Belgarath's Journey

[chewbacca71]

The wind howled in the Vale, making the shutters rattle on the outside of the tower. Beldin looked over at Belgarath in irritation. "Damn it Belgarath, haven't I told you to try and fix that? I hate the noise it makes. " Belgarath looked over at the dwarf and gave him a dirty look. As he was about to say something, there was an knock on the door at the bottom of the tower. Beldin looks over at Belgarath. "Well, go answer that door you lazy lout. " Seeing the usual lack of activity in Belgarath, Beldin takes matters into his own hands. He gathered in his will and suddenly, there was another body in the room.

The courier is visibly startled as he drops his satchel onto the floor. He quickly grabs up his satchel and pulls out a letter. "Mr....ummmm.......Sir .......ummm this is addressed to Belgarath. Here you go sir. " With a wild eyed stare, the courier gives over the letter and runs down the stairs. Beldin chuckles at the mans discomfort. "Hopefully, he remembers to push open the door before he runs into it. So tell me old fool , what is it? "

Belgarath looks at the letter and quickly scans it. He frowns and hands the letter to Beldin. Beldin silently reads it before dropping it to the ground and stomping on it. "So what are we going to do? , the little dwarf asks.

*The letter*

Dear Belgarath,

I am writing to you with some concern. Belgarion and C'nedra were supposed to be visiting myself, Silk, and Velvet after spending time with Mandorallen. This was a few weeks ago they were supposed to be here. I know how the water can be, so a few days delay did not concern us, but it has been more than a fortnight. I am in need of your guidance as far as what to do next. Please come to Cherek and let us know how to proceed.

Faithfully yours,

Barak.

 

[chewbacca71]

Beldin and Belgarath

Belgarath looks over at Beldin. "Quiet down you smelly ape, I am trying to think on what we should do. Go get me some ale , will you? I think I may find the answer to my questions at the bottom of the cask. "

"You old fool, the last thing you need at this point, is to get drunk. I need you to be at the peak of your reasoning powers. I think its probably a valley of reason for you, but it will have to do. I would suggest that we go across the vale and talk to Durnik and Polgara and get their input before we do anything foolish. "

"Ok, for once you are correct my misshapped lump of a friend. Let me get my warm cloak and a warmer cup of mead and we shall go over. Drat , where did all the mead go too? We just had a full cask two days ago. Oh well, my warm cloak will have to be enough. "

Belgarath follows Beldin out of the tower. The wind barely moves in the Vale, though Belgarath knows how windy it is around the Vale, the land in the thrall of a strong winter. The two men reach the Cottage and Belgarath goes to knock on the door while Beldin pushes him out of the way and throws open the door. "Where is that grand cow Pol? We have some important things to talk about."

 

[dave6398]

Barak

Barak was pacing up and down in Aheg study waiting for his cousin to come in.

"Will you sit down?" said Greidik "I'm sure that everything is all right."

"Then why haven't they come!!" shouted Barak "They should have sent word at least and it's not that far from Arendia to here!"

"Easy Barak." His old friend said "I'm sure everything will be alright when Belgarth and Lady Polgara get here."

Barak rumbled and picked up a glass of ale "Belgarth where are you?"

 

[Zircon]

Durnik

Durnik looked over the prow to the big tree that Eriond used to jump from. It did not seem like a big tree from the middle of the stream where he was in the small boat that he built. The banks had fished from every inch, and so naturally he wanted to try from the center to the banks.

But this morning, as the boat bobbed gently in the wind, the quiet of vale making his senses preternatural, he was not interested in fishing at all. He was contented, with his head resting on his arms, and Pol resting on his chest. He was breathing naturally now, after the afternoon session with his wife. It had been a while since they were along together. The twins had made his life very ‘interesting’, to say the least. He was used to getting at the crack of dawn for his chores, but the twins had made sleep a scarce commodity in the house.

It was kind of Poledra to agree to look after the twins for a while. Durnik did not remember the last time he was along with Pol. It had been a while though, that was all he knew. Moreover, the twins were starting to walk now, and his life got even more interesting after that. He made some child leashes, although that did not work too good, since Pol refused to use them. She could just wave her hand and suspend those two up in the air.

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Belgarath and Beldin knocking on the cottage door. It seemed that his short vacation with Pol had just ended, barely after it began.

‘Pol, do you want to go and see what your father and uncle wants? Or do you want to just lay here with me and ignore them?’ Durnik asked with mirth.

