Hello friends!

Yeah, I know, it's been a couple of days since my last update, but it is getting warm and humid here (damn Midwest weather!), and I have simply been too lazy... Thankfully, Memorial Day will be soon, and after that, the public pools will be open again!

... And, I have to admit, I haven't felt very inspired the last couple of days. Hopefully, though, I can write up something good now!

05.09.2005: Answers to reviews removed. See reason in chapter 3.

Current Music: None, don't feel like it.

DISCLAIMER: All characters aside from the original ones mentioned in numerous chapters aren't mine, they're property of David Eddings and his wife. I do not make a profit out of this fic.

CHAPTER 22

It was two days before they would reach Paler when the group happened upon an unusual phenomenon. It was bright, forming a glowing circle in midair, and all of them stood in awe while something insubstantial manifested right in front of it just to be sucked into the swirling colors that formed it the very instant it appeared.

The phenomenon was located in a small grove off the road, where they had decided to camp for the night.

The first of the mortals who understood what the glowing circle was, was Bevier.

"Is that... one of the other focus points Dorgatan was talking about? The ones Zoltach created to confuse us?"

Dorgatan nodded, his black locks falling over his shoulders as he did so.

"What you see appearing in front of it just before it gets sucked in is the returning energy. We shouldn't get too close, otherwise we might end up in Belgarath's and Polgara's world, and the doorway might be a one-way passage."

Then, he realized the full implication of what he had just said. He turned to the two disciples of Aldur, his charges while they were in this world.

"Belgarath, Polgara, this is your opportunity to go back to your world. We will take care of Zoltach and Ctuchik, if you want to go..."

But both sorcerers shook their heads, and Polgara added:

"We won't leave now. Both of our worlds are at stake, and we know Ctuchik a lot better than you do. It is our battle as well as it is yours. You can send us back when we have stopped the threat."

"If we will be able to," Dorgatan insisted. "I have never had to work with interdimensional portals..."

When everybody stared at him, not understanding, he hastily rephrased: "... with doors between worlds, and I don't think Aphrael has, either. We don't know what will happen if we manage to get rid of Zoltach – without him focussing on the energy flow at all times, it might all just snap back where it came from, and you might be stuck here..."

The faces of Aldur's disciples took on nearly identical grim expressions.

"Then stuck here we will be," Belgarath replied. "We have to ensure that our worlds will be safe again – both this one and the other, as we serve Gods in both worlds. We cannot leave while possibly the biggest threat on our world since Torak is trying to destroy it. Our choice is made – we will stay."

Dorgatan nodded; he had known that his friends would not run away from the challenge.

"Very well, Belgarath, Polgara – I warned you. I have to admit that I am glad you decided to stay. It would not have been like you to leave us with this situation – especially since your world is not out of peril yet, either. Let us sleep for the night so we make good time tomorrow. I want to reach Paler as soon as possible, because I have a feeling one of us will have to learn something there, before we can move on..."

Meanwhile, Zalasta sat in a musty-smelling inn in Aka, a port town at the east side of the the Gulf of Merjuk, and negotiated with a group of Styrics in ragged clothes about their help against Sparhawk and his travelling companions.

One of them, an incredibly filthy fellow named Tjardak, asked in a voice that seemed to come out of a very deep hole:

"And what do we get out of it if we help you and Zoltach? We heard what happened to Ogerajin and the others during the disaster with Cyrgon."

"Ah, but my friend, this time, everything will be in control," Zalasta answered, his voice by now back to the cultivated tone it had had before the Fire had come to him. "Zoltach will reward each of you with your own kingdom and anything else you might wish for, should you join in the efforts to further his cause."

Tjardak laughed, an ugly cackling that screeched in Zalasta's ears like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"Everything will be in control, huh, Zalasta? Just like everything was in control when you and Cyrgon called upon Klael, and when the Shining Ones melted down your bastard son and the demon summoner you had with you? Thank you, but I think I'll pass."

The ugly Styric got up and was about to leave the dirty tavern when his body suddenly stiffened, and he fell, his feet still reaching into the inn while his head was already outside. He didn't move anymore.

Zalasta looked into the faces around him – they had gone from a condescending sneer to emotionless masks. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I believe I did not mention what Zoltach does to people who vex him... he just did it to old Tjardak, because he was implying that Zoltach is as stupid as Cyrgon was. You would do well not to follow his example. Now, where was I...?"

Suddenly, a lot of the Renegades found themselves eager to work with Zalasta. Whether they did it because they did not want to end up like Tjardak, or whether they really believed him that Zoltach had planned his scheme better than Cyrgon, Zalasta didn't know, but he also did not really care about their reasons. The most important thing was that they agreed to work with him.

He and Cthuchik would make these dirty, ragged men and women, each one of them a menace by himself, into an army of demonic power, ready to take on Sparhawk and his group by summoning the ultimate darkness to their aid. He himself would rip the Pandion's thoat out, shower the knight's companions with his blood just before the creatures summoned by his fellow renegades did the same to them... and thus, his revenge would be complete.

I know, this one's not so great... forgive me. Will do better next time! Comments appreciated!