Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me.
Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel to Our Dawn 5. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and Our Dawn Series Specials but if you don't want to bother I have a resume on my profile page. As it would be expected this is a next generation story and as such, it's focused on Jake and Leah's children.
A/Note 2: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series so far.
A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.
Alpha
Book II – The Protector
Harrison Black
64. Val Rosandra
I didn't eat a horse but I did eat three breakfasts at the small coffee shop in the service area we had stopped by to refill the car. Scarlett stared at me dumbfounded while I ate and she was still looking funnily at me when we went back to the vehicle and resumed the trip. She confessed that even after all these years, she missed the food, especially the aroma of fresh bread and the simple act of chewing something like chips and cookies. Human food wasn't appealing to vampires but those, like Scarlett, who still held on to a small part of their humanity, missed simple things of the human world.
She then told me that her mother used to make wonderful desserts and that everyone in the neighborhood could feel the sweet scent that spread from their house when she was cooking. She also missed Scotland and the small village she was born in. We talked about other things but we couldn't hide our growing anxiety hour after hour.
Big dark clouds were coming from the east when we finally pulled over. The city of Trieste was much bigger than Volterra. It was located somewhere in the northeast of Italy and it covered about 33 square miles. If I weren't so worried about finding and rescuing Season, I'd be more than happy to walk around and explore some more of that friendly town.
"This is going to be the tricky part." Said Scarlett putting her hood up when a lonely ray of sun came through the menacing clouds though there was no one walking by that could see Scarlett's marble skin glowing, only a few cars were passing by on the road behind us. We had left the car on the side of the road and were watching the entire town from the top of the city's highest ground. "I finally know where they are going. There's a valley called Val Rosandra that way." She pointed southeast.
"And what's so special about that place?"
"A battle happened there many years ago when the Volturi were only a small coven," Scarlett informed. "Marcus' wife, Didyme died in that battle. I've seen it over and over in Marcus' head. He never got over it."
"Do you think this has to do with Didyme's death? After so many centuries have passed?"
Scarlett shrugged.
"I don't know for sure but they wouldn't be going there if it didn't."
"What do you know about Didyme?"
"Not much, but I'll tell you everything on our way to San Lorenzo."
"San Lorenzo?"
"I thought we were going to Val Rosandra."
"San Lorenzo is located near the Val Rosandra Natural Park. We can access the park through the small town in case we need to interfere. We'll be able to watch them from afar without being seen." She informed. "Come on. We're leaving the car here."
On our way to San Lorenzo, the landscape changed again. There were less and fewer houses as we approached our destination and the vegetation became more luxurious. The trees became taller, the grass became greener, and the air colder. Scarlett told me the national park spread all the way from San Lorenzo into the Slovenian border. According to Scarlett, the battle of the Val Rosandra Valley had occurred centuries ago when the Volturi were established in that area. Aro and the other Volturi considered Val Rosandra their territory and were not pleased when a group of four vampires arrived from Slovenia.
For weeks they battled the enemies, pushing them out of their lands back into Slovenia over and over until the arrival of four more members. Then, Aro finally planned an attack. He didn't want them expelled, he wanted all of them dead.
Six Volturi against eight Slovenian vampires. Usually, only the men fought, but because the enemies had the advantage of the numbers, Aro ordered Sulpicia, Athenodora, and Didyme to participate in the attack too. Everyone did what Aro told them to do. And the plan worked. At least in the beginning. Aro was able to locate and capture one of the Slovenian vampires alone and read his mind. Learning where the other vampires were and what they were doing, he ordered the rest of the Volturi to split up and kill the enemies.
They all succeeded except for Didyme. Her ashes were found near the Val Rosandra river. Aro immediately led a search to kill the vampire who murdered his sister. They eventually caught him and killed him.
Scarlett knew all of this because she could read minds and apparently, Marcus thought about that day constantly. It didn't surprise me though. How could he forget the day his mate had died?
"That's all you know about the battle?"
"That's all," Scarlett confirmed. "A few weeks later Corin joined the Volturi and Aro decided to expand his coven and territory into Italy. Many years later his coven was strong enough to fight the Romanian and seize the power."
"Is it possible that someone from that group of Slovenians survived?"
"According to Marcus' memories, they were all killed."
"Then why are they going to the Valley?"
Scarlett could not answer my question.
"Maybe the Romanians want to announce that they're fighting the Volturi for power in the very same place where the Volturi were challenged for the first time?" Scarlett tried.
Her guess was as good as mine. Meaning we had no idea what the hell was happening.
After dealing with vampires for so long, I realized that they are complex creatures. Every decision they make carry a high sense of tradition and symbolism and sometimes that turns them predictable. Like the Cullens: every year on the 31st of October they go to a Halloween fair in Idaho. Bella and Edward also keep going to the place where they spent their honeymoon, and Jasper and Alice sometimes go to the shop where they first met.