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath pounded on the door again. "Ok you two nitwits, open the darn door before I blast it off the hinges. Do you think I am here just to steel a keg of beer. I am on important business , though I will take a keg if you got one. "

Beldin grabbed his fellow sorceror by the nose. "Look over there you white haired loon. See the lake, see the boat. Ok, good start then. Maybe that is where they are; lets go look. "

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath and Beldin started to walk towards the lake. When they got to the edge of the lake, they could see Durnik and Pol in the boat out in the middle of the lake. Belgarath looked over at Beldin, " This will not do, we need to talk to them now. " Belgarath says "Wave" and a large wave washes the boat up on shore. The violent motion unfortunately throws the two passengers out onto the muddy shore. "Oopsie, guess I overdid it. " Belgarath tries to hide a smile behind his hand as he watches the two of them scramble out of the mud.

 

[Zircon]

Durnik

‘Hello Belgarath. You seem a bit winded. What is the matter?’ asked a very muddy and wet Durnik by the time the boat was secured on the banks. So much for the vacation that he had planned for so long.

“Come on into the house. I’m sure I’ve some ale tucked away somewhere. I’ll just have to find it. You know how Pol is about drinking…” Durnik said after all the mud had been washed away. He was grinning all the way to the barn, a recent addition to the cottage, since Pol’s face could not have been matched by the darkening thunder clouds in the horizon.

Pol did have some finely tuned prejudices, and inevitably, he bore the brunt of it. So, he did not put much effort into his ale making plus the fact that since Pol had forbade the purchase of ale. His experimentations had gone as expected. The first batch was good only for the first few hours and then it turned green. He was sure that he had done everything right. He had followed the Twins’ instructions down to the minute detail. The Twins were the finest brewers in the Vale, albeit the only ones. Durnik was by nature a meticulous man, and he just could not figure out why the first batch of ale had spoiled so fast.

Well, it tasted all right, in fact it was very good. Finally a batch that he could be proud off. The keg was rather small, but it should be enough for both Belgarath and Beldin. Of course, he would not mention his failure to both Belgarath and Beldin. He trudged back to the cottage, the sun making his eyes squint. Hopefully there would be another time to be alone with Pol.

“Ho Belgarath! What is this that I hear about Garion missing? He has never done this before…”

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath followed Durnik back to the house. "I agree Durnik, this is not like him to disappear without telling one. Me personally, I would disappear like that if I had to put up with C'nedra all the time, so maybe that is what it is. However, I am more apt to think it is something more sinister. I suggest that we all go and see Silk and Barak up in Cherek and try to pick up a trail. I came here to see if the two of you would come with us. Anything that keeps Belgarion from contacting us is serious enough it may need all our powers. " Belgarath looks over to Beldin to see if he has anything to add.

 

[Zircon]

Durnik

“Well, I’m sure that Garion will have a perfect explanation for his disappearance. Perhaps he has lingered in one place longer that he was supposed to, and only now that Ce’Nedra and him are making their way to Barak. I’m pretty sure that he’ll turn up sometime. It’s not like anyone in the world would be able to kidnap him and Ce’Nedra as well. Besides, we’ve have the twins to look after. I’m sure that Poledra would not let us go off just like that,” Durnik said after hearing Belgarath.

“No, No, No. Durnik. It’s all right to leave the twins here with me. Besides, the other set of twins in the vale might like a chance to visit again. It’s not like this have not been done before. The twins have been looking after Pol and Beldaran when your father had to go on long trips. Leave the babies with me here, and go find Garion and Ce’Nedra. I feel it in my bones that something is amiss,” interjected Poledra, with the twins playing at her feet.

“Mother, I don’t know…” Durnik was still skeptical about leaving his babies with his mother-in-law. Poledra had done so much already, taking care of the babies while Pol and he might have some alone time together. But he saw the determination in her eyes, and he finally nodded his acquiescence.

There was still the matter with Pol though, since he had not heard her speak all this time. He would go anywhere with and for her. It will ultimately be up to Pol whether to go or not.

 

[Phantom42]

Beldin

"Durnik, see if you can't keep your father-in-law sober long enough to reach Asturia. As long as you avoid the taverns altogether, that shouldn't be TOO difficult. I'm going to fly ahead." There was a tinge of real concern in the misshapen dwarf's eyes, but only those close to him would ever have noted it.

"Are you flying with me, Pol, or being even more nauseating with Durnik there? Frankly, you probably ought to work off some of that flab on your rear with some extended flying..."

