All of Arad's senses were compromised by the lava, making navigation beyond up and down near impossible. He had to create a new way to sense his surroundings in the absence of all of his senses. To achieve that, he checked each of his senses one by one to see what he could do.
The first one was his sight, which was the most debilitating. He can't see through the lava due to how dense it is, and who even could see through molten rock? He sure can't.
His hearing was also blocked. The boiling lava made it impossible to hear anything besides its bubbling and sizzling around his scales, creating a wall of gray sound.
He expected to be at least able to sense some vibration through the lava, but unless something was massive and close enough to him moved, sensing anything wasn't an option.
He tried to use his nose, even though he already knew the result. The lava had burned all of the smells, leaving only the stench of sulfur and pumice.