I didn't know if this was the case. It was quite possible that the Romanians were trying to prove a point by passing on a symbolic message to Aro. However, we only knew they were leading Marcus, Sulpicia, Athenodora, and Corin down the Val Rosandra Valley.
"They stopped," I informed. Scarlett nodded and we both stood quietly. We had just arrived in San Lorenzo. Several trails could take us down to the Val Rosandra Natural Park but that wouldn't be wise so we remained on that side of the hill watching them down on the valley on the opposite hillside.
On the bottom of the valley, the Romanians ordered their hostages out of the cars. I couldn't see Season but I could feel her presence in the last vehicle. She remained inside the car with a paralyzed Victor and with the driver who I assumed was Yuri.
"Now what?"
My question lingered in the air for a couple of seconds but in the end, it was answered by the arrival of more vampires. They came on foot, led by a woman, and I counted thirteen. Valerya and the others made a bow when they arrived which meant she had a higher rank within the Romanian hierarchy.
From our hiding site, Scarlett and I studied the newcomers attentively. We didn't dare to exchange words.
The leader of the newcomers had pitch-dark hair with blueish curly locks. She was wearing a red outfit that resembled an armor. The corset had golden details embroidered around her neck, breasts, wrists, and waist. Her red gaze was penetrating Marcus, who was astonishingly calm for someone who had been taken as a hostage.
Her companions were all battle-dressed too but their clothes weren't as rich as their leader's. They all dressed in black and blue.
"Do you know who I am, Marcus of the Volturi coven?" The female vampire asked in English.
"I can't say I do," Marcus answered.
"Do you know where we are?"
"Yes." He said with a grimace. "I know where we are."
"She died here, didn't she? Your Didyme. The love of your life."
Marcus stood quietly while the vampire woman kept talking. It was hard to know if he was angry, sad, or just bored.
"She was your loving wife but she was also your leader's sister." It wasn't a question. "And he killed her."
"Aro didn't kill my Didyme. The Slovenians did."
"Do you really believe that? Because if you do, you're even more stupid than I thought."
"Aro was heartbroken when Didyme died," Sulpicia said, trying to defend her husband.
"You're so naïve... Aro planned everything. The attack and Didyme's fall."
"How do you know that? You weren't present when she died! You didn't see Aro's pain-stricken face when he told us that his sister was gone!" Sulpicia raised her voice.
"You're right. I didn't watch her die but the first time I saw Aro... I saw everything in his mind. I saw her begging for him to stop. He buried that memory deep inside but I saw it anyways. His deepest secret. He did it for power, for glory. He did it to keep you in the coven." She looked at Marcus who finally gave away an emotion: surprise.
"What did you just say?" He questioned.
Marcus looked like a dead man who had finally woken from a deep slumber.
"Didyme wanted to leave the coven, didn't she? She wanted to travel the world with you and she told Aro two nights before the attack on the Slovenian vampires. He was not pleased to know that both of you had been planning things alone, behind his back. Besides he couldn't afford to lose a vampire with your gift so he pretended he was okay with her idea. He told her to wait just a few more days, and he plotted to get rid of her."
"You're lying!" Marcus roared. "Didyme was special. She was important to him! He waited a few years to change her because he knew she would have a gift too. He wanted her by his side."
"Her gift meant nothing to him. Think about it, Marcus! Aro wanted a bigger coven so he could get rid of his enemies. Not just the Slovenians but all others that would come. He had just realized how important it was to have vampires with special abilities in his coven and then Didyme informed him that she wanted to leave and worse... she was taking you with her. You see, Aro loved her, she was his sister... that much is true, but he needed you more than he needed her."
"Liar! You don't know Aro!" Sulpicia said.
"We've only met once, dear but I assure you, I know him better than you do."
"Who are you?" Athenodora asked timidly. Without her husband, Athenodora reminded me of a frightened little mouse.
"I fought in the battle of Balaton. I led two hundred soldiers to their destruction and amongst them was my best friend Sirenia. Like me, she was leading her own men when those diabolic children appeared with Aro."
She was probably talking about Alec and Jane. They had quite a bad reputation amongst the Romanians.
"Only Vlad and Stefan survived the Balaton battle," Sulpicia said.
"No... we captured one." Marcus confessed. He had finally remembered. "You're Amelia. I captured you, took you to Aro and then..."
"You told him he should try to recruit me. And you know what... with a little work, I would probably accept working for you. Even knowing that you had killed Sirenia and all my clan. I was alone, I didn't know that Vlad and Stefan had escaped. I had no option left. I was a young vampire, I would've adapted..."
"Before I left, he said he would keep you. He said he would make you one of us."
"That was before he realized what I could do. I can read your deepest secrets. I can tell all your regrets. And I saw his. I saw Aro killing Didyme right here. I saw his lies, I saw him pretending to be hurt, and I knew he would kill me then because I knew his secret."
"If it weren't for me, Amelia would be dead." A male vampire said approaching Amelia. She grasped his hand in hers and smiled.
