The sun started to set, and Sora’s stomach began groaning. Of course, Emma had the answer in the form of a rat inside of her newly crafted magic snow backpack. It was clear that the little girl started to get tired and cold. Her once lively appearance had changed. With the coming of night, the winds blew colder.

  Sora’s hands were painted pink, along with her small nose. The hood of her small jacket covered the side’s of her face, but the pink cheeks were visible. And the little girl’s teeth chattered away.

  “I told you those little pieces of bacon would not be enough,” Emma said. For once since her travel’s start, she could hear the distant sounds of people, but they were not close enough to reach before day’s end.

  Sora answered with a tired voice. “I...don’t want to...eat a rat.”

  Emma sighed, noticing that the action didn’t fog up the air before her face. Her insides must have been just as cold as the exterior for this to happen. The vampire focused her attention back on the girl.

  “We can’t make it to civilization tonight. We’ll have to hole ourselves up tonight. You can’t go a whole night without eating. Aren’t you parched as well?”

  “I can just...eat the snow.”

  “You can’t eat snow, Sora. That would only hasten your dehydration. Are you even from that vilge?”

  In response to the question, the little girl flinched.

  “I knew it. You should have just told me from the beginning.”

  “That’s not fair! You haven’t shared anything about yourself either.”

  “This is different,” Emma said, “I’m the older one here.”

  Sora giggled, her breath fogging up the air. “You sound like...mom…”

  “Thats…”

  Before Emma could finish, the little girl fell forward. The vampire barely managed to rush down and catch her. “Sora!?”

  No response came from the little girl. Her breathing was more bored than Emma noticed.

  Emma tapped on her cheeks. “Sora? Sora?” However, the girl was out cold.

  The girl’s irregur heartbeat and breathing were clear signs she was suffering early symptoms of hypothermia. Emma had no idea how she didn’t realize it before. If she had been listening to the girl’s heartbeat, then…

  Emma shook her head. It’s too te to worry about that!

  The vampire wrapped her arms around the little girl and picked her up with ease. Whether it was because the little girl was extremely light or because Emma had become much stronger, it was like lifting up a feather.

  Emma gritted her teeth once more. If she had been paying closer attention, she’d have noticed that the girl was pushing herself way too much. It was foolish of her to expect a child to keep up with a normal walking pace for hours on end with no problems. Especially a child that hadn’t eaten or drank anything in a while.

  Either way, once more the vampire would have to make another desperate run. This time she turned towards the sound of people and started running with the little girl in her arms.

  “Hang in there, Sora.”

  “I am telling you, we searched all around and we never found the sword. We only found Karck’s remains.”

  The Captain of Dawn—Gunther—nodded. “You can take your leave, lieutenant.”

  “However, Captain Gunther…”

  “What is it?”

  “There was something strange about his body. The coroner said he was drained of blood. And at the sight, I didn’t see enough blood in the snow for him to be completely drained.”

  “Are you serious? But your report matched the descriptions of other frost troll attacks. It was just as savage.”

  “That’s the strange part, the coroner found evidence of a vampire’s attack. There were two puncture wounds in his neck. The coroner thinks a vampire is the one who dealt the final blow, or the vampire drained him postmortem.”

  “What makes him think it was a vampire?” The captain asked.

  “Yes sir, he said the serrations were aliken to that of other vampire attacks. The two puncture wounds matched almost perfectly with the teeth of another vampire specimen our unit hunted previously. With respect sir, Coroner Jorald is usually right about these things. You remember that incident from st year?”

  “Aye, I remember it. Of course, I remember it. That murderer got his dues.” Captain Gunther paused before getting back to the matter at hand. “I want your team to go. Take the best in the unit, and take the Silver-master. If there is really a vampire out there, this could turn into an even more serious matter. Take care of the frost troll, and stake out Frostwater city.”

  Lieutenant Gairmen snapped to attention and saluted. “By your orders, sir.”

  “Good, now hurry the hell up. If there’s really a vampire out there, we’ll have bigger problems soon enough.”

  “Yes sir!”

  The instant the lieutenant left his office, the captain snapped. He smmed his dagger into the wooden desk, stabbing through a piece of parchment, and embedding it into the wood. “Of course it had to be a fucking vampire.”

  He reached into the colr of his uniform and rubbed the thick scar with his fingers. Vivid memories of a bloodied battlefield flooded his mind, corpses of the Dawn littered all over the pce.

  The captain looked at the small statue of his goddess, resting on top a small corner table. His eyes dazed over while he calmed his breathing.

  “My dy, was it because we weren’t faithful enough? Does the trumpet of battle py its tune once more? Please protect them again.”

  Captain Gunther knew the horrors of vampires that the younger generations were unaware of. He had thought that this chapter of his life had ended forever ago, but once more, the silver sword on his sword rack glinted. His hand twitched, and the Silver-master would have to be awakened again.

  The captain almost chuckled at the thought. “That boy didn’t even question it. The lieutenant will be lucky if that incarnation is ambivalent. Otherwise, we’ll have even more problems.”