Steps

Kiran had two choices.

First, she could stay in the meadow, count to a hundred like a good girl, and wait for Mr. Kidnapper to return. That would require her to trust that Mr. Kidnapper hadn't abandoned her: that he simply stepped away for a much needed time alone to think things over, and that he would return once she reached a hundred. Did she trust Mr. Kidnapper? Despite how reluctantly handsome he was in the dark, she could not trust him - not completely, at least. After all, he held a blade to her throat and had the audacity to leave her alone in a place she was in no way familiar with instead of quietly meditating in a corner where she could still see him.

Second, she could shove her fear of heights somewhere in the deepest corners of her mind so that she could hike down the mountain alone. She would also need to devise a safe way to walk down the steps. Clearly, she couldn't just prance down each step like she would with a normal set of stairs. The wind was strong at the edge of the cliff and the only things she could hold onto were protruding stones on the cliff wall; if there was any at all that she could grasp. Each stone step was also shiny and smooth like marble. Factoring in the possibility that it could also be moist due to the high altitude, slipping down to her death was highly probable.

Come to think of it, there was also a third option available: jump off the edge of the cliff and hope everything was a dream.

Kiran shook her head.

No. Survival was her priority. There was no food anywhere in the meadow so she couldn't stay there and wait for someone to rescue her. That meant the only choice left for her was brave the stone steps and hope that she would reach the bottom of the mountain alive.

Kiran nodded to herself. She had to suck it up and follow the footsteps of the main characters she admired in the stories that kept her up at night. Kiran got on her knees and gingerly crawled to the edge of the cliff to examine the stone steps and the cliff wall that was visible in the darkness.

She couldn't imagine herself standing on the stone steps with her legs already trembling like jelly. Kiran took a deep breath, the cold air already freezing her lungs. She flinched when she realized that it was getting harder for her to breathe. It seemed that the meadow was at an altitude with low oxygen levels. She would have to leave before she lost her wits to altitude sickness.

Kiran narrowed her eyes at the cliff wall. It seemed to have crevices that she could hold on to. Hopefully, the shadows she spotted on its surface were really rocks that she could grab, and not just her wistful delusions. Kiran took one last deep breath before sitting up on the edge of the cliff, her legs gingerly dangling over the first stone step. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut as panic surged through her senses.

Kiran hated hiking down from high places because the helpful tip "don't look down" to manage her fear of heights couldn't apply to it. Looking down was necessary to get to the ground from a high place. It was the only way she could be sure that she was heading toward the right destination. It was also the only way her fear could petrify her, and make her fall prey to the ruthless gusts of wind blowing along the side of the stone steps.

Kiran felt cold sweat slide down the back of her neck. Her ears rang as her heart painfully pounded against the walls of her chest. Her limbs trembled with every second she remained perched on the edge of the cliff. She had to move. She had to push herself forward, or she would slip and fall to the ground.

Kiran snapped her eyes open and inched herself over the first step, making sure she remained seated. She shakily felt the cliff wall for crevices she could hold on to, and fortunately found two that she clung to for dear life. Kiran bit her lip as a whimper escaped her throat. She was finally perched on the first stone step. Next, she would have to dangle her feet over the edge of the step - right on top of the second step downwards.

Kiran cringed as a strong ice cold wind blew her way, pressing her further against the wall. She realized that she shouldn't clung to the crevices too long because her trembling fingers could freeze and her grip could weaken. Kiran set her eyes on the next stone step.

Yes, looking down from one step to another instead of looking down to her destination should help her manage her fears. Why hadn't she thought about it earlier?

Kiran gingerly positioned her legs to the edge of the first step, her fingers turning white as she clung desperately to the protruding rocks on the cliff wall. Once her legs dangled over the second step, she pushed her weight forward and slid from the first step to the next. She quickly flailed her arms to the side of the cliff that was close to the second step in the hopes of finding another crevice or rock to hold on to. Her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she couldn't feel anything near her outstretched hand.

Another gust of icy wind slammed against her. This time, it seemed to be blowing right across her face - pushing her back to the first step. She almost stumbled to the edge of the step and fell over the clouds, if it weren't for her other hand still grabbing hold of a rock on the cliff wall. She let out a whimper as she struggled to regain her balance; tears welling up in her eyes.

