"I really don't know how to answer that question," she replied.

But she rolled off of him, landing hard on the ground, pushing herself up to look back at the portal. Like Raleigh, she wondered at first why nothing was charging through it. That was, in her experience, how these things worked in Trench and Deerington before that. And yet, this portal just sort of shimmered.

Beyond the event horizon, there was a pale yellow mountain path. The stone was studded with little red stars. Rubies. Around the highest peak was a cloud, shaped like a perfect circle. A halo crowning it.

Ariadne's eyes widened. "I...I know this place..." She knew it, but she couldn't believe it. "That...that's the Temple of Flame..."