Chapter 5: Introductions and Surprises

"My name is Eriond and I am the God of the kingdoms of Angarak. I was raised in this home by Polgara the Sorceress and her husband Durnik, who is the most recent of the Disciples of the God Aldur," the glowing young man said, placing his hands on the shoulders of the raven haired woman with the white lock and the sturdy, muscular man who stood at her side.

"The man by the fire with the large sword that holds the Orb is Belgarion and he is also a sorcerer as well as the king of the island of Riva and he is the most powerful of the Alorn kings. The beautiful woman holding his hand is his wife Ce'Nedra who is co-ruler of his kingdom and mother of his three children," Eriond stated and caught a raised eyebrow from the crimson haired beauty.

"Ahem. Three?" said Ce'Nedra.

"My apologies. The mother of his Majesty's four children," Eriond corrected himself and for the first time, Piper noticed the swollen stomach artfully hidden beneath the elegant brocade on the delicate emerald dress that adorned the petite woman.

"And finally, the man with the white beard who has his face hidden behind the cup of ale is Belgarath. He and his wife Poledra, the tawny haired sorceress at his side, are the parents of Polgara and the grandparents of Garion. So, as you can see, we are a very strange and powerful family," he continued as he eyed the bewildered young couple before him. "Now, who might you be?"

It took a moment before either of them could gather their thoughts, but remembering his wits first, Leo spoke, "I'm Leo, a whitelighter and former Elder. This is my wife Piper..."
"Wife?!" Piper interrupted and turned her head abruptly to face Leo.

"Ex-wife, sorry," he corrected, "My ex-wife Piper is a witch and one of the Charmed Ones. This is our son Wyatt and the crying infant here is our younger son Christopher."

"Excuse me, but could you explain what exactly a whitelighter and an Elder" Ce'Nedra asked from her place on the divan.

"Whitelighters are sort of angelic creatures that watch over good people, both mortals and witches, and try to keep them from coming to harm. Whitelighters have the power to heal, hover, and can travel by orbing," Leo began to explain and when he encountered quizzical looks at he word "orbing", he quickly demonstrated.

"The Elders are responsible for all whitelighters," he continued, "and they provide information and guidance to them. While whitelighters are supposed to help others, they follow a strict set of rules in doing so and the Elders take responsibility for ensuring that whitelighters follow these rules."

"It must have been these Elders that UL has been in contact with. They must have been the ones to send them here," Garion interjected.

"It was," Eriond replied. "Father, UL," he said for Piper and Leo's benefit, "maintains contact with them. When the Holy Gorim brought the matter of this demon to Father, He talked to the dignitaries of the different planes to find out what they know and yours were the only ones who had ever heard of this demon. They suggested using one of the 'Charmed Ones', as you're apparently called amongst the magical beings of your world, because it seems that you've gone up against this demon before."

"We have?" Piper stated in confusion. "What demon have we gone up against that could end up here?" she thought to herself.

"What can you tells us about it?" Leo asked, shifting Wyatt onto his hip, his arms tired from holding the youngster for so long. Before Eriond could reply, Polgara made the first movement anyone had made in a long time. She walked up to Leo, who looked at her warily, and then focused her gaze on the child he held in his wearied limbs. She looked into Wyatt's large azure eyes with her own exquisite violet-blue orbs and when he reached out and as he touched the snow-white lock above her left brow with his tiny fingers he smiled.

"He is a very powerful child. He will do a lot of good someday," Polgara stated and in an uncharacteristic act, Wyatt reached out for her and she obliged him by removing him from Leo's arms. "These children must be in need of food or drink. I'll take care of that and then I'll send Wyatt out to play with the other children after I put the little one down for a nap," she offered, absently twirling her fingers in Wyatt's flaxen curls at the nape of his neck. She then motioned to Ce'Nedra, who rose from her seat and took Christopher from his mother's arms.

"Wait, I don't know about this," Piper said warily, "We've just gotten over attempts on Wyatt's life and our other son being killed, or sent back to the future, we're not really sure which. But anyway, that's not the point. I'd like to have my children where I can see them. No offense, but I don't really know or trust you people yet," and she stretched out her arms to take back her infant.

"Young lady, this is the safest place in the world," Belgarath said, almost laughing at her nescience, and then conjured another foaming tankard of ale out of thin air, which was promptly taken away from him by his wife. "Not only will Polgara and Poledra protect the babe, but there are three other sorcerers here, not to mention a god, two of my brother sorcerer's less than a mile away, and the two of you are powerful beings as well. Even if the eldest boy didn't have his own protection shield, Polgara's twins are sorcerer's as well," Piper quickly wondered how this derelict man before her knew about Wyatt's protection shield, but she tuned her ears back to his words. "While they may be young and undisciplined, they still could protect the boy. So stop worrying. Polgara has been taking care of little boys for at least a couple millennia now. She raised the Godslayer after all," he concluded, leaving Piper and Leo with looks of confusion on their faces.

"Godslayer?" Leo questioned.

"That would be me," Garion replied.

"You killed a god?" Leo said incredulously.

"Yes," Garion told him with a pained, but resigned look on his face.

"How?" Leo questioned again, but before Garion could reluctantly explain the long, detailed story, Piper threw in her objection, wanting to know about the demon that she had obviously been sent to vanquish. She looked to her right and saw Polgara, Ce'Nedra, and Poledra retreat into the bedroom with her children.

"I don't know anything about this demon except that he wasn't conjured by the Morindim; he came here on his own power. He has succeeded in becoming widely worshipped by many of the Morindim and not just select clans. In fact, many have come from miles away to worship this demon, I'm told," Eriond said.

"Do you know his name?" Piper asked, "If my sisters and I have fought him before, I'll need to know who he is so I can figure out the best way to vanquish or banish him."

"Belthazor. The demon's name is Belthazor,"

A/N: I hope that you've enjoyed what you've read so far. Please read & review. I'd love to hear some responses, be they good or bad. Ireth