Outcast (Paver)

Infobox Book |
name = Outcast
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Michelle Paver
illustrator = Geoff Taylor
cover artist = John Fordham
country = Great Britain
language = English
series = Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Orion Books
release_date = September 2007
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 224 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 978-1842551738 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by = Soul Eater
followed_by = Oathbreaker

"Outcast" is the fourth book of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness written by Michelle Paver. It was released in the UK in September 2007.

Plot summary

Torak continues to hide his deep and dark secret; he is a Soul Eater. When the Clans discover this at the end of the first chapter, Torak is cast out of the Clans, and declared an Outcast and Clanless. Outcasts are to be killed on sight, and the people from the Clans are forbidden to aid them in any way, or they face being cast out themselves. Torak is chased towards Lake Axehead, where he is hunted by the clans, the Hidden People, and Soul Eater Seshru. Torak tries to cut out the Soul Eater Tattoo from his chest, but fails, and its power still grips him. Torak begins to lose his three souls, the Clan Soul, the Name Soul, and the World Soul. He slowly loses his judgement of right and wrong, forgets who he was and who his friends were, and loses his connection to the Forest. He is scared of wolves, and lashes out with a flaming torch at Wolf. Meanwhile, Renn and Bale (Torak's kin from the Seal Clan) head to the Otter Clan's Camp, situated on the south bank of Lake Axehead. There she is told by the Otter Clan Mage that her destiny lies in using her Mage's Power to save Torak. Renn uses her powers to send two Raven chicks during a hailstorm, to try and save Torak from his fate, and make him remember who he is and to break the tattoo's power over him.

Torak finds the wolf den to aplogize to Wolf. The wolf leader accepts him, and he stays with the pack for a while. With his souls together and intact, he is healthy and ready to find his friends. He climbs up a steep rock, and, at the top, finds the Soul Eater, Seshru. She forces him to Spirit Walk a viper, and he almost kills Renn. He escapes, and is reunited with Renn and Bale.They head toward the Healing Spring to confront the Viper Mage. There Seshru reveals a terrible secret of Renn's. Renn is Seshru's Daughter. Torak is shocked that Renn concealed a secret this big, in the two years that he knew her, and storms off, with Bale following, trying to calm him down. Renn is then left alone with the Viper Mage, Renn asks her Mother why she tried to Sacrifice her Daughter when she was born. But Seshru reveals that Renn was intended to be a Tokoroth, a child with a Demon inside, but Saeunn came and stopped her, just in time. Seshru leaves, and Renn is left trying to absorb what was said. She tries to understand the signs that have been left, so she starts to meditate and she discovers that Seshru isn't the one causing the disturbance, but the Lake itself.

Meanwhile, Torak is with Bale, Torak is angry and bitter that Renn did not tell him about her parentage, one of the Ravens that Renn sent starts to pick at the bindings of his father's knife, Torak unwinds the bindings, and discovers a fragment of the Fire-Opal. Then Renn comes out of the Lake, and warns Torak and Bale about what she has just discovered. Seshru stole the sacred clay, which made the Lake sick, causing the low water level. Now the World Spirit would shatter the Ice wall, letting the pent up water, causing a Flood. The Flood would purify the Lake, but would cause all the Clans below the Lake to be drowned. Torak goes to warn Fin-Kedinn and the clans about the flood, telling them to move to higher ground. They do, just before the water is let loose, but Torak and Wolf are too late and swept away by the Water.

When Torak wakes up, he is surrounded by roughly eighty-strong clan members, all pointing weapons at him. The Boar Clan leader wanted to kill him, but his son, Aki defended Torak, along with Renn, Bale and Fin-Kedinn. So the clan members won't kill him, Fin-Kedinn declares that Torak is his foster son, and dares the clan to kill them both. Renn throws Torak's Father's knife at him, and he takes out the Fire-Opal. Then the Viper Mage, Seshru, arrives and demands that Torak give her the Fire-Opal. Torak smashes the Fire-Opal with granite, while Bale shoots her with Renn's bow. Seshru tries to gather the fragments, as she dies, the Fire-Opal dies with her. Fin-Kedinn then declares that Torak is no longer an Outcast. Fin-Kedinn then tattoos over the Outcast tattoo with a new one, marking him with a circle divided into four colors. White for the Ice clans, Red for the Mountains, Green for the Forest, and Blue for the Sea. This symbolizes that Torak belongs to all the clans. In the end, Renn and Torak reconcile and forgive each other, and end up laughing again.