The next morning.

You wake up the next morning and are surprised to find that Dak is nowhere to be found.. With no signs that he hadn't left voluntarily you assume that he must have gone on his way. A little saddened by this, you move in slow motion, thinking about the previous nights events, as well as the possibilities now that you know for sure that man is not alone in the universe. You have to admit, once you got past the initial shock, you had come to like Dak, although you had only just met him, you were sorry to wake up and find him gone.. Hopefully he had somehow made his way home to safety.

You stumble into the kitchen, your thoughts still somewhere else, and notice a smallish box, resting on the table, with a folded scrap of paper on top of it that somehow you had missed in your initial search for Dak this morning. Curious you walk over, examining the box. You carefully open the box and find something inside that looks like a small turquoise and ruby shield inlaid with gold to give the impression of an unfurled scroll.

You unfold and read the piece of paper that accompanies the gift.

“Dear Victor.” it says.

“I know as I write this that I am not to be here when you awake. Years ago, long before I even met you, my own grandfather died and left me the item you see in this box. Our family has been keeping it for centuries. As I am the last of my family, I have no heir to leave it to, and after all, you saved my life and this is the only way I can think of to repay you. What you see in this box is what I call The Scribe's Gate, and it is quite a powerful item, because it allows travel between this world and fictional realms. Its potential grows as the users imagination continues to grow. The first time I actually used it, lets just say my experience was pretty interesting.. I've seen that you have quite the imagination, and it’s perfect for this item. I’m going to hang on as long as I can, hopefully until you’re emotionally ready to take on this responsibility. In the hands of one with great imagination, the Gate imparts.. Well.. Quite a bit of power. You are familiar with all of the comic book worlds you have read about, now you have the power to visit them, or to have them visit you. On a side note, using the Gate permanently alters the particular copy of a work you happen to use it on. If you wanted to, you could describe a world and set up the characters, then travel into it and the story would write itself. Be warned, though. You can be killed in the story just as easily as you could in real life. So don’t go opening any airlock doors or strange animal cages. And under no circumstances are you to lose the Gate while visiting a story world. If a character leaves and doesn’t come back, you’re trapped forever.”

“Cheery thought.” You think to yourself, but continue reading