Family of Outcasts, Aaron McLeod [best book club books for discussion txt] 📗

of them inside the log. They all huddled up to keep warm as it had gotten very cold with the fire dimming down. Azoth laid down just at the edge of the log, looking out into the darkness of the forest. He didn’t fall asleep for a while, as he was keeping an eye out for the darkness in the forest. The others had fallen asleep very quickly though, as indicated by a lot of the snoring. Soon however, Azoth was able to relax and he quickly slipped into the darkness that is the realm of dreams.

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Azoth had risen the group up early. The sun was just starting to break apart the night as he roused everyone from their sleep. It took them a while to get moving though. Hannah’s stomach was not feeling well after eating so much rabbit meat and the twins kept falling back asleep. Azoth also noticed that they were all barefooted and was shocked that none of them had cut their feet open yes. He went over to Arthur and ripped off the other sleeve of his shirt and told him to try and wrap it around one of his feet. The others did the same quickly. Once all their feet were wrapped up as best as they could be, they were one their way.

It was cloudy for most of the day. There was a moist feeling in the air that kept hinting at the chance it was going to rain again. None of them has seen this much rain during the summer. In Adradien, the majority of the rain came during the spring and then it would rain only once or twice during the summer. This summer, it had rains five times and it felt like it was going to rain again. The consistency of the trees also increased as they travelled on. They were surrounded by giant pine trees that had their branches high at the top. Many times their cones would fall down and hit one of them in the head. Aldus and Oldus soon began to entertain themselves by grabbing the freshly fallen cones and throwing them at each other. Most of the time they would everyone else rather than each other. They soon had to stop sooner than the previous night, as Brendwin was beginning to struggle from fatigue. Azoth left again to go hunting while the others tried to gather firewood.

Darkness encroached upon them again and they could hear many more forest creatures than before. Crickets were singing in every direction and the hoot of an owl could be heard nearby, though it could not be seen. However, the howling of wolves in the distance was always consistent. Shortly after they had gotten the fire started, a wolf howl could be heard in the distance. After that single howl, more were returned in reply. It continued on for what felt like hours.

“They sound like they’re getting closer.” Jade said as held onto her knees in Ragosh’s arms.

“Wolves can smell fear you know.” Aldus said jokingly. “Don’t be scared, or they’ll find you and eat you.” He jumped forward at Jade to scare her and started laughing with his brother when she let out a startled scream and buried her face into Ragosh’s chest.

“Aldus, Oldus, that’s enough.” Arthur said sternly. “Those wolves are far away, Jade. They don’t even know we’re here.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate a wolf if I were you.” Azoth suddenly said as he came out from behind a tree.

“Where have you been?” Arthur asked.

“Trying to get us food.” Azoth said. He held up a stick that was impaling two small perch fish. “I couldn’t find any rabbits and I don’t have a bow to shoot deer, so I had to settle with catching fish with my bare hands. As you can see, I’m not great at it. I did get more water for the water skin though.”

Azoth sat down and pulled the stick out of the perch, then cut off each of their heads and pulled their organs out. He then stuck both of them with their own respective stick and handed one to Aldus.

“Now hold that over the fire until I tell you to take it down. Okay?” He said. Aldus smiled as he nodded. Azoth smiled back and held his fish up over the fire.

“How did you catch those rabbits last night anyways?” Athos asked.

“I used a trapping pit. I dug a few holes and covered them up, left them and came back later to check on them. I then broke the rabbit’s necks.” Azoth said as he turned his fish adjusted the location of his fish.

“Azoth.” Arthur snapped quietly, motioning his eyes towards Jade who was looking horrified.

“Sorry. I’m not used to the company of someone so young.”

“It’s okay.” Jade said quietly. She played with her hair as she looked down at the fire.

Azoth kept changing the position of his fish every once in a while as the entire group stayed silent. Aldus and Oldus kept taking turns over who held the fish.

“Okay I think these are done. Oldus, give me the fish please.”

With both fish in his hands cooked, Azoth looked at the group and began to examine their motions. Most of them were nibbling on their bread. Most of the cheese was gone except for Azoth’s. Azoth then saw how Jade was grasping her stomach. He recognized it as a sign that she was very hungry.

“Jade, come here for a moment.” He said. Everyone looked up at him in worry.

“Why?” She asked.

“I want to give you something.” Jade got up from Ragosh’s arms and walked over to Azoth. She stood as tall as Azoth was when he was sitting. Her face was covered in dirt and her hair was all tangled from not being brush.

“Here you go.” Azoth passed her the one of the sticks. “You look hungry. You can have the whole fish.” Jades eyes widened with surprise, as did everyone else’s.

