"They'll move on. They’ve finished with what they came here to do, and there are many, many other worlds in the universe.”

"What about UL? Will he leave, too?"

"UL doesn't leave any place, Garion. He's everywhere. Does that more or less answer all the questions? I have some other things that need to be attended to. There are a number of people I have to make arrangements for. Oh, incidentally, congratulations on your daughters.”

"Daughters?"

"Small female children. They're devious, but they're prettier than sons, and they smell better."

"How many?" Garion asked breathlessly.

"Quite a few, actually. I won't tell you the exact number. I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises for you, but when you get back to Riva, you'd better start expanding the royal nursery." There was a long pause. "Good-bye for now, Garion," the voice said, its tone no longer dry. "Be well."

And then the voice was gone.

The sun was slipping down, and Garion, Ce'Nedra, and Geran had rejoined the others near the portal to the grotto. They were all subdued as they sat not far from the vast carcass of the dragon.

"We ought to do something about her," Belgarath murmured. "She wasn't really a bad brute. She was just stupid, and that's not really a crime. I’ve always felt rather sorry for her, and I'd sort of hate to just leave her out here in the open for the birds to pick over."

"You've got a sentimental streak in you, Belgarath," Beldin noted. "That's very disappointing, you know."

“We all get sentimental as we get older.” Belgarath shrugged.

"Is she all right?" Velvet asked Sadi as the eunuch returned with Zith's little bottle. "You took quite a long time."

"She's fine," Sadi replied. "One of the babies wanted to play. He thought it was funny to hide from me. It took me awhile to locate him."

"Is there any real reason for us to stay here?" 'Silk asked. "We could light that beacon, and maybe Captain Kresca could pick us up before dark.”

"We're expecting company, Kheldar," Eriond told him.

"We are? Whom are we expecting?"

"Some friends are planning to stop by."

“Your friends or ours?”

"Some of each, actually. There's one of them now." Eriond pointed out to sea.

They all turned to look.

Silk suddenly laughed. "We should have known," he said. “Trust Barak to disobey orders.”

They all looked out at the gently rolling ocean. The Seabird looked a bit the worse for weather, but she wallowed through the waves ponderously on a starboard tack that was taking her on a course past the reef. "Beldin," Silk suggested, "why don't we go down to the shore and light a signal for him?"

"Can't you do it yourself?"

"I'll be happy to just as soon as you teach me how to set fire to rocks."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that, I guess."