At predetermined but unpredictable intervals, the celestial pendulum pauses; and we get sunspots and earthquakes and two-headed calves. This is when the Time Reserve must be drained – at least partially – or things begin to unravel. Stones awaken and move into or out of the heat of the sun; snakes unfold their limbs from within themselves and build sleek ophidian cities with their terrible tools; and the two-headed calves laughingly feast on kraken that they have sung forth from the putrefying seas.