What did she do to deserve such ill fate?

Kiran bit her lip and leaned over to the second step to continue her search for another rock to hold. She thankfully found one and quickly grabbed hold of it, transferring most of her weight to the second stone step. She continued to move down from one step to another in a seated position: her limbs painfully growing numb with every desperate hold it made on the cliff wall crevices, and her body trembling against the cruel gusts of cold wind.

Kiran counted each step she successfully covered inside her head. She slipped and almost fell multiple times but luckily survived by the skin of her teeth. She was at the tenth step when she realized that the cliff wall beside the eleventh step didn't have any crevices. It instead had a massive hollow space - a cave entrance. It made sliding down to the eleventh step trickier than the previous steps, but it also gave her a bit more hope.

If Mr. Kidnapper took the stairs, he could be in the cave. And even if he wasn't there, the cave could offer her a place to rest. Her limbs were losing the strength to support her descent, and her exhausted lungs needed a chance to properly breathe. Her throbbing heart also needed a rest from being constantly plagued by her fear of heights.

Kiran slowly slid herself to the eleventh step, her sore hands clinging to any rock it felt along the side of the hollow entrance of the cave. She then gingerly crawled inside, warily eyeing the pitch black cavern swallowing her whole. The place was cold, but slightly warmer than where the winds blew which allowed her freezing limbs to recover a little. It also fogged her glasses which she realized thankfully hadn't fallen off during her trek down the cliff wall.

Kiran took her glasses off with her trembling fingers, wiped its lenses against her shirt to clean it, and wore them again. She then leaned her back against a nearby wall and stretched her aching legs across the cold dusty ground with a sigh. Once her breathing calmed down a little, she stretched her arms up and straightened her back releasing another sigh of relief. Her racing heartbeat slowed slightly as the anxiety in her veins eased.

Leaning back against the cave wall gave her an opportunity to reflect on what had happened to her. It all felt so unreal. It started like any normal day. It was supposed to end the way it usually did when the earthquake hit and opened the earth right in front of her. She suddenly ended up saving a life when her first usual response to emergencies was be petrified and overwhelmed with fear. Then she fell into what should have been her death in exchange for the good deed, and woke up in a place that didn't seem to belong anywhere on Earth - or at least on its surface.

Could everything just be a dream? Could killing herself wake her up from the nightmare? Should she continue to risk her life along the cliff wall? Or should she just wait in that cave for help to come?

Kiran found her fingers fumbling at an interesting texture on the ground. It felt like she was scratching and peeling off a thick flaky surface while her mind wandered and tried to make sense of what was happening to her. Another gust of ice-cold wind blew against her left cheek, making her flinch. She raised her hands to warm her face when she noticed an odd scent emanating from her throbbing palms. It had a soft whiff of something rotten, mixed with the scent of dirt.

Kiran froze as a thought hit her. The cave was spacious enough to house a giant creature. What were the odds that the cavern was actually some monster's dwelling place? Wasn’t that usually how things worked in fantasy isekai stories: dragons dwelling in caves of isolated mountains?

Kiran shook her head. Surely things were different from the real world. And would she really be that unlucky that she would end up in the dwelling place of a giant serpent? Then her eyes cast down on the ground. Her vision, which had slowly adjusted to the dim light of the evening, revealed an odd pattern under her legs. It was as if parts of the rocky ground were laced with a translucent sheet flaking away in large patches. The sheet also seemed to have geometric patterns that oddly reminded Kiran of snake skin.

Her heart began to pound painfully inside her chest. Surely, she was overthinking things?

Kiran glanced down at the ground next to her thighs and noticed the same patterned sheet stretching to her back. She cringed, the odds dawning on her. A large gust of wind blew her way, but it didn't come from the edge of the cliff. It instead came from her right which led to the depths of the pitch black cave. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip from whimpering, panic starting to fill her aching limbs again. She then slowly opened her eyes and glanced beside her at the direction where the wind blew from.

In the shadows, she found two glowing pair of amber eyes - as big as her head - staring curiously at her. It had a big black circle in the middle which slowly collapsed into sharp slits that reminded her of reptile eyes.