"Andrei!? You traitor! How could you?" Sulpicia inquired. Andrei was the last Volturi member taken by the Romanians that morning. Now we knew why they had taken him though he wasn't a hostage, he was working with the Romanians.
"What were the odds of finding my mate in the heat of battle?" He wondered. "I knew I had to save her the moment I saw her but if we escaped together we would never survive. Aro would send the entire coven after us, and with Alec and Jane... We would never last. So, I told Aro that Amelia was dead like he had ordered me to and I returned to Volterra."
"How did you do that? Aro can read minds! He would've seen you were lying." Sulpicia asked.
"Lucky for me I have not one but two gifts. One of them is quite useful when you want to hide things from your coven."
"A shield?" Marcus tried.
"A shield against mental gifts," Andrei confirmed. "But Aro only knows about my paralyzing ability."
"So, you've been lying to us all these years!" Athenodora accused.
"I've been surviving, Dora. I've been protecting the person I love!" Andrei replied. The conviction in his voice surprised his old friends. "Do you know what would happen if Aro knew Amelia was still alive and that I was helping her? He would not rest until she was dead! He would do to her the same he did to his own sister! He would mobilize an army to get her. An army even bigger than the one he's using on the Werewolves Campaign. And if he didn't kill me too, I'd be an empty shell, like Marcus!"
"You are a Volturi! You swore loyalty to my husband! Your leader!"
"He killed his sister! Marcus' wife! He's no leader of mine!"
"You believe her?" Sulpicia tried to free her arm from Athenodora's grasp but it was Marcus who stepped forward.
"No one else knew that Didyme spoke to Aro two days before she died but me. When we captured Didyme's killer, he begged for mercy and never confessed having killed her. Besides, Aro never really told me why he ordered Amelia to be killed when initially he had decided to spare her." Marcus said.
"Marcus! How can you believe these lies?"
"I'm not saying I believe them," Marcus said and then he went back to his normal self. Sulpicia and Athenodora exchanged a worried look.
"Take the women to the car," Amelia ordered two of her strongest men pointing to Aro and Caius' wives. "And bring me the other one and the human girl."
I tensed. Beside me Scarlett put a cold hand on my shoulder, making sure I wouldn't do anything that would compromise our position. It was only then that I realized we were both lying on the forest floor, trying to hide from the eyes of our enemies, though we were far away and they were too busy to look for unwanted guests. After all, they thought I was dead or knocked out at Luca's farm.
Corin was brought by the two huge vampires. I was pretty much sure they were taller than Emmett and probably stronger. As for Season, she was ordered out of the car by Serghei. Corin looked at Andrei with despise and rage but said nothing.
"You'll go back to Volterra to take a message to Aro and Caius," Amelia told her. "Tell them we have their wives and they can have them back if Aro comes here for a trial."
Corin laughed. "You're a delusional whore." She spat.
"If they so much think about using the witch twins against us, Sulpicia and Athenodora will have a very sad ending. And if Aro doesn't come here in twenty days, they can both start thinking about finding new wives. Got that?"
"Do you really think you can get away with this?"
"Aro knows he can't lose his mate. That's why he made you guard Sulpicia and Athenodora since you joined the coven, that's why he always made sure they were happy and pleased in that dungeon of yours. Losing Sulpicia will damage his mental balance and he won't be able to rule the Volturi if he's mentally unstable. So, yes... I think we can get away with this because he has no option." Andrei said.
"We'll give him a fair trial though... which was more than what he gave us," Amelia added.
"Before you go, we'd like you to meet... what's your name again darling?" Serghei grabbed Season's arm and took her to Corin who looked at them suspiciously. "Your name girl?" He pressed.
"Sea - Season."
"This is Season. She's with us. Tell Aro that this time, we're prepared." Serghei grinned before forcing Corin and Season to shake hands. "Now get the fuck out of here!"
Corin glanced over to where the wives were. Both Sulpicia and Athenodora were locked inside of a car surrounded by Amelia's guards. There was no way she could set them free. Then she looked at Marcus and the next instant she was gone.
Marcus followed her. No one moved to stop him from leaving. Apparently, Marcus wasn't a hostage like Sulpicia and Athenodora.
"Do you think he believed us?" Andrei asked Amelia.
"Not one hundred percent," Amelia replied. "But he finally has doubts about Aro and that's enough."
"For now." Valerya pointed out. "There's still a lot of hard work to do. You should go. Vlad and Stefan are waiting for you."
Amelia nodded and left with Andrei by her side. Her guards escorted Sulpicia and Athenodora. Only four vampires stayed behind with Season: Valerya, Serghei, Yuri, and Victor, who was still paralyzed.
"You said you'd take me to Harry when this was over." Season said, her voice trembling with fear.
I knew they had no intention of taking her to me. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about this.
"Everything's going to be fine," Valerya promised, putting her arms around Season's shoulders. Then suddenly, she pushed Season over into Serghei's arms. "She's all yours, Serg. Just make it quick. Vlad wants her turned by the end of the day."
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