Chapter 15 – Figurine

::The Fifth Bloodlines Chapter::
"What's going on?" both Garlyle and Kozo were startled out of their sleep. A few moments later, both Andrew and Lee had awoken, running from their chambers to join the visitors.
"Lee Wilds! Answer me!"
"Shoot!" Lee growled. "Guys, hide! It's one of Savarius' soldiers..."
"We can take..." Kozo began, but Garlyle put a hand in front of his companion's face to stop him.
"No need to draw extra attention to ourselves" Garlyle responded. "Quickly, follow my lead..."
Lee turned away. He waited a few moments, until he could no longer sense the two newcomers, before he opened up the door.
A tall guard with charcoal hair and slightly shaky eyes, looking a bit tired but still very invigorated, stomped in. He was wearing the black cape.
"What brings you here, sir Jaitso?"
Jaitso spun on his foot, glowering down at the man. He was easily six and a half feet tall, almost touching the roof, and looked really imposing. "Spare me the pleasantries for now, Lee. The Lord knows that you were the only one out of the commoners who tried to speak to the demons, so where are they?"
Lee started, jumping backwards. "Are you accusing me of housing criminals against the Lord's will? Frankly, Jaitso, I'm insulted that you'd think..."
"Where else would two demons flee within the limits of the city?" Jaitso growled down.
"Who said they're even still within the limits of the city!" Lee growled back. "There's miles of land outside of the city that we don't even have a clue about, you know that! They're probably long gone, if you ask me!"
"I'm asking you all right, but I know that you're lying to me" Jaitso growled. He then walked towards where Garlyle and Kozo had been standing.
"I can still... sense the demons..."
For a moment, he had sworn he had heard a footstep at his side, but realised shortly after that it was actually Lee, walking up beside him.
"This is foolry. You're invading my home without reason, Jaitso. I've never known you to do such a thing before Savarius..."
"Are you defying the Lord?" Jaitso growled.
"Of course not. Long Live Savarius..." Lee proclaimed sharply in response, but his son could hear the whisper of a mutter under his breath.
"...trapped under a heavy rock..."
Andrew seemed to back away at this, though he wasn't sure why. Perhaps he was afraid that the man had heard the comment...
But Jaitso apparently hadn't. He stepped back towards the door, but turned to face Lee one last time.
"Lee, if I find out that you're lying to me..."
"Of course I'm not, Jaitso. I thought you always trusted my word."
Jaitso's face twitched, almost cruelly, before he turned and walked off. Lee shut the door.
"Where did they go?" Lee asked, after it was obvious they were safe.
The air rippled, and Garlyle and Kozo reappeared almost exactly where they had been, though Garlyle had stepped back a bit.
"So that's magic..." Kozo smiled. "It helps, I suppose..."
"It was risky though..." Garlyle muttered.
"I still say I could have taken him..." Kozo muttered.
*****
After that ordeal, deciding that they wouldn't be able to return to sleep that night, Lee took out a couple loaves of bread. Kozo seemed both slightly disappointed at the meagre amount, but he also looked pleased with the amount that was there.
As they ate, Garlyle took barely, saving almost an entire loaf for Kozo to eat. He had eaten more recently than his companion had, after all, and supposedly people needed the most food as they were in their teenage years.
As Kozo watched, he saw a slightly glazed over look appear in Garlyle's eyes, but decided not to inquire. He was obviously not there at the moment, instead, focused on something else.
"Hey, Ceres..." Garlyle spoke.
"Yeah?"
"What can you tell me... About Ceth?"
"Ceth who?"
"...Didn't think so" Garlyle muttered, shaking his head and snapping out of his trance-like state.
"Didn't think what?" Andrew asked.
"N... Nothing" Garlyle responded quickly. "Just thinking like a fool, I suppose"
Kozo looked at Garlyle, perhaps suspecting the truth, but not saying anything. In the meantime, Garlyle tried to focus again, still barely eating.
"Tell me what you know about Andrew," Garlyle commanded the inner demon inside of him. He had slept that entire time.
"He's a perfectly nice boy, quite fine..."
"I meant when he fought..."
"That's right! There's something missing, and he apparently received it from his tutor..."
"What?"
"I... I don't know if I can remember, but, I think I know..."
"Well?"
"The figurine in which I was sealed long ago, Garlyle, should be held somewhere around here. Maybe it'll help me understand."
"Why would it...?"
"Please, Garlyle..."
"Alright" Garlyle smiled. After they finished, he turned to Kozo.
"You first" Garlyle smirked.
"Me first for what?" Kozo asked, confused.
