My dearest David, the note read.

You may have noticed by now that something strange is about in this house. If so, you are right. If not, you haven't been very observant.

I haven't much time to explain. I fear my life is measured now in hours, if not minutes. Do not grieve for me. I have lived a long and full life; longer and fuller than I care to remember.

My good friend Edmund will no doubt explain the details to you, but here are the bare bones of what you must know. I am, or was, I should say, part of a covert organization dedicated to the preservation of stories. Now, you may ask why one would go to such lengths to keep oneself secret when all they do is collect books. Well, you see, it is so much more than that. Stories are real. Not in the metaphorical sense, but literally. All the stories of mankind have a life of their own and exist separate from our world. Separate, but not independent. As you undoubtedly know, a basic component of a story is a conflict that gets resolved by the end. However, that is not always the case. Occasionally, the storyteller will overestimate the abilities of his or her characters and put them into a conflict against which they cannot prevail. That, my dear boy, is where we come in. The ancient order of the Storytellers, the Brotherhood of the Rose; we are known by many names throughout history. We are the ones called upon to enter these worlds, these fruits of mankind's imagination, and nudge the story towards its intended resolution. These missions take many forms, and, as such, you must play many roles: those of a warrior or a physician, a man of action or a wise philosopher, a war general or a peacekeeper.

I could say that you had a choice in whether or not you take up this mantle, but then I would be lying. You are the only viable candidate to continue the noble work of the Order. Should you refuse to do this, all of the Storylands will be doomed. I am deeply sorry to have to foist this great responsibility upon you.

I feel my time coming.

You must be brave, my boy. You will have to endure many horrors, losses and tragedies in this line of work, but you will also witness wonders beyond your imagining, experience great happiness and peace. Focus on these, and you will retain your sanity. Dwelling on dark things is a long and slippery slope. Do not tempt it.

I hope that these words will provide some solace and comfort before diving into this new world.

Enter the wardrobe and all will be made clear.

Goodbye David,

Great-grandpa Ben

David didn't know what to think. On the one hand, he felt the grief, buried under the events of the last few days, resurface. It was as sharp as the day he had heard the news. On the other hand, his common sense was screaming at him that his beloved great-grandfather was a complete loony.

Confused and hurt, David wasn't in his right mind. If he would have stopped and thought about it for a few minutes he probably would have gone home, ignoring Ben's instructions. Consumed as he was with hurt, confusion and an overwhelming desire to find proof of Ben's sanity, no matter where, David did the one thing that seemed rational at the time: he entered the wardrobe.

It was dark; and a lot larger than it looked from the outside. David's fingers brushed against the many fur coats hung up inside, searching for the back wall. He didn't find it. Instead, it seemed like there was another row of coats hanging behind the first one. Probing further, David completely entered the dark space. With a bang, the door slammed shut, plunging him into darkness.

Panic immediately consumed him. All rational thought gone, David began pounding on the door trying to force it open. When that didn't work, he began frantically probing the walls, searching for another way out. Stumbling through the rows of coats, one single clear thought broke through the fog: there seemed to be an awful lot of coats for just one closet. Clinging to that thought, David pushed through the coats, hoping to find some kind of other entrance.

The coats brushed David; they were very rough against his face and arms, their bark and twigs-wait, what?

Slowing his headlong dash, David examined the coats around him; except, they weren't exactly coats anymore. They looked like a strange fusion between clothes and trees. Some were evergreens, their needles feeling very real beneath David's fingers. Some were deciduous with broad deep green leaves.

Despite the very natural look the trees had, David had the strangest feeling that they were not of this world. An ethereal feeling permeated this place.

Wandering through the monumentally huge wardrobe, gazing with wonder, and more than a little apprehension, at the strange sights around him, David could not pinpoint the exact moment in which he left the wardrobe and entered the woods proper.

