Family of Outcasts by Aaron McLeod (best fantasy books to read TXT) 📕

            Finally they reached Donan’s cabin. It was small and made of large spruce logs. The ceiling was made of thick thatch that was made of thousands of hay straws. There was a small garden that was full of a variety of different plants that came in all sorts of colours. A chimney stood tall at the opposite end that already has smoke fuming from inside. Donan ran towards the door and knocked on it three times. The door was quickly opened by a young girl, who jumped up and hugged Donan quickly.

            “Daddy!” She squealed loudly. Donan hugged her quickly and then put her down.

            “Rosie, go fetch your mother. I need her help. Quickly!” He said rapidly. Rosie seemed confused at first but then noticed Azoth carrying Brendwin and how bloodied all the others were. She ran back into the cabin, calling for her mother. Donan took Brendwin again and they carried him inside.

            Azoth pushed everything that was on the dining table onto the floor and they placed Brendwin onto it. Donan went into the other room as the orphans took some seats. Azoth stayed next to Brendwin, holding onto his arm carefully. A woman came out of the room Donan entered dressed in white clothes and a brown apron. Azoth assumed that she was Donan’s wife.

            “Alright, where’s he hurt?” She asked. Her voice was cheery, but serious. She placed her hand on top of Brendwin’s forehead, then went to the other end of the table and felt around his broken arm gently. Azoth noticed that the palms of her hands were thick with dirt. She moved her hands down to Brendwin’s ribs to try and find which ribs were broken. Donan came back with bandages in one hand and some small planks of wood. He placed the wood down and took Brendwin’s arm and started to wrap some bandage around it. After he hand wrapped it around the hand and the entire forearm, Donan cut the bandage with some sheep shears and tied it together. Afterwards, he took the planks of wood and placed them on the top and bottom of his forearm respectively. His wife held the planks in place while he wrapped more bandages around them.

            With Brendwin’s arm now in a splint, Donan slowly got him to sit up and wrapped a long bandage around his sides. The bandage covered the entirety of his torso and was held in place with a very tight knot on the opposite side of his broken ribs. With Brendwin’s bandages in place, Donan had his wife take Brendwin away from the table and sat down Arthur. He took off Arthur’s shirt and began to feel around his ribs. After Donan’s wife sad Brendwin down in a chair and told him to stay there, she went over to Jade. She began to clean the cuts on her face with a wet rag.

            “What’s your name little one?” She asked.

            “Jade. What’s your name?” Jade replied.

            “My name is Emilia. Once I’m done cleaning these, you can go into the other room with Rose. I’m sure the two of you would make great friends.”

            Jade didn’t budge. She just stood there as Emilia withdrew her hands. Ariana kneeled down beside Jade.

            “It’s okay. We’ll be right here. Go play.” She said with a smile. Jade still didn’t move. Instead she hugged Ariana tightly and began to weep quietly. Ariana held onto her. She let Jade cry into her shoulder.

            “Alright, let me see the rest of you.” Donan said while he handed Arthur his shirt back.

            “Give me that.” Azoth said suddenly as he grabbed a clean rag from Emilia. Emilia grasped and tried to take it back, but Azoth simply slapped her hand away. He held his sword inside the rag and began to wipe the blood off it with, taking care not to accidentally cut him hand. Once most of the blood was wiped away, he handed the now bloody rag back to Emilia.

            “Instead of just standing about, you could help me.” Donan said.

            “I’m not a physician like you.” Azoth retorted as he picked up a pitcher of water and poured it into a bowl. He cupped his hands together and splashed some water in his face and hair. He did this three more times and the water quickly turned pink as the blood washed off. “Besides, it’s the elf and the tall one who are the worst off as far as I can tell and you didn’t ask of my help with them.” Azoth took the bowl and dumped the water out the open window, then poured fresh water back into it.

            Eventually, Donan and Emilia had attended to all the injuries the orphans had endured from the stoning. Most of them had fallen asleep from exhaustion, but Arthur and Azoth were still awake. Azoth was standing guard at one of the windows, keeping his eyes and ears open for anyone who might approach. Donan walked over to Arthur and handed him a bowl of soup.

