Book of Glitch - Chapter 3

After a short while I could see the dark-gray and green cliffs that served as a barrier for County Mayo against the blue expanse of the ocean. The aeroplane landed on the flat of Benwee Head in the lush green grass further inland from the lip of the cliff.

As we stepped onto that spongy turf, the salty mist caressed my cheek as the waves crashed below like some petulant child. The breeze wafted the scent of brine under my nose and I savored the taste of the salty air.

In my prolonged years of watching the world morph so exponentially from the days of old, it has always been my secret pleasure to see those untouched peaks protecting their history which dates back to a time when civilization was still finding its own footing.

Basal’s father Gabbro had come to meet us and was waiting near a boltine transporter he had hired to fly us into London proper.

“How are you, Abey? Still feeling young I hope.”

The older Stonie patriarch grinned as he patted my shoulder—far too roughly I might add. I focused my attention on wringing his degrading yet firm hand in my own sightly wrinkled one.

“Ah, yes! Thank you for having us Gabbro. It’s a shame to reconvene under such unfortunate circumstances, but being amongst friends allows us to heal faster.”

“Well said, old man. Well said,” he muttered with a grimace before turning to Syena. “And is this enchanting wonder supposed to be my darling girl of a granddaughter?”

In a breath, Syena leapt into her grandfather’s embrace and the two kissed and laughed so much that I imagined one or both might crush the other into dust by pure accident. Gabbro eventually released his embrace to admire her more properly. It had been twelve years since he had last come to visit us in Maine.

Now I trust you recall how Stonies age compared to other variants—for every one year of their life, roughly three must pass on Earth. So you can imagine how delighted she was to spin about for her grandfather and show off how much she had matured from the 56-year-old youth he had last seen to the 68-year-old young lady before him. And, oh how she did dazzle us!

Granita had cleverly found that most elegant white gown for her daughter to wear that day. It glimmered with every twist of her figure in the peaking sunlight, and perfectly lined the contours of her form. Despite her shorter stature to me and the rest of her family, Syena appeared to stand taller than all of us that morning.

“My darling, even the darkest of days cannot diminish from the light you shine on us,” Gabbro beamed.

The young Stonie curtsied somewhat childishly and then stepped aside just in time to escape the brawl that ensued. It was customary whenever Gray and Phit greeted the old stone. Of course, that morning proved to be yet another failed attempt to best him. I’m sure they’ll deny it until the day they crystallize, but old Gabbro tangled them up in four swift moves then held each of their arms so tightly that they begged their mother to pacify the former field marshal.

“You boys haven’t been training...” he chided with a chuckle. “What good is having such immense size if you can’t even use it to overcome this crumbling block?”

“Grand Gab, we hav—agh!” the two bellowed in unison.

“Now, Gabbro, please don’t be so reckless with my sons. You know too well how difficult it was for me to bear those two,” Granita scolded with a faint smirk.

Their grandfather only rolled his eyes as she kissed his cheek. Mind you, she made zero effort to actually loosen her father-in-law’s hold on the boys.

“Granita, you and my son have let all the work I put into toughening these boys up go to waste. I mean, just look at how quickly I caught them!”

With that, Gabbro released them.

Phit rubbed at his aching shoulder as he retorted, “Well, you saw us coming...”

His grandfather tugged his ear as he scoffed, “What should that matter when there are two of you, boy?”

“We’re sorry, Grand Gab. We’ll train as soon as we return,” Gray interjected.

It seemed he at least was wise enough to tell making excuses would get them nowhere. And as always, Gabbro softened whenever the elder twin came to the aide of his brother. Try as he might to harden the boys, he always doted on them and admired their bond.

“Well said, my boy. I’ve got plenty of boulders you two can get to work on,” he said as he patted the Gray’s arm. Then he looked back at the aeroplane and muttered, “That is if we ever leave. Where is your father? What’s he doing?”

Basal was just stepping out of the craft after appearing to have compensated the carriers and pilots for our safe arrival.

“I’m here father. Good morning,” Basal answered. “You’re looking quite well.”

The two shook hands, but that was the extent of their greeting. After that, Gabbro ushered us all toward the boltine.

It was common for Bolt to pilot those vessels half-naked, but I assure you one never quite gets used to seeing the electricity pulse and surge across their translucent skin. The sparks raced down from our pilot’s skull to her neck, spread across her exposed back, then through her extended arms toward the tips of her fingers to power the craft. Several panels chimed as Gabbro closed the sliding door behind us then the propellers began to whir rapidly overhead.

Within less than a minute we were hovering well over a hundred meters in the air. Then with a mere flick of her finger, we were soaring towards London. As we approached the city center, I noticed the main avenue leading to the palace was crowded for miles. Due to the congestion, the Bolt pilot offered to set us down in Parliament Square. However, Gabbro would not hear of it.

