The Temple of the Sun-Kin breathed heat like a slumbering beast. As dawn filtered through the smoke-hazed sky, Aira Flameheart and her team stood at the threshold of the ancient ruin, the volcanic ground trembling faintly beneath their boots.
The entrance yawned before them—a massive archway carved from obsidian and etched with faded glyphs. Beyond it lay darkness that pulsed with faint, molten light.
"Time to see what wakes beneath the ashes," Seris muttered.
Aira nodded. "Let's move."
Descent Into the Temple
The team advanced cautiously. Inside, the air thickened, heat clinging to their skin. Lava channels snaked through the cracked stone floors, illuminating the temple's inner sanctum with a flickering orange glow.
Korin led the front, shield up, while Mira and Kael flanked Aira in the middle. Seris brought up the rear, her massive sword already half-drawn.
The temple's architecture was both majestic and unsettling. Statues of fire deities towered over them, some weeping magma, others crumbling to dust.
Mira read the inscriptions aloud as they passed:
"From ash we rise. In fire we endure. To flame we return."
"Comforting," Kael muttered.
Trial One: The Magma Wraiths
The first chamber burst into chaos.
From pools of lava emerged magma wraiths—semi-sentient beings of molten rock and searing flame. They moved fast, shrieking with eerie human-like voices.
Korin blocked the first charge, but the heat behind each blow was intense. His armor hissed and steamed.
"Too hot to block for long!" he shouted.
Aira snapped her fingers, and flame rings spiraled outward, pushing back two wraiths. She used Scorchstep to blink behind a third and ignited it from within, watching it explode in a shower of embers.
Kael launched wind scythes to cool and crack their outer shell while Mira chanted water sigils that hissed against their bodies.
Seris didn't hesitate—she jumped directly into the thickest crowd, carving arcs with her greatsword. Each strike left afterimages of flame and steel.
Within minutes, the chamber was quiet again, filled only with hissing steam and the heavy sound of breath.
"Not bad," Seris said, cleaning her blade.
"Not over yet," Aira replied. "Look."
The wall at the far end had started to shift.
A staircase of rising magma began to form.
Trial Two: The Living Forge
The next chamber was a forge—the heart of the Sun-Kin's craft. Suspended platforms hovered over a pit of flowing lava, and molten golems, half-finished or long-dead, lined the edges.
As they stepped forward, the golems stirred.
"Here we go again," Kael groaned.
These constructs were different—mechanical, relentless, immune to basic flame.
Aira adapted quickly, shifting tactics. She Scorchstepped between platforms, using her momentum to hit from angles the golems couldn't track. Her flames didn't just burn now—they pierced.
Kael imbued his wind with slicing pressure to shear joints. Mira used water barriers to cool cores mid-fight, creating critical weaknesses.
Korin smashed through a construct's chest cavity with a roar.
But it was Seris who ended the trial.
As a massive golem formed from the forge itself, she leapt into the air, blade overhead, and shouted a single word:
"Ashbreaker!"
The sword glowed red-hot and came down like a meteor.
The golem shattered.
Interlude: The Sun-Kin Memory
After the battle, a glowing fragment floated into the air—a Sun-Kin Memory Core. Aira stepped forward and touched it.
Visions surged into her mind:
A civilization of fire-worshippers…
A titan bound in chains of magma…
A promise made in desperation: "Guard our secrets until the flameborn returns."
Aira gasped and stumbled back.
"What did you see?" Mira asked.
Aira's eyes burned brighter than ever.
"They weren't guarding the temple from intruders."
"They were guarding the Colossus from escaping."
Final Descent
The team descended deeper.
Obsidian halls gave way to natural caverns glowing with magma veins. They passed skeletons of adventurers long dead, melted gear still fused to rock.
At last, they arrived at a massive door—twenty feet high, sealed with ancient glyphs.
The heat leaking from within made the air shimmer.
Aira placed her palm on the door. Her fire talent surged—not just in her, but through the door. It responded.
With a slow groan, it opened.
Beyond was a colossal chamber.
In the center was a sleeping titan of stone and lava—the Molten Colossus.
Its heart pulsed like a volcano about to erupt.
Awakening
As they stepped in, the Colossus stirred.
One glowing eye opened.
It spoke in a voice like grinding mountains:
"Flameborn… you have returned… but the oath is broken. You… shall be judged."
Aira's hands ignited, her eyes unwavering.
"Let's end this."