[General POV]
The god of the winds made the air still—or so it seemed. For a brief moment, everything froze, as if even nature itself awaited my answer.
But it wasn't my time to speak. Not yet.
The vampire at the center leaned forward slightly, and with a solemnity that seemed to slow time itself, continued speaking:
— "We are not part of this simple, weak, common scene. We belong to a coven long forgotten. Our coven has existed since the first steps of humanity. Before empires. Before kings. Before even names. We were the first to bear the curse... and the power."
Abdiel shifted beside me. He had heard stories like this before—we all had. But only as legends, fragments of vampire mythologies that flirted with the impossible. And yet... there they stood.
— "We remained hidden," the Nordic vampire added, "not out of fear, but by choice. To interfere would only hasten the degeneration of our kind. So we watched from the shadows. Letting time itself sift the worthy from the forgotten."
— "But something has changed," I interjected, sensing that they were on the brink of revealing the true reason for their presence.
The Chinese vampire nodded.
— "The king of the Hittites... Muwatalli. He has reignited war. But more than that: he forged a pact."
— "With what?" I asked in a low voice.
The African vampire answered:
— "With a being as old as the first vampires. A creature that never needed to be born to exist. Known only as... the First Hunger."
When he spoke the name, the temperature seemed to drop—not just in the air, but inside me. My skin reacted instinctively, and the dormant cryogenic power within me stirred at the touch of fear.
— "This being does not seek to rule," he continued. "It seeks to erase—everything and everyone. It sees no difference between human, vampire, god, or beast. It consumes all. Erasing legacies. Histories. Species."
At the end of his words, existence itself felt like a desert—more silent than it should have been.
— "And now, it has a king and the Hittite people at its service," the central vampire said. "An army under its influence. They have begun the rituals that, once completed... will fully awaken it from its ancient slumber."
I exhaled heavily.
Muwatalli, alone, would not have been an enemy worth fearing.
But with this behind him... war was no longer just political.
It had become existential.
I stood still, reflecting on it all. How different this world was.
None of this had ever been mentioned in Twilight.
And after realizing this, I asked—because I needed to understand more about these three visitors and their motives:
— "Why tell me all this?" I pressed further. "Why not face it yourselves?"
— "Because you are already at war," the African replied. "Your group already bleeds against the Hittite Empire. And even for us, this enemy may be more than we can contain alone."
The African added:
— "But together, we might sever the bond. Prevent its full awakening. Perhaps... save more than just the vampires."
A brief silence hung in the air.
I paced slightly, then looked to Amenadiel, standing firm and ready. Then to Abnadiel, who seemed to weigh destinies between his fingers.
I lifted my chin and spoke:
— "Suppose I accept," I said, "what exactly do you expect from me?"
— "A coordinated strike," the leader answered. "Not today, but soon. There is a temple—a key site where the final pact will be sealed. We need young eyes. Strength that still breathes the present.
We need you... and your people."
I listened carefully to everything he said, but still I asked:
— "But... what guarantee do I have that any of this is real?"
It wasn't total distrust—deep down, I sensed their words carried truth.
But instinct alone wasn't enough.
I needed certainty.
The Chinese vampire lifted his gaze to me, an enigmatic smile tugging at his lips before he spoke:
— "Morpheus... we've known you for a very long time.
We've also known Aro and his ambitions—and until now, we've been content to let him pursue them."
I was surprised at the mention of Aro, but the vampire didn't stop there.
His voice echoed through the darkness, firm as a verdict:
— "When I say we know you, I don't mean by hearsay.
We know who you are.
You are different from the others of our kind.
You are born of something rare... a perfect fusion of the dead and the living, the human and the inhuman. A hybrid being.
There are few like you, Morpheus—comrades who arose from the improbable union of a vampire and a human."
There was a brief, almost respectful pause before he continued:
— "I tell you this so you understand, young Morpheus: we have no reason to lie to you. Nor to your people.
We already understand your ambition in the Nile... and your probable plans with Ramesses.
But we do not seek to interfere.
Mortal affairs do not concern us."
He inclined his head, his expression darkening:
— "The Hunger, however... is different.
It leaves nothing behind.
We fought it millennia ago.
And in that war, we lost hundreds—thousands—of brave brothers.
We do not wish to see that repeated.
We want to stay alive.
We want to stay strong."
I listened to every word with unwavering attention.
And when I heard that they had once fought this enemy themselves, a chill involuntarily ran across my skin.
If everything they said was true...
then the danger approaching was far greater than I had ever imagined.
I stood in silence for a brief moment, feeling the weight of the decision pulsing through every fiber of my being.
It was not merely a decision—it was a silent oath, a step into something I could not fully understand.
Since I had been reborn into this world, I had always thought I would foresee everything that came my way—but this was something new.
I raised my gaze, steady, letting them see the resolution that now burned within me like ancient fire.
— "I will fight," I said, my voice echoing in the darkness without hesitation.
— "For my people. For the future that might still exist."
The leader of the trio simply nodded, as if he had already expected my answer.
There were no smiles. No celebrations.
The battle against the First Hunger was not a cause for rejoicing.
It was simply the inevitable path standing before the probable abyss.
I took a step forward, crossing the invisible threshold between who I had been... and who I needed to become.
And at that moment, I knew:
there was no turning back.
After that final vow of agreement, the men excused themselves, telling me they would seek me out again soon to discuss further matters.
And throughout that entire conversation, everything changed.
A silent, massive fracture was born within my understanding of the world.
These vampires seemed far deeper than the Egyptian coven, the Romanian one, or even the Volturi.
At the very moment when the Volturi were merely being born, these beings already had eyes and ears everywhere.
It made me wonder: had the Volturi ever truly ruled the vampire world?
And regarding the First Hunger... there was no mention of it in any Twilight book or film.
I would have remembered—my eidetic memory would never have allowed me to forget something so significant.
Everything felt different.
I didn't know whether it was because I had fallen into an alternate version of Twilight... or if it had always been there, hidden between the lines of the saga, simply never brought to light.
I stood still for hours, thinking, frozen like a statue as I reformed my plans.
My men surrounded me, waiting in silence.
When I finally returned to myself, I walked into the darkness, lost in thought, pondering my next move.
To be continued…
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[N/A] If you've read this far, thank you! And since I'm terrible at handling compliments, please, insult me instead!