Pawn of ProphecyBook 1 of the Belgariad By David Eddings PROLOGUE Being a History of the War of the Gods and the Acts of Belgarath the Sorcerer -adapted from The Book of Alorn WHEN THE WORLD was new the seven Gods dwelt in harmony and the races of man were as onepeople. Belar youngest of the Gods was beloved by the Alorns. He abode with them andcherished them and they prospered in his care. The other Gods also gathered peoples aboutthem and each God cherished his own people. But Belars eldest brother Aldur was God over no people. He dwelt apart from men and Godsuntil the day that a vagrant child sought him out. Aldur accepted the child as his disciple andcalled him Belgarath. Belgarath learned the secret of the Will and the Word and became asorcerer. In the years that followed others also sought out the solitary God. They joined inbrotherhood to learn at the feet of Aldur and time did not touch them. Now it happened that Aldur took up a stone in the shape of a globe no larger than the heart ofa child and he turned the stone in his hand until it became a living soul. The power of theliving jewel which men called the Orb of Aldur was very great and Aldur worked wonders withit. Of all the Gods Torak was the most beautiful and his people were the Angaraks. They burnedsacrifices before him