"Of course. Anyway, should I go first, so you can watch how it goes?"

"Yeah."

First, though: kiss, because she can't listen to a man declare that he would raid the Underworld to retrieve her soul and not kiss him. But it can be a quick peck instead of the passionate delight such a declaration deserves, because there's an island that is in danger of exploding and she'd like that to not happen.

He kisses her back earnestly then proceeds to demonstrate. First he coats himself in magic, then he steps gingerly onto the lip of the hole. He curls down into a ball and tips forward—then falls, hugging his knees to his chest and transferring heat to motion.

He disappears from view into the lava quickly, but Vetareh might be able to detect the magic working underground but close to the surface, driving him a few dozen feet forward until he is spit out the other side—what looked like a rock from here is in fact a protruding exit. He is ejected at a rather high speed, rolling in the air like a beach ball, some excess magic leaking in the form of visible light, and he's off, shooting into the sky and the distance.

That is utterly absurd, ridiculously dangerous, and... looks like quite a lot of fun, really. And yep, that magic sure is holding up and not causing James to burn to a crisp, that's a nice thing to witness and confirm. Well then. There's nothing else to do but follow him. She coats herself in the appropriate magic, checks that she definitely got it all right and that it matches James's instructions and the observations she made of his own example. Yep, that all ties in together nicely.

This accomplished, she swallows her nervousness, tucks herself into a ball, tips forward, and falls. This would be a really embarrassing way to die if she screwed up, so she sincerely hopes that she didn't. Also: she'd like to live. Just as a general preference.

It's warm inside, but not uncomfortably so. The magic keeps the sticky magma off, so once she's inside it feels a bit like propping forward through something like thick, hot air. Except she shouldn't try to breathe, of course.

Eyes closed as James instructed, it is utterly dark inside the tube, and only the magic is telling her she's actually moving. After a few seconds of black breathlessness, the lava becomes slightly lighter and less dense, which signs James explained mean she is approaching the exit—

—and then out she pops, the cold thin air a nice (and breathable!) contrast to her previous environment. Now all she has to do is make sure she doesn't let go of her knees and enjoy the flight.

Wheeee!

This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy—

—she finds herself laughing anyway, hugging her knees and sailing through the air and oh yes, it's crazy, but more importantly, it's great fun.

She reaches the top of her arc then starts sailing back down—

—and James receives her in his arms, taking a couple of steps back and exhaling an "oof" when she hits his chest. Still better than the inevitable loss of balance she'd face on her own.

She might find herself rather extremely dizzy.

She is indeed rather extremely dizzy! Also: laughing. She is laughing rather a lot.

"Hi, darling, nice catch," she giggles, leaning into him and waiting for the world to stop spinning. "Oh that was a rush, and also crazy, did I mention it was crazy, that was mad."

"I thought you'd enjoy it," he says with a smirk.

"You were absolutely right!" She feels steady enough to pull back from him enough to grin up at him, though she stumbles slightly and nearly tips over before she catches herself on him, grinning all the while.

"You're going to be smug about this, aren't you. In fact, you're already smug."

"Who, me?"

Smugly.

"Noooo, that other handsome necromancer, hiding behind that rock over there. Yes, you." Okay, she's stable enough to kiss him, so she's going to do that.

He's very on board with any plans that involve kissing this gorgeous time-displaced mesmer.

Kiiiiiiiiiss.

"Okay," she breathes, an inch away from his very tempting lips. "The islands are going to explode. We can have our way with each other after we go prevent that, hmm?"

"Yes, yes," he says, laughing, then turns around and "—is that a village to the west there?"

She peeks around him and blinks at the sight.

"... Strange place for a village, if it is. Well, now I'm curious, clearly that's the first place we're going."

They approach, and the "village" turns out to be made of the remains of a boat and...

...circus tents?

"How... peculiar."

"No kidding," she agrees, staring. "Well. Let's go ask about our anti-explosion device, then. And... maybe check to make sure they are aware that waypoints exist."

Onwards! There are a few people, and... some of them are rather peculiarly dressed. Like circus members, actually. A couple are practising walking on tightrope, and there's someone doing a handstand and trying to hop to only one hand.

Vetareh stares. A... circus. A circus, on the Fire Islands. First the pirate rat things, and now this. Tyria has definitely gotten very weird in her absence.

Well. Is there a person in charge of the circus? A ringmaster, maybe?

After walking for a bit James walks up to someone dressed funnily and asks that, and the person points in a direction. He thanks them and walks in that direction, and eventually they can see a... rather peculiarly dressed human woman who must be their target.

"Ah, excuse me?" calls Vetareh. "We were hoping you could help us find an ancient dwarven device, we were told one was around this area."

The woman turns to look at her from where she was filling out what looks like a puzzle and blinks. "A dwarven...? Wait, I don't know you two—customers! Real customers! Oh, I'm not prepared—" She clears her throat. "Welcome to Ember Bay's one-and-only circus, where you'll witness the grandest marvels Tyria has to offer! Want to buy a ticket?"

Vetareh stares at the woman, blankly. It appears that she did not impress the full emergency of the situation. Time to correct that.

"This is Commander James Orland, of the Pact and Dragon's Watch. My name is Vetareh, I am an expert in ancient magical phenomenon. We are working to find and activate several ancient dwarven devices to prevent the islands from exploding. We would very much appreciate if you could point us to one if you've seen something, but if you can't, then we really have to be on our way."

    The ringmaster laughs nervously. "Welllll, I suppose I can waive your ticket today. I might know where such a device would be." She casts a portal spell behind herself. "Come on in, and find the wonders of Ember Bay's greatest mysteries!"

(James just looks at Vetareh in delight.)