The Warrior Race: Book One (The Enhanced Universe) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Next Up - The Red Warrior

  Author Notes

  The Warrior Race

  Book One

  T. C. Edge

  This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, events, and incidents that occur are entirely a result of the author's imagination and any resemblance to real people, events, and places is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2017 T. C. Edge

  All right reserved.

  First edition: June 2017

  Cover Design by Laercio Messias

  No part of this book may be scanned, reproduced, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.

  The Warrior Race is part of The Enhanced Universe.

  It is a spinoff from the main series, but can be read as a standalone without prior knowledge of the series. There are only minor spoilers for the main series, and the primary character of Kira was only a minor player within it. All other characters are brand new.

  THE ENHANCED SERIES:

  The Enhanced (Book One)

  Hybrid (Book Two)

  Nameless (Book Three)

  Assassin (Book Four)

  Captive (Book Five)

  Renegade (Book Six)

  Invader (Book Seven)

  Avenger (Book Eight)

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:

  THE WATCHERS SERIES:

  The Watchers Trilogy:

  The Watchers of Eden (Book One)

  City of Stone (Book Two)

  War at the Wall (Book Three)

  The Watchers Trilogy Box Set

  The Seekers Trilogy

  The Watcher Wars (Book One)

  The Seekers of Knight (Book Two)

  The Endless Knight

  The Seekers Trilogy Box Set

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Next Up - The Red Warrior

  Author Notes

  Prologue

  They came like the wind.

  From a dark alley four shadows took shape, materialising from the gloom. The red hues of sunset hovering over the war-torn streets met with the shadows and gave them form.

  At first it was their armour that caught the light, silver, glorious, decorated with fine patterns. Then the colour of their capes joined in, dark red, that of thick, newly drawn blood. Their faces were never seen, not enough to garner detail. But beneath their helmets dark eyes shone, and hair as black as burnt bone spilled out.

  They moved with a speed that caused the dust and soot that settled over the earth to take flight. The low hanging fog of war parted as they sprang from the shade, moving out into the wide, central street of the city. They dodged around debris, husks of smoking cars, rubble from broken buildings, the general wreckage that forms during times of war, and turned their eyes on their prey.

  The two girls before them were gifted, powerful. And one was perfect, just what they’d been looking for.

  She was just why they’d come…

  Rounds of blue flame came their way, spat from the strange weapons the two girls held. The men displaced, moving beyond the cobalt fire as it tore through whatever lay behind them. They spread, breaking formation, determined to split the girls apart.

  One slipped to the far edge of the street, drawing the eyes of the second girl. Her hair was dark brown, her eyes lit hazel, her face a show of fear and confusion. The soldier raised his arms aloft, and summoned the gifts he was born with. The debris on the ground lifted, bits of brick and stone rising and swirling as his mind commanded.

  With a quick, sudden motion, he sent his raised arms forwards, throwing them in the direction of the young girl ahead, cowering now near the husk of a car. The debris went too, spitting across the air, hunting down the girl. She rushed away, moving at lightning speed, sliding along the earth behind any other cover she could find.

  The soldier’s focus stayed with her. He swirled his arm like a lasso, and the debris under his command followed the motion, peppering the girl’s hiding place. She tried to lift her rifle, to fire back, but was struck in the back of the head by a large piece of brick. It hit hard, knocking her forwards. The soldier saw and knew his work was done.

  Further down the street, a terrible wind picked up. The culprit was another of the soldiers, another imbued with powers the girls had never witnessed. He summoned the air, bending it to his will, forcing it to do his bidding as a tornado of his making began to rage.

  Within that tornado, the first girl clung hard to a heavy hunk of broken wall, torn from a nearby building. Her hair was the colour of fire, flaming bright and billowing in the ferocious vortex. Her eyes, green as emeralds, were precious and powerful. They searched through the swirling mist of dust and shards of rock, stone, and brick, seeking the men who’d come from nowhere. Wondering who they were.

  She tried to lift and grip her rifle, but couldn’t for fear of losing her grasp of the wall. She held on with all her strength as the wind roared like endless thunder, the soldiers nothing but shapes in the mist, standing just beyond the swirling tornado that had consumed her.

