Chilla woke up when she heard a knock at the door followed by, "Are you up yet, Chilla? We've got first watch this morning." A pleasant female voice, so it had to be Psikaris.

The ice Lunatac grumbled a bit and ignored the woman. Chilla was six months out of ten pregnant, and generally angry at everything. She would have to see about swapping shifts with someone, let her sleep in. Of course, most of the Lunatacs wouldn't do that, having the same idea.

Chilla still wasn't sure who the father of her unborn child was, though her bets were placed on Alluro. Certainly the man she slept with looked like Alluro, and with Mumm-ra's magic blocked, there weren't any other shapechangers about. And the only hypnotist was Alluro himself, Psychro's powers not counting for much. The other Lunatacs had a betting pool set up, and the other contenders for the title of Chilla's Mystery Lover ranged from Tygra to Robear Bill, though most money was on Alluro. Alluro himself would swear by all five Moons that he never slept with her six months ago, though in the state he was in, perhaps he had memory loss. This theory annoyed him. He would have liked to remember something like that.

It turned out, however, they were all wrong.

Apparently Psikaris heard Chilla's grumblings, because after a minute, she opened the door. "Come on, Chilla. It's better to get up on time than to have Luna screech at you."

On the other hand, you didn't need coffee if Luna woke you up. If there was no repair work today, maybe he could come up with an alarm clock that had Luna's voice as an alarm: Third Earthlings, use the Luna Alarm Clock and never be late again! In fact, you'll wake up before the alarm goes off, just to avoid hearing it!.. Psikaris smiled at the thought.

Chilla noticed it and scowled. "What is it?"

"Nothing. An idea for a new invention."

"If it doesn't get us back to the Moons or kill Thundercats, it's not much use to me." The truce between the two races ended soon after they returned from R'lyeh. Mumm-ra had put the Lunatacs back to work on trying to wipe out the feline aliens.

She considered that, and smirked. "Maybe." It would certainly cause them to go deaf. "Anyway. No rest for the wicked. I'll go so you can get dressed." She was about to leave when Chilla started a paroxysm of coughing.

And it was a nasty coughing fit. Chilla's strong form looked like it would be torn apart by the convulsions. Not knowing what else to do, Psikaris slipped her arms around her shoulders, to try to lessen the spasms. After a few minutes, just as she was about to intercom for help, it got worse.

At the climax of the seizure, a noxious yellow slime issued from her mouth. She wasn't throwing up, Psikaris realized, this was something in her lungs that she was expelling. A sizeable amount of the stuff was on the floor when the fit finally stopped. Chilla spasmed a few more times, then went limp in Psikaris' arms. She decided to deal with the mess later and carried Chilla down to the infirmary.

Chilla seemed to be fine now, just weakened by her ordeal. Red-Eye did every test he could think of ( Psikaris, no use for medical duty, had grabbed the nearest Lunatac ), but found nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Chilla was no longer pregnant.

The ice Lunatac opened her eyes. Somehow, somehow she knew who the father was. She whispered, "Nyarlathotep!" before lapsing back into unconsciousness.

The sarcophagus opened, and Mumm-ra stepped onto the walkway in the Black Pyramid. Before he saw the intruder, he could sense him.

A male ice Lunatac was leaning against the Ancient Spirits of Evil statue representing Tsathoggua. As far as Mumm-ra knew, Chilla was the only full-blood Lunatac of that breed on Third Earth. He had white hair and blue skin, as typical of his race, with gray clothes and a navy blue cloak. Odd though, were the leathery wings folded behind him. Even with this new shape, Mumm-ra recognised him.

"Greetings, Nyarlathotep," said the undead sorcerer, "Last I saw you, you were dead."

The pseudo-Lunatac smiled as only Nyarlathotep could, "Ah, but remember: 'That is not dead which can eternal lie...'"

"'And with strange aeons, even death may die,'" Mumm-ra finished automatically, then narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "I am curious. How did you survive?"

