Author's Notes: HERE IT IS!! The sequel to Sentinel has finally arrived. Who's excited? Well I'm not going to give anything away, but I do hope you enjoy it. For all those that haven't read Sentinel I would strongly suggest reading that first before you read this, otherwise you might be confused with a lot of things. Other then that, enjoy reading!!

Special Thanks to my wonderful beta Bloodfeeder who has returned to start a new session of editing. YOU ROCK!!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to me, use of them is forbidden with out my permission.

Warning(s): Adult Situations, Strong Language, Graphic Violence, Strong Sexual Situations

War Cry

Chapter 1

“Are you ready?” The voice asked in a coo that was like that of a dove’s laced with a rush of determination and fear. A pair of eyes the color of burning emeralds looked towards the front of the cell, dancing over the scarred face of his companion.

“Do I have a choice?” Sebastian Everest asked, his voice a deep baritone that held a calloused timber.

“No.” The voice mumbled sagely. “You don’t.”

“Then lets go.” Sebastian said, running his fingers through his oily hair. The gray streaks he had gained over the years had seemed to double with the time he had spent in Mizer Prison. It had been a little over a year since he had arrived under the crime of high treason, and not a day had gone by since his heart mourned the loss of Eben. But all that would change; for today was the day that he would finally escape this hellhole.

Sebastian glanced around with his one good butterscotch eye, taking in for the last time the dank cell. It was barely big enough for him to fit in comfortably, let alone another prisoner. He would not miss it.

His cellmate, a fragile looking blond boy who had only months ago turned eighteen, stepped over to the bare wall on the left. A sudden wind curled throughout the room, spiraling around him with the growing force of a typhoon. Oily strands of golden hair fluttered around his slim face, skittering across his eyes. The wall trembled and shook beneath an unseen power and in a matter of seconds the stones began to pull out, sliding across the floor and opening a pathway large enough for the two of them to squeeze through.

When the last stone was moved the wind vanished and the boy slumped forward, drawing in deep gulps of air.

“Are you alright?” Sebastian asked as he made his way over to the wall.

The boy gave a nod and said, “yes, yes… it just takes a little out of me still, but I’ll be fine. Lets go. We don’t have time to waste.”

They rushed forward with out another word. They had created a pathway that made its way through the inner sanctum of the prison. Hours had been spent toiling secretly away behind a stonewall, creating a tunnel just big enough to crawl through. If they moved quickly they could make it to the prison loading dock in twenty minutes, but it would take all their strength.

Sebastian couldn’t look back as he crawled through the dirt, fingers brushing over things that in the light of day would send the bravest man screaming. “Are you behind me, Halo?”

“Yes, keep going.” Halo said, hands deep in the earth.

They crawled through the mud until they reached a wall, which could only be distinguished by counted steps in Sebastian’s head and the feeling of his hands. Darkness surrounded them; thick and suffocating. Sebastian pushed against the wall and then called back, “We’re here.”

“Brace yourself.” Halo commanded behind him. Once again the wind began to lick around them, the force doubled by the narrow space. Mud slapped against Sebastian and he had to cover his head to keep it from getting in his face. The earth around them quaked and the wall in front of Sebastian lurched forward an inch. Sebastian looked up and the first taste of freedom began to swell inside him. Adrenaline laced through his veins, edging him forward and on. There was no turning back now.

The wall gave another lurch before pulling out completely, revealing a narrow hall. The wind died abruptly and Halo slouched completely into the dirt, pressing his face down onto its cool surface. He drew in breaths of air, not even caring about the insects that crawled over him. Though he had honed his abilities while in the prison, it still took a great deal from him to use them. He had only just begun to discover their full potential.

“Are you alright?” Sebastian asked in a hushed tone. They were now within earshot of anyone that wanted to listen. They would have to move swiftly and soundlessly, unless they wished to be caught. That just couldn’t be.

“Yes.” Halo said with a pant. “Move. We have to go.”

Sebastian hurled himself through the hole and onto the ground, catching himself on his hands. The hall was dark, barely used. Settled thick dust covered the stone floor and walls, the torches unlit for some time. Halo crawled out, falling to the ground beside Sebastian. They wasted no time to gather their bearings; rather they pushed themselves to their feet and ran like death was at their heels. Sebastian led the way, running down the hall, which was a straight shot forward. The hall was used for storage; random barrels and crates were stacked along the walls. At the end of the hall was a tall oak door. Sebastian grabbed the handle and gave a small push to crack it open. The door wouldn’t budge.