  There was little she could do. Little but hold on and hope. She’d faced death many times before. Many times she’d thought her last moments had come. But this was different. This was unlike anything she’d ever seen.

  Her mind was torn, part frightened, part awed. The storm was so loud to her highly attuned senses she thought her eardrums might split. She shut her eyes tight to offer some shield to the din but it was no use. It built and built within her mind, ripping and shredding, her consciousness slowly darkening as the edg
es of black night closed in.

  And as her mind began to fade, so did the storm. She blinked the dust away as the airborne debris began to drop, raining from the sky. Large blocks fell, threatening to crush her, but were halted in their path by the soldiers and tossed away as if they were nothing.

  The girl with flaming hair lay crippled on the ground, eyes flickering to catch the last vestige of light. And within that light, from the same alley the men had come from, another wandered out. More finely dressed, more proud in his step, he strolled into the calming carnage with eyes only for the girl of fire.

  He lifted a finger, and aimed it straight for her.

  “Her,” he said, his voice a cool whisper.

  And the lights of the world went out.

  1

  The central hallway was swaying as a single guard wandered down its middle. It rocked from side to side, pitching occasionally in more dramatic fashion. The guard was well used to this. He planted his old feet firmly, though let his knees and thighs roll with the motion. He took great pride in never slipping or sliding down here.

  The swaying steadied, and the guard pressed on, his feet landing in dull thumps on the wooden planking beneath his heavy boots. It was dark, or at least dim, and the torch he carried was one of firelight, the flickering of the candle inside the lamp presenting some form to his surroundings.

  Truth be told, the guard could move around down here blindfolded. He’d spent enough time here to know its nooks and crannies to an intimate level, and was quite aware of where he was at all times.

  The corridor was fairly narrow, perhaps ten feet wide, and stretched away into the darkness until it met a dead end about a hundred feet away. The guard wandered casually, a whistle threatening to slip from between his lips but just catching before it pierced the silence.

  He reached the end of the dark corridor, then swung his lamplight to the left. It illuminated a set of metal bars, rusted in places, fixed horizontally between the ceiling and floor. He took a step forward, peered into the cell beyond, and gave a little nod to himself as he saw the shape of a body in its correct position.

  He ticked off a mental box, turned a half circle, and checked the cell opposite on the other side of the corridor. More bars, another small space fitted with a little bed, and another form lying on top of it.

  The man nodded again.

  He continued this process, moving left and right and working his way back down the narrow hallway. His balance was tested once or twice as he went, a few violent shifts in the earth enough to topple many a man. But not this one, not Merk ‘the Mighty’, as he liked to refer to himself in largely ironic terms. He’d been doing this job far too long to be caught unprepared, even in the worst of weather.

  On he went, left and right, performing his brief examinations. Each time the corridor shook, it brought the rattle of chains along with it. Such restraints were important in keeping the prisoners in place, locking them tight to their beds as they lay unconscious.

  Nearing the end, Merk’s mind began to turn to thoughts of dinner. For a lowly prison caretaker like him, rations were hardly of the sort his master would eat. Yet an empty stomach was enough to present the illusion of good flavour, and his was currently growling with demands to be filled.

  He muttered to himself to keep his mind busy, moving to the end of the corridor where a set of wooden stairs led up and out of this dank, stale-aired place. His lamp swayed left, then right one final time, checking the occupants of the last of the two cells that called an end to each row.

  He stopped on his final inspection, and took a little step closer to the metal bars. He’d learned over the years not to peer too closely or linger too long. The fact that his right hand was missing two fingers was always a firm reminder of that.

  Merk shuddered at the painful memory, and the rumbling in his stomach took a short hiatus. After all, the man who bit his fingers off had gone ahead and enjoyed them for dinner. If ever he wanted to dampen his appetite, reliving that particular memory was always a fine way of doing so.

  Cautiously as always, he raised the lamp until the form on the bed took shape. He inched closer to the bars, snatching up every spare millimetre possible to seek a better view.

  The form on the bed was that of a girl. She was young, only twenty or so, a great deal younger than the old man now staring at her. Her face was pale in the firelight, her skin creamy and soft. It was striking against the red of her hair, wild tousles hanging down her neck and beneath her chin as she lay on her side, looking out.

