The stairs seemed endless.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Kayal ran her fingers along the cold stone wall as she descended. The air smelled damp, like old rain trapped underground. Every step echoed louder than it should have.
Tok…
Tok…
Tok…
The sound followed her like a second pair of footsteps.
She tried not to think about that.
At last, the staircase opened into a vast cavern.
Kayal stepped out—and stopped breathing.
The cave was enormous. Bigger than any building she had ever seen. The ceiling vanished into shadows, and glowing moss painted everything in soft blue light like moonlight underwater.
But the real problem stood right in front of her.
A crack in the earth.
Wide. Deep. Endless.
A chasm so dark it looked like the world had split open.
ிથ.
And stretching across it—
A bridge.
Or what used to be one.
Huge broken stone slabs lay scattered from one side to the other. Some tilted. Some cracked. Some barely hanging on.
And beneath each slab stood towering shapes.
Kayal squinted.
They weren’t pillars.
They were figures.
Massive stone bodies.
Curled like sleeping people.
Hands folded. Heads bowed.
Giants.
Dozens of them.
Holding the bridge on their backs.
“Sleeping giants…” she whispered.
It felt like the right name.
The Bridge of Sleeping Giants.
And it was the only way forward.
She tested the first slab with her foot.
Solid… but old.
Very old.
“One step at a time,” she murmured.
Halfway onto the bridge, the notebook in her bag grew warm.
Then hot.
“Oh no,” she sighed. “Here we go.”
She opened it.
Ink spread across the page.
First riddle.
I leave marks but own no land,
follow me and you’ll understand.
Where I go, a path appears.
What am I?
Kayal blinked.
Leave marks…
Own no land…
A path appears…
She looked down at her dusty shoes.
At the faint prints she had left behind on the stairs.
Her lips curved into a smile.
“Footsteps.”
The moment she said it, the bridge shimmered.
Soft golden prints appeared on certain slabs.
Like invisible feet had walked the safe path before her.
The rest of the stones darkened.
Thin cracks spreading across them.
Waiting to break.
“Ohhh,” she whispered. “So only the right steps hold.”
She carefully placed her feet inside each glowing footprint.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Behind her—
CRACK!
One wrong slab shattered and fell into the abyss.
Her stomach flipped.
“Okay… don’t rush.”
She followed the glowing trail like a dance.
Left. Right. Skip. Jump.
Each step chosen.
Each move careful.
The giants below stayed still.
But something about them made her uneasy.
Like they were pretending to sleep.
She reached the middle.
The air suddenly grew warmer.
The ground trembled slightly.
Dust fell from above.
One of the giant statues shifted.
Just a little.
A finger moving.
Stone scraping.
“They’re not just statues…” she whispered.
The notebook burned again.
Second riddle.
I am taken before you get me,
given back after you leave.
I belong to you for a while,
but never forever.
What am I?
Kayal frowned.
Taken before you get me…
Given back after you leave…
Belong to you…
Not forever…
She thought of borrowing things.
Books. Cycles. Clothes.
Then something softer.
More personal.
Her eyes widened.
“A name.”
People give you your name when you’re born.
And one day, it returns to stories and memories.
It’s yours.
But never forever.
She whispered it.
“My name.”
The page flashed.
The giants stopped moving.
As if recognizing her.
Accepting her presence.
The bridge steadied.
For a moment, the cave felt… calm.
Like it knew who she was.
“Thank you,” she muttered, stepping forward quickly.
Only a few slabs left.
Three.
Two.
Then—
CRACK.
The next stone split under her foot.
She jumped back just in time.
Her heart pounded wildly.
“No, no, no…”
The notebook glowed bright gold.
Final riddle.
As light as air,
stronger than stone.
Speak me once,
and I am gone.
Hold me tight,
and I grow heavy.
What am I?
Her mind raced.
Light as air…
Stronger than stone…
Speak it and it’s gone…
Hold it and it’s heavy…
Something invisible.
Something people carry.
Something she sometimes kept too long.
Something that hurt when hidden.
Her eyes widened.
“A secret.”
The word echoed through the cavern.
SECRET… secret… secret…
The final slab burst into warm light.
She ran.
Jumped.
Landed hard on the other side.
Behind her—
CRAAAAASH!
Half the bridge collapsed.
Stone slabs fell like thunder.
Giants groaned.
Dust exploded upward.
She rolled onto her back, breathing hard, heart racing.
Alive.
Still alive.
After a minute, she laughed shakily.
“That was NOT fair,” she told the notebook.
New words slowly formed on the next page.
Second Gate Crossed.
Five remain.
Five.
Still five more places like this?
She sat up—and froze.
Near the stone doorway ahead…
Footprints.
Fresh ones.
Not hers.
Small.
Light.
Someone else had crossed this bridge.
Recently.
A chill ran through her.
“So I’m not alone…”
The ancient door creaked open by itself.
Warm golden light spilled out.
And from somewhere inside—
A faint humming sound.
Like someone waiting.
Kayal tightened her backpack.
Closed the notebook.
And stepped forward.
Toward the next gate.
Toward whoever—or whatever—was ahead.
Review Riddle Roads – Story 3 – The Bridge of Sleeping Giants.