David's mind reeled at the strangeness of it all; it seemed like something straight out of a fairy tale. The woods went on for as far as his eyes could see, with what seemed like a disproportionate amount of small pools or ponds. As he scrutinized the trees, a pattern began to emerge: there was a pool at the base of every enormous tree. Noticing a shape in the bark of a tree near him, David approached it to investigate. It was utterly alien, though its shape suggested rusty nails hammered through sheets of metal. The pool next to him was large and looked polluted; it was a dull gray. A strange swirling in it distracted him; it appeared to be under the surface of the water. It looked almost like…mist?

"I wouldn't lean in quite that close!"

Backpedaling furiously and trying to find the source of the voice, David collided face-first with a rather disagreeable branch that apparently had made it its life's mission to embarrass him as much as possible.

Blinking through the stinging tears of pain, he saw a familiar figure striding toward him.

"That was quite an achievement, Master David," he said with a sarcastic grin on his face. "Never has a man with such innate grace and skill honored me with his presence."

"Who are you?" David asked, his face burning.

"You mean you don't recognize me? I would have thought that I would have made a slightly larger impact than that." The man's shock of white hair and old-fashioned suit seemed familiar.

In a flash, David remembered. "You were at Ben's funeral!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, a light shines in the dark."

"What are you implying?" David asked, annoyed.

"I am implying nothing. I am simply pointing out the irrefutable fact that you are sadly lacking in the quickness of wit your great-grandfather was famous for."

"This coming from a man dressed in clothes a hundred years out of style."

"This coming from a man who spent over twelve hours trying to get out of a library"

"Looks like you never left it, you old relic."

By now the stranger was grinning from ear to ear. "My word, I'd missed this," he said, clapping David on the shoulder. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, "I am Edmund. Ben said he mentioned me in his letter."

The piece of paper was still clamped in David's hand. "Yes. He did. But he never said who exactly you are".

"Ah. Now that's an interesting question. You see, I am not, strictly speaking, human. I am actually a higher cosmic being with no physical form in this realm. I used to be human, but I gave up my humanity for the greater good; to preserve the work of the Order."

"Your humanity?"

"My body, my life…my death." Edmund's face changed, all traces of levity gone. "I can no longer die. I have lived for nearly a thousand years and I will live for thousands more, an eternity. The years weigh upon my soul, yet I am denied the most precious gift a man can receive."

"What?"

"Death."

Edmund seemed to come to himself, blinking as if waking from a dream. "Terribly sorry about that," he said with a quick grin, "I let the moment get away from me."

You…used to be human? What happened?" David asked.

"Oh, that is quite the story. I served as a brother of the Order many centuries ago. At that time we Storytellers had the born ability to transport ourselves to this place, the Wood Between the Worlds, we called it. There were many of us and we carried out our duties with pride. However, with the years, the ability began to become so rare that, eventually, there were only two left: me and a man whose bloodline would eventually sire you."

"You knew my ancestor?"

"Yes, yes, but don't interrupt. As I was saying, we were the only ones left, we had to do something. We decided the only way to escape the decline of the gift was to remove our dependence upon it. We wanted to create a permanent portal to the Wood.

"It was, however, easier said than done. Years of research and hard work lead us to build a machine that would open a gateway to here. It required much power. We thought we had enough, so we activated it. It worked well, at first. My friend was the first to enter the Wood without the use of the gift. After but a few short minutes, the machine began to run out of power and break down, we had minutes left. My friend swiftly came up with a plan and jumped into the Wood, instructing me to keep the machine running until he returned. Unfortunately, it was deteriorating too fast, so I did the only thing I could think of: I hooked myself up to the machine, hoping that my body's energy would keep it going for a while longer.

"The energy was enough, but barely. My friend managed to return before the portal closed, but by then I had expended all of my energy. I was dead.

"However, through some strange sequence of events, my consciousness, my spirit, if you will, persisted beyond my natural death and ascended to a higher plane of existence. I believe it has something to do with the Wood, but I never could be sure.

