke clearly while the words of others were a mystery.
But because she was the first and because the great revelation came first to her, the Seers of the First Age of man are called the Generations of Ninal in her honor. And when she was old and filled with years, the Seeress Ninal died, and within the same hour mute Jord also passed from this earth, and they were buried side by side in great honor.
it became
the
concern
of the
Second
Genera-
tion to
seek
out the
children
of the
Gods
And the Seers aided the scholars who sought to read the Book of the Heavens and those who sought to translate the words spoken in the voices of the rocks. And we discovered that the Seers could speak to each other over great distances and that they seemed all to share in one universal soul which was the source of the Sight; but they spoke not of this, and our questions remained unanswered.
Now it came to pass that the Generations of Ninal ended with the end of the First Age, and the Generations of Vigun began. The Seer Vigun arose and spoke to us upon the day when the Dragon God of Angarak raised the stone which he called Cthrag-Yaska and by its power cracked the earth asunder. And with the cracking of the earth the First Age ended and the First Fate and the First Task, and it became the concern of the Second Generation to seek out the children of the Gods to learn from them the things which they knew of the Gods and of the two Fates which contended for the mastery of creation.
And the Seers of the Generations of Vigun were called the searchers, for they wandered up and down the world, touching the minds of the children of the Gods to learn from them. And the searchers found many strange things concerning the Gods, for Behold! Each God was so caught up in a single idea that he was in all other ways incomplete. But when at last the searchers went up unto the Vale where the God Aldur dwelt with his Disciples, they found a God caught up with the idea of knowing, and the despair which had descended upon them was banished as they came into contact with the mind of
Aldur. And Aldur comforted them with his wisdom and counseled them to endure the coming of the Angaraks, who would soon invade their lands. And when they went away, one of their number remained behind for a time. And this was the Seeress Kammah, who awaited the return of the first Disciple of Aldur and she who was to be his wife. And when Belgarath, his task completed, returned to the Vale, his only companion was a snowy owl. And Kammah perceived this in wonder and even unbound her eyes so tha
t they might confirm by common sight what that other Sight had revealed. And Behold! Poledra was an owl, and the Sight revealed to Kammah that she was also a wolf, but that one day she would become a woman and wife to Belgarath. And Kammah began to tremble and she fell down upon the earth in the presence of Poledra, for the vision which came to her shook her very soul. Kammah knew in that instant that Poledra would bear two daughters, and that the one would wed the King who would be the Guardian of the stone called the Orb, and that from their line would spring the Godslayer whom men would call ‘Belgarion’. The other daughter of Poledra, Kammah perceived, would be the mightiest Sorceress the world would ever know, and the name ‘Polgara’ would be inscribed beside that of ‘Belgarath’ in the Book of the Heavens. But it was not Polgara’s power which so awed Kammah. Rather it was the knowledge that the childless Sorceress would be mother to Belgarion, and even more so to the Beloved Guest who would one day come to the Feast of Life.
And of all the things which were learned by the Seers of the Generations of Vigun, this was the most
important. And the Seers of the lands of the east and of the lands of the west contemplated it in wonder until the end of the Second Age.
Now, as all men know, the Third Age began when ancient Belgarath, in the company of the King of the Alorns and the King’s three sons, went up unto Cthol Mishrak, the City of Endless Night, to reclaim the Orb of Aldur from the iron tower of the maimed God of Angarak. But what some men do not know is that at the same time—indeed within the same moment—another EVENT of equal importance took place half around the world in the Vale of Aldur. There it was at that particular time that Poledra, Wolf-wife to Belgarath, labored and brought forth twin daughters and died in bearing them. And the birth of Polgara and Beldaran and the death of Poledra shaped the future as much as did the recapture of the Orb. And as we read in wonder of these EVENTS in the Book of the Heavens, a strange Seeress came down to us from the mountains above Darshiva, and she spake unto us, laying upon us the task of gathering. And we went up and down in the world, gathering the Prophecies whispered into the hearts of diverse men by the two Fates which rule creation.
The Rivan Codex: Ancient Texts of THE BELGARIAD and THE MALLOREON (The Belgariad / The Malloreon) Page 34
