Chapter 2

Shimmering, blinding light shone from the majesty that was the Ivory Tower. A glistening pillar stretched high above the plain below, partially surrounded by a hollow mountain. Three circular plateaus stood sentry around a summit of the pillar, where an egg-like structure stood, emitting massive power.

Power that Falcor's mysterious passenger could feel from two miles away.

"Whoa…" Loki muttered, gripping Falcor tighter. "She really IS powerful."

Atreyu glanced back at Loki. He wasn't at all surprised that Loki knew of the Childlike Empress. She was renowned far and wide. He had never seen anyone feel her presence from such a distance, though.

Falcor lowered his altitude, ready to alight at a public entrance. Loki stopped him.

"Land on top. She already knows we're here."

Falcor looked back, now surprised himself. Shrugging his draconian shoulders, he alighted on the top of the tower.

Almost immediately, the egg opened. Sitting inside, on a golden cushion, was a little girl of no more than ten. She was frighteningly delicate and impossibly beautiful. Atreyu, who had seen her once before, was slightly floored, by not only her presence, but also since he had never expected to see her again. Falcor and Loki, who had never been in the company of the Childlike Empress, dropped both their jaws nearly to their feet.

With a tiny smile, the Childlike Empress rose to her feet.

"Atreyu, how nice to see you again."

Her voice was small and quiet, yet somehow the very universe resonated with the sound. The utter unshakable confidence that Loki had displayed since his arrival was dissolving in the presence of the small girl. She approached him first.

"Loki…I saw you coming."

She took his hand. His electric blue eyes widened as some unknown energy surged into his being.

"The power to begin, Loki. This is my gift to you. I am the beginning. You are the journey."

"The Old Man in the Mountain is the end." Loki said, feeling the need to impart some knowledge in a situation where he suddenly felt very much like an outsider. "I do tend to be the one in the middle. I must say it's a pleasure, Empress."

The Childlike Empress laughed softly like a lilting tune.

"The Old Man has no part in this story. It ends with the human."

"This is HIS story, is it?"

"If he is here, then it is."

"Where is he?"

The Childlike Empress' deifically beautiful face grew sad. It was an absolute tragedy to see sorrow mar her visage. A tremble grew in Loki's lip as he watched.

"I do not know." She practically whispered. "Auryn has hidden in darkness."

"AURYN?!" Atreyu blurted out in shock. "He has Auryn? How did he get it?"

"He wished for it."

Loki stuttered. "He w-w-w-WISHED for it? Loki knows the Neverending Story! He knows what Auryn will do to him! He actually WANTED it? He knows once you start, there's no stopping!"

"Then you must find him quickly." The Childlike Empress returned to serene stalwartness. "Search the land. A great darkness is growing across Fantastica. The human Loki will be somewhere within it."

Loki steeled himself and tightened his grip on the Childlike Empress' hand. Even though she held gently, he thought even if he'd had the strength of a giant, he could not have broken her. He nodded with resolve.

"This journey begins."

Loki began to run back toward Falcor when he stopped and looked back. The Childlike Empress was already climbing back into her egg.

"Will there be no boons for my companions?" He asked. Atreyu and Falcor perked up at the suggestion.

"Their gift is a new adventure. It is a new life for them, that once again starts with me."

The egg closed. The trio knew somehow that would be the last they would see of the Childlike Empress.

"We search for darkness." Loki said with restored strength, clenching the hand that touched the Empress of Fantastica into a purpose-filled fist. A warm glow came from his closed hand that quickly escalated to a burning heat.

Loki opened his hand. A medallion lay on his palm. A looped chain was connected to a thick ring of dark bronze. Within that ring lay a thinner ring of shimmering silver which framed a yet smaller solid circle of brightly shining gold.

"That looks like…" Falcor started to say, when the tri-metal eye burned Loki's hand once again. He tossed it upward in reflex, and it landed backside-up. On the back of the strange artifact was an inscription.

FORGE A NEW PATH

Loki donned the medallion around his neck, leaving it to hang visibly outside his t-shirt. Finally drawing the sword he had kept hidden within the folds of his leather coat, he brought forth a red-hilted katana. Leveling it toward the vast land before them, he strode upon Falcor's back. Atreyu hitched up his bow and quiver, taking a place on Falcor's rump. Loki stood atop the luckdragon like a captain launching his ship out to sea. He gripped the medallion.

"We search for darkness…with new light!"