"The Clock of Dreams"

by Brian Lumley
originally published Jove Books 1978

DeMarigny is summoned in dreams to Kthanid, the anti-Cthulhu (who de Marigny knows he can trust because of his gentle eyes), and shown a vision of Titus Crow and Tiania in chains.  He is told he must go to Earth's dreamworld to save them - if he can (Kthanid is prone to insulting de Marigny the same way Crow was).  To help him, Kthanid gives him a data dump of all things Dreamlands related (not without a "are you sure you can handle it - of course, Crow could but you're a peabrain" lecture).  De Marigny's extended mini-tour of the Dreamlands is actually pretty evocative.

De Marigny finds himself in the Dreamlands, sans clock, after accidentally giving the too-literally-minded clock the wrong orders (maybe he is a doofus after all).  He meets with Atal in Ulthar, and is sent toward Dyath-Leen, an accursed place, with a potion that will wake (and therefore potentially save) a dreamer.  He is told to seek out Grant Enderby in town.

Enderby tells him how men from Leng took over the city of Dyath-Leen, driving its inhabitants away, and how he, Enderby, ended their curse with some magic taught him by Atal.

Now, however, the Leng-men are back.  They've taken over the city and driven out most of the good folks.

DeMarigny flies to Dyath-leen (using his flying cloak), and finds Crow and Tiania tied up on a pedestal beneath the giant ruby the Leng-men use to control/bedevil the inhabitants.  He rescues them and flies them off to some nearby mountains.  A giant night-gaunt grabs Tiania and flies off with her.  Crow takes DeMarigny's flying cloak, leaving him to walk back to Ulthar (thanks!).  Along the way he's siezed by Leng-men and tied to their pedestal in Dyath-leen, to be sacrificed to Nyarlathotep.  DeMarigny tricks the not-very-bright Leng men into dosing him with the potion, and he awakes safely back on Earth.

Crow, meanwhile, is stranded in the desert because, when DeMarigny is tossed back into the waking world - his cloak goes with him!

So, while Crow hoofs it through the desert and into some vast, desert-floored caves, DeMarigny figures he's gotta hop in the clock and get back to the Dreamlands, pronto.  How best to do this?  Get drunk on brandy of course!!

Meanwhile, Crow fights it out with a trio of monsters.  Of couse, he wins.  DeMarigny and the clock reappear in Dyath-leen, where the Leng men try to set the clock on fire.  DeMarigny, drunk and pissed off, using the clocks energy beams to blow up lots of stuff, in the process freeing the Fly-by-the-Light, a monster imprisoned in the Leng-men's giant ruby.  He kills that, too.

Crow finds Tiania and others held prisoner by a giant being called The Keeper.  After a pointless discussion with it, Crow fights it.  DeMarigny flies in with the clock and wastes The Keeper, too.

They fly back to Ulthar to drop off Tiania, then off to Ilek-vad where they hook up with Randolph Carter, who's raising an army to fight the Leng-men.  Then off for a parley with King Kuranes in Serranian.  Then another confab with Atal.  Then its off to The Enchanted Wood where the Leng-men attempt to unleash an army of nightmare creatures.  Crow cuts them down using the clock's energy beam (of course, Crow uses it).  Nyarlathotep shows up, puts a spell on Crow, calling him forth in thrall.  Kthanid shows up, and, using the distraction, DeMarighy swoops in and grabs the bewitched Crow.  Kthanid attacks Nyarlathotep with beams from his eyes, causing Nyarlathotep to disappear and, in his place, Yog-Sothoth - who gives way to Ithaqua, who gives way to ... aww fuck about a dozen of the usual Great Old Ones until finally it's Cthulhu, who gets blown away. Everyone goes home happy.

This is a little more than a modestly amusing sword-and-sorcery tale, set in the Dreamlands.  DeMarigny remains a doormat, and Crow remains insufferable.  As a read, it's painless and short.  I actually remember liking it a lot when I was 14...