The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (31 page)

Tanya was the first of Sasha’s adopted daughters. She was Sasha’s biological great-niece, and when Sasha decided she’d like some companionship in her vampire life, she chose Tanya to join her. Sasha enjoyed having the company of another female so much that she added two more “daughters” to her coven in the first century after changing Tanya.

Tanya was the closest to Sasha, so she was even more shocked than the others when Sasha’s crime was revealed. She could never understand why Sasha would act in such a way, but once the Volturi had tested Tanya and her sisters’ innocence, she
did
understand why her adoptive mother would keep it a secret from her.

Losing Sasha was a tremendous blow to Tanya and her sisters.

Losing Sasha was a tremendous blow to Tanya and her sisters. Tanya always felt like there was an immense hole in her life. She tried to fill the emptiness with a long line of flirtations, which were enough to frequently distract her from her loss. Tanya was the first of the sisters to become sensitive to the deaths of her human companions as she inevitably killed them for their blood. Over time, these smaller losses of short-term friends began to remind her too much of Sasha’s death. When the pain of these losses became greater than her entertainment in the liaisons, she gave up human men for a time. Frustrated by the return of her nagging loneliness, Tanya tried to think of a way she could go back to her romantic pursuits without killing her human friends. After much thought, she decided it was the steady diet of human blood that made it so difficult for her to resist the blood of specific humans she wished to spare. Eventually, she discovered that substituting animal blood took care of her nutritional needs without weakening her ability to resist
human blood. Her sisters enthusiastically mimicked her new behavior, and in a few centuries they had perfected their “vegetarianism.”

When Tanya met Eleazar and Carmen, she was happy to explain her dietary choices. As the newcomers became closer and closer to Tanya and her sisters, Tanya naturally took her place as the leader of the whole family. She was delighted to meet Carlisle when the Cullens finally encountered them, seeing him as her peer in many ways. She also was intrigued by Edward, mostly because he showed no interest in her advances despite the fact that he had no partner. Tanya never gave up her lighthearted pursuit of Edward, which is one of the reasons the Cullens did not settle in Alaska with the Denalis.

O
THER
M
EMBERS OF THE
D
ENALI
C
OVEN

SASHA
Creator of Irina, Kate, and Tanya. Sasha was killed by the Volturi for creating an immortal child, Vasilii.

VASILII
The immortal child created by Sasha, Vasilii was physically three years old when Sasha transformed him. He was killed by the Volturi, along with Sasha, when his existence was discovered. He didn’t meet the other members of Sasha’s coven until the day he died.

T
he Egyptian coven is one of the oldest covens—if not the very oldest—in existence. The remaining coven is just a fraction of the size of the original, but they still hunt on their traditional lands.

A
MUN

Members of the Egyptian coven, including Amun, existed as individuals for centuries before the Romanians’ rise to power. After the Romanians began to grow as a coven and dominate
their part of the world, several solo vampires and vampire couples joined forces to protect their dominance in the Nile River Valley. Unlike the Romanians, they did not form a guard of subordinates or try to overthrow other vampire covens. Similar to the Romanians, they kept many human slaves and lived as gods. Also, none of them possessed psychic gifts.

The Egyptians and the Romanians coexisted; they were cordial to one another, though not friendly.

The Egyptians and the Romanians coexisted; they were cordial to one another, though not friendly. Had the Romanians continued the expansion of their empire, eventually they probably would have tried to overthrow the much smaller Egyptian clan. Before the Romanians had time to move that far south, however, the Volturi attacked.

A century later, after the Volturi had soundly won the war against the Romanians, they continued their march against other covens that lived ostentatiously. Their next target was Egypt. Again, the Volturi began with an attempt at diplomacy. They sent ambassadors to the Egyptian “gods,” explaining their cause and asking the Egyptians to comply. For the most part, the Egyptians were furious and refused to grant the Volturi any power over them. Only one Egyptian pair changed sides—Amun and Kebi. Amun knew that if the Volturi were able to overthrow the Romanians, the more peaceful Egyptian coven would be easy prey. He was right; the Egyptians were totally decimated in only five years.

Amun had a very strong survival instinct, and he was willing to bow to the Volturi if it kept him alive. Kebi followed Amun’s choice without question. However, Amun was always bitter at having to surrender his former lifestyle. He loved
the worship, the towering desert monuments, and the excess. He knew he could not plot against the Volturi, because Aro would find out. But he hoped that, over time, he could gain the strength to oppose them. He had learned from the Volturi methods, and he sought out talented humans and vampires.

Unfortunately for him, Aro was well aware of Amun’s true desires. Aro felt the need to let Amun survive in the first place as an example to other covens, so they could see the truth of the Volturi’s offer: As long as they did as the Volturi commanded, they could live. Aro always kept a close eye on Amun’s movements afterward, so Aro was able to identify individuals Amun was trying to integrate into his coven and—if they had a valuable talent—invite them into the Volturi guard first. Sometimes he was too late, and Amun found a good prospect first. Demetri was one of Amun’s acquisitions. But with Chelsea on his side, it was not hard for Aro to woo people away from Amun. In many other cases, Aro would simply accuse a coven of a crime when he wanted one of their talented members. He’d kill the rest and save the special one. But Aro enjoys toying with Amun too much to end his life that way.

Over the centuries, Amun gave up trying to create his own talented force.

Over the centuries, Amun gave up trying to create his own talented force. However, when he stumbled across Benjamin—who, as a human, was performing “magic” tricks in the streets of Cairo—he began to dream again. He became a total recluse, keeping Benjamin a deep secret by avoiding contact with any vampire or human who might possibly cross paths with the Volturi. He treated Benjamin
as a son, and Benjamin viewed him as a father. The only big falling-out they had in the early years of their coven was when Benjamin left briefly to create his own mate, against Amun’s wishes. Benjamin was quickly forgiven when he returned, with no harm done.

B
ENJAMIN