Book of Glitch - Chapter 19

Along the way Caleb explained that our Cerulean guide was actually one of Admiral Dewla’s advisors, as well as the Cerulean leader’s adoptive daughter. The female introduced herself as Marsha and noted that her uncommon Cerulean appearance and lack of continuous hydration was due to the fact that her father was a Terran, which I suppose was truly in response to my previous studying of the seafarer. She then explained that she had been preparing to set off for the swim to the Atlantic with Dewla and the other officials when their group spotted the most peculiar sight.

Two Stonie males were racing along the river path above them—one was unmistakably toting the large head of what she surmised was a captured Cerebra, the other carrying an unidentifiable variant but running all the while practically naked. Dewla had sent her to inform Caleb of the strange event, fearing that there might be mischief in it, but the Elder had come upon her just as she had been stepping out of the river.

Caleb then explained that Basal had come to Downing Street on his way to the Cerebran Towers just in time to find Caleb lashed to the banisters of that grand staircase, having been left for dead by three of those rogue Incantare. Basal was able to free Caleb and gave him strict directions to get back to the villa and inform the rest of us to get out of London. He went on to the towers to find Syena and the boys, but thankfully Syena being with us our only hope was that he would find the boys and the three could find their way back to us.

The question of where we would go was answered by Gabbro who insisted that the Terran territory would be the safest place for us to hide as it was nearly impossible to find the entrance without the influence of a Terran to shift the earthen blockade to one of their tunnels, and he knew full well that Basal would have the same idea. So it was settled, Marsha being as courageous as ever agreed to lead us as far as the North Terran entrance in the abandoned lands of Morocco before she would leave to rejoin with Dewla and the other Ceruleans in Bermuda.

Once we reached the Thames it occurred to us that there were no crafts/boats in sight capable of sustaining the weight of the four Stonies. Marsha did not allow us much time to concern ourselves with this issue. The female focused her energy and dredged up mounds of that same mucky clay adhered to her legs from the riverbed along with pounds of soaked planks from a time that long predated my human days on this Earth.

The Terran-Cerulean compressed the masses together into a sort of makeshift barge for us to board. She then sank deep below the carrier as we sat atop it and felt the force of the waves originating from her mighty blasts. I will say this much my friend, having seen most tricks those Incantare variants can do I will never bore in watching the water manipulation capabilities of that aquatic race. In that way, Marsha was able to float us all the way into the English Channel and out of London.

Granita remained wary of the departure and wished for us to wait for signs of them in Allhollows, but Gabbro insisted that Basal would most likely go by air to get to the Terran territory since travel by sea was just far more fatal. As he spoke, I noticed that the old stone edged ever nearer to the center of our wood and clay raft.

Within a few hours Marsha had guided us safely into the open Celtic where Dewla and her officials awaited us.

“Glad to see you made it back to us,” she said to Marsha. “We feared that the Stonies had given you some trouble and were preparing to return.”

The older female gripped the sand-colored shoulder of her ward and blinked as though the salt of the sea had overpowered even her filmy eyes.

“Admiral Cerulean Dewla,” spoke Caleb. “We cannot thank your Marsha here enough. Had it not been for her bravery and quick thinking, we would have surely fallen victim to the chaos consuming the streets of London.”

“Yes, we witnessed the most abnormal sight on our voyage. What havoc are you Stonies wreaking now?” spat the Cerulean. “Have your lot grown tired of acting like well-trained animals and are finally behaving like the savages you truly are?”

Gabbro twitched as though he was prepared to rush at the female, but as his footstep seemed to quake the entire raft he simply stood still.

“See here diver,” he barked. “Stonies would never be responsible for such cowardly acts, or are you unaware that we are victims in this too. Now if you wish to serve your dutiful purpose you will offer me passage back to the shores of Eire, so that I might rally some compatriots who will be useful in restoring order to the land you so casually left behind.”

“And what makes you think I would waste the energy of my beloved dolphin companions to sail/swim you back home?” asked Dewla.

