Torak's father

The unnamed man who's known mostly as Torak's father is an important character in Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (which takes place 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe during the Stone Age).

Before the series
Torak's father was born roughly thirty-six years before the beginning of Wolf Brother to a man belonging to the Wolf Clan and a woman belonging to the Seal Clan and was christened as a Wolf Clan member. He had a brother older by two years named Tenris who was christened as a Seal Clan member. When Tenris was eleven and his brother nine, they met the eleven-year-old Fin-Kedinn (the future Raven Clan chief) and lived with him five months as the Wolf Clan's fosters. While Fin-Kedinn's head was filled with hunting, the brothers lived for magecraft. They still remained as good friends for six years. But during the seventh year, Torak's father was nominated as the Wolf Clan's mage, but Tenris himself didn't become his clan's mage, leading him to wander in isolation.

At some point Fin-Kedinn and Torak's father were acquainted with an unnamed young woman from the Red Deer Clan. They both fell in love with her, but she ultimately loved Torak's father like a woman loves her mate, while she loved Fin-Kedinn like a brother. That woman later became Torak's mother.

Roughly thirteen years before Wolf Brother, Torak's father also prevented Nef the Bat Mage from committing suicide because of her son's death. That left her feel indebted to him after his death, until she gets her chance to repay the debt in Soul Eater.

When a group of Clan Mages known as the Healers were formed and Tenris returned to join them, Torak's father joined them hastily despite the warnings of his mate and Fin-Kedinn. When he finally realized how corrupted they were becoming when they turned from the Healers into the Soul Eaters, he tried to leave them, but was unable to.

But he still wouldn't let the Soul Eaters dominate the Forest under their rule. He summoned them in Souls' Night to a hill (later called the Burnt Hill) on the verge of the Deep Forest. That hill had long held demons sealed out of the world, and the Soul Eaters intended to release them to do their bidding, using the power of the Fire Opal to bind them.

However, once demons were released, Torak's father broke the ritual by shattering the Fire Opal into three pieces, ending the Soul Eaters' control over the demons. He then set a fire which banished the demons back to the rocks of the hill. But fire got quickly out of hand and the resulting forest fire (later known as the Great Fire) destroyed the entire valley around the hill. All the Soul Eaters survived, though Narrander's son Narik died and the Otter Mage lost his mind out of grief. The other five Soul Eaters went into hiding and Narrander was made to appear to have died in the Great Fire.

Torak's father made everyone to think that he and his mate had perished too and they hid in the Deep Forest. Soon their son Torak was born. The World Spirit proclaimed as the boy's fate to destroy the evil his father had helped to create and made him a spirit walker to aid him in this quest. The boy's mother died soon and Torak's father raised Torak in secrecy for twelve years, first allowing him to spend his first infant months under a female wolf's care. This allowed the boy to learn to communicate with wolves. The former Wolf Mage taught his son hunting and tracking instead of magecraft, skills that would prove invaluable in his quest to defeat the Soul Eaters. Torak's father also kept one of the three Fire Opal shards hidden in the hilt of his ceremonial knife until Torak discovers it in Outcast.

Death and aftermath
In the first book, Wolf Brother, Torak and his father are attacked by a bear that was possessed by a demon (created by none other than Tenris). It wounds the former Wolf Mage mortally, leaving Torak alone for the first time in his life. But he's given advice by his father to travel north and try to find the Mountain of the World Spirit and ask for the Spirit's help in destroying the bear. The former Wolf Mage also tells Torak that [his guide shall find him.

Throughout the series, Torak discovers many secrets his father had kept from him, changing his opinions about him in numerous ways. Torak's father appears briefly in the last book, Ghost Hunter, as a ghost controlled by Eostra through his hair the Eagle Owl Mage possesses. But he vanishes as the spell is broken, bidding his last farewell to Torak.

Personality
As a young man, Torak's father was described to be eager to learn the ways of trees, prey and hunters. He was also eager to do good, for which reason he joined the Healers. He was also convinced that he was infallible and didn't listen to the advice others. But after he realized his mistake of trusting the Soul Eaters, he was determined to stop them, for he wasn't a coward. He was also clever with the way he cowered his tracks and went into hiding. He kept his son unaware of his future role in order to keep him safe as long as possible. In his last moments, he wisely predicted what his son would have to go through and asked him not to hate him later for all the secrets he kept for Torak's entire life.

When Eostra summons the spirit of Torak's father in Ghost Hunter, she describes him as "wise as the wolf, the willful one".

Powers and abilities
Torak's father was a talented mage, and was said to be the best mage the Wolf Clan had ever had. In Outcast, Maheegun the Wolf Chief says that Torak's father was able to spirit walk into a wolf for several heartbeats.

Torak's father also knew how to survive in the seclusion of the Forest with his son for twelve years. He taught Torak to hunt, track and use his mother's gift in listening to the Forest.