The temple loomed in the background, its glow painting the canyon walls in molten red. But the group didn't move yet.
Not because they were scared of what was ahead…
But because of what they'd just survived.
Shoto sat cross-legged near the cliff's edge, elbows on his knees. His hands trembled slightly, but his face was calm.
"You all good?" he asked, not looking up.
No one answered at first.
Then Braydon broke the silence.
"No."
KJ scoffed. "That obvious?"
Elizabeth crossed her arms. "That wasn't just a test… that was personal. Like the canyon knew our minds."
"It did," Riven said from above, watching. "The Hollowed Ring isn't just a gateway. It sees what you fear, what you hide — and it makes you bleed for it."
Shoto finally stood.
"Then let's say it out loud. No more secrets. If we're going in there—" he pointed to the temple, "we're going in together."
One by one, they spoke.
Braydon: "I saw it. The thing that fell. The same one talking to me. It offered me power — said I already obeyed once. I didn't… but it didn't feel like I said no, either."
KJ:"My trial was mirrors. Versions of me — corrupted, laughing. Saying I'd lose control again. I almost did. But I remembered who I really am."
Elizabeth: "They made me choose between Brandon and a child I didn't know. I couldn't move. I… I failed. But it ended anyway."
Brandon stepped closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't fail. You endured."
Pate & Gage: "We were told only one of us could make it out," Pate said.
"So we said screw that and sprinted anyway," Gage finished.
"You defied the rules," Riven noted. "That's dangerous."
"Worked, didn't it?" Gage smirked.
Shoto looked down at his hands.
"My trial was… me. But stronger. Colder. It said I only win when I'm angry. I nearly lost trying to prove it wrong. But I didn't."
His flames flickered faintly across his knuckles.
"I didn't."
The group was silent again — this time not out of fear, but out of shared weight.
And then…
The temple doors opened.
With a sound like groaning stone and grinding teeth, the massive doors parted.
Beyond them: darkness.
And pulsing deep within — the second Hollowed Ring.