“Fuck!” Sebastian hissed.

“What is it?” Halo asked as he looked around Sebastian’s broad expense. Halo stood at five-eight, leaving Sebastian a considerable amount taller then him.

“It’s locked.” Sebastian growled angrily, giving the door a shake.

“I’ll open it,” Halo said.

Sebastian shook his head and said, “No, conserve your energy. We’ll need it later.”

Sebastian stepped back, gesturing for Halo to move out of the way. Once Halo stepped aside, Sebastian lifted his leg up and drew it back. Putting all the strength he had in his body into his foot, he slammed it into the door. Dust floated as the wood splintered around the lock and the door swung open. They braced themselves for someone to jump from around the door. When no one appeared, Sebastian gestured for Halo to follow.

The room behind the door was brightly lit. A raised platform wrapped around the perimeter of the room, allowing access to all the doors. In the center of the room at the bottom level was a large supplies wagon pulled by four horses.

Sebastian scanned the room, looking to the other four doors. When he didn’t spot anyone he waved his hand and signaled towards the wagon. They jumped down from the platform and ran straight for the wagon. The plan was to hitch a ride on the wagon and let it carry them out to the only town that resided on the Isle of Regen. None of that would happen though unless they could make it discreetly to the wagon.

From the distance the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. Sebastian forced himself to run faster, crossing the path which now seemed longer, and heading towards the wagon. He climbed into the back of the wagon and turned to pull Halo up. Just as the boy vanished behind the flap, one of the doors to the dock opened.

They crawled towards the crates left in the wagon, each finding a spot to squeeze in and hide behind. Silently, they listened as the person approached the wagon, saying, “That was everything?”

“Yeah, see you in a month.” A second voice called out. Both were deep and filled with a familiarity towards each other. Obviously they had exchanged goods together before.

The wagon shook as someone climbed on to it. Sebastian looked over to Halo who stared at him with wide eyes. They both held their breath as the wagon shook. A whip cracked and then the wagon began to move and the fear they had been holding on to was released. They rolled out of the dock and out into freedom. But the danger wasn’t over yet. They still had to cross the Forsaken Desert.

In silence they sat, unable to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Sebastian closed his eyes and relaxed against the wagon, letting the adrenalin he had felt earlier slow fade away. It was hard to believe that they were almost free, that soon he would have Eben back in his arms. The need to hold the boy once again was an ache that would not go away.

He could still see Eben’s cherubic face, as if it were right there before him. It was what kept him going. Soon, he would be brushing away soft curls of brown and staring into the boy’s fiery green eyes. How he wished to hear Eben’s sharp tongue again! He would get his revenge on Mortimer and take Eben back, he swore by it.

“Thinking about him?” Halo asked softly when the driver of the wagon began to sing off key.

Sebastian looked to the front of the wagon and then to Halo, giving the faintest nod. Though the singing was bad, it gave them a chance to speak. Halo studied Sebastian’s face carefully, trying to make sense of the expression that was on it. During their time together, Halo had learned much of Sebastian’s life, just as Sebastian had learned much of his own. The one person that stood out in all his stories was Eben, a boy of whom he felt he knew closely for more reasons then just Sebastian’s tales.

“You will see him soon.” Halo said, drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging them.

“Soon is not soon enough.” Sebastian admitted but pushed no farther on the subject. The forlorn in Halo’s eyes was enough to tell Sebastian that the boy was missing someone as well and neither of them needed emotions to get in the way.

“Do you think we’ll have a safe passage through the desert?” Halo inquired after a few minutes of silence. The singing was growing almost intolerable.

“Who knows? Legend has it the great Zu birds protect the desert.” Sebastian mumbled absently. If they passed one of the gigantic birds, they would most likely find their end in the desert.

They had a long ways to travel and they had to prepare themselves for anything. The heat was miserable and the poor circulation in the covered wagon made the heat even more unbearable. Halo wiped sweat from his brow and looked to the front, trying to glimpse out into the sky from the flap in the canvas. They sky was a vibrant shade of blue and from what the boy could tell, completely cloudless. There would be no sanctuary from the sun today.

“Do you think he’ll discover us?” Halo asked, more as a thought then a real fear. If needed, Halo knew they could overpower their driver.

“I doubt it, he seems rather oblivious.”