"But I didn't." Dark blue eyes glittered with contemptuous humour. "I was reborn, you see. Reborn through the Lunatac woman."

"Luna?" asked Mumm-ra. He wasn't up on current Lunatac soap operas, simply because he didn't care what they did at night. Just so long as they worked for him during the day.

"No. Chilla. Much easier. More desperate. Easy work for a telepathic shapechanger. Not as easy as that Psikaris girl, but more sporting."

"Easy work?.." Mumm-ra, being centuries dead, didn't really direct much thought towards certain biological functions any more.

Nyarlathotep glared. "I disguised myself as the tall hypnotist alien and slept with her. A distasteful thing, yes, but a sensible precaution. When the lion-creature killed my body, my lifeforce fled to the new one inside the ice woman. Even better, being born of Chilla, I have the abilities of an ice Lunatac. It is nothing compared to my original power, but it is a start."

Mumm-ra decided to ask what had been worrying him since the second he identified the intruder: "What do you want with me?"

The ex-Mighty Messenger of the Great Old Ones smiled again. "Now that Cthulhu is again asleep, I am the only one of Them still awake and free. Both Alluro and Cheetara were tested to become the next Mighty Messenger, and were both found lacking. My former masters will turn back to me when they find They have no other recourse." Nyarlathotep turned away from Mumm-ra, looking up at the statue he was leaning against. "But I refuse to wait here, on this world. It could take centuries before They decide they again need a Messenger. I have another place I can go."

Mumm-ra knew the ancient lore well. "The Dreamlands."

"Yes," said Nyarlathotep, "but the way is now closed to me. Before, with my magic, I could come and go as I pleased. Now I must dream my way in. But I am most infamous to the peoples of Dream, and the guardian-priests of the Cavern of Flame beyond the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber will not let me pass. However, if I can get into the Dreamlands, to unknown Kadath and the Other Gods, I can perhaps reclaim at least a portion of my former glory."

Mumm-ra crossed his arms. "I cannot help you."

Nyarlathotep turned on his heel and stormed up to Mumm-ra, glaring down at him. "Why not, sorcerer? Do the Old Ones forbid it?"

"The dead do not dream."

The Lunatac made a noise of frustration, then turned and started away from Mumm-ra. At the bottom of the steps he paused, and looked over his shoulder. "Could you use someone else's dream, perhaps?" Mumm-ra thought a moment, and nodded slowly. The Haunter clapped his hands together. "Good." He suddenly cocked his head, as if listening. "And I do believe we have some volunteers right now."

Skytomb hovered just outside the Black Pyramid. If Nyarlathotep was somehow alive, Mumm-ra would either know what to do, or at least want to be told. When Luna, Amok, Alluro, and Chilla went inside, they found Mumm-ra the Ever-Living waiting for them. "Mumm-ra, we think Nyar..." Luna started.

Mumm-ra stood on the walkway, behind his cauldron, facing the door. Behind him and to his left stood what looked like an ice Lunatac with wings. No emotion showed on the sorcerer's face. "I know." Red lightning enveloped the Lunatacs, and they fell to the floor, unconscious.

Nyarlathotep walked past Mumm-ra, and settled himself into the cauldron. He leaned back, eyes closed, arms cocked over the edge, as if in a hot-tub. "Whenever you're ready, sorcerer."

Mumm-ra nodded, and cast the spell that would force Nyarlathotep into the Dreamlands. The dreamers as well.

At first, Luna, Amok, Alluro, and Chilla thought that Mumm-ra just teleported them away to some forest. But then they realized several things were wrong. One, the forest just didn't look real. There was something unearthly about the landscape. Two, while Chilla was no longer pregnant, it should have taken her months to get back down to her pre-partum weight. She looked as she had six months ago.

"I don't think we're on Third Earth any more," murmured Alluro.

"Then where are we?" demanded Luna.

"How should I know?"