“Ma’am, I think if you can manage to hover just under twenty meters from the ground over the main gates we can all land quite safely,” he explained matter-of-factly.

Gray and Phit both cheered and clambered for the sliding door, while Basal appeared ever so slightly taken aback by his father’s proposal despite the solemn look on his face. Before the outbreak, I had never once seen the flying contraptions we called helicopters in person—let alone rode in one. So suddenly hearing that the Stonie had the idea to send me plunging out of a similar hunk of metal when I understood even less how it flew caused me to shudder. Honestly, had it not been for Syena clasping my arm to hers I would have fainted.

“What about Abraham, Grand Gab?” she asked.

“Well, of course he’s coming with us. Aren’t you, old man?” he said with a boyish smile.

As a boy, Gabbro was every bit as dear to me as Syena, so I did my best to nod and act as though I was in good spirits about the whole thing. I also knew that any sign of weakness would only provoke the old brat to push his plan to an even more terrifying extreme.

He poked his head out of the open boltine door then said in a pensive tone, “Ah... Well, I suppose this height is a bit much for an Elder’s heart to manage... All right, how about your parents and I take the fast route, then you four come find us in the hall?”

That idea was met with such heavy protest from the twins that I feared they might throw me out of the boltine so as not to miss out on all the fun. Basal, however, appeared to be a bit livelier and Granita was already securing her hair in place.

“Not another word, boys. Would you carry on in such a way and make dear Abey hear feel like a burden to you?” their grandfather asked.

The two looked back at me and shook their heads rather vigorously. I imagined they were still remorseful about the joke Phit had made earlier that morning.

“The most important strength you have is that which you show to your friends. Always remember that and you’ll be stronger than any rival you meet.”

“Yes, of course, Grand Gab,” they said while nodding in unison.

They smiled to see my relaxed expression as the boltine flew toward a distant square. The four of us stepped off the transporter and onto soft grass then watched as Basal, Granita and Gabbro ascended back up and toward the palace grounds. I was too fearful to watch their figures fall from where the craft hovered in the sky, but Phit did not hesitate to relay his excitement.

“Gray, did you see that?! Mom must’ve flipped at least twice before she landed,” he shouted with a beaming grin.

“Yeah, but did you catch how Dad dove out headfirst?” Gray countered.

Syena suddenly giggled as she pointed past her brothers at the carrier.

“Neither of them can top how Grand Gab comes down,” she said just as Gabbro leapt higher into the air before proceeding to bring his knees to his chest like a ball then plummet down to meet the ground below.

As troubled as I was at the thought of such exploits, I joined in the laughter with the rest of the children as we approached the main gates and beheld the crater their grandfather had left to greet the other guests.

We still had a decent hike ahead of us, but I secretly enjoyed the opportunity to watch the children take in all the glimmering buildings mingled in with all of the ancient ruins from the days long forgotten.

We walked through the gates and all three young Stonies stopped for a moment to gaze at the wondrous palace grounds. I had grown so accustomed to it in my early days as an Elder that I forgot how few actually saw it in their lifetimes. The statues and gardens seemed to catch their eyes, and we walked a great deal out of our way so they could see the king’s gallery at the far end of the palace gates.

Fortunately, there was a steady procession of guests making their way toward the grand entrance for us to fall in line with. Gray and Phit had taken the lead in order to clear a path for me while Syena guarded my rear. But without warning, I felt a wave of energy come over me that I could not place.

When I instinctively clutched my chest, she asked, “Are you all right, Abraham? What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing, my dear. Just…” I trailed off as I pondered for a moment. I eventually cast the thought aside and concluded, “I’m older than I realize, you know? Sometimes my body has a funny way of reminding me.”

I smiled down at her, but continued to sense that there was something not quite right in the air. There were a great many guests to the palace that day, but I never would have imagined who all would be allowed to come to such an occasion.

“Why, is that Abraham?” a female voice shrieked from behind us.

I felt another wave sweep over me but that time it was more focused—more localized. It came straight at my heart. I clutched Syena’s arm vehemently to which she immediately swung around to position me behind her as she glared toward the speaker.

There was no doubt that a detestable Shaman had cast her enthrall on my heart. Her arched cheekbones were drawn taut as she sneered at me, but my darling Syena never budged from her position in front of me.

Her brothers had taken note of our delay within seconds so quickly reformed my protective pyramid with Phit joining his sister in front of me while Gray guarded my back. 

“My, my... Who could ever imagine such a thing?” the Sham-witch drawled. “Really, Abraham. How can you stand to keep such lowly company?”

I withdrew further behind my young guards before answering.

“Funny you should ask. I was planning to ask Caleb here that very same question?”

And as if on cue, Grand Duke Elder Caleb’s lean figure stepped forward to look over Syena at me.