Halo nodded and fell back into a lapse of silence. They remained like that for a good portion of the day. At some point Halo had dozed off, finding that his rush of adrenalin had finally worn off and left him feeling completely exhausted. Sebastian watched him because there was nothing else to do but stare at boxes and Halo, and Halo was definitely a better of the two. The boy had become a close companion to Sebastian, transforming from a cellmate to a lifeline. Together they had survived Hell, and together they were breaking free. Despite Halo’s demure appearance, he was a powerful alley.

Sebastian closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He had found himself staring into Halo’s eyes quite often; they were so close to Eben’s that he could lose himself in them and pretend, if only for a few seconds, that the boy was there with him. But Halo wasn’t Eben and he never would be. No one could replace him.

Time seemed to stop and Sebastian didn’t know how long they had been sitting in the wagon. All he knew was, if the driver didn’t stop singing soon he was going to silence the man himself.

Halo shifted in his spot, trying to find a comfortable position. His eyes groggily fluttered open and looked dazedly out at Sebastian. Abruptly, the carriage shook, jolting forward as it picked up speed. Sleep instantly snapped out of Halo’s gaze as the wagon continued to gain speed. Sebastian looked to the flap at the front of the wagon, which continuously bounced open, giving glimpse of the driver and the dusky sky above. Night was setting in and within an hour’s time darkness would descend on them.

A screech pierced the heavens, threatening to shatter it. The driver gave a curse and cracked his whip, screaming at his horses, “Move you, fucking animals!”

The wagon shook as it continued to jump. The speed was growing alarming. Sebastian pushed himself away from the spot he was sitting at and said to Halo, “Brace your self!”

Halo rose up and looked to the flap, catching a glimpse of a large black streak in the sky. They turned sharply to the left and shot forward. Sebastian could feel as they flew over a sand dune, his body jumping with the wagon and becoming weightless for a split second. They hit the ground and attempted to turn sharply. The weight of the wagon was thrown to the left as they made a right turn. The wagon pitched over and crashed into the sand. Halo and Sebastian fell, slamming into the wall with the cargo on the right side falling on top of them.

“Get up! Move! Move!” Sebastian yelled to Halo, shoving a box of filled with sacks of flour off them. Halo righted himself and flew out the back of the wagon, stumbling out into the sand.

The driver had already dragged himself to his feet and was trying to lift the wagon. He looked over to Halo in surprise and yelled, “H-hey! Where did you come from?”

Halo paid him no heed. He looked towards the sky where a large black bird was circling them. A single wing could block out the sun, at least twice the size of Sebastian when fully stretched out. Its body was bulky and its neck long with a boulder sized with a large black mane around it that billowed in the wind. A beak that had a razor point opened to let out another screech, causing Halo to grab at his ears. The bird swooped down and Sebastian tackled to Halo to the ground, talons grazing at his back and slicing it open.

The driver gave up righting the wagon and grabbed the sword from his side. He looked briefly at Sebastian and Halo and then ran to the four horses that were still tied to the wagon. They kicked madly, heads jerking back and bodies jumping forward in an attempt to free them selves. The man cut the leather straps that bound one of the front horses, quickly mounting it before it could escape.

“Sebastian!” Halo yelled, watching the driver begin to gallop off.

The bird gave another screech and swooped down, talons open. The driver looked back, sword in one hand and the other fisted in the horse’s hair. He gave a scream before the talon’s speared him. The bird snatched him up, missing the horse, which fell down the other side of the dune. The sword fell out of the man’s hand just before the bird craned down and swallowed him.

Sebastian pushed himself up completely and looked to the sword, which reflected the light of the setting sun. The bird turned around, black eyes staring down at them. They were like to large voids threatening to suck them up in the entirety. Sebastian swallowed and said, “Hold him off, Halo!”

Sebastian ran, kicking sand up as he tried to gain momentum. Halo rose to his face and swallowed. His body was still screaming for rest, but he knew he had to do something. He was going to have to push his powers to the limits if they wanted to make it out of this. His emerald eyes met the bird’s and he released an onslaught of power. It poured over him, drenching his body and seeping through every pore and orifice that he had. It was an all consuming power that sent his heart rate flying and his blood pumping until it began feeling like electricity inside him.

The sand rose around him, spiraling as if caught in a twister. The bird gave a screech and prepared to strike, talons pointed threateningly at Halo. He was a step ahead of the bird, though, and threw his hands forward. The sand twister shot forward and slammed into the bird, sending it spiraling backwards. The sand exploded in a cloud of golden dust. Halo drew it back, not giving the bird a chance to catch itself. He slammed it with a storm of dust and sand, drawing it in to a raging twister and slamming it down as if it were a comet falling from space.

