What would happen if Torak had won the Battle of Vo Mimbre? This tale tells the story of Torak's Triumph . . .

Torak

I, Torak, Dark God of the Angarak peoples, after debasing the Rivan Warder, turned to the wolf at Brand the Warder's side and said thus: "Begone, Belgarath, flee if thou wouldst save thy life."

The shapeshifting sorcerer known as Belgarath snarled at me, baring his teeth in defiance.

Then I turned to Polgara, my features softening. "Abjure thy father, Polgara, and come with me." I said this softly. "I will wed thee, and make thee Queen of all the world, and thy might and thy power shall be second only to mine."

Polgara the Sorceress, in her favored form of a snowy owl, screeched her scorn in such a way that would have made even the Gods tremble.

But I did not.

I, the maimed God of Angarak, smiled, the burning ruins of mine missing eye kindling with fire. I knew not fear in my madness. "I knew that thou would resist at first, but thy struggles shalt but make mine triumph over thou all the sweeter. With thou at my side we shalt rule this earth, yea, the very universe herself, and together we shall birth a new race of Gods that shall rule under us. But first, I shalt deal with this mere mortal who dares to defy the King of Kings and Lord of Lords." And with that I charged Brand, Cthrek Goru upraised to strike, crying out: "Perish then to perish all!"

Thus Man and God clashed mightily, but for many blows not a one landed upon our enemy.

But then I thrust all of my mighty will into my black blade and, raising it with his one hand, struck the shield of Brand. The blade embedded itself into the shield. Seeing my advantage, I jerked downwards with my sword, dragging Brand around and to his knees so that the Rivan Warder's back was exposed.

I raised Cthrek Goru above mine head and, murmuring "And so thou perish" in old Angarak, smote Brand from head clean through to the ground. As the two pieces of Brand fell from each other, a great cry arose from the armies amassed around me, the Angaraks crying out in victory, but the Alorns, Tolnedrans, Ulgos, and Arends hoarsely cried out in disbelief and despair.

I raised my bloodied sword high, basking in the worship of my people and the fear of my enemies.

Belgarath

As Torak's blow descended, I howled my horror. This was not supposed to happen! I could not believe it! As my howl died out, my friend upstairs spoke to me.

"Quickly," he said hurriedly. "Get the shield!"

"Why?" I asked in the manner of the wolf, despair filling my soul to the point of obliviousness. "What matters now?"

"The Orb is still in the shield, if Torak gets it all is lost!"

Only then did I remember that the Orb was embedded in the shield. I loped across the battlefield, not bothering to change shape, and grabbed the shield with my teeth from under Torak's nose. I tried to run back, but it was awkward carrying the shield like that, and a wolf would not make it to Riva. Mid-run, I shifted into a massive eagle, grabbed the shield's belts, and took off. The shield, I later noticed, was lighter than it should have been. I think the Orb had taken steps to ease my escape.

As I gained altitude, I sent my thought to Polgara. "Pol," I cried mentally, "get out of there!"

I soon heard a bloodcurdling scream, and when I turned to look I too shrieked, for a terrible nightmare had come true.

Polgara

As Brand died, I felt all hope in my heart die there with him. Fear and desolation filled my very being, doubled by the terror of my mother joined with me.

"No!" We cried together.

For reasons I did not understand I began to weep bitterly, and so did not see my Torak's gloating or father's rescue of the Orb. I was aware of nothing till I heard father's voice in my head. "Pol, get out of there!"

I opened my eyes and looked before me. I saw Brand's body, the armies, and Torak all in one sickening instant. Torak, lowering his giant sword, turned slowly towards me, his mask smiling.

I changed even as I stood up, blurring into a falcon and struggling to get far enough away. I couldn't. I suddenly felt my will turned against me and I felt myself turn around and sail back towards earth, towards Torak. I screamed, but all my inner struggles were meaningless against the Dark God. The Dragon God held up his stump of an arm like a falconer holds out his arm for his bird. Revulsion filled me, but I could do nothing.

I landed lightly upon his ruined arm, and he stroked my feathers with his hand. "At last, Polgara," Torak said softly, "thou art mine."

As he caressed me, I felt my will collapse, and my heart was filled with adulation for my new God. Mother left me then, whispering: "Goodbye, my daughter."

Belgarath

Watching my daughter submit to Torak was the hardest thing I had to endure ever since the death of my beloved wife. But my friend upstairs reminded me of the importance of getting the Orb to Riva where we would make our final stand. Shoving aside my grief, I turned northwest towards the Isle of the Winds. I got there faster than normal, again I thought of the Orb.

I flew through an open window into the chambers of Brand's son, Camion, a handsome young man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was of course startled that a shield-bearing eagle would fly into his room, and he was even more surprised when I shimmered into my natural form.

"Holy Belgarath?" he choked.

"Never mind that now!" I growled, picking up the shield. I ripped off the cloak that concealed the Orb and revealed it to Camion. "The battle is lost. Your father is dead at Torak's hand, my daughter has just joined his side, and they will be coming soon for this." I jerked the shield up in his face. "You are now the Warder of Riva and the protection of the Orb is now your responsibility.

The young man recoiled from the Orb, but then he just stood there as the news soaked in, staring at me.

Of course I should have been more sensitive to the boy, but we had no time for being soft.

Camion blinked back tears, quickly wiped his eyes, and then stood tall. "What must we do?"

