I'm not sure how long it's been since Son of the Spear and Path of the Spear, but I've been working on End of the Spear for a couple of years now on and off, poking and prodding at it, never fully satisfied. I had at least three chapters written early on, yet I had a nagging sense that something wasn't right. Something was just… off. And it finally hit me a couple months ago: Gabriel was pathetic. There was too much of him being depressed and wandering around and not enough doing. As the main character, he needs to drive the story forward. When I finally realized my problem, a lot of pieces fell into place or were reorganized. And I think that's one of the great things of letting an idea marinate.
I hope this final chapter in the Spear Trilogy is worth the wait. I know it's a short first chapter and I really wish I could share the second and third ones, but all things in good time dear readers :)
Taun'gra
huunan'de - huu-NAHN-deh - humans
janga - JAHN-gah - a narcotic
shaiya - SHAI-yah - father
Other
TY - Terran Years
Nephele - The third planet orbiting the star Ixion, it is a large gas giant with five moons (Murcia, Aragon, Andalusia, Navarra and Galicia) and many smaller dwarf moons and satellites.
Navarra - The tidally-locked fourth moon of the planet Nephele, it features several colony cities (Derrigan, Havensberth, Eladoro and Tau Sigma IV)
2512
"What happened next, shaiya?" The small group of children at his feet scrunched closer, eager to hear the end of the story. The older children paused in their chores - they had heard the story many times before, but it had always been a favorite.
The yautja huffed his roll of janga leaf, pale yellow smoke curling around his face as he exhaled. "Do you really want to know? It might not end the way you expect."
The children nodded, eagerly clicking for him to continue with the tale. "Very well. I will tell you tale of how Zaiyende the Valiant and his companions, Djesharu the Outcast and Okute the Cunning, heroically defeated the Long Fangs clan with nothing but a sword, a necklace and their wits."
He took another deep breath, blowing a thick cloud of smoke into the air above them. "The trio had just arrived on the strange world of Navarra, a place where stone towers soar into the clouds and empty plains of grass stretch as far as the eye can see. There they hunted fierce creatures and took many skulls. The primitive huunan'de, in awe of the three heroes' prowess, begged them for help, for their gods were powerless and they were too afraid to avenge their dead themselves, so frail were their hearts. 'Save us from the Long Fangs,' they pleaded. 'They kill our females and our pups, for they have no honor.' And brave Zaiyende heard their mewling cries and took pity on the foolish creatures. He vowed to bring the Long Fangs to justice and the huunan'de pledged their lives to the yautja and our gods for all time."
The yautja paused to sample his smoke, heaving a great sigh when he was finished. A few of the children clamped their mouths shut as the leaf's pungent smell washed over them and tickled their throats, but said nothing, knowing that if they interrupted their father he would send them away.
"There was only one problem… no one knew where the Long Fangs were hiding."
~\'/~
Holo-flames flickered inside false gas lamps, their dancing light doing little to chase away the gloom. The stool creaked as Gabriel knocked back another drink, slamming the glass against the counter as the warm amber liquid slid down his numb throat. He fumbled as he poured another, black splotches of whiskey spilling onto the worn-out bar.
"If I arrest you for anything, it'll be for wasting good alcohol."
Gabriel turned, holding onto the bar with one hand as the room rocked back and forth. Nova Brady stood in the entrance, a bright shadow in the darkness. "Shhheriff," he slurred, waving a two-fingered salute before turning back around.
"Someone reported a break-in." Nova grabbed the stool next to him, pouring herself what was left of one of the many bottles strewn across the bartop. She winced, growling as the amber drink burned her throat, warmth flushing her cheeks and neck. "Damn, that's strong."
Gabriel chuckled and memories of the last time he'd stepped foot in here came flooding back, shards of clarity burning through the alcoholic haze. Jeremy flirting with the girls in the other booth. Rin smiling at him from across the room while bussing a table. The Young brothers arguing, Rin's father keeping an eye on them from behind the bar. The air slowly filling with hookah smoke. Darts whizzing. Voices murmuring, laughing.
He drank, chugging half the bottle in just a few desperate gulps, alcohol burning away the memories until they vanished like ashes in the wind. Oblivion. That's what he needed. Drown out the memories and pain until there was nothing. Until he was nothing.
"Eladoro elected me sherriff afterwards… unanimously. I didn't think they would. The only reason I tossed in my hat for consideration was because I wanted to make… make my dad proud." Nova choked out the last part before quickly taking another sip.
"S'erriff 'rady was a good… a good…" Damn m's.
"He was," responded Nova, as if she understood what he'd been trying to say. She stared at her drink, brow crinkled in thought as she twirled the amber liquid around the edges of the glass.
