Keeper of the Eternal Flame

The Keeper of the Eternal Flame

~Lusenda

In the times before the great loss, the golden age ruled the dream. Arts and culture was foremost, dreamers studied, ate, sang, and learnt as a unified Underlight...and the dream was one.

One important part of this place was the yearly flame ceremony to celebrate the founding of fire, and the flame arts. However, one year in particular, had a slightly different ending than the standard of a 2,000 flame salute to the founders of the art. This one year, Little Jusenda got out of his play pen. This year....he wanted to play.

Jusenda was a foundling...discovered in the Lost Caves by the current head rulers of one of the Great Houses who took him in.... not knowing how he came to be there. The young lad had only been with them for a short time. Little Jusenda was constantly found in situations that could not be explained logically. Whenever he was left alone in a room for any given period of time items would magically disappear leaving only a small pile of ash in its place. No one could explain the strange happenings and with the upcoming events at hand... no one had the time to look into it deeply.

This day Jusenda wander thru the crowds...watching the dreamers show off their flaming abilities. He was impressed by the longevity that some dreamers were able to maintain their flames and watch with fascination. After some time...he thought it might be fun to learn this art and inquired of the Master Teacher there how it was done. The MT was quite busy at the time... and gave the boy only a brief summary of its workings, promising to explain it at a later time in more depth... thinking that this small child could never make use of it for a while. Jusenda was non-wavering in his questions, pestering the poor teacher who was trying to judge a current contest. Jusenda was shooed away...his endless questions unanswered and he ran in tears to an abandoned room nearby.

The little boy sat for a while, staring at the walls and abandoned broken furniture covered in dust in the room. He reflected on what the teacher had said, thinking angrily that it wouldn’t be so hard to flame as they. The young lad was angry because he had been ignored and decided he would show them... he could flame with the best of them and didn’t need their help.

Jusenda’s anger grew with each passing moment ... as young children’s anger will when they don’t get what they want. Suddenly he smelled a wisp of smoke, heard a crackle by his feet and looked over to see a nearby chair disintegrate before his eyes, leaving only a small pile of ash. Jusendas eyes widened in surprise, so this was what that feeling was inside him. He thought he had gas. Touching the ash Jusenda realized he had done what they thought impossible.

Quickly the lad ran out of the room, beating his way thru the throngs of dreamers who were observing a contest being held among the dreamers possessing a flame level of 59 or higher. Jumping up and down, Jusenda demanded his right to try, screaming at the top of his lungs to be noticed by the older dreamers. Some ignored him, others laughed but none would let him try, telling him instead to go play with the other children by the lake.

Jusenda lost his temper, lashing out with a force so great the heat could be felt by all within its path. His flame struck a nearby table where sat two golden torches, gifts for the winner of this contest. The torches flared to life, glowing with a golden red brilliance the likes of which had never been seen. The dreamers present stood awestruck, as the glow grew brighter, filling the area with warmth and light in the deepening dusk.

The Master Teachers thought..no way…this child could never evoke a flame of such magnitude. They sought to test him again, trying to extinguish the torches, but to no avail. The torches burned now with an eternal light and to this day burn still.. sitting in the Library of Souls as a testament to all…big gifts can come in small packages.