            “It’s nothing fancy, but it will keep you from going hungry.” Donan said as he sat down. Emilia had started a fire to keep everyone warm and was back outside in the garden with Rose. Arthur took a sniff of the soup and cringed. It reminded him of the smell of waste bucket or a chamber pot. He took a small spoonful and it wasn’t as bad as he had thought it would be. It nearly had no flavour, despite the mix of some kind of meat that Arthur could not identify, onions and some potatoes, but it still didn’t taste horrible. They continued to eat in silence for a few minutes until Azoth came over with a bowl of his own. He was about to take a bite of the soup when Arthur grabbed the bowl and took it out of Azoth’s hands. Azoth stood still for a moment before he looked up at Arthur.

            “Start talking." Arthur snapped. "Now."

It was late at night and Arthur was still wide awake. He was staring at the remnants of the fire, which were just a few dwindling flames and red coals. Everyone was asleep, including Azoth. Arthur couldn’t sleep though. He didn’t understand how any of them could sleep after what had happened that day. The sound of the crowd still echoed in his mind whenever he closed his eyes. That and what Azoth had said earlier.

            Azoth explained to Arthur and everyone else why he had come to the orphanage. He said that he had left his home after a falling out with his father. Azoth’s father, Elshield Stormwind, was once the most renowned and respected scholar in Adradien. Elshield had two children. His eldest was Gabriella, a daughter who studies magic, and Azoth. He wanted his children to continue on with his legacy. Gabriella wanted to become a healer like her grandmother, and push the boundaries of what could be down with healing magic. Healing magic is the most difficult of magic’s and takes the most time to master. It made her father proud. Azoth however, would not conform to what his father wanted. Azoth wanted to be like the heroes of old, as he put it. He wanted to be a soldier. When his father would not allow it, Azoth ran away from his home when he was six years old.

            “I spent roughly around four years on the streets with only a few other homeless boys as my friends. Most of them ended up dying though” Azoth had explained. “When I was around ten or eleven, I tried to steal a travelling mercenary’s sword. Almost got away with it too, until the big oaf caught me. He was like a giant compared to me back then. The man sported long, messy, black hair with a large black beard that was braided down to the middle of his chest. His skin was dark and looked as rough as leather. I think he was from the deserts to the east. After he caught me, he dragged me to a mercenary camp that was about a mile outside of the town. The man threw me into a makeshift arena and gave me a small knife. He told me a single word. ‘Fight’, he said.”

            “He left me alone in that dirt arena for a few minutes as more mercenaries gathered around in the seating stalls. When a crowd had gathered, the mercenary called out a word I didn’t understand and a cage on the other end was opened. Out came one of those spike dogs. I dropped the knife and ran for the entrance to the arena. The crowd laughed at me and many were cheering for that fucking dog. I couldn’t believe it. Those men wanted to dog to rip a ten or eleven year old boy to shreds. The spike dog ran at me and bit into my arm. My first scar, you could say.” Azoth showed them the scar. “I screamed out and they continued to cheer. I knew I was going to die as I tried to push that dog off. It was in that moment that I realized I didn’t want to die. This was something a soldier would have to endure. So I punched the dog. I punched that dog over and over again until it finally let go. Instead of grasping my bleeding arm, I kicked the dog. It hunched back and revealed the quill-like spikes on its back. The dog lunged at me and I tripped over my own feet when I backed up. It got on top of me and tried to tear my face off. I could barely hold it back while I punched it again. It’s back legs had no claws so my stomach wasn’t damaged. Eventually I gave up punching and tried to find a rock. Thankfully I did and I hit it across the head with the rock and knocked it off me. While the dog was stunned I ran for the knife I had dropped and picked it up. I could hear the crowd cheering for me now. The dog regained its senses and ran at me. I backed away again when it missed its lunge. With an opening, I stabbed the knife into the back of its head over and over and over again until the knife and my hand were completely stained with blood. Half the crowd was cheering the other half was silent. I remember looking up at the dark skinned man and how he was looking at me with approval. Then I fainted by blood loss. When I finally came to, my arm has been bandaged and the dark skinned man stood over me. He asked what my name was. I told him. He told me his name was Ashrik and that I was one of them now. One of the Black Hawk mercenaries.”

            Azoth continued to explain that he spent the next three to four years training as one of the Black Hawks, which is how he learned how to fight the way he did back in Cathvas. He learned how to survive