She sighed and set it down, fingers running through her short hair, one side shaved to the root. He remembered it being much longer. "The only reason I haven't kicked you out or arrested you for trespassing is because I know you're grieving. Three years ago, a lot of people turned to booze to try and forget the shit they'd seen. I did… when I was alone." She looked up at him then, her mouth set in a grim line. "Just don't drown."
Gabriel stared at her, then looked down. One of his hands still clasped a bottle, the other engulfed a nearly empty shot glass. Drown. Like he'd tried to do all those years ago. Depressed. Drunk. Gun in his hand as he'd waded into the river, ready to end it all.
And what if he had? He wondered for the hundredth time. What if Father John hadn't found him in that moment, deciding instead to stay inside as tornadoes barreled down upon the town? Perhaps Eladoro would have been spared. His parents and friends would grieve, but eventually they'd move on, relieved of the burden of keeping him a secret.
He growled as pain lanced through his skull, the faces of the dead haunting his mind's eye, the what if's and might have been's taunting him with impossible possibilities. If only he'd stayed put instead of seeking out the hunter in the Red Labyrinth. But no, he'd wanted revenge for his parents. He'd wanted blood. Well, he'd gotten his wish. Blood for blood for blood.
His hand curled into a fist. Rage, electric and pure, burned through his drunken haze, searing the world red. Thirty-six. Thirty-six people dead for no reason. Gabriel slammed his fist down and roared, glass biting into his flesh and thunder pounding through his temples. The world swayed and he found himself standing, looming over Nova. The stench of blood filled the air, blood and anger. His hackles stood on edge, drool dripped from his splayed fangs, the world pulsing and writhing like fire.
He wanted to fight. To kill. To rip apart every single warrior that had dared to hurt the ones he'd loved. Smell their fear. Sink his hands into their chests and-
Arcing coils of pain seized his muscles, Gabriel's body stiffening like a board. He silently roared as he slammed into floor sideways, spasms twitching and jerking his rigid muscles.
After several agonizing seconds, the pain and tension disappeared, Nova creeping into view with stun gun still in hand. The roar, stuck in his throat, burst free. "Fuck!"
An M4A3 pistol came sharply into focus and he froze, the scent of human fear filling his mouth. The situation felt eerily familiar. The pain. Death staring him in the face. Him sprawled on the ground and at the mercy of another. He'd been here, in this situation, before.
"...move! Do you hear me, Gabriel? Don't you move another inch or I swear to God I'll put a bullet in your elbow!"
Not moving for a while sounded great. Gabriel relaxed and closed his eyes, focusing on the memories teasing the edge of his brain. He'd just been thinking about something important. Something about…
The hunter leered above Gabriel, the pair surrounded by flames that screamed as they writhed, red shadows dancing within a pit of fangs. With a sucking squelch, the hunter peeled off his face, revealing bloody bone and muscles, hollow burning holes where his eyes should be. Gabriel couldn't run. Couldn't even move. He looked down, horror gripping him as he realized his arms and legs were bloody stumps wriggling futilely over the blood-soaked earth. "Nowww," the hunter hissed. "Diiiieee."
Gabriel roared in defiance.
The hunter laughed as he raised his spear.
Lightning, brighter than the sun, stabbed the hunter through the skull, leaving behind a charred hole the size of Gabriel's fist. Through it, Gabriel spied a figure, bound by chains, staring back at him.
H'darak.
Gabriel eyes snapped open. "H'darak," he rasped.
Nova appeared beside him, a glass of water in hand. "Shut up and sit up. I want you to drink this."
He struggled upright, head pounding as the nightmare faded. That's right. He'd been thinking about the Red Labyrinth and his fight against the hunter. The arbiter had dragged him out and collared him after the explosion. The explosion H'darak had caused after killing the hunter and triggering the wrist bomb. Which meant he'd been hunting the hunter long before Gabriel had become involved.
Gabriel coughed as Nova tried to pour contents of the entire glass down his throat all at once, streams of water spraying the air and dribbling down his chest.
"Hold still, you gigantic baby. It's just water."
When she tried to tilt his head back, he swatted her hands away, glass clattering to the floor as he grasped at a nearby table and tried to pull himself upright. He staggered to his feet, his stomach clenching with the urge to heave as the room spun around him. God, this was already turning into the worst hangover of his life.
"Gotta go," he growled. "Need… ship."
"You need to do what?"
She grabbed him as he started to walk towards the door, her grip surprisingly strong for a someone that only came to mid-chest.
"Uh-uh, big guy. Bathroom's this way."
