Ash and Ember

Day 13, Phrase 3 : The Infernal Heart

Moments later, Eris and Ash stood on a cracked obsidian dais, sweat beading on their skin before vanishing into the suffocating heat.

The air inside the chamber burned.

At the heart of the ruin, the Eternal Ember burned within an ancient brazier, its flames curling and twisting as if alive. The brazier stood on a platform of half-melted stone, pulsing with unnatural energy.

Suddenly , a deep, shuddering rumble tore through the chamber.

Molten cracks split wider beneath their feet. From the depths of the ruin, chains of burning metal shot upward, snapping into place around the chamber, sealing off every possible escape. The temperature surged, the brazier flaring as something ancient and unyielding stirred.

Then, it rose.

From the molten abyss, the Ember's Keeper emerged—a monstrous construct of fused iron, molten rock, and charred bone. Four arms, jagged and uneven, each wielding a different form of weapon. A molten blade. A whip of burning chains. A smoldering warhammer. And the last—a skeletal, open palm, fingers flexing as if waiting to crush something fragile.

Its face was a mask—a smooth, expressionless slab of blackened metal, glowing cracks splitting across its surface. It did not speak.

It only judged.

Then, with a sound like splintering earth, it attacked.

Eris moved first, instinct propelling her forward. She sketched a weapon mid-step, a blazing spear crafted from the same molten minerals that surrounded them. A weapon forged in the heart of fire itself—

But the heat warped it.

The moment she threw the spear, it fractured, breaking apart mid-air. Shards of half-melted metal exploded outward. The Keeper didn't even flinch.

Instead, it retaliated.

A molten fist descended.

The blow should have crushed her.

But the world lurched.

Time snapped backward.

Ash rewound the moment by a fraction of a second—enough for him to grab Eris's arm and yank her clear. The Keeper's fist obliterated the ground where she had just stood, sending molten rock spewing in every direction.

Ash gritted his teeth. "Your weapons won't hold."

Eris wiped sweat from her forehead, eyes narrowing. She should have known. The Grave rejected anything too solid, too structured. She had to think differently again.

While Eris recalibrated, Ash took his chance.

He pushed time forward and back, attempting to freeze the Keeper in place. For a split second, it slowed—

Then, its entire form shuddered.

The air around the Keeper twisted, warping unnaturally.

The sheer heat was distorting time itself.

The backlash hit Ash like a hammer to the skull. His vision blurred, his balance faltered—and the Keeper struck.

A burning chain lashed toward him, moving faster than his dazed mind could process.

Eris didn't think. She reacted.

Her hands moved in rapid strokes, sketching a shield of superheated air. The chain struck it—and instead of breaking, the air bent, distorting the force just enough to send the attack glancing past Ash.

He stumbled, breath ragged, eyes flickering in understanding.

Time couldn't be stopped here.

But maybe—just maybe—it could be delayed.

The Strategy Shift

They had seconds to recover before the Keeper attacked again.

Eris adjusted first. Instead of solid weapons, she sketched movement itself.

Currents of air twisted around her fingertips, spiraling into shifting pockets of pressure. The battlefield itself became her weapon—each gust altering how the heat flowed, how the flames surged, how the Keeper's own attacks rebounded against it.

Ash, in turn, changed his approach.

Instead of stopping time, he staggered it.

A fraction of a second—just enough to turn certain death into a glancing hit. A split delay here, a forced acceleration there—each shift making the Keeper's movements just slightly off, its massive strikes missing by inches.

Their movements became fluid, precise.

A dance of fire and time.

But it still wasn't enough.

The Keeper fought without hesitation, its mask unbroken. A construct without weakness.

Until—

A molten pillar cracked above them, collapsing toward the battlefield.

Ash grasped time around it—not stopping, but delaying. Holding it in place for a single, perfect moment.

Eris saw the opening.

She sketched an illusion—a phantom fluid woven construct that was a bit similar to herself and Ash, moving in a different direction. The Keeper took the bait, its molten blade slashing through air.

The real Eris and Ash dodged left.

Ash released time.

The molten pillar crashed down—

Slamming into the Keeper's back.

Its mask cracked.

Beneath the fissures, something burned.

The Ember's Core.

But the Keeper did not fall.

Instead, it lurched forward, molten limbs twisting unnaturally as it absorbed the impact. Chunks of fused iron and scorched bone peeled away, revealing something far worse beneath—a second, burning form, flickering like a dying star, its molten skeleton barely held together.

The Keeper had shed its outer shell.

And now, it was faster.