"You're first to train him."
His eyes slid over to mine, nervously. "This wasn't part of the deal!"
I laughed. "Now it is" I grinned.
He sighed, but understood. "No arms?"
"No, you both have two arms, use them" I responded, jokingly. I was feigning a perfectly happy, good mood, as if there was no care on my mind, though in truth I was curious about many things.
A couple minutes later, after explaining the situation to the boy, Kozo and Andrew headed into the back chambers to practice. I grabbed Lee's arm to stop him.
"Lee..."
"Yeah?"
"Do you have..." I tried to remember what I was looking for. "... do you, by chance, have a figurine of a small dragon...?"
Lee gulped. "Why?"
"I need to see it..."
"A... Alright..." Lee led me towards a neglected corner of the house, and pushed away some boxes. There was a trap door underneath.
We headed downwards, and pushed a few more boxes out of the way underground. Slowly, we made our way towards the corner of the basement.
There it was, about the size of my head. I almost wanted to back off, and probably would have, if I hadn't recognised this power.
It wasn't quite as strong as the Ceres that was inside of me now, the one that had grown over the two years he had been with me...
"Leave me be" I responded.
He seemed eerie. "Do you know what that is?"
"Of course I know!" I snapped back, urgently. I couldn't let him know, and I suspected that this Ceres wouldn't have any qualms about telling him my secret... "Leave!"
"Alright" Lee jumped back, walking away. Garlyle heard the trap door shut.
He smiled, seeing that Lee had gone. Slowly, he turned back towards the statue, and looked hard at it.
"Who are you who dares to stare at me so?"
Garlyle was slightly surprised by the voice, it had been a long time since he had heard the demon this darkly before. Again, he was tempted to turn tail and run, but...
He lifted up a single finger and carefully placed it upon the statue's tail.
It twitched, snaking away from it, and it came to life. The small figurine bit at Garlyle's finger, but he pulled it away first.
The boy smirked.
Then, he felt the change...
There were things moving the boxes, invisible things...
Garlyle felt the wood under his feet shake, and he suddenly remembered. He backed away, just in time.
The wood underneath him twisted in weird shapes, as if something had moved through it, but a moment later it was back to normal.
"Alright, you two" Garlyle smiled. "Stop playing."
"Who's playing?" a voice hissed from the ceiling. Garlyle looked up.
A dragon's face was staring at him from the rafters of the chamber. The boy smirked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Why, you, of course," his grin widened. "Kuni..."
"How do you know our names?" another face moved beside that of the other dragon.
"Koku, how could I not know?" the brown-haired child smirked.
"You intruder, messing with what you do not deserve!"
Then they were gone. Garlyle jumped into the air, and they passed below him. As he landed, though, he turned and jumped backwards again. They both missed him once again.
He saw them moving, because the boxes were shaking whenever they passed. He knew that if they caught him, that he would be swallowed into the wood, like some other intruders had... it was an unusual way to die, indeed...
Garlyle jumped back once again. "Boys, you can stop attacking now!" he cried, as they both crossed under his feet once again. He nimbly dodged them, used to their attacks. "You're in the company of one who understands!"
"Why should we listen?"
Garlyle jumped away from one. Wait, one? One? Garlyle's eyes opened, surprised. Had they been more experienced back this time, when they were used to being threatened? They were smarter here!
The other just barely caught the edge of Garlyle's foot, throwing it off balance as leather was torn off the bottom of his shoe. He stumbled, suddenly unbalanced, and fell.
"Ceres, do something!" he screamed, mentally.
He felt the dragon take over his mouth. "Stop, now, you blithering idiots!"
The two froze, perfectly in a cross pointed at Garlyle's heart, only a moment away from swallowing him whole.
Garlyle pushed himself up.
"Who is this that dares to speak with my voice?" the Ceres of the statue growled.
"It's me, or rather, it is you. It is a long story, some day you will understand" Garlyle spoke, or rather, the dragon inside of him did.
"What should we do?" the two wood dragons asked.
"Kuni... Koku... Back off... I want to speak to this man who claims to be me."
"Alright" the demons slithered away. They curled up around the base of the figurine.
"So," Garlyle returned to his own voice. "It's been a while since I've seen you."
"Have we met?" the statue-Ceres asked.
"Not yet" Garlyle grinned. "It's a long story... I'll let you take over..."
"Me?"
"Hello, my younger self"
Suddenly, they both seemed to understand.
"Put your hands on the statue, Garlyle, I need to... tap into something..."
Garlyle followed his command.
Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind. He saw Ceth, for a split second, and than...
And than...