The Keeper

Ancient Legends

I stood on the edges on the firelight so people wouldn't know I was listening as intently to the old stories as the children. Stories of how Irsia, Land of Dreams, and about the gods of the realm. I had grown tired of these stories however and wanted to hear the Legend of the Keepers.

My father, one of the village storytellers, stood up and came to the front of the crowd. He sat down slowly as he was growing old and his joints had begun to act up. Father looked at every member of the crowd before his eyes finally came to rest on me.

"The story I'm about to tell you goes back as far as the beginnings of time, when the gods had recently made the world." Excitement filled the room as both child and adult listened intently to the Legend of the Keepers.

"The creatures that, Fauchi and her husband Redwick, Mother and Father of All, had created had begun to rage war on one another.

Back then, the gods had no problem speaking with their children, the creatures of the land, and many gods took sympathy on different races. They took sides against their brothers and sisters, using the war between races for their own amusement, much as we would play a game of chess. Due to the gods involvement in the war, battles reaped untold devastation. Fauchi was appalled that her children, both god and mortal, could do this to one another. Every creature from across the continent had joined in the fight except for one shapeshifter-woman. As the others fought she preached to the world of the wrongness of the war.

Fauchi realised that if this woman had enough power, she could stop the war. So in secret, Fauchi began to fashion an Object of Power, a staff, so powerful that even she, herself was terrified when she was finished. Without realising it, the Mother of All had woven a part of her soul into the staff which now held the very power of the world.

Satisfied with her work, Fauchi came to the shapeshifter-woman in a dream, and said, "You are the only one in Irsia who has not given into the temptation of war. In my hand I hold an object that has the power to end all wars. This power is yours to world, on one condition. When you take this Object of Power you must continue to prevent war. This power must only be used for the good of Irsia."

The woman could not believe the responsibility she was being given. "Mother of All, I would be honoured to help you," As the woman touched the staff she felt the soul of Fauchi.

She felt Fauchi's every thought, hope and dream. Feeling an unknown presence touch her soul, Fauchi was shocked to realise that she had accidently placed a piece of her soul within the Object. As the woman stood there with the Object of Power in her hands, she was amazed to see the word 'Keeper' engrave itself onto the handle. She was now the Keeper of the Object of Power and she alone could wield it without the soul of the Mother of All consuming her.

Worried not only for the woman's safety but for that of all Irsia. Fauchi went to the youngest of the gods, the Goddess Sira. Fauchi told Sira about the Object and what it concealed as well as telling her to watch over the Keeper. She was to ensure that the Object of Power was only ever used for good. For the next several months the Keeper journeyed to all races of the world, convincing them to stop the war. The Object of Power touched the souls of the every man, woman and child. Within a year the war had ended and all was right with the world.
But the Object of Power proved to be too much even for the Keeper as madness and cruelty began to settled in the woman's heart and mind. The woman gave birth to a daughter who she hoped to pass on the gift of the Keeper before she went truly insane. The child, however, was already corrupted by the power of the Object and was born with her mother's madness. Sira was the first to witness the horror that the Object was inflicting and immediately fled to the Realm of the Gods. However none of the gods believed her. Who was she but a child looking for attention? So the other gods dismissed this worry.

After many years, the evil that has settled in the woman began to grow. Instead of preaching for peace, she began to chant for the drums of war to yet again sound. The woman had gone mad because of her corrupted soul. Only once the new war had begun did the gods realise their mistake. They made a plan to kill the Keeper and to destroy the Object. In the dead of night, Sira crept into the home of the Keeper and managed to steal the Object. However the woman awoke and began to drive Sira away, still managing to wield the power of the Object even though she was no longer in possession.

Sira fled with the Object, unable to kill the woman. She took it to the gods and told what had happened. The gods became very nervous as they had never encountered anyone who had managed to defeat a god before. They all decided that they had no choice but to destroy the Object but no matter how hard they tried they could not so much as scratch it. After many failed attempts at destroying the Object, Fauchi and Sira took the Object and inspected it. What they found horrified them. If they managed to kill the Keeper then her soul would remain in the Object forever and since the Object couldn't be destroyed then the woman's soul would continue to poison the land with her madness.

Fauchi wept for what she had done, in trying to save the world she had condemned it to destruction. As she cried she looked down at the world of mortals. What she saw was one elf who alone preached peace to the world. The Mother of All was struck by an idea that was both magnificent and risky. She told her idea to the other gods and they all agreed it was the only chance for peace in Irsia.

Ythera, God of the Hunt, was sent to track down the original Keeper. As he looked for the woman, Fauchi spoke to the young elf of her plan. Both mortals were then brought to the Realm of the Gods. Together the Gods and Goddesses performed a spell that would change the very fate of Irsia. They bound the soul of the man and woman to the Object so that whenever one died the other would become the Keeper of the Object of Power. That way the madness and corruption would not be able to take root in one family as with what had happened with the woman's daughter.

After the spell was finished, Fauchi realised that her soul was too powerful to be tied to that of a mortals. So she decided that another God or Goddess would have to take her place. Sira listened to this with interest. Aside from watching over the Keeper, she had no duty to perform. She was powerful enough to sustain the Object's power but not so powerful that her soul would taint that of a mortal. Sira stepped forward and told the gods of her idea. This surprised them all as the last person they would have chosen to replace Fauchi's soul was Sira's. Sira however put her points before the gods and they could find no problems with the arrangement.

A part of Sira's soul was placed into the Object and Fauchi's was removed. Sira became the Goddess of the Keepers and the descendants of the woman of the shapeshifters and the man of the elves became the Keepers of the Object of Power. Each taking responsibility once the other died.

With the possibility of corruption from too much contact with the Object gone. The families did their sacred duty by protecting the Object and keeping the peace. Whenever a Keeper died, he or she had to repeat the Keeper Blessing and the magic contained within the words ensured that the most capable member of the opposing family was made the Keeper. And so the Keepers were created."

As the crowd started walking home, I went to father and helped him up. "Father? How did the children of the heirs become Keepers? Wouldn't the madness have begun to set in? How cold they then become Keepers themselves?"

He continued walking. "The Gift of the Keeper skips a generation. Once the Keeper dies and the other families most suitable person becomes the Keeper, the madness in the children goes away. Besides, Sira watches over the Keepers, so if there were no suitable Keepers in the other family then the previous Keeper's child, mad or not, would become the Keeper. Sira's soul cleanses the Keeper's own soul, and so the Keeper is never mad, no matter their condition beforehand.

I sighed. "You speak of this legend as though you believe."

"What is not to believe? Irsia is magic, Lili; truly the Land of Dreams. Everything the legend speaks of is possible. We're almost home Lili, could you help me up the stairs?" He was the only person I allowed to call me Lili. I helped father up the stairs before walking up to my room and getting into bed. I fell asleep and dreamt of what it would like if I was the Keeper. I smiled as I dreamt of adventures I knew I would never have.