The Guarded Ember

Once upon a time there was a far away land of darkness. In this land every person walked around with a glowing ember in their hands. Some used them for light, others used them for heat, but most did not know how to truly use their ember and so squandered the precious flame of life. In this land of darkness there was a very large sea, and a very large mountain, and very tall tower made of ivory. And a road ran from the bay of the sea past the tower of ivory to the tall mountain.

One day, a stranger from the mountain came to the Ivory Tower and spoke with the Lady of the Tower. As they sat speaking, they gazed upon the road and saw a young man or an old boy, with a head ashen and silver and deep and sorrowful eyes walking along the path coming from the bay. As they watched him pass, the man from the mountain spoke to the lady and revealed that his master was watching the boy and that the man knew his tale.

The boy had come from the land of across the sea, where he had lived with a people whose lives were ruled by the embers they carried. The boy had been born of an ember and had been trained since his childhood days to become a priest of the embers, and to alight the embers of many others into roaring fires. But the mountain man’s master had seen the boy, and realizing that being born of ember he had a much larger ember than others, had the boy sent for.

The boy had left the land of his forefathers, and sailed across the deep sea. And as he came to the port town, he had seen unburned people for the first time. For in his village and in his land, all threw kindling and straw upon each other’s embers, and caused their embers to burst into blazing fires. But because the people did not let go of the embers when they were lit, all had burn marks from the ‘power of the embers’ as they called it.

In this new land, the boy met the unburned and saw for the first time people who walked with no ember at all. For in the town with the bridge of gold the storms were fierce and the rains were hard and the wind blew strong and mercilessly. There were those who had not protected their embers and so the embers of many had waxed cold and gone out. These were those who slowly died as they grew colder and colder and could no longer see the light of life.

The boy met a girl and as he had been taught, he prepared to light his ember and her ember as well and make a roaring fire. But the mountain man’s master had foreseen this, and had caused the house the boy boarded in to begin to shake. And the master of the house’s son set the house ablaze with his ember and the whole house fell, its parts scattering far. The boy, realizing the potential of his ember to destroy both houses and people, decided that his ember was too dangerous, that he would extinguish it.

He did and for many days he wandered the city cold, hungry, and blind to the lurking dangers. He stumbled upon a garden, and in the garden he found a small path. The path led to a small house with a large chimney and a golden light from the windows. He entered the doorway, and his eyes hurt as he gazed upon a massive and roaring fire in the hearth. There he saw a man with his back turned gazing into the golden flames.

“Sir, please, could I rest by your fire for just a moment. It has been very long since my bones have felt the heat of an ember in them.”

The man turned. He had short cut curly red hair, with hues of blond and orange throughout so that it seemed that his head was ablaze. His deep eyes seem to change colors in the flickering firelight as he smiled and motion to a chair next to the hearth. The boy sat down and soon he and the man began to speak.

“So little one. Why is your ember out? Did the rains extinguish it?” Asked the man with a knowing smile.

“No, I was afraid of the power of my ember. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. So I extinguished it.” Said the boy, shameful for no reason.

“It’s alright. Many have done the same for the same reason. But you are human, my lad, and you have been specially made to carry an ember within your hands. If you extinguish it, you slowly die also, and if you let it burn without control, you will die quickly as well.”


“But there is nothing I can do. My ember is out. See here it is.” Said the boy holding the hard piece of black coal.

“I see. Here give me your ember.” Said the man with his hand extended.

The boy gave it to him and he threw it in the burning hearth. The boy cried out when he saw the ember in the fire and almost began to weep, but the man with the blazing hair spoke softly, “If you wish to have your ember, you must be willing to give it up. If you wish to control your ember, you must be willing to do the impossible.”

And reaching into the roaring fire he pulled the red hot coal from its place and gave it to the boy gently. The boy held it close and felt its pulsating heat beating like a small heart. Then looking to the man he asked, “Sir, excuse me, but who are you?”

“I am the Keeper of the Hearth. I am the only one who can reignite flames and make embers burn again. See that mountain far away? I have a house upon it and there all those who wish to control their embers and use them to bring the light of the sun to this dark world again reside. If you want to, you can follow my path. It leads from the bay to my mountain top.”

And so the boy set out upon his journey. He kept his ember close to his heart when the rains fell, and learned to set it down when it burst into flame until the flames subsided. And soon he had learned from watching the others on the road with him how to keep his ember warm and lighted, but not let it burn without control.

And so he came to this place. The path that led by the Ivory Tower. And the Lady of the Tower looked to the man who had come from the mountain and asked him what awaited the lad there. The man looked at the boy, struggling against the flow of the winds and rains, covering his precious coal with his hand, and then looked to the far off mountain so faintly illuminated by light.

“I am not sure if my master would want me to reveal too much. However, I can tell you this. On this journey servants of my master, such as myself, will come along and teach him how to gather stones and build a home for his ember. And then as he grows and becomes stronger we will teach him how to carry not straw or kindling that burns so fast, but solid wood, which burns slowly and makes more embers.”

“But what waits for him upon the mountain?” asked the Lady of the Tower leaning forward.

“There awaits someone there for him… I cannot speak of it more. But I can show you if you wish. Here, take up your ember and I will take you to my mountain home and show you the secret things done only in the light. And there you will meet my master, the Keeper of the Hearth. And then you and I can place our embers in that of the Keeper’s fire and there sit in his warmth and light and be contented and joyous for all our days.”

“I would like that.” Said the Lady of the Ivory Tower, and walking down the many steps from locked chamber, she picked her ember up once again, and taking the arm of the man that came from the mountain they walked out upon the path together and went the same way as the boy who guarded his ember. For his ember was all he had to give.