Eris barely had time to react before a molten whip of chains lashed toward her. Ash yanked her back just in time, but the heat still seared across her arm—not a direct hit, but enough to burn through the fabric of her sleeve.

It was at its final phase now.

They could finish it if they did well.

Eris didn't try to create a weapon.

She didn't try to strike.

Instead—

She sketched a chain.

Not for the Keeper.

For the Ember itself.

But the moment the chain latched onto the Core—the Keeper fought back.

The entire ruin shook as the Keeper threw itself forward, resisting with everything it had. Its molten blade cleaved through the air, barely missing Eris as she braced against the heat. The Ember's Core flared violently, its pulsing light nearly blinding.

For the first time, the Keeper made a sound.

A deep, shuddering roar, not of pain—but defiance.

Eris gritted her teeth.

She could feel it—a last attempt to hold its purpose, to refuse defeat.

But she yanked harder.

The brazier shattered.

Flames screamed as the last of the Keeper's strength was torn away. The molten construct staggered, four arms faltering, its once-unshakable form crumbling piece by piece. Its mask split further—until its entire body began to collapse, swallowed by the fire that had once sustained it.

With one final, guttural crack, the Ember's Keeper fell.

But the Molten Grave was not done with them yet.

The chamber shuddered immediately as the walls buckled. Fire surged upward, and the very ground beneath them fractured.

The exit crumbled along with the rumbles. They had seconds to escape before the Molten Grave buried them alive there.

Escape from the Molten Grave – A Race Against Fire

Eris, gripping the Eternal Ember tightly, knew they couldn't turn back to the exit. But there had to be another way.- she would create one.

She quickly sketched a layout in her mind—how the ruins were before they collapsed.

The structure had multiple levels.

If the upper bridges fell, the lower levels might still exist.

There could be a passage hidden beneath the ruins, leading away from the lava instead of above it.

Her plan? Go down, not up.

"There's another way," she says quickly. "We need to find an opening below."

The heat became more suffocating as they moved making it impossible to breathe despite having on masks.Eris couldn't create normal stairs—they'd melt instantly. Instead, she decided to sketch a temporary descent:

1. Floating obsidian steps, reinforced to withstand extreme heat, forming a sloping path downward.

2. A heat-resistant air current, pushing against them to slow their fall if the steps collapse.

3. Mirage distortions, tricking the surging flames into moving away from their actual path.

Ash followed behind.He gripped her arm and raced through the created paths.

The steps were crumbling beneath them - faster than they might outrun.

As they descended, Ash's time distortions flickered again. He saw remnants of past challengers—some who escaped, some who failed.

One memory stands out—a player who almost made it but fell into a trap.

Ash narrowed his eyes. "Wait—Eris, left! The right path leads to—"

Before he could finish, a chunk of the ruins collapsed, revealing a hidden pit of cursed flames. If they had gone right, they'd be dead.

Eris swerved left, sketching a temporary bridge over the new gap.

They landed on a lower level, breathless but alive. The passage ahead was narrow, leading into an underground tunnel.

But there was one problem—a massive molten wall blocked their way.

The heat was intense, warping the very air. The wall wasn't solid—it was a living, shifting mass of fire, constantly rebuilding itself.

It was the final obstacle in their path outside.

Eris' first instinct was to sketch a path through it, but she knew it wouldn't work. The flames would devour anything ordinary.

Ash grits his teeth. "I can hold back the fire for a few minutes—but no more."

At that moment, Eris realized what they have to do.

She remembered the Eternal Ember of Flame.

The Eternal Ember wasn't just a key. It was pure living flame—and such flames did not burn their own.

If she could synchronize with it, just for a moment…

Eris closed her eyes and focused. The Ember pulsed in her hands, and suddenly—she felt the fire.

The heat no longer suffocated her.

The flames no longer burned her.

For a brief second, she became part of the inferno.

She gripped Ash's hand and stepped forward in faith—into the fire.

Ash tensed, ready with Time magic just in case—but the flames did not consume them.

Instead, they parted around Eris, as if accepting her presence.

The wall of fire didn't vanish, but for exactly five seconds, there was an opening.

Ash doesn't question it. He moved without hesitation, pulling Eris through the inferno.

The moment they passed, the fire roared back into place, sealing the exit behind them.

They soon collapsed onto solid ground, gasping for air.

And when they looked up—

They are outside.

The Molten Grave was behind them, buried in flames.

And in Eris' hands, the Eternal Ember still burned.

They had survived again and has finally gathered the two keys necessary to leave Eterna.