Halo’s body began to tremble and sweat dripped from his brow. His face was flushed with concentration and his heart rate was almost impossibly fast. It felt like a hummingbird had taken over and his heart was beating a million times a second. Nausea slammed into him and he felt himself slipping. He couldn’t break concentration, not yet.

Sebastian grabbed the sword as the bird picked itself up from the ground and shook sand from its mane. The bird gave an agitated screech and shot up. Sebastian ran towards it, yelling to Halo, “Bring it down again!”

Halo didn’t look at Sebastian. If he did, he knew he would collapse. His mind was breaking. He could feel it begin to crack. He had to hold on just a little longer. If he could push it towards Sebastian, the man would take control. Just a little longer!

Halo screamed. It felt like his heart exploded as he lifted up the sand around him, creating a wall of it. He directed it forward, slamming it into anything in front of him. Sebastian shielded himself, throwing his arms up over his head and face and crouching low. The sand hit him, slicing into him like small daggers. The strength behind it was mind numbing. He swallowed, feeling his breath escape him. He pushed forward, knowing he had to go on. Halo wouldn’t last much longer.

Feathers flew as the sand shredded the bird’s body. It hit the ground hard and for a few seconds it didn’t move. It righted itself again, though, moving to its feet and shaking its head. Blood dripped from it and it moved slower then before, but it was pushing on and it was pissed. Its wings spread and it prepared to take flight.

Sebastian launched forward, sword raised high into the air. As the bird jumped up Sebastian grabbed a hold of its mane and slammed the sword down into its side. The bird gave a cry and bucked back, twisting its body to send Sebastian flying off. Sebastian held on, though, his grip in the mane ironclad. His muscles screamed as he exerted every ounce of strength he had to pull himself up. He straddled the bird’s neck and drew the sword from its side. With both hands around the hilt of the sword, he slammed it down into the base of its skull, twisting it home.

There was a final deafening screech from the bird before it began to plummet to the earth. Sebastian fell from the sky, catching a glimpse of the boundless horizon above. Was this it? Had he come this far only to finally die? Would he truly never see Eben again?

No.

He let go of the bird and pushed himself off the body, jumping off it. He hung suspended in the air for a brief second before he began to fall headfirst, arms spread out. His body arched as it plummeted. “HALO!”

Halo’s head snapped up, his emerald eyes seeming to glow iridescently. A wind slammed into Sebastian, spiraling around him and exploding behind him as if to create invisible wings. His fall slowed as the wind pushed against him, carrying him home.

He landed on the ground, twisting his body so he could angle his feet to the sand. The bird hit the ground hard, causing dust and feathers to float around it. Sebastian’s feet hit the sand after, creating a softer landing. The wind, as abruptly as it came, died.

Sebastian looked over to Halo in time watch the boy fall to the ground. He didn’t take a moment to catch his breath; he ran to Halo and fell to his knees at the boy’s side. “Halo!”

The boy was out cold. Sebastian checked for a pulse, pressing two fingers to the large vein in his neck. It was dull but it was there. Halo had pushed himself to far today. With a sigh of relief, Sebastian brushed hair from Halo’s face and scooped the boy up, saying, “Come on.”

He set the boy near the horses. They would have to ride the rest of the way. Sebastian walked back to the large bird, which had fallen on the other side of the dune they were approaching, and pulled the sword from its head. Blood squirted out, splashing Sebastian across the chest. He cringed, looking down at the dark substance that was quickly drying in the heat. The stench of death clung in the air, amplified by the heat.

Sebastian walked back to the horses and looked into the capsized wagon. There was nothing they could bring but a blanket the driver must have brought for the nights and a small sack of supplies. He took the blanket and wrapped Halo in it. He then freed the first two horses and took the final remaining one. It took a bit of struggle but he managed to get both himself and Halo onto the horse, cradling the boy between his arms.

Behind him the sun was setting and the air was cooling. He swallowed and dug into the sack, which he had thrown across his chest. Inside it was a small ration of food that would barely last them the trip, a lambskin pouch of water, and a compass. The compass was the most important item right now. The town was at the west end of the isle. Sebastian found north and began to move, the horse leading them towards the setting sun.

To Be Continued...

So? Are you guys pumped? Did you like it? Are you wtfing? C: Do you want another chapter? Let me know what you think. Drop a review and make my heart sing!! Kisses to all.