“I was under the impression that the Cerulean admiral felt she was of…to become the next Overseer,” answered Caleb. “Such clear prejudice against a fellow variant will never serve the world well.”

The Cerulean leader stammered at the scolding. She stared around at our group and her officials, then silently nodded her assent with a face crinkled as though she just swam through polluted water. Gabbro appeared even more reluctant that she had agreed to escort him back to his homeland, and insisted that it would suit him best for Marsha to float him up the sea instead.

“But Grand Gab, Marsha is the only one who would be able to find the Terran’s portal,” Syena explained. “Dewla’s submarine can get you there much faster than our barge could, even with the bottlenoses helping Marsha.”

The old stone grumbled feverishly but inched toward the Cerulean admiral’s submarine. Just as Gabbro’s head was about to vanish beneath the hull opening, he popped back up.

“I expect, Granita,” he was mumbling, “I expect you’ll look after this lot all right on your own. I will rally the Stonies back home, see if we can help Basal and the boys try to put things back in order after Caleb here left things in such a right state.”

“I beg y—” Caleb began.

“Yes Gabbro, I will take care of everything,” answered Granita. “Please see to it that anyone Basal learns of our safe arrival to the tunnels.”

With that we parted and watched as the submarine sank into the brightening sea just as the sun began to wink at us from over the horizon. Dewla had the dolphins assist Marsha in towing us to the shores of the Casablanca ruins. Once we disembarked we still had a twelve-mile trek ahead of us before we would reach the hidden entrance to the Terran tunnels.

The sun was scorching down at us from high above by the time we reached a glade at the center of what I thought were endless eucalyptus trees. Our guide began to march along the edges of the clearing, at an odd gait as though her feet could not match one another’s sense of stride. All the while she clutched at the air in front of her as though a gnat was continuously intruding on her path.

“I appreciate the opportunity to rest, Ms. Marsha,” I said. “But with the sun beating down like this, but couldn’t we take shelter under the trees? I fear the effects of this heat on my and Caleb’s blood pressure. What do you think old man, how about…”

But I couldn’t finish making my case as Marsha began to levitate a large boulder that had been hidden underneath the roots of two trees at the edge of the glade. It had been over thirty years since she had come to the Terran territory as a child, yet the Cerulean-Terran still recalled the secret portal. She stepped aside and bowed toward Caleb and I, but I reached forward and wrung the wonderful creatures arm.

“Dear lady, you are truly a blessing come down to meet us,” I exclaimed.

She beamed back at me, and I suspect was trying her best to tactfully retrieve her hand. I sensed her desire to escape my grip so I thanked her once more with a nod and strolled down into the dark opening without any concern other than getting out from beneath those rays. Just as the cool earth surrounding me began to relieve my skin, I found my face suddenly forced into the soil wall. A blunt pressure held me in place, but peeking back I saw only the stone pressing into my back from the end of a stick pointing out from the opposite wall. Yet there was nothing in the shadows.

“Any of you want to get this damned rock off of my back?” I shouted.

Syena was the first to jump down into the tunnel. Just as she made an attempt to strike the rod, a Terran leapt away from the opposite wall and withdrew it. I spun around to see that he had camouflaged to match the soil, but now that he was exposed his skin began to morph back to the deep-Mahogany shade common to the Terrans.

“What are you...? H-how did you...?” he stammered. “Who brought you here?”

Marsha stepped forward and exchanged a rather heated debate with the guard in that rapid Terran dialect that I have never been able to keep up with. From what I could decipher, she was trying to convince the male Terran to escort our party directly to Chief Hector. The male seemed to be completely against any such escort until news that the remains of the Grand Duke Elder were with us strictly on state matters. That at least pacified the warrior enough to agree to our proceeding down to the tunnel’s interior and into the first subterranean village.

Marsha insisted that she must return to the dolphins we had left at the coast. We all thanked her several times again for her exquisite act of service and then soldiered on toward the village of Arahas behind the Terran where we would await an audience with the chief Terran.