There seemed to be a town of some sort in the distance, so the Lunatacs headed for that, Luna, of course, in the lead. As they walked, they had the distinct impression of being watched, though they couldn't see the watchers. Chilla thought she saw an animal once, small and brown, but she couldn't look at it for more than a second. It was hard to look at, like its outline was slippery.

Amok, however, caught one of the things. As he and Luna passed a think clump of foliage, his massive hand lashed out, catching the creature.

While its outlines were slippery, the creature itself didn't seem to be. It was vaguely squirrel-like, with long fur and large yellow eyes. Beyond that, no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't determine or agree on anything else. Amok soon grew bored of it. After giving it a sniff, he decided it wasn't good to eat, and threw it away. The creature scampered off. They did notice, however, that the feeling of being watched decreased considerably after that.

After some time, the Lunatacs arrived in the town. They got many stares, looking as they did. However, they had plenty of reason to stare back. This city was a human town, and as far as they knew, the only humans on Third Earth were the Warrior Maidens. Also, the place seemed overrun with cats. The cats seemed to like Amok.

The city had a seaport, and the Lunatacs decided it best to make their inquires at a tavern frequented by sailors. Hopefully, one of them would know how they could get home.

The aliens stuck out like sore thumbs, there were stares and mutterings, but no one gave them any trouble. The bartender wasn't looking when the newcomers came in, and was very surprised when he was tapped on the back with a riding crop. He was even more surprised when he came face-to-face with an extremely short, gray-skinned, purple-haired, trollish woman riding a cross between a demon and a bull.

"What town is this and where do the shipping routes go?" the short creature shrilled.

The bartender rallied and answered, "This is Dylath-Leen. We ship everywhere along the river Skai." He then listed off several names, none of which Luna recognized. When denied a map because she couldn't pay for it, Luna summoned Alluro to her aid. Within minutes, the Lunatacs had taken a table in the corner and pored over the map. Amok sat on the floor and played with a few friendly cats.

Nothing was familiar. Nothing. If they were still on Third Earth, they were in a place far removed from anywhere they recognized or had even heard of. Inquires told them that they were in a country ( Continent? Planet? ) called the Dreamlands, and the most knowledgeable person about the Dreamlands was a man called Randolph Carter.

"He is an arch-dreamer, and can tell you many things. But," said the sailor, "He is king of Ilek-Vad. You may not be able to get an audience with him."

Luna gave a determined smile, and looked briefly at Alluro and Chilla. "We can try."

Gaining passage aboard a ship bound for Ilek-Vad was easy. Between the psyche club and the fact that humans haven't much in the way of psionic defence, Alluro could easily get what Luna wanted.

The boat sailed down one of Skai's tributaries, a river called Oukranos. It wasn't a big river, but it was big enough.

It was four days into their seaward journey ( and they had no problems with it, given that Skytomb sometimes rocks, when the stabilizers are broken ) when the merchant ship was attacked by pirates.

Luna was lying in bed, arms behind her head, staring at the ceiling, Amok curled at her feet. She couldn't sleep, for the Oukranos was called 'the singing river' for a reason. She got up and slowly picked her way over to the window. Luna checked over her shoulder to see if she had wakened any of her people. Amok still snored quietly, and in the other bed, Chilla hadn't moved. Alluro was in a different room.

Of course, the hypnotist probably tried to convince Chilla to stay with him. Typical. Though, much as she'd never admit it, Luna was somewhat jealous of Chilla. Not because she had any interest in Alluro, but because Chilla was so... well, normal. Luna never knew her mother or grandmother, because both ancestors died in childbirth. This cursed and twisted form was too tiny to handle the delivery of a baby. She'd have Amok kill anyone who hinted at it, but Luna actually wanted a child someday. She just refused to die for it.

Tearing her gaze away from the ice woman, she looked out the window. The moon was up, far too large and close to be natural. It looked so... dead, like the moon of Third Earth and nothing like the Moons of Plundarr.

