I step through to see the ladies held at spear point, hands on their heads.
"That's my fault, sorry ladies, I should have told someone we were coming" I call loudly enough to draw the guards attention, causing them to bow and stand down.
I'm just about to order the gate closed when 3 more people come through in the robes of High River Sect.
"Ladies, you realize this is another world, yes? And that the portal is about to close?"
They nod frantically. "Please do. We're escaping from truly terrible arranged marriages. The further we go the better"
"Then if nobody else is coming, Priestesses, please close the unstable portal."
The flickering gateway slides shut behind us and the girls heave a sigh of release.
"They must have been bad for you to chase a High Priestess of the Black Dragon, God of Death, into another world" I laugh and the girls flinch.
"Too late to reconsider now".
"Vitale wasn't joking about that?" one girl asks.
