"Yeah," Lila said, "I don't think going back is going to be that easy." If we can go back at all, she thought. Well, she'd known before she climbed the stairs that it was possibly a one-way trip. On the other hand, wherever she was now, it wasn't a desolate and deserted island. Unless the locals were relentlessly hostile, it was a step up.
"Sounds like a battle going on in the distance," Lila said. "Don't want to go that way. But I think there's a village in that direction," she said, pointing. "Wanna go check it out?"