She saw a black ship in the distance, on the horizon so that it looked like it was coming down from the moon.

After a couple minutes, she realized it actually was coming down from the moon. Moments later, the crew of the merchant ship saw it, and gave the alarm.

The merchant ship from Dylath-Leen tried evading the strange black galleon, but the pirates were faster. The strange turbaned men quickly boarded the small merchant ship, scimitars ready. The merchant crew all hid below decks, as if that would do more than delay the inevitable. The moon-pirates expected easy victory.

They didn't count on the Lunatacs.

Between Chilla's ice, Alluro's hypnotism, and Amok's strength, the moon-pirates didn't have a chance. Even Luna knocked one out with her riding crop when he got too close. The surviving pirates fled.

Chilla fetched the merchant crew out of hiding. "How can we ever thank you for saving our ship?" asked the captain.

Luna puffed herself up and replied, "Just put in a good word for us with the King of Ilek-Vad."

The ship sailed on.

With the merchant captain's report, the Lunatacs were let in to meet King Carter without any fuss.

He was a fairly ordinary man in his early fifties, dressed in strangely bulky clothes. He gestured a gloved hand, "I have heard much about you, moon-daemons, and have been waiting to meet you. Thank you for saving my ship."

There was something about the human that worried Luna, but she couldn't place it. She gave a slight bow, as best she could from atop Amok. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. I am Luna, and these are Amok, Chilla, and Alluro," she gestured to each one in turn. "We are of a race called Lunatacs, from a place called Third Earth. We had heard that you know the most about these Dreamlands. We want to know how to get back home."

Carter said, "I, too, was from Earth." The Lunatacs exchanged worried looks. So Mumm-ra had teleported them to another planet! Carter noticed their dismay and added, "The way back is to wake up."

"Wake up?" asked Chilla. "We are asleep?"

"I've never had dreams like this before," Alluro added.

"How come we've slept in this world?" asked Luna.

"The Dreamlands are a psychic plane, though physically real. You are aliens here, and were probably brought by outside forces," explained Carter.

"Mumm-ra," snarled Luna. When Carter looked confused, she explained: "He's an undead sorcerer. We don't really get along. The last thing we remember, before landing in these Dreamlands, was being inside his pyramid."

Carter nodded, "Time in the Dreamlands runs differently from Earth's time. It may seem years before you awaken."

"Can you help us?" asked Luna. Carter nodded again.

"I can, but first there is a quest I need you to preform. I noticed your arrival because it coincided with a vast magical surge. You weren't the only ones to come through. I need you to stop the other who hitched a ride through your dream. If you complete the task, I will send you home. If you refuse, you can wake up on your own. The task will be difficult. The name of the thing that followed you was..."

Chilla finished his sentence, "Nyarlathotep." When Carter asked an explanation, the Lunatacs gave him a summery of what had happened six months ago.

Carter nodded again. "You seem uniquely suited for the job," he said.

Luna held out her hand, and Carter shook it. "We accept your quest."

After the Lunatacs were well underway on a northbound ship, it suddenly hit Luna what worried her about King Carter. "Why in the names of the Lunar Gods," she asked Amok, who was sleeping at the foot of her bed, "was the man wearing a waxen mask?"

As Randolph Carter had once been to Unknown Kadath, he was able to provide them with directions. However, he couldn't help them get there. When Carter had gone to the Cold Waste, he rode a creature called a night-gaunt, followed by a small army of ghouls. After reaching the castle, his ghoul friends and night-gaunts disappeared. He learned later that Nyarlathotep had sent them back to their mountains and burrows over the Vale of Pnath.

While not really wanting to deal with anything weirder than they had to, Carter did teach the Lunatacs the passwords to get them help from the ghouls, the night-gaunts, and, oddly enough, the cats.

In a tavern in Celephais, on the shore of the Cerenerian sea, Luna, Alluro, and Chilla discussed how to get to Kadath. Amok had found another cat, and seemed happy enough.

