The more he thought about it, the more convinced Garion became that he had stumbled inadvertently across the truth of the matter. Torak had demonstrated that, even though his body slept, his awareness could still move about the world, twisting events to his own purposes. Asharak had been involved, certainly, but the dominating force had always been the consciousness of Torak. The Dark God had stood watch over him since infancy. The fear he had sensed in that dark shape that had hovered always on the edge of his boyhood had not been Asharak's fear, but Torak's. Torak had known who he was from the beginning, had known that one day Garion would take up the sword of the Rivan King and come to the meeting that had been ordained since before the world was made.

Acting upon a sudden impulse, Garion put his left hand inside his tunic and took hold of his amulet. Twisting slightly, he reached up and laid the marked palm of his right hand on the Orb, which stood on the pommel of the great sword strapped across his back.

"I know you now, " he declared silently, hurling the thought at the murky sky. "You might as well give up trying to win me over to your side, because I'm not going to change my mind. Aunt Pol is not your wife, and I'm not your son. You'd better stop trying to play games with my thoughts and get ready, because I in coming to kill you. "

The Orb beneath his hand flared with a sudden exultation as Garion threw his challenge into the Dark God's teeth, and the sword at Garion's back suddenly burst into a blue flame that flickered through the sheath enclosing it.

There was a moment of deadly silence, and then what had been a whisper suddenly became a vast roar.

"Come, then, Belgarion, Child of Light, " Torak hurled back the challenge. "I await thee in the City of Night. Bring all thy will and all thy courage with thee, for I am ready for our meeting."

"What in the name of the seven Gods do you think you're doing?" Belgarath almost screamed at Garion, his face mottled with angry astonishment.

"Torak's been whispering at me for almost a week now," Garion explained calmly, taking his hand from the Orb. "He's been offering me all kinds of things if I'd give up this whole idea. I got tired of it, so I told him to stop."

Belgarath spluttered indignantly, waving his hands at Garion.

"He knows I'm coming, Grandfather," Garion said, trying to placate the infuriated old man. "He's known who I was since the day I was born. He's been watching me all this time. We're not going to be able to take him by surprise, so why try? I wanted to let him know that I was on to him. Maybe it's time for him to start worrying and being afraid just a little bit, too."