What was left of the Sorceress of Darshiva fell to the floor like a discarded garment, shriveled and tattered like a rag no longer of any use to anyone.
The voice which came from Eriond’s lips was very familiar to Garion. He had been listening to it for all his life.
‘Point,’ it said in a detached, emotionless tone, as if merely stating a fact. ‘Point and game.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
THE SUDDEN SILENCE in the grotto was almost eerie. Garion rose and helped Ce’Nedra to her feet. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked her, his voice hushed. Ce’Nedra nodded absently. She was examining their little boy, a look of concern on her smudged face. Garion looked around. ‘Is everyone all right?’ he asked.
‘Is that earthquake finished yet?’ Silk demanded, still covering Velvet’s body with his own.
‘It’s passed, Kheldar,’ Eriond told him. The young God turned and gravely handed the Orb back to Garion.
‘Aren’t you supposed to keep it?’ Garion asked Him. ‘I thought—’
‘No, Garion. You’re still the Guardian of the Orb.’
For some reason, that made Garion feel better. Even in the midst of what had just happened, he had felt an empty sense of loss. Somehow he had become convinced that he would be obliged to give up the jewel now. Covetousness was not a part of Garion’s nature, but over the years the Orb had become more a friend than a possession.
‘May we not go forth from this place?’ Cyradis asked, her voice filled with a deep sadness. ‘I would not leave my dear companion alone and untended.’
Durnik touched her shoulder gently, and then they all turned and silently left the shattered grotto.
They emerged from the portal into the light which was more than the light of day. The intense brilliance which had even penetrated the dim grotto behind them had faded to the point where it was no longer blinding. Garion looked around. Though the time of day was certainly different, there was that peculiar sense that he had been through all of this before. The storm and lightning which had raged over the Place Which Is No More had passed. The clouds had rolled back, and the wind which had swept the reef during the fight with the dragon and the demon Mordja had subsided to a gentle breeze. Following the death of Torak at Cthol Mishrak, Garion had felt in a strange way that he had been witnessing the dawn of the first day. Now it was noon – years later, to be sure – but somehow the noon of that self-same day. What had begun at Cthol Mishrak was only now complete. It was over, and he felt a vast sense of relief. He also felt a bit light-headed. The emotional and physical energy he had expended since the first light of this most momentous of days had crept slowly over a fog bound sea had left him weak and near to exhaustion. More than anything right now he wanted to get out of his armor, but the thought of the amount of effort that would cost made him almost quail. He settled for wearily removing his helmet. He looked around again at the faces of his friends.
Although Geran could obviously walk now, Ce’Nedra had insisted on carrying him, and she kept her cheek pressed tightly to his, pulling back only long enough to kiss him from time to time. Geran did not seem to mind.
Zakath had placed his arm about the shoulders of the Seeress of Kell, and the look on his face rather clearly indicated that he had no real intention of ever removing it. Garion remembered with a smile how, in the first moments of their openly avowed love for each other, Ce’Nedra had continually wormed her way into a very similar embrace. He walked wearily over to where Eriond stood looking out across the sun-splashed waves. ‘Can I ask you something?’ he asked.
‘Of course, Garion.’
Garion looked pointedly at Zakath and Cyradis. ‘Is that more or less a part of the way things are supposed to be?’ he asked. ‘What I’m getting at is that Zakath lost someone very dear to him when he was young. If he loses Cyradis now, it might destroy him. I wouldn’t want that to happen.’
‘Put your mind at rest, Garion,’ Eriond smiled. ‘Nothing will separate those two. It’s one of the things that are pre-ordained.’
‘Good. Do they know?’
‘Cyradis does. She’ll explain it to Zakath in time.’
‘She’s still a seeress then?’
‘No. That part of her life ended when Polgara removed her blindfold. She has looked into the future, though, and Cyradis has a very good memory.’
Garion thought about that for a moment, and then his eyes opened very wide. ‘Are you trying to say that the fate of the entire universe depended on the choice of an ordinary human being?’ he asked incredulously.
‘I’d hardly call Cyradis ordinary. She’s been preparing for that choice since infancy. But in a way you’re right. The Choice had to be made by a human being, and it had to be made without any help. Not even her own people could help Cyradis at that moment.’
Garion shuddered. ‘That must have been terrifying for her. She had to have been desperately lonely.’
‘She was, but the people who make choices always are.’
‘She didn’t just select at random, did she?’
‘No. She wasn’t really choosing between your son and me, though. She was choosing between the Light and the Dark.’
‘I can’t see where all the difficulty was then. Doesn’t everybody prefer the light to the dark?’
‘You and I might, but the Seers have always known that Light and Dark are simply opposite sides of the same thing. Don’t worry too much about Zakath and Cyradis, Garion,’ Eriond said, returning to the original subject. He tapped his forehead with one finger. ‘Our mutual friend here has made a few arrangements about those two. Zakath’s going to be very important for most of the rest of his life, and our friend has a way of encouraging people to do necessary things by rewarding them – sometimes in advance.’
‘Like Relg and Taiba?’
‘Or you and Ce’Nedra – or Polgara and Durnik for that matter.’
‘Can you tell me what it is that Zakath’s supposed to do? What could you possibly need from him?’
‘He’s going to complete what you started.’
‘Wasn’t I doing it right?’
‘Of course you were, but you’re not an Angarak. You’ll understand in time, I think. It’s not really very complicated.’
A thought came to Garion, and in the instant it emerged he was sure it was absolutely correct. ‘You knew all along, didn’t you? Who you really are, I mean.’