By the time John’s challenge reached William there was little sense left in the giant’s words. Each twisting curve and winding passage of the labyrinth broke the phrase down into more and more of an unrecognizable mess. The sound reached William from three different directions at the same time, making it impossible to pinpoint exactly where they had come from. But even if it was impossible to understand the words their meaning was quite clear.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough,” William grinned and picked up his pace. Snow crunched softly under his feet as he jogged down one passage after another. It was difficult to maintain his bearings given the uniform nature of the ice walls, but William believed that he was doing a decent job of at least making progress in a single direction. Twice he had to stop and back-track when he came to a solid sheet of ice closing off his progress. Not for the first time William found himself wondering why the Ai’Brone monks kept throwing him into twisting mazes like this. He’d have to have stern words with them once he’d finished with this engagement.

Several minutes passed as William made his way through the winding paths. He was so focused on figuring the maze out that he was taken completely by surprise when another booming sound caught up to him.

“I’m trying to find you, have a little spirits-damned patience,” William grumbled, his earlier good humor slushed away. Something in this roar caught at the edge of his awareness however, forcing him to stop to listen. This roar was different from the other one. Though the walls made both of them broken and incoherent, there had been a general form and structure to the first one. There was no such structure in this second yell. With a shiver William realized that there was something else in the maze with him and his opponent. Something large and bestial from the sound of it. And that something was closing in on him.

“Damn it,” William snarled. He redoubled his pace, at the same time summoning his power and letting the molten heat flow through him. Ice hissed around him as he turned into a roiling furnace. Worst of all was the ground beneath him, which had instantly been reduced to a loose slurry. He’d hoped to avoid the transformation until he’d found his opponent, but with something stalking him through the maze, something that undoubtedly knew it’s realm far better than William did, he’d better be prepared for the worst.

It was half a minute later when William made a right turn and plunged into the open square where the obelisk and a very large man waited.