"It’s premature," Aunt Pol’s familiar voice agreed. "Armies would just get in the way of what we’re trying to do. If we can apprehend my father’s old pupil and return the thing he pilfered to Riva, the crisis will be past. Let’s not stir up the southerners for nothing."
"She’s right," Wolf said. "There’s always a risk in a mobilization. A king with an army on his hands often begins to think of mischief. I’ll advise the King of the Arends at Vo Mimbre and the Emperor at Tol Honeth of as much as they need to know as I pass through. But we should get word through to the Gorim of Ulgo. Cho-Hag, do you think you could get a messenger through to Prolgu at this time of the year?"
"It’s hard to say, Ancient One," Cho-Hag said. "The passes into those mountains are difficult in the winter. I’ll try, though."
"Good," Wolf said. "Beyond that, there’s not much more we can do. For the time being it might not be a bad idea to keep this matter in the family—so to speak. If worse comes to worst and the Angaraks invade again, Aloria at least will be armed and ready. There’ll be time for Arendia and the Empire to make their preparations."
King Fulrach spoke then in a troubled voice. "It’s easy for the Alorn Kings to talk of war," he said. "Alorns are warriors; but my Sendaria is a peaceful kingdom. We don’t have castles or fortified keeps, and my people are farmers and tradesmen. Kal Torak made a mistake when he chose the battlefield at Vo Mimbre; and it’s not likely that the Angaraks will make the same mistake again. I think they’ll strike directly across the grasslands of northern Algaria and fall upon Sendaria. We have a lot of food and very few soldiers. Our country would provide an ideal base for a campaign in the west, and I’m afraid that we’d fall quite easily."
Then, to Garion’s amazement, Durnik spoke. "Don’t cheapen the men of Sendaria so, Lord King," he said in a firm voice. "I know my neighbors, and they’ll fight. We don’t know very much about swords and lances, but we’ll fight. If Angaraks come to Sendaria, they won’t find the taking as easy as some might imagine, and if we put torches to the fields and storehouses there won’t be all that much food for them to eat."
There was a long silence, and then Fulrach spoke again in a voice strangely humble. "Your words shame me, Goodman Durnik," he said. "Maybe I’ve been king for so long that I’ve forgotten what it means to be a Sendar."
"One remembers that there are only a few passes leading through the western escarpment into Sendaria," Hettar, the son of King Cho-Hag, said quietly. "A few avalanches in the right places could make Sendaria as inaccessible as the moon. If the avalanches took place at the right times, whole armies of Angaraks might find themselves trapped in those narrow corridors."
"Now that’s an entertaining thought." Silk chuckled. "Then we could let Durnik put his incendiary impulses to a better use than burning turnip patches. Since Torak One-eye seems to enjoy the smell of burning sacrifices so much, we might be able to accommodate him."
Far down the dusty passageway in which he was hiding, Garion caught the sudden flicker of a torch and heard the faint jingling of several mail shirts. He almost failed to recognize the danger until the last instant. The man in the green cloak also heard the sounds and saw the light of the torch. He stepped from his hiding place and fled back the way he had come—directly past the embrasure where Garion had concealed himself. Garion shrank back, clutching his rusty sword; but as luck had it, the man was looking back over his shoulder at the twinkling torch as he ran by on soft feet.
As soon as he had passed, Garion also slipped out of his hiding place and fled. The Cherek warriors were looking for intruders, and it might be difficult to explain what he was doing in the dark hallway. He briefly considered following the spy again, but decided that he’d had enough of that for one day. It was time to tell someone about the things he’d seen. Someone had to be told—someone to whom the kings would listen. Once he reached the more frequented corridors of the palace, he firmly began to make his way toward the chamber where Barak brooded in silent melancholy.
17
"Barak," Garion called through the door after he had knocked for several minutes without any answer.
"Go away," Barak’s voice came thickly through the door.
"Barak, it’s me, Garion. I have to talk with you."
There was a long silence inside the room, and finally a slow movement. Then the door opened.
Barak’s appearance was shocking. His tunic was rumpled and stained. His red beard was matted, the long braids he usually wore were undone, and his hair was tangled. The haunted look in his eyes, however, was the worst. The look was a mixture of horror and self loathing so naked that Garion was forced to avert his eyes.
"You saw it, didn’t you, boy?" Barak demanded "You saw what happened to me out there."
"I didn’t really see anything," Garion said carefully. "I hit my head on that tree, and all I really saw were stars."
"You must have seen it," Barak insisted. "You must have seen my Doom."
"Doom?" Garion said. "What are you talking about? You’re still alive."
"A Doom doesn’t always mean death," Barak said morosely, flinging himself into a large chair. "I wish mine did. A Doom is some terrible thing that’s fated to happen to a man, and death’s not the worst thing there is."
"You’ve just let the words of that crazy old blind woman take over your imagination," Garion said.
"It’s not only Martje," Barak said. "She’s just repeating what everybody in Cherek knows. An augurer was called in when I was born—it is the custom here. Most of the time the auguries don’t show anything at all, and nothing special is going to happen during the child’s life. But sometimes the future lies so heavily on one of us that almost anyone can see the Doom."
"That’s just superstition," Garion scoffed. "I’ve never seen any fortune-teller who could even tell for sure if it’s going to rain tomorrow. One of them came to Faldor’s farm once and told Durnik that he was going to die twice. Isn’t that silly?"
"The augurers and soothsayers of Cherek have more skill," Barak said, his face still sunk in melancholy. "The Doom they saw for me was always the same—I’m going to turn into a beast. I’ve had dozens of them tell me the same thing. And now it’s happened. I’ve been sitting here for two days now, watching. The hair on my body’s getting longer, and my teeth are starting to get pointed."
"You’re imagining things," Garion said. "You look exactly the same to me as you always have."
"You’re a kind boy, Garion," Barak said. "I know you’re just trying to make me feel better, but I’ve got eyes of my own. I know that my teeth are getting pointed and my body’s starting to grow fur. It won’t be long until Anheg has to chain me up in his dungeon so I won’t be able to hurt anyone, or I’ll have to run off into the mountains and live with the trolls."
"Nonsense," Garion insisted.
"Tell me what you saw the other day," Barak pleaded. "What did I look like when I changed into a beast?"
"All I saw were stars from banging my head on that tree," Garion said again, trying to make it sound true.
"I just want to know what kind of beast I’m turning into," Barak said, his voice thick with self pity. "Am I going to be a wolf or a bear or some kind of monster no one even has a name for?"
"Don’t you remember anything at all about what happened?" Garion asked carefully, trying to blot the strange double image of Barak and the bear out of his memory.
"Nothing," Barak said. "I heard you shouting, and the next thing I remember was the boar lying dead at my feet and you lying under that tree with his blood all over you. I could feel the beast in me, though. I could even smell him."