Unknown POV

It was an imposing structure; crumbling, yes, but for the many millennia that it had stood it faired well. The looming, moss-riddled castle was by all accounts deserted, and the cold, dank air that wafted from it did nothing to add to its allure.

"Are you certain you've brought us to the right place, tracker?" The vampire who spoke, a woman, asked this with a certain amount of disdain. Compared to her, he was nothing.

"Yes." The tracker looked uneasy, his near-black eyes not leaving the castle. He didn't dare venture out from the treeline to it; he knew what horrors it held, and he was not foolish enough to draw closer.

"I hope, for your sake, that your words are true," the second woman said, seeing the tracker's hesitance and scoffing at his cowardice. "You are to remain here until the accuracy of your supposed gift is confirmed."

"I led you to your destination. My gift does not lead one astray. I will leave with my life, while I still can. I fear them more than you," the tracker said, giving the castle a last apprehensive glance before turning on his heel and disappearing into the trees.

"He has always been a coward," the first woman said with a sneer. Further complaint was halted as the two stilled, hearing rapid footsteps approaching. Footsteps that originated from within the weathered castle.

The vampire who emerged was not one the women wanted to see; he towered over them, red eyes unsettling in their intensity as he glanced from one face to the other. "What business have you with the masters?" His voice was deep and accented by a language long forgotten.

"We have information. There is weakness in Volterra," the first woman spit.

The man's face remained impassive, but he turned and made a beckoning gesture. "Come."

He lead them in silence for some time, walking at a human pace; he seemed to do this on purpose, as if he knew it irritated the two women. After walking some distance, so far that they must have been deep within the bowels of the stone castle, he halted in front of two heavy, semi-rotted wooden doors. He pushed them open with no effort, leading them inside.

The only light in this room came from torches that were spotted intermittently along the walls. Two more vampires stepped forward from where they stood flanking the door to glide silently behind the two women. There were other vampires around the room, standing like statues against the wall, their red eyes following the strangers.

"My, my, my." Red eyes glittered in torchlight as their guide dropped to one knee. "What have we here?"

"An audience has been sought with you. To inform you of weakness that lies within the walls of Volterra," their guide said. His head was bowed; he did not meet the eyes of his masters.

"Excellent." The man on the left throne leaned forward, appraising the two women. "Oh my. You ladies are so very far from your tower. Betraying the Volturi, are we?"

"Is it betrayal, then, if it was we that were betrayed first?" The first woman tossed her chocolate hair and stared at the two men without fear. "Do you want our information, or no?"

He bared his teeth. "Very much so. What have you to offer us?"

"The kings have found their true mate. A very human mate," the second woman said. "And it is with her that the Volturi will fall."

A dangerous smile, made all the more haunting by the flickering torchlight, spread over his face. "How convenient the timing of this news is. You've noticed the force we've already began to assemble, I take it? Our timeline must be accelerated. Assemble a team to search out humans that could be of use to us."

This order was directed towards the still-kneeling man, who stood abruptly, raised his eyes to the thrones, and said crisply, "Yes, masters."

"How delightful our fight will now become, Vladimir. Once the mate is dead, the Volturi will fall. Fools! They are ours."

Edited 6/26/2021