  Only, she wasn’t looking. Her eyes were shut, locked tight like all the rest. Her breathing sounded softly, a few strands of red hair fluttering as they hung down in front of her nose. Merk stood there for a few moments, his hunger forgotten.

  Rarely had he seen a girl like this down here. This corridor was for contenders. This wasn’t the sacrificial cells. These weren’t the strays and waifs gathered for the slaughter. This was where the strongest lay. This was a place of nightmares.

  Merk continued to peer at her for some time, just watching her chest gently rise and fall, her eyelids flicker occasionally. He wondered where this one had come from. It was a game he liked to play with himself before official word came through, testing his knowledge of the wider world that he’d spent much of his life travelling.

  He examined her more closely. Her cloth was rugged, but in decent condition compared to many others. Dark jeans and jacket, torn in places and with more than a few burn marks. Her boots looked to be leather, sturdy and worn, good for combat. There was a suggestion of blood splashed over her too, though hard to see in the light and due to the manner in which she lay. The dust and soot, however, was plain to see, her hands dirty and the odd smear blotting her otherwise unblemished skin.

  He began to nod to himself.

  “Haven,” he whispered.

  The city of Haven was well known, even where he came from. And that was far way across the ocean. It had, for many years, been under the control of a particular group who called themselves ‘Savants’. They were, Merk knew, those of supreme intelligence, one of the many groups of ‘enhanced’ individuals who now spread their wings across the world.

  He knew all about such people, of course. He took it as part of his job to know about all of that, even though he was nothing but a lowly caretaker himself. He travelled with soldiers of great power. He served men and women of great power. And down here, in this corridor, he was surrounded by prisoners of great power too.

  He looked at the fire-headed girl again.

  Haven…she must be from Haven, he thought.

  A war was on-going there, one that had been brewing for some time. This girl had the look of a rebel, one of those fighting against the status quo. In Merk’s experience, rebellions usually fell somewhere between marginal failure and utter destruction. He assumed that the one in Haven would be just the same.

  He nodded once more at his conclusion and smiled to himself.

  And with the smile, came renewed thoughts of dinner. His stomach rumbled, and the lamplight faded as the guard turned and moved up the wooden stairs, through a wooden door, and down a wooden corridor that slowly gave way to metal.

  2

  The rattle of chains grew loud. Loud enough to wake a hibernating bear.

  A sudden pitch to the left led to heavy grunts. In the darkness, the grunts and rattling chains joined into a din. And in that din, eyelids opened, and many sets of eyes stared into the darkness, confused.

  Among those sets of eyes, one was of deep and alluring green. Kira wrenched her eyes open from a terrible dream, and felt for the first time her body fixed to the bed. Her wrists were bound to individual shackles, her ankles the same. She could move, but only just, a slow, panic-fuelled shaking overtaking her entire body as she continued to wake.

  The noise down there in that dark, musty corridor grew louder. Kira could hear blunted voices beginning to call out. She couldn’t discern the words. Only mumblings came at first.

&
nbsp; The world seemed to lurch again, rocking to the right. She blinked her eyes open and shut a dozen times, trying to see something, trying to draw herself into full consciousness.

  She saw nothing. Just blackness.

  Where am I? she thought weakly. What’s…going on?

  On the final, twelfth blink, she kept her eyes shut tight. She searched her memory and hazy images were returned. Images of battle, of war. Streets on fire. Bodies in the dirt. Strange people coming from the alley…

  Her eyes cranked open. Still, darkness.

  A heavy breath hurled itself into her lungs. She rattled harder against her bonds, her muscles struggling. She felt weak, her strength subdued, her senses dulled.

  She shut her eyes again, trying to block out the growing roars around her as the earth continued to rumble and shake. The last traces of memory were drawn up once more. The wind, the tornado, the strange, silver-armoured soldiers appearing as if from nowhere.

  She’d never seen such men before. She’d never seen such powers. Hers were simple: heightened senses and speed. What she saw was beyond the limits she knew existed. What she saw was magic.

  Kira knew herself well. She was a practical girl, not one to throw tantrums, not one for heavy bellows of emotion. She tried several more times to pull herself free of her shackles before coming to the swift realisation that such a thing was impossible.