The next few days were hectic. Well, they felt like days, with the weird timeshift in this place (or whatever was causing it) I hadn't regained access to my wishes. Still, I'd been doing some serious work on my forms, both Belial and the new one I had in development, and I felt stronger than ever. I managed to snag another flag, Gabriel got one, while Adrian got the last two, but he hit two flags after me, allowing me to just barely eke out a victory and collect the gold key piece.

I wanted Callie to take one, but she refused, making it clear that she was worried about what was coming and that since I had far less in the way of stats she wanted me to maintain my soul advantage. After the seventh round we all received a message from the temple in our heads, letting us know that after another ten hours the soul crushing stairs would open directly into this level.

Based on what we'd been told about the stairs being a passage between illusion and reality, it made sense we'd walk them ourselves instead of some portal door leading us to the base, but the unique nature of the transition had side effects I hadn't anticipated.

First, the key pieces were soul artifacts, and since we would be making the shift to the physical along the steps, once we boarded the stair all the key fragments would manifest in reality. It would make all the key holders targets, gold, silver, and bronze. It would also give me a chance to pass the silver to Callie, but we were expecting to be attacked at each of the ten levels.

So here we were, gathered in a dark field (after Bethy and Callie said their tearful goodbyes to Biscuit) waiting for the stair to descend. Now that the competition had ended, the teams had mostly scattered, and the different factions had split off to their original groups. Benny and Jessie came to join us, along with Gabriel, Chelsea, Nat, Perit, and Valk. My sister looked a bit sullen, probably at not getting any of the flags.

The teamwork thing had been unnecessary, but it had worked for Adrian at least. He'd gotten the silver key fragment this time, and probably at least one other time too. He'd have at least one gold fragment and probably one or two silver, which meant I was bound to fight him during the climb. "You guys get caught up on what the stairs entail?" I asked Benny, Jessie, and Gabriel.

The crusader nodded. "We did. I'd been planning to drop out, but since there are going to be twelve temples, I can just focus on conquering one myself. Sadly I suspect most of the competition will be cleared out in the key fights."

"That's not the biggest worry." I said firmly. "Keep an eye out for Bloody Billy. We still don't know what he's upto, and no one was able to find him. He doesn't seem exactly stable, so having the patience to drop out of the race and wait on the stairs descent instead of trying for the flags means he must be really committed to this plan."

Glancing around, I studied the crowd of Ascendants. At the end of the fifth trial, we were currently looking at around two hundred people remaining, but I didn't see Billy among them. He had to be nearby, the stair was the only possible way to the temples.

Callie took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "It'll be fine. Just keep that Eye of Revelation peeled. If he gets close you'll notice him. I doubt we'll see him this early though. Chances are good he'll wait until the last second to rush the steps. While attacks are definitely on the table, I'm betting on the steps themselves it'll be a bit tough to concentrate on fighting, what with the whole emotional and mental torture thing we'll all be going through.

I cursed. "We're going to get ambushed on the fucking platforms. I guess our best bet is to absorb the energy in shifts. Let the others fend off any attacks, then switch on the next platform. There are ten of them, so we'll all get five platforms of uninterrupted absorption, as opposed to just a tiny bit from each of them." I glanced at my sister and cousin. "You guys down to play body guard if we trade off?"

Chelsea looked uncertain, but eventually nodded. "We could do that. It does seem like the smartest move. This might be our last chance to get some more soul refinement and break our last shackle all at once. The heart shackle needs to be broken before we leave, and we'll need to focus on digesting what we learn from passing each section if we want to have the best chance."

That was true. I suspected the amount you gained from the stair varied from person to person. TIme to heal and focus and prepare would be integral to passing the next section after completing a tough one. Bethy squealed with excitement. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I love ambushes, there's so much strategy and preparation involved. I hope Billy tries to get us. I'll let my kitties eat him all up!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I laughed at that. "Speaking of the animals, Randall and the cats, are they going to be going through the same tempering we are? Because I'll be honest, I'd rather not be standing next to a bear the size of a bus as it's tormented by unfamiliar and alien emotions."

Jessie glanced over at her ursine companion. "That does sound bad. Buddy, we might want to think about sending you back out before the stair." She paused. "No I don't think you're a teddy bear. I know you can fight and aren't just for hugs." She rolled her eyes. "No I love your hugs. Wait...honey? Where the hell did you get the idea to ask for honey? What do you mean you saw it in a book? You can't even read!"

