The Sentinels The First and the Second (second edition) Smashwords edition.doc

by The Sentinels- The First

  The group of Indian's gasped as they saw Grayson's tattoo.

  "You are a Guardian God!" The Indian at the forefront whispered.

  Grayson turned around to face him. Speaking respectfully in the native's tongue he explained. The language was of the Miwok People, possibly of the Sierra Nevada Mountains if the trees were any indication.

  "I am Grayson Phillips. I am a Sentinel; I am indeed a guardian as are all of my companions. We were brought here for a reason unknown to us. Are you in need of assistance my friend?" Grayson asked as kindly as possible. From what his father had taught him so far and what he remembered, all religions and cultures had some form of record of the Sentinels. To these particular people they were gods. Though technically they could be considered so, Grayson didn't think of himself as such.

  "We are being attacked by a Demon who claims to be a Guardian. He has killed many of us and taken all or most of our spirits for his own malicious purposes. We have prayed to the gods to send us the Guardian God. They seem to have answered our prayers in a multiple of eight. Please forgive our aggressive greeting. We were not aware of who you were," the Indian said bowing to him slightly.

  "What is your name my friend?" Grayson asked. The Indian looked worried. Grayson smiled at him and turned to Harry.

  "Harry come up here and introduce yourself and show him your back as well please," Grayson said. Harry stepped forward caressing Grayson's arm as he did. Grayson winked at him and heard the intake of breath form the surrounding Indians. Harry was just too beautiful. Turning around as Grayson had, Harry showed them all he carried no weapons, though they actually did, always.

  "You are the other Guardian God?!!!" The first Indian asked in shock stepping forward toward Harry. Harry smiled at him kindly and nodded.

  "Yes, I am. Please do not fear us; we are here to help you. We were brought here by the gods to help someone in need; it sounds as if you are in need. Please allow us to help you," Harry said soothingly. The Indian nodded and took a deep breath.

  "There is a legend that your swords are part of you. I know it is very bold of me to ask but could you please show us these swords so that we may make sure you are not like the demon guardian?" The Indian asked; they were being cautious, good. Harry smiled at him and nodded.

  "We can do that but we must know your name first. We cannot draw our swords unless we know you are the ones we have come to help," Harry said peacefully. The Indian nodded; of course that was a lie but there were still dangers to the Sentinels and they could never be too cautious themselves.

  "Huyana, my name is Huyana," the Indian named Huyana said; Harry bowed.

  "My name is Harry McDonnell; I am pleased to meet you Huyana. I will introduce you to the rest of us in a minute. Gray why don't we show our new friends our swords," Harry said to Grayson. Grayson nodded and reached around and slid his fingers around the hot metal hilt of Nurushi; his living sword. Harry did the same drawing Nurushi's counterpart Etushi from his own tattoo. They sang happily to Grayson and Harry as they were drawn, ready for whatever may be needed of them. All the Indian's gasped and Grayson and Harry heard Dylan's short whispered gasp as well. Grayson turned and winked at him, Sheila who was now standing next to him once again squeezed his hand.

  Turning back to Huyana Grayson looked the shorter man intently in the eyes.

  "We are here to help," Grayson said simply. Huyana nodded then turned as he spoke.

  "Follow us please, I will explain as we walk," Huyana said.

  Grayson and Harry returned their swords to their tattoos; as Grayson did this he felt as if something pierced both of his forearms. On his right, it felt like sharp claws digging into the underside of his forearm, and on the left it felt like fangs sinking into the softer underside of his forearm. He looked down at his arms and stared in shock, but only for a moment.

  Two new tattoos had shown up on both of his forearms and with it more memories he didn't even know that he was missing; though their return had not caused him as much pain as the first and second round of returned memories.

  On his right was the first ever Peregrine Falcon, who was four times the normal size. Its golden talons dug into the underside of Grayson's forearms; its body lay across the entire top of his forearm with the tips of its shiny blue black wings touching just under his shoulder. The falcon’s sharp tipped black beak rested on one knuckle of his hand, and its eyes seemed to shine with admiration as it gazed at Grayson; it was a marvelous and gorgeous creature.

  On his left forearm he had an ancient ancestor of the Belcher's Sea snake, whose size was three to almost four times the size of a python. The snake’s tightly coiled thick body wrapped around his entire forearm with the tip of its tail just passed the bulge of his bicep. The head rested on the top of his hand, its beautiful dark bands looked like they were shining, the colors contrasting beautifully on Grayson's skin.

  These Tattoos were like the one on his back. There were living beings that had lent themselves and merged with Grayson when Harry was first made. The ones Harry had or would have were previously Grayson’s; they were all meant to help them do their duty better. The snake, though a sea snake, could travel through air as if it were water and on the ground without danger to its life. If killed it would simply return to Grayson. Grayson had called him Bewk; because that was the name the snake had chosen. Grayson used him as surveillance and a spy when needed, but Bewk could be very deadly if he so desired.

  The Falcon, whose name was Hoss, was also used for surveillance and as a spy from above. It was a fast and efficient predator, one of the fastest natural predators, and quite intelligent. Grayson could see through their eyes and used this to his advantage when necessary. He found it odd that he had gotten his tattoos now. It probably meant he needed them or would need them soon.

