Winter - Part one: Night Warden.

Prologue

For centuries witches and vampires have been at war with each other and humans were frequently caught in the crossfire as both races battled for dominance over the other. The humans eventually had enough and rose up against the vampires and the witches causing the world to turn into a warzone where ultimately the humans were the underdogs as both vampires and witches could only be killed by one of their two races. Humans could not kill them. After witnessing the death of her brother as a result of this conflict, Alessia, daughter of the Elder Vampire Lord Morgen, pleaded with all involved in an attempt to stop the war that was destroying everything they were trying to protect and it would eventually destroy them all. Her cries fell on death ears and the war raged on but she could not be a part of it so she left her coven and vowed to find a way to end the war herself.
On her journey she met a young witch named Owen who had also lost a family member because of this war, his mother, so he also wanted the war to come to an end and the suffering to stop no matter what the cost. As fate would have it Alessia and Owen fell in love. This was completely forbidden and they would both be imprisoned and tortured as a result if they were caught but with the war going on the focus was elsewhere. Through research, Owen found an ancient ritual created by witches and vampires that cursed vampires and witches to live the life-span of a human as it removed their gift of eternal life. Without immortality they may be inclined to stop this war and focus on living rather than dying. The ancient rite required a dear sacrifice but both Owen and Alessia were willing to sacrifice whatever was asked of them in order to achieve peace. They were able to discover that the sacrifice must be a vampire and a witch, so they would sacrifice themselves in hope that it would bring peace to the planet once again so they made their way, without delay, to the south of Scotland where the alter of sacrifice was located.
The leaders of the vampires and the witches had found out about Owen and Alessia's plans and called a temporary truce in an attempt to stop this ritual from taking place but they were too late and the couple had just finished the ritual and gave their life essence to the alter of sacrifice which had cracked and shattered. Elder Morgen and the witch queen Vale, knew that this ritual could not be reversed and if both races could not get along then the extinction of both would be inevitable. This ritual and the thought of pending extinction led to a final and ultimate truce between vampires, witches and humans.
A few days later as Morgen was in his chambers mourning the loss of his daughter, a servant came up to him with a basket holding a very young baby and note.
'Dear father,
If you have this note then I was unable to stop the war without sacrificing myself and for that I am sorry but I was left with no choice. I hope that you will not think less of me for my actions.
Owen and I were in love and we both knew the cost of this ritual. I am not completely gone. This baby girl is Winter. She is the daughter born of Owen and myself, Vampire and Witch,
Proving that we are not so different and that we can indeed fully cohabit this world. I wish for you to look after her as you did me. I wish I could see her grow into as strong a woman as mother was. I love you father and we will eventually be together again.
Yours always,
Alessia'
Morgen took great pride in raising his grand daughter whether it was because he seen Alessia every time he looked at Winter or because he felt like he owed his daughter at least that much. He had this news delivered to Queen Vale. With the realisation that this unity was possible both races began to co-exist like they were the same and finally peace and prosperity were looking likely. Vampires helped the witches learn their hunting skills and an turn the witches developed a synthetic blood that was the perfect imitation of human blood and brought all the same benefits but without any suffering.

Some Humans, however, were not happy at how well the vampires and witches were existing together believing them to be joining forces to enslave humanity. They were referring to Winter as a filthy half breed and were convinced that she would bring the end of humanity but as long as the treaty remained in place no harm could come to any race or the culprit would face immediate execution. Only the United States President, the Witch Queen or the Elder Vampire could make the decision to break the treaty but there would have to be a strong, valid reason. The human's formed a small military group called the Templars and were self-proclaimed soldiers of God but they insisted they were there only to protect humans in the instance of a threat from witches and vampires breaking the treaty. In retaliation the vampires and witches formed the Night Wardens, a military force whose sole aim was to protect the vampires and witches.
Twenty years later Winter had become Captain of the Night Wardens. Her whole life she was trained to be an assassin and had become a deadly weapon. She was never informed about what happened to her parents as she was raised by the coven - she was told only that they didn't know who her father was and that her mother died in childbirth a sore point for her but one that she grew to accept.

Tensions between the Templars and the Night Wardens were getting higher as the Templar's numbers rose significantly and it was looking more and more like it would only be a matter of time before one of the two groups made a move and broke the treaty. The Templar's believed that the vampires and witches were a threat and there would be no convincing otherwise. The Night Wardens had to be ready for any eventuality.