Our resident vampire burst into a fit of giggles, throwing herself onto the bear's giant fluffy back. "Awww, it's ok buddy. I'll hug you. You're the biggest softest fuzzy wuzzy I've ever seen, yes you are." She cooed to the bear as the grabbed on and squeezed him tightly.

"Pretty sure he's suffocating." Said Benny dryly. "Either that or he's taken up interpretive dance. If it's the latter, I feel like it needs work. His moves are a little spastic.

Bethy rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. Randall loves my hugs. Don't you buddy?" The weakly jerking bear wheezed slightly, and Bethy let him go with a sheepish grin. "Sorry buddy. But you're a big boy, and you've been in F-rank for ages. I figured you could handle a simple hug."

The bear threw both front paws up in an offended 'what the hell?' manner and Jessie burst out laughing. Bethy just pouted. I decided to steer the conversation away from the subject, and back our original topic. "I think sending Randall back might not be a bad plan. I'm not even sure how he got this far. How did he get through the maze and the forest?"

Jessie just shrugged. "He came with me. We're bonded, and I don't think the temple counts him as a separate entity." She paused, rolling her eyes and glancing at the bear. "Yeah, I'll lodge a complaint. That said, this next part will be rough, and you don't have the BEST temper." Randall reared back in outrage, throwing back his head and roaring his disagreement. Jessie just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that showed me."

The big bear chuffed, looking away in a clear indication that he didn't want to talk about this anymore. Jessie walked up to give him a hug of her own, laying her head on his side. "I guess it wouldn't be fair to keep you out of the fight if you're that sure about things. But you need to be careful ok?"

"He'll be alright." Said Callie reassuringly. "He's a tough guy, and he's got the rest of us looking out for him, and vice versa."

The smaller blonde sniffed lightly. "I know. But I get so worried about the big goon. What if something happens to him? He's big and cute and funny and he always makes my day better."

Callie's eyes fell on me, giving me a soft smile. "I've been there. Got one of those myself. Albeit slightly less hairy. So...why don't you introduce the others to Callen and...Chelsea was it?" She gave my sister a warm smile, extending her hand. "I'm Shane's girlfriend, Calliope. It's really nice to meet you. You can call me Callie, or Nightstrike, which is my cape name." When Chelsea reached out to take her hand, she pulled my twin sister into a tight hug before letting her go.

Chelsea, for her part, looking kind of dazed. Nat stepped forward. "And I'm Shane's cousin Natalie." Nat actually did shake hands. "On his dad's side." My sister's eyes lit up as she realized she was talking to another family member, and she shook back enthusiastically. I introduced the others, giving her the cliff notes on who they were.

She seemed a little shy, but happy to be there."I'm Chelsea Anders. It's really nice to meet you all. Thank you for being so welcoming." My friends had clearly picked up my vibe and decided to go with it, trusting that if I was happy to include her it must be for a reason. Callie was the only one who knew the circumstances of my mom leaving me behind, I'd told her in the woods, so the others were just following my lead, for which I was grateful.

Sadly, the whole first meeting between my sister and friends, was going to have to wait, because we were all interrupted by the sudden darkening of the sky above. Much like when the flags lit up, the sky had gone black, but unlike before, this didn't seem quite as pointless. Before it had been an aesthetic choice almost, but as the cold wind whipped the air around us into a frenzy and the dark clouds moved in, all I could think was 'shit is about to go down'.

In the darkness, a pinpoint of light appeared, a golden spark almost like a star, and as we watched, it began to expand. Around the descending light, the clouds that had rolled in swirled in circles, creating a guiding tunnel for what it could now be seen was a slowly growing golden staircase.

I felt a sense of pressure just looking at it, and as it got closer, my knees bent slightly, soaking up the increased force on all of us. As it slammed into the ground at last, there was a loud boom that shook the earth beneath our feet. Suddenly, after a second, the pressure lessened. On me. And Callie and Callen. A few others too, and it took me a second to realize that it was giving the members of the winning team an advantage. A fact Adrian took advantage of by bolting up onto the stairs first, a gold key piece materializing above him alongside his others. At least it was just Adrian though, I relaxed a bit at that.

Which was exactly when a bandaged form blurred out from between a group of suppressed members of the other team and set foot on the stairs. He took a step, then another, then another, and around the fifth step slowed down to a crawl. The rest of us bolted for the stairs, hoping to catch up, and the race to the top was on. Of course, that was hardly the biggest issue. No, that would be the fact that above Billy's head, four pieces of bronze key had materialized. I had the sneaking suspicion that him getting any of the keys would be bad. We needed to catch up.