With barely a whisper of the Will and Word, Beldin took on his fine hawk form, ascending to the skies with a long cry of exultation.

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath shakes his head as he watches Beldin change shape. "Well, at least the air will smell better now that he has left. I suggest we all change form to get to Cherek faster. I hate to fly so I will just change to a wolf. Beldin, please fly on ahead and let Barak and Silk know that we are coming. Poldera will take good care of the children, Pol, we need to look for Garion and C'nedra right now. Come everyone lets get going. "

Belgarath walked out of the house, and immediately changed into wolf form. Lolling out his tongue, Belgarath loped of into the forest. Not waiting to see if the others followed since he could not imagine they would do anything but, Belgarath arrived in Ulgoland. He could hear the barks of the predators, so he stopped to wait for the others to catch up.

 

[dave6398]

Barak

"You do realize that it takes awhile for a letter to reach the vale of Aldur."stated Anheg.

"Of course I do. repleid Barak. " But I need to do something then just wait here for news! I will head first to the Stronghold, then to Progul if Belgarth isn't there."

So Barak takes his horse and heads south with silk.

 

[Zircon]

Durnik

He felt a great reluctance to leave his twins behind, as he felt that Pol did likewise. But Garion grew up before his eyes, and if he ever have a son, he would like him to be just like Garion. And so he could not pass on the opportunity to help no matter how much he wanted to. This was a given and not needed to be said aloud.

This was the first time that he had changed form, as it was always that he had stayed behind with the packhorses while Belgarath and Garion looped ahead in wolf form, and Pol flying in the air as an owl, taking care of communications between all of them. The tail feathers were too short, and the beak definitely needed some more work as he changed into a hawk on the suggestion of Pol. Besides he did not need encouragement as he had often wondered what it would be like to be able to fly.

On the second attempt, he got everything perfect right down to the last tail feather. On his wings were reddish-yellow bands, reminiscent of his craft as a blacksmith, the glow of molten metal. He had watched Garion and the rest changed so often that it would not be a surprise if he did not learned a trick or two. However, the first flight off the ground nearly put him right smack into the side of the barn. Apparently there was much more to flying than just getting the tail feathers right. There were still many things to learn from the masters like Belgarath, Beldin and Pol, but he knew he was a fast learner.

He initially wanted to protest that they needed packhorses for the journey, but the argument of speed over practicality was won when Belgarath ran off in wolf form, and Beldin disappeared into the horizon, a blue-banded speckle. He was speechless when he finally learnt enough to steer and soar up into the air. The freedom of flight was indescribable. Only now did he began to understand that pure joy that Uncle Beldin and his dear Pol had felt. He wanted to smack himself in the head for not trying this earlier.

His incredibly sharp eyes made the long looping form of Belgarath easy to follow. He wanted to swoop down and scream his joy at Belgarath and maybe peck at Belgarath’s long furry ears, but startling the old man would mean a tongue lashing, and Durnik was old enough not to want to receive that anymore. The only person who on a regular basis, can scold him was Pol. And where the heck is she, the white snowy owl that was her favorite form?

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

His tongue lolling out, Belgarath looked up to watch Durnik in his virgin flight. He had to admit to himself that Durnik did fly much better than he did on his first flight, but then again he had others to emulate in how to accomplish it. His sensitive nose brought the a smell to his nose that he had hoped not to smell for a long time. Crinkling his nose in disgust, Belgarath signaled for the others to come to land around him so they could come up with a strategy .

 

[cuervorose]

Cyradis

Cyradis sat calmly, watching Zakath pace nervously as they waited for word that she ship was ready for their departure to Riva. After they had received word of Garion and C'nedra's absence, he had immediately made plans to go search for them. She thought it odd that the two were missing and yet Geran and Beldaran were safe in Riva. She looked around the sitting room in the castle, still somewhat unused to the sense of sight she now had. A messenger walked in and bowed then stood to speak quietly with Kal-no, Zakath. She smiled fondly as she reacalled the day he had decided to remove the deity prefix from his title. He turned to her and said "The ship is ready, let's go." He bent regally and took her hand, leading her towards the waiting ship.

 

[Zircon]

Durnik

“What’s wrong Belgarath?” when he finally, and quite reluctantly, changed back to Durnik.

Even if he did not have the preternatural senses of the wolf, Durnik could sense that something was wrong. But he kept silent, as was his nature, and let the burdens of command be squarely on Belgarath’s shoulders. And besides, he was getting hungry after the flight. He had not imagined that flying would consume so much energy. So now he wished that he had eaten more before leaving.