“But, the others…” She began to protest.

“I insist. They can all share the last fish, along with what’s left of my cheese.”

Everyone’s expressions turned to happiness and the mood instantly improved. Azoth passed the other fish to Arthur, who began to distribute pieces of fish with everyone else. He then took out his cheese, which he had barely touched and cut it as best he could into ten equal pieces. A smile came across his face. Jade was smiling more than she had since the orphanage was attacked. It was as if they had completely forgotten about what had happened.

Soon they finished the fish and the cheese and everyone got their share of water. They all laid back and relaxed as best they could on the dry ground. The fire was beginning to die down on its own. Azoth when he heard Jade say something.

“Hannah, can you sing me a song to help me sleep?” She said.

“I don’t know any songs, little dove. I’m sorry.” Hannah replied.

“I know a poem I could recite to you.” Azoth said. “It could help you just as well as a song.”

“Yes please.” Jade smiled and nodded intently.

“Okay. Let’s see if I can remember it. This poem is called Johnny Crowne.”

 

There once was a lad named Johnny Crowne

Who went on a quest in search of gold

On his quest, he found a maid in an evening gown

A maid of golden hair and golden eyes

 

“Step forward Johnny Crowne and take me from here”

The maid did say as she turned to face him

But Johnny did not answer, as he could not hear

And so he passed the golden maid

 

The golden maid laid a curse upon fair Johnny

A curse to become beast

A best of…

Azoth paused as he noticed how Jade had fallen asleep already. He smiled and laid back with the fire to his left.

I couldn’t remember the rest anyways. It was a terrible poem anyways. He thought to himself.

He looked up at the sky. The clouds had cleared away and he was able to see the stars from the spot he was laying in. Azoth loved looking at the stars at night. He always thought to himself how they got there. According to the book of the Guardian, they are the millions of souls that have died since the Guardian created the world and that somewhere beyond all the stars, there is a single massive star where the Guardian resides. Then there were the elves who say that the stars are banished spirits and gods that had done terrible things when they ruled. There was even some speculation that the stars may be where the great dragons of the south came from thousands of years before. With so many different versions of the same thing, it was mind numbing for him to think about. It was also keeping him from sleeping. Azoth quickly cleared those thoughts from his mind and closed his eyes, slowly drifting away into sleeping.

Suddenly, there was a loud snap and he jumped up with his falchion clutched in his hand. He stared into the darkness, listening intently for any other indication of noise. For a solid five minutes, he stayed in the same position, constantly moving his eyes across what he could see of the trees and listening. There was no noise to speak of. Not a sound of an owl, not a single cricket, even the wolves had stopped howling. Azoth looked straight ahead and as his eyes adjusted to the rest of the darkness, he was certain he could make out a large, humanoid shape behind some trees. He slowly kneeled down and picked up a rock. Azoth put his sword down as he stood back up and prepared to throw the rock. Certain of his target, Azoth threw the rock and listened for its sound. It hit something that wasn’t bark or the ground. It hit something that sounded fleshy. He picked up another rock and threw it again. This time there was a reaction from the rock. Azoth almost fell backwards into the fire as he was certain he saw the humanoid figure stand up and run away from its hiding place. As it ran, the ground shook and he could feel the rocks shake. None of group woke because they were fast asleep. Azoth was still in shock over what he had seen. The creature looked very human, but stood around ten feet tall if not more. He fell flat on his behind in shock and sat there in awe for a moment.

“It can’t be.” He finally said quietly. “They're just legends.” Azoth quickly laid back down and tried to fall asleep avoiding the thought of what he had seen.

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Ariana woke to find herself underneath the same pine tree from before. She tried to move, but quickly found that her hands and feet her bound by rope and a rag was in her mouth. She turned her head to see if anyone was around, only to see Brendwin sitting unconscious next to her. At least she thought he was only unconscious. Ariana began to scream despite the rag in her mouth and struggled to free herself from the ropes. It was then that she saw everyone else bound and gagged nearby. Arthur’s head was at her feet and Ragosh was laid flat across the ground next to her.

            “Good, you’re finally awake.” She heard a familiar voice. As her vision began to focus, she saw the hunter standing next to a small fire, holding onto a stick with a small cooked bird on it. It was the size of the kestrel. “I was hoping you weren’t dead.”

            “My name is Kristoff. And according to your friend, your name is Ariana.” Kristoff pointed at Arthur.

            “I came out here searching for game for me and my friends, but instead I found a young little half-elf and her friends. I wasn’t aware that today was my birthday.” Kristoff took a small bite of the kestrel. “I was hoping to make my claim on you before you awoke, but you seem to have