Gabriel was 11 years old playing a competitive basketball game with other elementary school students. His mother's cheers were lost in the packed gym.

While bringing the basketball down the court, Gabriel looked into the crowd. Energetic moments ago, they were now quiet, somber. They slowly took on the appearances of the soldiers whose lives he extinguished. Panicking, Gabriel ran over to grab his mother's hand.

"Mom!" Gabriel said. "We have to go!"

His mother was positioned like a rock and just had a blank look. Suddenly, a rumbling shook the ground, and a scorching fire washed over the gym. Only Gabriel was left alive in a world of ash.

 

*****E V*****

 

A dream. 

No, a nightmare. 

It was a nightmare. Gabriel had been experiencing them every night.

Gabriel woke up before dawn. Whenever he had a nightmare when he was younger, he had his mother to comfort him. Now, he only found comfort in those memories.

 

*****E V*****

 

The air was tranquil. There was an hour left before dawn. Creatures were still asleep in their burrows. Gabriel sat on a log and, over a fire, scrambled eggs he had taken from some chickens. In-between scrambling, he scarfed down some berries.

Tucked away in a corner of the island was a small cemetery. Twelve titanium headstones with various names, ranging from pronounceable to other-worldly, carved into them--names like "Cyrus" and "Aisa Sana." Oliath had never talked about to whom the headstones belonged. Being around the graves, Gabriel didn't feel so alone.

A larger shadow covered his own. He wondered why, after all of this time, predators wouldn't be afraid of him now.

It wasn't the predator he expected.

"Oliath?!" Gabriel said. "I didn't even hear you."

"I have rules, Gabriel," Oliath said.

Oliath hurled the plate into the ocean. Gabriel was deflated, and his stomach growled.

"You failed to eliminate Kirby Cortez," Oliath said, seething. "Again! It's embarrassing seeing an Eon Viant so inept at terminating one human." He was fuming like never before.

"Inept?" Gabriel asked. "What's with the big words?"

"Resume your training," Oliath said. "Now."

"Oliath, can Eon Viants heal wounds and stuff?" Gabriel asked.

"No," Oliath said.

"But what if there's a way?" Gabriel asked. "What if there's things about Eon Viants that you don't know about? What if we can, like, bring people back to life? Please, Oliath, if you can help me find a way to do that--"

Oliath's disdain for humanity was coming through. "The earth woman is dead, Gabriel! Get over it!"

Gabriel was a little stunned. All of his training had been for the purpose of avenging her. "She was my mother," he said.

Gabriel didn't see the fist until it was too late. He pulled his head out of the dirt and was unable to get up on his feet. Oliath's fist came back around again, this time knocking Gabriel into a crater. The fists kept coming, burying him deeper.

After shaking the island itself, Oliath finally had enough and stepped away from Gabriel's twitching body.

 

*****E V*****

 

Pain awakened the young Eon Viant. The last thing he remembered was the moon watching over him. One eye was swollen. He tasted blood in his mouth. A rib or two was broken. He had never seen Oliath lash out like that before. Sure, training was intense, but Oliath never lost himself in a fit of rage.

On that sunny morning, vultures circled above, waiting for Gabriel to expire. He rolled over and slowly got up. He began his trek back to the campsite where he would take vengeance on Oliath first.

Storm clouds had moved in. Every step Gabriel took was a painful one. His legs felt weak.

A wolf waited at the top of a hill.

Gabriel pressed his hand into the ground, but he was too injured to form weapons. Instead, he grabbed a stick and wedged it between the wolf's jaw.

He put the wolf in a front face lock, grabbed a handful of fur, and lifted the beast overhead, before slamming it through a boulder. It was just like the video clips of wrestlers he watched online when he was younger.

A wolfpack had showed up. Surging with adrenaline, Gabriel welcomed them. Just like Oliath, he would take his anger out on the weaker beast. Attaching a stone to the end of his stick, Gabriel went on the offense.

Claws slashed, fangs bit into his armor, and Gabriel batted the wolves into the air.

Like earlier, a shadow consumed his own. His heart nearly beat right out of his chest. He feared Oliath had come back to finish the job.

It was a different beast.

Standing on the cliff was a species built like a bull, and it had the wings of an eagle. It blew steam out of its nostrils. The other wolves fled in fear, leaving Gabriel in the bull's sights.

Although its wings endlessly flapped, the bull was too heavy to lift. Instead, it charged Gabriel, ramming him through a tree. Gabriel was stuck between a tree trunk and the bull's horn. He could feel his strength leaving him. If it did, the horn would undoubtedly pierce his chest. And he was almost okay with that.

Gabriel grabbed the horns and screamed as he flipped the beast over. With all of his strength, he pummeled the bull. His fists became numb, and the bull gave its last breath.

His tears dropped before he stumbled back, falling into a river.

The current carried off Gabriel. He was too weak to struggle. In his descent, he accepted the growing darkness. His lungs burned. Gabriel didn't understand what was happening. Yes, he was exhausted, severely injured; it was like he didn't care enough to survive.

Fading in and out of consciousness, he saw her. She was still in their tiny apartment. Her smile as warm as ever. He swore she reached in and pulled him out of the river. When he came to, he was back on dry land.

 

*****E V*****

 

It was night when Gabriel finally reached the campsite. A fire was still burning, and on the end of a stick were the remains of a carcass, once a jaguar. The head had already been taken. All that remained was its claws. That was what Gabriel would use to assassinate Oliath.

Oliath's igloo had a single stone bed and a round stone for a headrest. Bones, collected for years, mounted the walls like a collage.

Oliath was currently mounting the jaguar's skull. He neatly positioned it into perfect alignment. "Still alive, eh?" he asked, turning around and cleaning his hands with a towel.

Gabriel locked eyes with the brute, keeping the claws at his side.

"Are you really going to kill me with a bone?" Oliath asked. "You should show more respect than that. At least create your own weapon."

"You tried to kill me!" Gabriel exclaimed, his body shaking uncontrollably.

"Yes," Oliath said matter-of-factly.

"Why?!" Gabriel yelled.

Oliath's hand was already around his neck. His feet did not touch the ground.

Oliath wanted to let go, but there was something pleasing about a fading pulse in his hands. He had to remember that it was Gabriel's life he was depriving from the world.

Gabriel fell to the ground. He gasped for air, coughing.

When Oliath reached for a bottle behind him, Gabriel flinched, almost instinctual.

In Oliath's palm were a couple of pain-relief capsules. "Here," he said. "It'll make you feel better."

Gabriel stared at him, distrustful.

Oliath grew irate. "Take it!"

Gabriel cautiously grabbed a capsule, watching Oliath for any sudden movement.

"Gabriel, we do not heal or resurrect," Oliath said. "We are weapons, nothing more, understand?"

Gabriel didn't want to accept it, but maybe Oliath was right. She was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Humans live for our sake," Oliath continued. "Control them, destroy them, what we choose to do with their lives is our right. That's what it means to be an Eon Viant. I push you hard because you have the potential to become the perfect Eon Viant. Still, there's something holding you back. I only hope I figure it out soon for your sake."

Oliath dug a watch out of his hip compartment. He tossed it over to Gabriel.

"Clean yourself up," Oliath said. "You've had a long day."

Even though the watch was in poor condition with scratches all over its silver parts and its leather strap damaged, Gabriel was grateful. It had been a long time since anyone had given him anything. It had been a long time since anyone wanted Gabriel to make something of himself.

He obediently consumed his capsule.