The Hidden Temple

In this extremely cold weather where water is frozen, air is dense, and covered with fog, who would have believed to see a gigantic temple burning with blue flames all around? They all started removing their clothes because it was hot there. "What should we do?" they all were thinking.

"Should we go back to the cave?" said Karl.

"Why don't you try?" said Julius.

"It's no use, Karl. The cave gate has frozen again and is now completely sealed with a thick layer of ice," said Elric.

"So, now what should we do? Go into this building and get ourselves burned with this strange blue flame, or just sit here and watch these flames completely burn down this building?" said Karl.

"It's not some random building; it's a temple. The architecture is amazing. I read in books that thousands of years ago, people used to make this type of temple. Even among those, its architecture is incredible. I don't think the fire will burn this temple down because it's the only temple surrounded by fire, whereas the land behind it is still frozen. It looks like the heat is just in the front direction," said Julius.

"Why don't we try getting closer?" said Elric.

They doubted him and said that they would burn, which is what everyone usually thinks. But as Elric moved closer, both of them moved together with Elric. As they got closer, the heat grew intense. Their faces started to burn. Karl and Julius stopped moving and started saying, "Let's get back, Elric. We'll figure something out." But Elric's will was ironclad; he saw hope to find a cure for his mother. He kept moving forward towards the main entrance. At one point, all the heat disappeared, and when he realized he was inside the temple, he tried to call out to his friends that it was cool inside, but they couldn't hear him, nor could they see him. So, Elric believed in his friends that sooner or later they would realize and cross this hurdle. Elric moved inside the temple.

"Did he burn to ash and disappear?" Karl said.

"Don't say things like that. He must be on the other side of these flames," said Julius.

"How the hell did he cross this? Even a single step feels like it will burn me alive," said Karl.

"There is something that we are missing. We also have to cross it somehow," said Julius.

"I have an idea: cover ourselves with clothes and start running inside. When the clothes start to burn, throw them away, and then we can get inside," said Karl.

"Mmm hmmm, maybe it will work. Let's try," said Julius.

They tried and failed miserably at the very first moment. The clothes absorbed heat, and after a few seconds, it felt like hell.

"Oh, my face is burning. I got fire burns on my hand. Let me put some ice on it," said Karl.

"Ice! Bring ice. I got an idea: let this ice turn into water and soak all the clothes and our bodies in water. Use raw ice as a protective shield. Are you ready to try again?" said Julius.

"Are you sure we are going to cross safely?" asked Karl.

"I'm not sure, but this is the most effective way to cross with minimal damage that I can think of right now. Run as fast as you can," said Julius.

They both started running, and this worked well but not for very long. The clothes dried and started to burn again, and all the ice vaporized. They felt an extremely hot sensation, but this time they didn't give up because they got quite far. Actually, it was five meters, but for them, it felt like a long march. They ran, walked, crawled, but didn't go back. At one point, it started to cool, and when they realized they were on the other side, Julius said, "Finally," but they had burns all over their bodies. Both of them lost consciousness because of the extreme heat. The fire didn't burn them, but it still felt like torture from heat waves. They fell asleep because inside the temple, the temperature was normal—not too cold, not too hot, just perfect.

Meanwhile, Elric was wandering inside the temple, searching for the book. The temple was very gigantic; finding it wasn't easy, but impossible was not a word for Elric. He moved here and there but didn't find any clue about the book. As Julius said, the architecture was amazing, not just from the outside but also from the inside. He wondered how they crafted such complex designs on these hard stones and how they were able to withstand this fire. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked back, there was no one, but he felt someone's presence. Now he was a little scared because he continuously felt someone following him, hearing his footsteps but not seeing anyone. He turned back and shouted, "Who are you? Come out and show yourself, you coward!" Again, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to punch, but before he could, he had a mere glimpse of the future where his hand turned to ashes before he could punch.

In fear, he moved back and thought of running to the right, but again those glimpses showed his legs turning to ashes. The same happened for the left and every possible way he could think of escaping and fighting. He saw himself burned in a mere second. He didn't know if he could actually do that or if what he saw was true, but his feelings didn't let him move an inch. The man smiled.

He said, "Why are you afraid?" In the blink of an eye, he was behind Elric, getting closer to his ears, but Elric felt like he had no legs, no hands, not even a body. His mind was just floating. The man came closer and whispered in his ear, "I am the keeper," and then laughed. "Look at your face, like you have seen a ghost," said the keeper.

Elric was shocked; he couldn't say a word for some time. His soul felt like it was about to leave his body. In a trembling voice, he said, "I am Elric Shawn."

"Nice to meet you. As I told you, I am the keeper of this temple, and it's my responsibility to protect it. That's why I had to make you scared. But you're a nice guy, Welcome to the pilar of fire ,so why are you here?"

"I am here in search of a book which teaches about mystical arts," said Elric.

"For what?" the keeper asked in a strange manner, and Elric felt that he had said something wrong.