Alluro said, "The sister city to this one, Serannian, has ships that fly. Perhaps we could use one of those to get past the Inquanok mountain range, past the giant guardians Carter warned us about, and reach the Kadath castle."

"Right," said Luna, "Like they'd let us take one."

"If we said King Carter sent us..." started Chilla.

"We could steal one," said Alluro.

"No. Stealing one would probably get Carter mad at us, and we need him to get us home," Luna explained.

"Those pirates that attacked the Dylath-Leen ship flew down from the moon," Chilla stated, "Certainly Carter would not mind us hijacking one of those?"

Luna snorted. "Right. So how do we get to the moon?"

"Cats can do it."

Luna, Alluro, and Chilla looked at Amok in surprise. Not because the statement was completely ludicrous ( which it was ), but because Amok said anything at all. Amok's cat was purring happily at the Lunatacs.

Luna sighed. "And how do the cats get to the moon, Amok?"

"Dey jump."

On a rooftop in Celephais, three Lunatacs were feeling absolutely ridiculous. The fourth just patted a cat. One of many. The roof was covered in felines of all shapes and sizes.

Amok put his cat down. "Hold still, now." Luna, Alluro, and Chilla didn't know why they were humouring Amok, but they did anyway.

The cats all crouched, then, as one, leapt.

Alluro was about to say, "Can we get back to being serious now?" when he realized that the force of the jump was carrying the Lunatacs as well. As Celephais fell away from them, Alluro decided that he was going to close his eyes, and leave them that way until the expected crash.

It never came. They, cats and all, landed safely. Luna thwacked Alluro with her riding crop. Startled, he opened his eyes.

Chilla said, "I suppose, since this is a dream, it all makes sense."

They were on the moon.

The cats jumped back down to the Dreamlands, leaving the Lunatacs behind. Luna patted her steed on the head. "Good, Amok. Remind me to get you some candy when we get home." Amok grunted happily, and they headed towards what looked like a shipyard.

The good news was that it was a shipyard. The bad news was what was running it. Ugly, gray, toadish things with no eyes and curious feelers on their snouts seemed to be running the place. Working for them, herded by them, were the strange pirates that had attacked the merchant ship of Dylath-Leen. Without their shoes and turbans, they no longer looked human.

The Lunatacs were crouched behind some rocks, watching. Luna turned to Chilla. "With numbers like this, Alluro's pretty much useless in a fight..."

Alluro snorted. "Well, thank you very much."

Luna ignored him. "... and we'll need Amok to row the boat. It'll be up to you to keep those creatures from us."

Chilla nodded, stood, and stepped out from behind the rocks. Some of the weird humanoids looked over, and within seconds, the toadish moon-creatures rushed at her. With a gesture, she burned a swath through their ranks. The Lunatacs charged.

Chilla caused the most damage, alternating ice and flame. Amok easily knocked aside those attackers Chilla missed, and Luna occasionally got a whack in with the riding crop. Alluro, while his psychic abilities wouldn't help any, and his combat skills were minimal, was still stronger and faster than the toad-things and their servants.

At the ship Luna indicated, Chilla stayed above decks to hold the moon-beasts and humanoids back. The other Lunatacs went below decks. The few remaining crew were dispatched by Alluro. Amok sat in the middle of the below-decks, took an oar in each hand, and started rowing. The black galleon shot out of the shipyard.

After promising to return soon, Luna had Alluro carry her back up to the deck. He set her down at the helm, and went to join Chilla at the bow.

The ice Lunatac was leaning her elbows on the railing. Alluro found something indescribably pleasing about the casual pose, coupled with her hair and cape stirred by the wind. He braced a foot against the rail and rested his forearms on his knee. Chilla didn't look over. "Well," she said, "that was a workout."

Alluro understood. Chilla was absolutely exhausted, and this was as close as she'd ever come to admitting it. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We shouldn't have any trouble from here on in."