"You are probably wondering what I had sacrificed my life for, correct? Well, the answer may seem a little strange, but it was a fruit. You see, when we used to enter the Wood, we would be unable to take anything physical with us, not even clothes. That led to some very awkward situations, let me tell you. However, then, the portal would allow us to take things into the Wood, and, more importantly, bring things back. My friend's genius plan was to bring back a fruit from one of these trees. He did so, and planted it in his yard. A tree grew and prospered for many years. When the tree died, he ordered a wardrobe to be built out of its wood. The wood is not of this world, it seeks to return to its birthplace. Therefore, it creates a path through which anyone can enter the Wood Between the Worlds. This is the portal through which you have entered."

"How did he know that would work?"

"He didn't. He later told me he got the idea from an old story he read."

David's mind was reeling. Magic portals? Alternate universes? Ancient stories coming to life? These things were impossible. They couldn't be real. Yet here was the evidence before him.

"My friend passed on his legacy to his daughter," Edmund continued. "He felt that she was the only one capable of continuing what he did. Thus a tradition emerged; there would be only one Storyteller at a time and at the time of their death, they would designate one of their offspring to replace them."

"And Ben chose me?" David asked weakly.

"Yes, David. You are now the lone Storyteller. It is your duty to protect the Storylands and their inhabitants. Which reminds me…" Edmund pulled something out of his suit pocket, handing it to David. It was a plain silver pendant with a rose carved deeply into its face. "This is your most important tool as a Storyteller. It will inform you when and where you are needed and, as an added bonus, it will grant you the powers you require in each realm."

"What powers? What does that mean?" David asked, still feeling utterly lost.

"It seems you will find out soon," said Edmund, motioning toward the pendant.

The carved rose had vanished. In its place was a glowing intricate symbol. The symbol was comprised of four smaller parts. One of them was obviously a pictogram for fire, but the rest were either just indecipherable swirls or strange, blocky shapes.

"What is this? Is it supposed to be a world?"

"My boy, that symbol represents the world in which you will have your first mission. It's quite an interesting one. Follow me, I will lead you to the correct tree."

"Tree…what?"

"Just come along."

Edmund lead David to a certain tree not far from where they were standing. Following Edmund's pointing finger, David noticed that the tree had the same symbol that was glowing on the pendant carved into the bark. No, not carved. Examining the tree closer, David realized that the symbol had been grown into the tree. It was part of it.

"Touch the pendant to the tree, Storyteller," said Edmund with an odd note of formality in his voice.

His hand trembling with anticipation, David brushed the metal face of the talisman against the symbol on the tree. Both the pendant and the tree glowed brighter as they grew closer. The tree then just opened and revealed its contents.

"A parka?" The primitive coat was a muted blue color with a white fur trim. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"Well, the Wood provides for you. Where you are going, you will obviously be needing that coat. So put it on and stop wasting time."

David pulled on the hot, smelly parka. "Ugh. It smells like something died in here."

"Well, considering that that is probably seal skin you're not far off."

David made a face. "I hope wherever I'm going smells better than this thing. How am I going there, anyway?"

"You must enter the water."

"The water?" David glanced down at the pool. It was cleaner than the one he had seen earlier, but still not crystal clear.

"Before you depart, you must know several things. First, no matter how long you stay in another world, little to no time will pass here in yours." David nodded. Good to know. "Second, keep your pendant with you at all times. It is the source of your power. Without it, you will be vulnerable."

"You never explained what these powers are."

"You will find out in due course, my boy." Edmund smiled. "Good luck."

David stared at the gently rippling waters. "Moment of truth," he muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and jumped in.

A/N: So, what do you think? I know I totally ripped off the Magician's Nephew but that's what fanfiction is for, right? If any of you can guess what world David was gazing into before Edmund found him will not only gain the nonexistent yet prestigious Award of Awesomeness that I invented right now, but will also know the setting of the sequel to this story (if you figure it out please PM it and don't write it in a review as not to spoil everyone else). This is an idea that my friends and I have had for a while. The three of us will be contributing stories to this world, each with his own character and time period. This will be the first of many stories in this world all with exciting action and a needlessly complicated mythos. I hope you will join us on our journey through the stories of mankind.