The two of us began then and there the preparations of Torak's eventual assault on Riva. Most of the Alorn armies, including the Rivans, were still in Arendia, and when the twins called in they confirmed that fact. Our armies were in full retreat to the north, where Beldin was whipping them northward to protect the Isle of the Winds from Torak's hordes. Several days past, and then I was contacted by the twins with startling news. Torak was not moving.

His army took over Vo Mimbre and settled in, repairing the damages and fortifying its position. What he was waiting for I didn't know nor care, but I took advantage of the situation and ordered Beldin to get the army into boats to protect Riva. The Cherek pirates and sailors quickly resumed their patrols around the Isle of the Winds while transporting the Rivans back to their homeland. The twins remained with the Arends, who managed to put aside their differences and worked together to terrorize the Angarak hordes. Beldin holed up with the Drasnians, Ulgos, and Algars in the Ulgo mountains, where they launched hit-and-run attacks on Torak's army. Still Torak remained in his iron pavilion, now moved within the yellow walls of Vo Mimbre, his army in stasis.

We prepared for the inevitable invasion, for we all knew that Torak knew that the Orb was kept in Riva, and, luckily for us, had not even realized that the Orb was at Vo Mimbre. Riva became even more of a fortress, ditches and spikes being placed all over the only beach, the doors and walls were strengthened, and the people's homes were turned into small garrisons as every boy and man of age began training with weapons.

Several months passed, nine if I remember correctly, and I was sitting on the dais on which stood the throne of the Rivan King when Beldin's thought came to me.

"You aren't going to like the new news I've got." He said.

"How bad could it be?" I asked.

"Torak and Pol's got a son."

I gave a hoarse shout. "WHAT?"

"Told you."

"When?"

"Just now. Torak came out of his iron tower and held up his son for all his hordes to see. I was in hawk form spying and happened to see and hear everything. He looks almost just like his mother when she was born. The boy's name is Zarokal, 'Son of the King and God' in old Angarak. Also, I think this is what old Burntface was waiting for, because now he's got Zedar, Urvon, and Ctuchik working together building new ships and marshalling more men. You'd best tell the Rivans that the storm is coming."

I immediately ran to Camion's chambers and told him everything. He surprisingly took it rather well. He later explained that a voice in his head had told him that Torak was waiting for the birth of his son before he marched to war. That confirmed that Camion was the new Child of Light, destined to fight Torak when the Dragon God came for the Orb.

That was a relief, I was afraid I was going to be the Child of Light again; I don't do well with responsibility.

So I won't accept duty with proper grace and dignity, so what?

A couple months after I had learned of Polgara's son and Torak's plans, Beldin sent warning of a massive fleet of large iron ships sailing around southern Cthol Murgos up towards the Isle of the Winds. At first I didn't believe iron ships could have sailed that distance let alone floated, but when Beldin suggested explaining the science behind it I chose to simply take him at his word. Beldin told me that he was leaving the other armies with the twins while he came to Riva himself.

"Urvon's coming along with Torak, Pol, and Zedar in hopes of redeeming himself in his God's eye, and he and I have a score to settle." Beldin said when he got here.

"Pol's coming?" I asked.

"She is totally loyal to Torak now," Beldin said softly, "she won't leave his side."

I buried my face in my hands as a sat down heavily in a chair. I had tried not to think about that, but it continued to haunt me. Beldin said nothing, knowing enough to leave me alone while I mourned.

Finally, getting a grip on myself, I got up and the two of us went to Camion to tell him what was coming. We found him standing in front of the throne of the Rivan King, staring up at the Orb set back in the sword as its pommel. As we neared he spoke.

"I never wanted this responsibility, I just wanted to live out my life as a good man and husband and forget all about this sorry business."

"None o' us er wanted to 'ave tha duties bestowed 'pon us," Beldin said in his infuriating brogue, "but we don't be havin' a choice in tha matter. All we got to decide is wot we do wit' wot we got."

Camion managed a weak smile, turning to us. Under his gray cloak I noticed him wearing armor and his sword.

"I figured I might as well get used to wearing it," he said when I asked him, "what with the invasion coming soon."

Beldin soon left to watch the advance of Torak's iron fleet. He called in occasionally to mark their progress, but finally he contacted me in the middle of the night saying the Chereks and Angaraks were engaged in the Sea of the Winds.

I woke Camion and told him what was happening, and the two of us waited anxiously for the outcome from Beldin. As the sun rose we got our answer: the Chereks were defeated and driven back to Cherek. The Angaraks were coming; they would be in Riva in two days.

Beldin returned to Riva by noon, cursing in multiple languages. It appeared that Urvon learned of his nemesis' presence above him and warned Torak. The God almost took Beldin down, but the devious dwarf was faster than the one-eyed Dragon God. That made me feel like we had a chance.

I was looking out the window of a tower of the Citadel when Beldin came in on the day the Angarak fleet was supposed to arrive. "Are you still sitting there?"

"What else would I be doing?"

"You've been sitting there doing nothing ever since Camion had that last talk with us before leaving to bring in the last of the Rivan soldiers. What's eating you . . . outside the obvious?"

"We were supposed to win at Vo Mimbre, but something went wrong. I have been thinking about it since that moment when Torak cleaved Brand in two." I turned to face the dwarf. "What went wrong?"

Beldin simply shrugged.

Camion suddenly burst into my room. Breathlessly, he gasped: "The Angaraks . . . Torak . . . he's—they're here!"