Finding my enemy was turning out to be even more difficult than I had imagined it would. It would have been hard enough if the Finger of God had just been a basic tower with a maze of rooms and corridors winding through it. I cursed the Ai’Brone monks as I leaped twenty feet from one floor to the next, my bone claws digging into the cracked stone railing above as I swung over it. I should have known that the monks wouldn’t give me a straightforward arena.

I thought about calling out to my opponent, who doubtlessly was searching for me just as diligently as I was searching for them. I paused at the last moment, with the words humming right behind my teeth. Then I swallowed them back down. I wasn’t exactly a stealth target in here, what with the sullen glow and pounding footsteps. But if my enemy wasn’t searching for me, if they were lying in wait, then there was no sense in making a sneak attack any easier for them. Why should I have all the frustration here anyways?

I padded along the new level, following the ebb and flow of the lighted rooms around throughout it. I knew that I had to be pretty high in the Finger by now, having ascended too many floors to keep track of. At least I had my restorative abilities to keep me from getting exhausted going up all these tower levels. I’d have hated to be a regular mortal fighting in this area. Something which I’m sure the Ai’Brone had taken into account.

I flexed my claws with anticipation as I crept into this floor’s first room, casting a brief look from around as I did so. Soon, I told myself. I had a feeling that something would finally be happening soon.