Faye Highgate

A deafening wind buffeted Gwen's ears as she fell through open space along the sheer cliff. The air's icy bite pulled freezing tears from her eyes that quickly slid backwards off her face.

Come on, Gwen! Do something magical like earlier!

Each second felt like an eternity. Gwen's eyes could only handle a split second of opening before the cold and the wind forced them shut again. The last time they opened she could make out the tree tops at the base of the cliff illuminated by moonlight.

She held Kai tighter and braced for a violent death. 

In that moment, a fuzzy tingle enveloped the duo and their speed slowed dramatically. It was as if they were a dropped quill, gently riding a warm breeze toward the ground.

Gwen's feet landed with barely a sound. 

"Did I do that?" she wondered aloud.

"Hardly," a woman's voice answered from the darkness. "If I hadn't cast [Feather Falling] on the two of you then someone would need to scrape your shattered bones off these rocks in the morning."

The woman took Gwen by surprise as she stepped from the darkness. She had a graceful aura about her gait, like a noble. The darkness obscured any discerning details, but she seemed to be wearing the robes of a wizard.

"You saved us?"

"I did."

"Who are you?"

"Faye Highgate."

Gwen knew this name. One of the Emperor's Red Seekers! And a general, at that! 

"Why are the Seekers here?"

"Oh? I thought the monks didn't concern themselves with the secular world?" she asked Gwen, eyes askance. Angling her head toward the conflagration at the top of the mountain she abruptly changed the subject. "Describe what is happening at the monastery."

"Isshin lead a contingency of undead and attacked. It's a massacre."

Gwen looked around and noticed that they were alone. The Seekers were an expansive organization of powerful soldiers specializing in fighting the Ashen Prince. Most often they worked in teams, according to what Gwen knew.

"Where is your team?" she asked.

Faye Highgate stared hard at Gwen before finally responding, "you know very much about the Seekers and the forces of the Ashen Prince, girl. Most people outside the Seekers would dismiss the undead as a myth, even when confronted by the face of the terrifying truth." 

Her glare froze Gwen in place. To Gwen, it felt like her knowledge was a gift of the divine. It came from nowhere, and yet felt as comfortable as her own name. She never imagined it may lead to trouble. 

Luckily, Faye broke the silence first.

"If Isshin is truly here then I cannot act on my own. We will return with reinforcements after some time. There is no way around it." She had a grimace on her face, as if she regretted losing the opportunity to face an Ashen Prince general. "You and your sleeping friend will come with me.

"And you will explain how a woman wears a robe of the Cloud Level Monastic Order."

○○○

The pair walked through the darkness for some time as Gwen described her experience at the Cloud Level Monastery for the past three months, and the circumstances under which she was found. 

Tree roots and small ditches mired Gwen's advance through the forest, and she often had to run to catch up with Faye, who never waited and seemed to be navigating with ease.

Faye was straightforward in her questioning. 

"Describe fighting the enemy. How did you know they were undead?"

Gwen hesitated before answering.

"I knocked off the helmet of one of the undead knights and saw his flesh rotting from his face. I had heard of them in stories before, but…"

"So close to an undead knight? How did you escape? Their bodies are only susceptible to slashing and magic. It is a brilliant tactic to use them to overwhelm a martial arts monastery."

"We ran," Gwen lied. "I ran with Kai until we were ambushed and jumped to escape. We didn't want to become… like them."

"Few intend to. Your story is sufficiently believable. 

"We are approaching Glendon."

As Faye said that the forest cleared and gave way to a soft pink sky illuminating a walled town surrounded by farms of plowed fields. 

"It is already dawn. I will commission the adventurer's guild for assistance in clearing the undead from the monastery in the coming weeks. If you monks are seeking to begin your lives anew, I suggest you start there. You may also find clues of your past here, I imagine. It is the closest town to Cloud Level after all."

Faye had barely ended her sentence before she opened a portal and stepped through. 

Gwen was silently relieved. She couldn't place the source, but something in Faye inspired a deep and primal enmity from Gwen. She wanted to cut her down to defend herself, but from what she was not sure.

A deep ache suddenly made itself known in Gwen's back and brought her to her knees. She gently laid Kai on the grass. 

His head was bruised and his robe was slightly torn in places, but he would live. 

"Gwen, why are you looking at me like that?"

Kai's eyes fluttered as he awoke.

"Did Master Kuo save us?"

"He did," Gwen said with a gentle smile. "I will tell you about it later. Can you walk?"

"I think so. Gwen, where is everyone else?"

Gwen began walking slowly toward the walled town in the distance. "I have a lot to tell you, Kai, so let's walk and talk. The sun will be up soon."