Titans of Chaos

"I talked to my brother Phantasmos tonight. He said that this world I'm trapped in is a dream,just a bigger and nastier one than most, because it is the one dream that says no other dreams arereal. That is why men forget dreams on waking here-to preserve the illusion. Saturn was originallyone of us, a Dream-Lord of Cimmeria, the world without sunlight, but he found a way to deceivethe night sky, and separate Uranus and Gaea. The stars used to walk freely on Earth, back whenEarth and Heaven were merely two equal dreams, and there was no solid matter to hindermankind, or to make them greedy for material things.

"The divorce of Heaven and Earth changed all that. The only way for the stars to reach Earthnow was a one-way dive: a falling star. They cannot get back up again. This is the cool part: Iknow what part of Quentin's tale means. Listen up, Big Q. Those silver mountains where the starsfall down, that is a real place, a landing zone, sort of, for bearded comets and spirits from theastral heavens to touch down and enter the material world. Some fell through pride or becausethey lusted after the daughters of mankind, but others came down willingly, even though theycan't go back. That big giant in your dream is Ouranos, the eldest primal god: the father ofCosmos and Chaos both. The little dwarves chipping him out of the ice, Phantasmos said wereHours and Days, wearing away at the chains Father Time put on Eternity. Time itself will endwhen Eternity breaks free and rises up as lord of all this world again.

"And, Vanity, my brother knew you, too. Those dogs of silver and gold at your house are real, andso are the walking tripods that cook food of their own accord. These are robots or golems, livingmetal creatures made by Hephaestus, who-guess what?-is that same big ugly guy Amelia met whotried to hire her. Lord Talbot, who owns the estate where we were raised. My brother knows yourpeople because the Phaeacians helped the Sons of Morpheus, the Lords of the Dark.

" 'Your people are smugglers,' my brother said. I am hoping he means, you know, good smugglers,lovable rogues like the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, or Han Solo or something, not justdrug-runners."

Vanity asked Colin, "What did they smuggle? My people, I mean?"