The heat arrived before the view. A dry, suffocating heat that clung to the skin like a promise of burns. Aurora wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, panting. Tron loomed ahead like a living wall. In the center, a volcano spewed smoke, spitting flames into the gray sky. It was as if the world had stopped right in the middle of an eruption and yet continued to exist.

Thales did not hesitate. He kept walking as if the ground were not shaking beneath his feet. As ...