Now where was Pol with her cooking, unless she, like Belgarath, had expected him to catch a fat rabbit. And what happens when he does catch one? He knew for sure that he could not stomach a raw rabbit, no matter how hungry he was. He just stood there scuffing his boots at the dirt, waiting for Belgarath to tell him and the others what the plan was, or at least what manner of danger that they were going to face.

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath watches as Durnik comes to ground next to him. "I can smell a herd of Algroths coming this way. They have also picked up our scents, and I can tell by their barks that they are trying to encircle us. We have to come up with some sort of defense. There are too many of them , a can make out the distinct timbre of at least 30 different barks; for us to take out solely with our will. I wonder what has made them run in such a large pack. "

 

[Snork Maiden]

C'Nedra

The Algroths lair was dark and filled with the putrid remains of dead, decaying and half devoured corpses. On the one side I could see the pile of skulls and piles of graded bones, trophies of captured merchants and travelling parties that had doubtlessly, over the years been taken in raids and attacks.

I lifted my hand once more to rub the now receding swelling on my head. The weight of the heavy chains that manacled my wrists to the cavern wall behind me, encumbered my movements. Weak through lack of food and water I tried to recall the past days. It was patchy like a hole had been ripped from my mind, doubtless a result of the heavy blow that had taken me by surprise and rendered me unconscious.

The weight of the chains tiring my arm as I attempted to soothe my skull, I watched a group of Algroths across the cave from me, tearing lumps of flesh from some poor unfortunate victim, long since deceased. They grunted and barked disgustingly. A small skirmish broke out as two of the larger trolls argued over one of the dead man’s arms. My stomach cramped in disgust watching the display of primitive feeding habits. The dispute over the arm was suddenly resolved as I watched one troll grab a disgarded and stripped femur from the floor nearby, swinging it quickly and viciously around his head he knocked the second backwards, The leg bone connecting with a loud crack as it struck the side of the second trolls head.

“Well that would account for my sore head, but why am I here, and why haven’t they subjected me to the same fate as the now limbless corpse that lay across from me?” The thoughts and questions ran though my head. “And why was I here, how did I get here.” My thoughts were still confused.

Without warning another Algroth came running in from a large tunnel to my right barking and snarling viciously at the group gorging themselves. Without hesitation they instantly rose, rushing to the tunnel and grabbing weapons as they ran. There was more than a panic and urgency in their actions. Probably another caravan had been located and they were off on another raid. I pulled at my chains but they were still too tight, the crude iron cuffs cutting into my already sore wrists.

The large Algroth that had recently entered, glanced over at me and barked something sneeringly, indicating to two of the others that they should remain, probably to guard against my escape. There seemed little chance of that. I let my arms rest back on the floor once more to relieve the strain.

Still trying to remember who I was and where I had been travelling. Certainly I was sure I wasn’t travelling alone and yet there were no other prisoners around. My clothes though torn were not inexpensive either. My mind ached in sympathy with my bruised head and body for answers.

OOC: I just realised everyone is writing in 3rd person. I can switch to that if it is prefered

 

[Zirconn]

Durnik

By this time, Durnik was suitably frightened. He still remembered the time when they first encountered the Algroth. That was when Mandorallen first appeared to save their hides. But this time there was no Elgon’s Tor to hide behind as far as Durnik’s eyes could see. The open country was a bad place to be fighting Algroths. Although any place would be a bad place to be even fighting them in the first place.

Belgarath was right when the multiple howls of the Algroths broke through the air. It was indeed strange that such an overly large pack would even exist, when Algroths usually ran in small packs, as large as the food supply would allow. Durnik quickly used his will to translocate huge amounts of wood to where they were gathered. He hoped that the Algroths were afraid of fire, like the Eldrakyn. Otherwise, this would be the shortest fight in the history of Sorcerers. This time, Durnik was using real fire, instead of the imaginary one back in the swamps of Drasnia during the punitive war against the Bear Cult when Geran was kidnapped.

The fire was not too difficult to start, and soon there was a huge bonfire. The woods around them offered plenty of fuel, and hopefully, Durnik would not have to cut down the entire forest. Currently, he was out of ideas to give to Belgarath.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Polgara

Pol stood in the kitchen of their home. Herbs, twists of onion and garlic hung with the hams and other meats from the ceiling and the twins were practiceing their letters with charcoal on the hearth.

