Titans of Chaos

Darkness floated out from Quentin. It passed over the maenads; and where it had passed, theywere transformed. Some turned into furry sleek shapes. For others, skins grew thick and turned tobark; hair rose up, elongating strangely, becoming leaves and drooping vines. Toes dug into thesoil.

In a few moments, we stood within the silence of a forest more thick and lush than before. Theuprooted trees were now replaced by pines and cedars. Ivy and grapevines crawled from branchto branch. Hot-eyed leopardesses and she-panthers stalked among the trees, snarling, but theshadow-version of Quentin spoke a word, and they became gentle.

We were alone with one sleeping Amazon (asleep on her horse, seated at attention), threehollow-eyed nymphs (standing), and one weeping nymph (seated on the ground).

I said to the version of Colin, "They thought I was Vanity. When they shot me. The Amazons usedthe wrong shell. Was that because you all were-?"

Colin pulled off the prosthetic, which once had been his face, and straightened up. Nanotechmachines, small as molecules, rippled through his flesh, uncompressing his bones and muscles,shortening and coloring hair.

The spine opened up with ugly popping noises as the body grew a foot taller. His shape wasrearranged from a thickset and hairy wrestler's body to a longer, thinner, swimmer's farm.

When the one-eyed insectoid thing put the prosthetic face back in place, the features weredifferent. The seam around his chin and ears hissed and vanished.

Victor said, "Well, come now, Amelia. We are shape-changers, after all."

Quentin's voice spoke out of the shadow overhead: "Be careful lowering my statue."

The chain-mail-wrapped life-size porcelain statue of Vanity sank to the ground. Quentin's voicesaid, "I particularly like the hands. They were the hardest part to get right. Look at how lifelikethe fingers are!"

Eagle-winged Colin (in the torn tatters of a once-fine tuxedo) fluttered up from a secret trapdoorin the grass, with a struggling Amazon in his arms. The girl was very strong, and she struck andkicked with savage precision, her face was without fear, and she fought in complete silence.

Colin managed to gasp out: "Amelia! Please... ?"

Make that, two sleeping Amazons. I noticed Colin managed to squeeze the sleeping girl's breastsas he lowered her to the ground. Jerk.