He tried to protest, but his tongue refused to cooperate, slurry taun'gra coming out instead.
"Gabriel, I have no idea if you're speaking drunk or alien, but I need you to do as I say."
She pushed him through the swinging door, ordering him to get it out of his system and to not to come out until he was done.
Gabriel winced, the bathroom lights searing his sight like an explosion, white spots dancing across his vision as he staggered into a stall. Shading his eyes, he growled as he stared down at the tiny metal toilet rising from the floor. He didn't need to-
Gabriel dropped to his knees, several bottles worth of whisky streaming from his throat as his stomach purged the burning poison from his system.
As he hacked and coughed up his internal organs, he realized Nova might have a point about sobering up.
Step one: Get sober.
He gagged and a stream of bile poured from his mouth, the aftertaste of bitter acid making him retch for several seconds.
Step two: Get back to the ship.
Gabriel heaved several deep breaths as he leaned against the cool metal rim, blearily staring at the aftermath of his binge. He didn't want to drown, he realized. And he didn't want to run. Not this time.
With a chime, the toilet sucked away the filth and Gabriel did his best to clean himself. There was something he needed to do before returning to the ship. Something he should have done instead of coming to a bar to get wasted.
He waved Nova off when he stepped out, apologizing for the mess as he left the bar, the cold wind stealing away whatever she might have replied.
A black night greeted him, none of Nephele's four other moons crossing Navarra's sky. Beneath the orange wheel of stars, Eladoro flickered and glistened with a thousand bright lights of its own, its people silently sleeping inside homes carved into the very stone towers and mesas shielding the river valley. Despite the fact that most people were asleep or insides, Gabriel turned on his cloak before trekking through the city. He didn't need a repeat of the welcome party he'd received just a couple of days ago.
He avoided the road that would take him past his parent's home. A new pair of doctors had moved in some time ago, most of his parents' possessions donated or sold. A part of him wanted to go inside one last time, refresh faded memories and honor the people who'd saved his life and adopted him as their own. But not tonight.
A visible puff of heated breath was the only evidence he left behind as he continued on.
At the edge of town, Gabriel slowed his pace, the whispering leaves of the ghostly uwanu trees admonishing him as he drew closer and closer to the sacred place. He paused at the edge of the stone archway, either side guarded by giant seraphim, heads and wings bowed in sorrow. His throat tightened, a fresh wave of anguish squeezing his abdomen and stealing away his breath as he stepped inside the graveyard.
Row upon row silently greeted him, crosses, crescents and lotuses etched into knee-high stone monuments. So many. So many more than when he'd left all those years ago. Slowly, he searched, pausing whenever he recognized a name, the same year of death staring back at him accusingly. 2512 TY.
Markus Holbrook
Lance Brady
Amaro Ramirez
Leandro Torres
Isaak Ferguson
Naomi Ferguson
Teresa Wan
Morgan Wan
Barringer "Jeremy" Wan
Eden Wan
Paria Wan
Seneca Wan
Aurora Wan
Darrien Harris
Rin Harris
Gabriel choked back a sob as he fell to his knees, claws biting into the stone cross as ragged breaths shook his body. He couldn't hold it in. He couldn't do this. He didn't want this. He… He…
"I'm sorry," he cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… Rin. Everybody."
He pried his mask off, hoses hissing as it fell to the earth. His invisibility shield dissolved, heat steaming from his hunched body. Guttural sobs punctured the violet night air. Minutes, hours - he didn't care - passed.
At some point, he'd crawled to his parents grave, waking from his grief as the first rays of dawn warmed the autumn air. Gabriel sat up, exhausted, the pain in his hearts a sharp ache, a wound that would never heal. He glanced around, his bleary eyes finally resting on their names.
Maira Santillo, A Loving Healer and Wife, 2459-2512 TY
Juaqin Santillo, Doctor, Friend and Husband, 2461-2512 TY
He knelt in the dry earth, brushing his fingers over their stone-cut names as he desperately tried to remember their faces and scents. They had always been there for him, no matter what he'd done or put them through. They had been his anchor and champions.
"Thank you," he whispered. Two words he'd never said enough.
A quiet rage simmered inside of him as he stared at their names, memories looping over and over and over of the love and comfort they'd given him. It wasn't fair. People like his parents, like the dozens of others who had been slaughtered, deserved justice. Their families deserved to know their killers were in the ground and that they were never coming back.
Like blood spilling from a fresh wound, the red sun burst over the top of the mesa and a violent sense of purpose seized Gabriel. His voice was a hoarse whisper amidst the cold silence of the graveyard. "I swear I will avenge you. All of you."
No matter what the cost. And no one, human or yautja, was going to stop him.