The Night Guard had a very simple hierarchy. At the top of the command was the Captain, who only took council from the Night Elders. Beneath the Captains were the five Squad Leaders, and each leader had 3-5 men under their control. The Night Guard was flexible in how it conducted affairs- sometimes, a single squad would take an assignment. Other times, all squads and the Captain would collaborate. They usually worked in squad groups of 2 in order to compensate for potential human error and to minimize casualties.

Amarok stood behind Jamie with his new squad members. The members were the men that were laughing along with Jamie- Arthur, Terry, and Jalen. All three of them held very different personalities from what Amarok had grown up around. The youngest, Arthur, was a farmer’s son that wanted to do something that he felt held a bigger purpose. Against his parents’ wishes, he ran off to join the legendary Night Guard. The man was deathly serious about his profession, and often butted heads with Jamie due to the polarities of their personalities. He hadn’t seen his parents since he left, but he had heard that they were well. Terry was the son of a Noble that went bankrupt. His father sent him off to join the Night Guard, as noble houses were rewarded for providing their sons to such a risky affiliation. Terry was a survivalist- and had been removed from a couple other squads due to his self-preserving tendencies. Jamie found him entertaining and trustworthy. He had once told the leader of the Lion squad that Terry was the most trustworthy member of the squad, because he would always act in a way that gave him a better chance of surviving while completing the mission. Jalen was the son of a scholar. He was, by nature, a people-pleaser. According to Amarok’s impression, he seemed to be the smartest of the bunch.

The large room that was at the center of the fortress was called the Council Hall. There were weekly meetings, with more supplemented according to mission briefs. Amarok had learned that each of the five squads had their own names. The names were established long ago by the founding squad leaders at the beginning of the Night Guard. The Captain would pick the new leader in the event of a death. The five squads were the Wolf Squad, the Lion Squad, the Eagle Squad, the Bull Squad, and the Rat Squad.

Jamie, along with the Eagle squad leader, sat down at a table. The 5 members that were behind the leader were all wearing a hood, and Amarok was not comfortable staring in an attempt to discern their appearance. Jamie and the squad leader spoke, but it was mainly Jamie that was doing the talking. The Captain entered and sat down at the third chair. She had changed out of her iron equipment and was in clothing that simply kept her warm in the frigid environment.

“Captain Freyja.” The leader of the Eagle Squad spoke first.

“Captain Freyja, thank the Gods you’re here! I was about to die of boredom from talking to this joyless bastard.”

“Enough, let’s get started.” She began to explain the situation.

Amarok had been listening intently for the next few minutes. Essentially, there had been many missing people in one of the villages to the west. While these abductions had been happening for almost an entire year, the people still had not seen the perpetrator. A request was sent to the Midnight Kingdom, but after being informed via raven that someone would come in the next couple months, there was still no sign of help. It is most definitely a scenario of the kingdom having much more pressing concerns regarding the pandemic and famine than to send valuable personnel this far north. The village leader had heard of the revival of the Night Guard and requested assistance.

It was not an atypical story for Jamie. These kinds of things had been happening in the north for years now. The only strange part of the story is the profile of the missing persons.

Children. Aged from infants to adolescents, only villagers younger than 16 were being taken. Not only did this guarantee to the Guard that this was a vampire at fault, but it also hinted at the presence of an Elder Vampire. Elder Vampires, or aspiring ones, would generally only feed on youths. This is because their vitality could not be compared to that of an adult villager. Of course, just like human beings, vampires had their own tastes and preferences. An appetizing meal for one vampire is unappealing to another. Generally, the more influential the vampire, the pickier the eater. A noble that is accustomed to eating meat can no longer eat just bread.