A striking woman with long black hair and a single white streak at her temple she absentmindedly washed the vegatables in the sink for a rabbit stew (which only lacked the rabbit) and listened to the men's conversation in the tower. Her husband and father always wondered how she knew so much, but truthfully? The Towers wards were as leaky as the shingles to someone who knew where to look.

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Belgarath looked on in approval as Durnik quickly acertained that their enemy was afraid of fire. Since they spent most of their time in a snowy climate, any introduction to heat would cause them many problems. Belgarath noticed a large group of the creatures gathering together on the western side. Belgarath concentrated and said the word"Catapult". Some of the nearby intact saplings came apart and combined themselves into an organic catapult. Begarath used some of Durnik's burning wood to send a spray of firey death towards Algroths. Three of them were immediatly set ablaze, their writhing in pain starting two others into flames. This spread a panic throughout the Algroths in that section, most of them running off in a blind fright into the woods. That took care of about a third of the creatures facing them, he hoped one of the others had some bright ideas.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Polgara

Pol paced for most of the night and before dawn called her mother to her. As the wolf/sometimes woman padded out of the mist Pol knelt and spoke to her quietly.

"Mother, I just know the men are going to get them into some mess or another." She smiled ruefully. "Or, more likely, have already. Will you stay with the children while I run off and check on them?"

She spoke lightly, as if the men had only gone to town to get flour and might get waylaid at a tavern and spend the bread money rather than involveing themselves in epic and world shattering events. But then again, for her at least, that had always been the way. Her entire life had been shaped by one epic event or another without ever asking, truly, if she wanted to be a part of them. So it was best to handle them like any chore and get it over as quickly and as efficently as possiable and then get back to real life.

 

[Snork Maiden]

Ce'Nedra

Watching the remaining Algroths leave the caves, I looked about, huddling my legs and shivering. It was certainly cold, but not freezing and I was at least thankful for that.

Apart from the dim light that filtered into the chamber from the entrance there were no other sources, not even a fire was being employed to warm these creatures. The walls glistened with moisture and I found myself licking the wall near me in an attempt to satisfy my thirst. An Algroth growled at me as I shifted my position allowing me a better angle with which to achieve the task. My stomach ached with hunger, “How many days had it been since I had eaten?, I couldn’t remember it must have been at least two maybe three.

My wall licking activity was interrupted by the re-emergence of three Algroths. The largest of the three barked some orders at the two sitting nearby me. They rose, one moving towards me, the other rummaging in a pile of rags and discarded clothing, stripped from the bodies they had devoured. The two other Algroths fidgeted anxiously with their crude clubs near the cave entrance whilst the leader continued to snap and snarl his instructions at the other.

I could hear the large bolts anchoring my chains to the walls being lifted and then the tug of them as the Algroth near me dragged me to my feet. I squealed with pain, this was intolerable but I felt powerless to prevent it or do anything about it. The Algroth that had been scouring the pile of rags finally ceased it activities grunting with some degree of pride it would seem as he held up a large leather sack. Inverting it to empty the still unrifled contents onto the floor.

The leader grunted approval and indicated and barked something to the Algroth holding me. I didn’t need to speak the language to understand what they intended. As I was lifted, kicking and screaming I found myself being stuffed forcibly into the leather sack. Moments later, I felt myself being dragged quickly over the rough floor of the cave by two of the Algroths as they made their way out of the cave. Then I felt myself lifted and bounced as the creatures ran from their cave abandoning it, the sack slung over it’s shoulder.

I could hear noises now, muffled by the sack. There seemed to be a lot of confusion but it began to fade as the creatures moved quickly across the terrain seeking a new place of safety.

 

[chewbacca71]

Belgarath

Noticing that Durnik seems to be in a state of shock at the destruction he has caused, Belgarath decides he better end this fight and fast . He looks at a nearby ridge that was behind the last remaining pocket of Algroths and says " Fall." The remaining Algroths are crushed to a fine paste, as many tons of granite and limestone are dropped onto them. However Belgarath notices that a few of them had gotten away from the onslaught and seemed to be moving rapidly in a different direction. He quickly turned into a wolf and dashed into the trees, using his wolf senses to follow his prey.

 

[dave6398]

Barak

As he was heading to the place of the Ulgos, Barak saw some Algroths off in a a ways away. He started riding as fast as he could. There were three of them. He also noticed that a wolf was following them. with a quick sense of releif he raced after them.