  Harry stared at Grayson's forearms as they seemed to come to life and Hoss flew from his arm letting out a screech of happiness for the flight which had been denied him for so long. Bewk hissed delightfully as he slithered through the air landing lightly on the forest floor and slithering away. Grayson blinked rapidly as his eyes focused and accustomed themselves to the extra stimulation of two other creatures' enhanced visions. It was weird as if he was looking at each individual picture at the same time but also as if her were flipping through channels on the television. It was an odd sensation and something he would have to get used to again, but it wouldn't take him long to remember how to manage it.

  Harry griped onto Grayson's now empty forearm and ran it down as if feeling form more rising tattoos; Harry was worried. Grayson placed his hand on Harry's and caressed the top of his hand.

  "I'm fine Harry just more memories and part of myself returning. You should probably get yours soon as well. Yours are pretty cool too; you liked them better than mine," Grayson whispered. Everyone that was behind him had seen the tattoos appear and leave his body. The intake of breath Dylan made that time was more audible.

  He must be freaking out by now.

  Grayson sighed. One of them had to tell Dylan what was going on or he'd ruin this unplanned mission.

  "Sheila, Jo, could you please fill Dylan in a little on what is going on, also let him know how important it is to remain quiet and play along? We are not safe and neither are the Miwok," Grayson said quietly. Jo and Sheila nodded and as he turned back around he heard them whispering to Dylan. There were a few gasps, snorts, and hisses but for the most part he seemed to be taking it well.

  Grayson could feel a Sentinel that was not one of them around. It was a powerful energy signature, and he didn't like it. The energy felt like Jo's ex; it felt wrong, disjoined, and cracked somehow. It was a dangerous energy, too raw for what it was supposed to be. It felt like someone had tried to shove a soul into the wrong shell and it was broken because of it. A Sentinel's essence was not something that could be force into just any shell; at least not without some strong magic and very powerful energy of your own.

  Grayson was worried that this was the man behind everyt
hing that had been going on. He had a feeling this was the man behind the fascist Sentinel's; the man that was stealing other Sentinel's essence. From the description of Huyana, it sounded like it was the same Sentinel behind it. Grayson and Harry hadn't been able to find out too much about him, he was well hidden.

  However, there were some things that stood out. The man was a Sentinel that had absorbed many souls or essences from Sentinels, powerful humans, and non-humans. This Sentinel was strong and seemed to have abilities almost as strong as Grayson and Harry's. But because of the energy he had taken he was stronger, or at least appeared to be.

  The problem was that the Sentinel did not adhere to the Sentinel code that all Sentinels were driven to fulfill. The need for justice and for protection was ingrained in every Sentinel because that was how Grayson and Harry had wanted it. But this Sentinel was different, and that was dangerous.

  Grayson had a feeling this Sentinel was going to give all of them a run for their money, but he had no choice, this was what he was made for, this was what Harry was made for. They would always be the first ones in and last ones out in a fight, and when it came to defending this world and its beings, they would always fight the same way.

  They traveled for about twenty minutes until they came to a small camp and then Huyana came to a complete stop and whistled like a bird. As Huyana did this Harry hissed and looked down at his forearms as Grayson had. His tattoos had also appeared; although his were more impressive.

  On his right forearm he had a massive hell hound named Ki, which when freed from Harry was roughly the size of an African bull elephant, though it could shrink to become more inconspicuous. Its normal three heads had merged into one and its glossy multifaceted coat shone in the sunlight. Its hind quarters rested as if sitting just passed Harry's elbow and barely touched his shoulder, its clawed feet wrapped around to the fleshy underside of his forearm and its snout rested just passed his wrist on the top of his hand, its eyes seem to follow all their movements.

  On his left a beautiful Phoenix (the mythological version) named Girru, that when not on Harry's body but in flight would easily dwarf a female Andean Condor by almost triple its size. Its beautiful red gold feathers wrapped around Harry's arm, the tips of the wing reached Harry's shoulder and the claws of the Phoenix seemed to grip Harry's elbow and forearm on the underside. Its beautiful head rested on Harry's wrist and its golden beak just touched his knuckles.

  Harry gripped Grayson's hand tightly as the memories hit him, but he remained standing nonetheless as Grayson saw the Phoenix looking at him lovingly. It seemed too big to fit on Harry's arm but somehow it managed, just like the hell hound. These had been presents to Harry from Grayson. They had once resided on Grayson's body, but when Harry had first been made, he had asked Grayson for his own.

  Grayson had asked the beautiful creatures to help or protect (or both) Harry when needed. They had agreed and had gladly merged with Harry as they had with Grayson. These four creatures were special creatures that were more than they normally would be since they had become one with the first and second Sentinels so long ago.

  As Harry's pain subsided his animal leapt from Harry's body. Ki looked down at them then nuzzled first Harry then Grayson licking Grayson's from shoulder to the top of his head. He heard someone chuckle as Girru followed Ki's lead and fluttered to stand next to Harry, rubbing her beautiful head in the crook of Harry's neck in greeting and to rub Harry's sent on herself. With one swipe of her massive wings she fluttered up ten feet and perched herself on Grayson's shoulders, one clawed foot on each of his shoulders, and balanced herself easily. She draped and rested her head on top of Grayson's head, her wings grazing the forest floor.

  Both Girru and Ki really loved Harry and Grayson, and they were enthusiastic about finally emerging once again after so long. Ki shrank down to about waist height on Grayson and trotted over to stand in between Harry and Grayson.