She looked over at him, a slight smile on her blue lips. "Of course, you know that you've cursed the voyage."

"I have not. For that I would have had to say 'Things can't get any worse', or some such."

"Now you've said it." She went back to watching the mountains pass below them. Alluro would say he was doing the same thing, even though he was mostly watching Chilla.

They remained that way for a little over an hour, and would have probably stayed there all night if not for Luna's frantic shriek: "Shantaks!"

Two Shantak-birds, enormous creatures with heads like horses and scales instead of feathers, were closing fast on the black galleon. Chilla blew ice at the closer one, but she was still to weak from the fight on the moon to do more than give it goosebumps. Alluro, thinking fast, looked straight at the Shantak and intoned: "You do not want to attack us. We are not the enemy. The Shantak is your enemy. You will attack it. You will obey." Continuing his commands, Alluro prayed silently that his hypnotism would work on this monster.

It did. The first Shantak screamed and whirled on the second. As the monstrous birds fought, the black galleon slipped by.

A few hours later, Alluro and Chilla were taking their turn rowing, and Luna and Amok were above-deck. Luna was still at the helm, Amok sitting behind her. She looked at the stars, at the landscape, and made an unpleasant discovery.

"Look," she said to Amok, "everything seems to be pointing north. That's strange." On impulse, she let go of the wheel.

The ship continued north.

"Go get Alluro and Chilla," she ordered.

Amok went down the stairs and motioned for the two Lunatacs to follow. "What is it, boy?" Alluro asked, "Did Luna fall down the old well?" The bull-like Lunatac threw the hypnotist over his shoulder and carted him off. Chilla followed on her own power.

Luna was waiting. "Notice anything strange?"

"No," grumbled Alluro, "And what I can see I'd rather not." Amok dropped him and the psychic looked around. "You aren't steering," he finally said.

"The ship's still moving," hissed Chilla.

"And we're picking up speed," finished Luna. And they were. The black galleon was hurtling towards a distant peak, one with a strangely regular outline.

"A castle carved into the mountain!" said Chilla. "Unknown Kadath!"

There was nothing to do now but wait.

Somehow, and they never could agree on how, the black galleon landed inside the castle. The great castle atop the mountain was empty. The Lunatacs got off their ship. After a few steps, it vanished. Suddenly, a trumpet blast shook the stone walls, and the dark room filled with thin mist. And out of this fog strode two columns of slaves, holding torches in their left hands and trumpets in their right. When the leaders reached the opposite side of the room, they stopped. And from between these columns, out of the mists stepped Nyarlathotep.

Gone were his Lunatac features; he was wearing his human shape again. He was dressed now in a colourful robe, his long hair swept back, with an Egyptian-styled crown upon his head. He smiled. "You're too late." Chilla made to freeze him, but the ice hit a shield. "While not the Mighty Messenger of the Great Old Ones, the Other Gods saw fit to return my powers, at least in their sphere of influence. You cannot defeat me in the lands of Dream, Lunatacs."

"You were powerless. How did you get Mumm-ra to kidnap us and send you to the Dreamlands?" screeched Luna.

"Because the Ancient Spirits of Evil are the Great Old Ones," laughed Nyarlathotep. He paused, letting the revelation sink in. He continued, "I suppose I owe you for your help in returning me to power. Farewell, subcreatures, and beware." With a wave of his hand, a blinding flash surrounded the Lunatacs.

They found themselves on the floor of the Black Pyramid. The winged ice Lunatac was gone. They untangled themselves and glared at Mumm-ra.

"Where do you get off helping those... those things?" shrieked Luna, waving at the statues.

"I didn't know what they were until six months ago. Believe me Luna," said Mumm-ra, "I like it no more than you do."

Luna gave him a dirty look, boarded Amok, and gestured Alluro and Chilla that they were leaving. Mumm-ra listened to Skytomb's engines as it flew away. It was better than the echo of distant laughter he heard in his mind.