Page 1 of Her Silent Knight

Chapter One

SHE’S ABOUT TO DIE.

And she doesn’t even know it. She has no idea death is standing right next to her, watching her, waiting for the right opportunity to snatch her up and deliver her to The Deciders.

They want her because of her blood. Kaede didn’t know what was so special about this witch’s blood in particular. He also didn’t care. Succeeding in this task meant he’d have only forty more tasks to complete.

Once he completed those tasks, The Deciders would allow him to leave the Frostlands Plane for good. He’d be able to return to the Mortal Plane and get his revenge against those who’d wronged him, those who banished him to this unforgiving place.

A place only immortals could be banished to. A place where the worst of the worse existed. Every now and then an innocent like himself would be banished here by someone who wanted them out of the way.

For innocents, there was a way out. You just had to complete one hundred tasks for The Deciders in order to earn your freedom. It had taken him sixty years to complete fifty-nine tasks. The tasks The Deciders assigned were never easy.

Some had taken him months to complete. A few had even taken him a couple of years to complete. This particular task seemed easy. Too easy. Nothing came easy in the Frostlands. Here, a being could die from simply hunting for food or trying to find drinkable water.

The conditions on this plane were horrific. The weather was horrible. Every week there was an epic snowstorm or ice storm or snow and ice tornado. Then there were the earthquakes that happened every few years.

The lack of drinkable water and food was another problem. If you didn’t have connections and people on your side, you would die here within weeks... days. This place was no place for the weak.

Kaede tilted his head slightly left to stare down at the female next to him. His target. Every few days, around this time, she came to this spot to catch the night train. She took the train from the Cold Region of the plane to the Frozen Region.

Once she arrived there, she walked almost one full mile until she reached a small home with a gate around it. Then she disappeared into the home, a home he couldn’t go near due to the protective wards positioned around it.

There she would remain until the sun rose. Once the sun graced the Frostlands with its presence, his target would walk back to the train station and catch the day train back to the Cold Region.

When she arrived, she’d trek through the frozen forest until she came upon another small home that was also protected by wards. He knew the previous owner of that home. The creature had been a real bastard.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t this witch who’d killed him. Someone must’ve done it for her. When she reached that cabin, she remained there until she ventured out a few days later to catch the night train again.

This was her normal routine. She never deviated from it. Most creatures avoided the Frozen Region after midnight. Midnight was when the Frostland Bandits came out. This witch walked amongst those bandits with no fear.

None of them ever approached her. Neither did they approach him. They knew he’d end them quickly if they stepped to him. Over the years, he’d had many run-ins with the bandits.

They quickly learned that it wasn’t wise to piss off an immortal shifter. He had to admit though, their leader, Rhen, was a formidable opponent. Even admitting that in his head stung his pride and pissed him off.

After a few battles, they’d decided on a truce. If they left him alone, he’d leave them alone. Now, he no longer had to worry about them getting in the way of him completing his tasks.

And they no longer had to worry about him taking up any tasks from The Deciders that involved any of the bandits. Though he was still pissed that they’d prevented him from completing some tasks in the past, he was willing to let that slide in order to keep the peace.

He had enough enemies in the Frostlands. Scratching the bandits off that list worked in his favor. However, he couldn’t figure out why those troublesome outlaws left this little witch alone. For two weeks, he’d been trailing her.

During those two weeks, he’d watched her come and go as she pleased. Granted, she only ventured out at midnight and only returned when the first rays of the sun touched the ice. Yet, this female walked these icy roads and bridges with no problems.

That was saying something. The females of the Frostlands barely ventured out. Most paired up with a male or two, just so they’d have protection from the creatures who lived here. This witch didn’t appear to have a protector.

However, on more than one occasion, he’d watched the bandits follow her on their snowmobiles. He’d been prepared to protect her from them. He couldn’t have them attacking his target.

Turns out, she hadn’t needed his protection. The bandits followed her for a while, then went on their way. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think they’d been protecting her. Which was ridiculous.

The bandits only protected their own. Their all-male group consisted of shifters, magic users, and vampires. He’d never seen any of them protect someone outside of their clique. Why would any of them want to protect this little bundled up witch?

He didn’t know why they avoided harming her. And he’d never know because soon, he’d be delivering her to The Deciders and crossing this task off his list. His target turned her head in his direction.

Kaede stared straight ahead and pretended to admire the flashing lights hanging from the train station’s sign. Wrapped around the white columns on either side of the sign were tiny green and red flashing bulbs.

Someone who used to live on the Mortal Plane must’ve strung up those lights. Creatures from the Mortal Plane were the only ones who celebrated Christmas. That would make this month December.

That was good to know. Kaede had long ago ceased tracking the days. Over the years, doing so seemed pointless. One day melted into the next. There was nothing special about any of them. There was nothing to differentiate one from the other.