You flip the book open to the title page, but before you can read anything, the writing on the page converges to a central point, as if the ink is being sucked in. Before you can react, a thin black ray shoots out from that point of the book and into the center of your forehead. You remain motionless, stunned by the imagery that is suddenly pouring into your mind.
You see places you have never been, and wonder if you are hallucinating. Was there some drug on the book? As you ponder, one of the images comes into focus and plays within your mind, like a grainy film. The book is lying open before you on a wooden desk you have never seen before. An unfamiliar hand is writing in the book with a quill, dipping the quill occasionally in the ink at the corner of the desk. From the angle, the hand should belong to you, but it is definitely not your hand, being wrinkled and of differing proportions. Are you in someone else's body?
The hand is writing firmly but hurriedly, as though it were pressed for time. You hear some scuffling in the distance, but the body you are in never looks up, although the speed of the writing increases. Finally, there is a bang as the door to the room is kicked in, and your vision moves to the door.
Three people in ancient yet fantastical outfits enter, their hoods covering their faces. However, you can feel their determination in their steps, as one brandishes his staff at you.
"We will never allow you to succeed! Surrender!" the man with the staff shouts.
"Almost,..." you mutter to yourself in an unfamiliar voice. You reach slowly for the book, but at that moment, something shoots out of the staff of the stranger, to your intense frustration. Your vision swirls and darkens.
You open your eyes with a start, half expecting to be back in that strange room. However, you are lying on your couch as the morning rays come in the window. You sigh in relief.
"Finally, the seal has been broken! At last, I am free!!" You hear a voice call out in glee, so you sit up and look around in surprise. There is no one there. Also, the voice sounds familiar, as if you have heard it before somewhere. You just cannot quite put your finger on where...
"This time, I shall not fail," the voice says in determination, and somehow you know the voice is echoing inside your head, and is not from your surroundings. Suddenly, you realize where you recognize the voice from. It was in your dream. The voice that regretfully said, "Almost..."
"But first, I shall have to make some preparations," the voice continues, seemingly ignoring your thoughts until, out of the blue, it addresses you. "A few adjustments need to be made, so I will have to..."