by T. C. Edge
The Enhanced: Fractured
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 2019 T. C. Edge
All right reserved.
First edition: April 2019
Cover Design by Laercio Messias
No part of this book may be scanned, reproduced, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.
BY THE AUTHOR:
THE ENHANCED SERIES (MAIN 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)
Defender (Book Nine)
Nemesis (Book Ten)
Sequel (to main Enhanced series, and Warrior Race series):
The Enhanced: Awakening
The Enhanced: Conquest
The Enhanced: Fractured
THE WARRIOR RACE SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):
The Warrior Race (Book One)
The Red Warrior (Book Two)
Angel of War (Book Three)
CHILDREN OF THE PRIME SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):
The Chosen (Book One)
Trial of the Chosen (Book 2)
Blood of the Chosen (Book 3)
March of the Chosen (Book 4)
War of the Chosen (Book 5)
Fall of the Chosen (Book 6)
Rise of the Chosen (Book 7)
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
THE PHANTOM CHRONICLES:
The Last Phantom (Book 1)
Phantom Hunter (Book 2)
Phantom Legacy (Book 3)
Phantom Unleashed (Book 4)
Contents
1. Kira
2. Kira
3. Kira
4. Brie
5. Kira
6. Kira
7. Brie
8. Kira
9. Brie
10. Kira
11. Kira
12. Brie
13. Brie
14. Kira
15. Kira
16. Kira
17. Brie
18. Kira
19. Kira
20. Brie
21. Kira
22. Kira
23. Brie
24. Kira
25. Brie
26. Kira
27. Brie
28. Kira
29. Brie
30. Kira
31. Brie
What’s Next?
Also by T. C. Edge
1
Kira
The world is a blur of bodies, the centre of Inner Haven hectic.
Hundreds of soldiers, almost exclusively bloodied and muddied from the conflict out on the plains, rush here and there in their troops, gathering at this central meeting point following the battle outside of the Olympian encampment.
I march alongside Ares, his mighty arms still cradling the two unconscious Fire Elementals, Amber and Elian, as more soldiers continue to arrive from the streets, heading for the core of the city. Neoromans, Stalkers, City Guards and Nameless alike hurry in groups, arriving from various points.
We get reports off them as we go. It seems that the enemy have decided not to commit to any further chase, choosing not to follow as our own soldiers retreated towards the city. The count of the dead, it seems, is in the hundreds on our side.
The enemy, we hear, have suffered far greater losses.
Arriving nearby to the cenotaph - the memorial commemorating those who died in the civil war and conflict with the Cure that followed - we stop in place, and take a breath. Ares turns his eyes over towards a grouping of Neoroman soldiers nearby, men who have been stationed here in the city alongside him for the last few months. They immediately rush up towards us, as he lays down the two Olympian captives, placing them to the floor with a gentleness that belies his size and brutish stature.
"Take these two to the Oasis," he tells the men, his voice commanding their immediate response. "Bring news of what has happened to President Orlando and Secretary Burns. We will hold the line here within Inner Haven. The enemy have suffered greatly and will take time to recover."
At that point, a voice comes calling off to the side.
I turn and see Commander Hendricks marching up towards us, looking weary and yet uninjured. The man, I know, is not the usual type to have commanded the City Guard in the past. Over the years, the post has been taken by a series of Savants. Now, they have chosen a full blown warrior hybrid to lead them.
"Commander Ares," he says, marching right up towards us, spreading his keen eyes around the throng. It looks like he's been back here for a while at least, arranging the troops and hearing updates as they come in. "It's no surprise to see that you have survived unscathed. Made the enemy pay out there, I suspect?"
The two men grip hands at the wrist and shake firmly. They must, in the intervening months during my absence in Neorome, have forged a firm bond of mutual respect, only deepened during these last few, testing days of war.
"Just doing my part," says Ares, ever modest. I only caught the tail end of his impact in the battle, but even that was seismic. "Have you performed an accounting of our losses?"
"We have an idea," nods Hendricks. "Almost three hundred is the estimate. Perhaps half of our leading soldiers. Mostly, my own City Guards, as far as I can ascertain." His eyes turn to me, a smile working onto his face. "Kira, so good to have you back. I noticed your arrival from afar. How many more Neoromans came with you?"
I glance at Ares, who I updated on the way back from the battlefield just moments ago. "Only a hundred and twenty, I'm afraid, Commander Hendricks," I say. "There have been problems in Neorome within the senate. They have been in disagreement about sending troops."
"Yes, we heard," says Hendricks. He shakes his head. "Well, perhaps a larger force wasn't necessary in the end. Your addition proved quite telling, Kira. As did your impact, and that of your men, Commander Ares. You truly are a warrior people. We will be indebted to your forever."
"It is our pleasure to aid you in this struggle, Commander Hendricks," responds Ares. "Any loss of Neoroman life is given to this mutual cause. Our men have died with honour, as have yours. There is no more noble calling than protecting the lives of the innocent."
Hendricks nods with a rousing determination on his face. His eyes work towards the grouping of Neoroman soldiers as they pick up the two Fire Elementals, and prepare to take them off towards the Oasis.
"I have ordered for them to be taken to the Oasis," Ares informs him. "We believe they will be more useful as prisoners to us, rather than adding them to the count of the dead."
"Yes, they may prove useful as bargaining tools," Hendricks agrees. "We already have their leader down there, this Herald Perses you captured. At this rate, we will have their entire leadership under lock and key. And it is all thanks to you, Ares."
"Not all me," Ares says, turning his eyes down to me. "The Red Warrior was instrumental in bringing these two in. She knocked the girl unconscious, and persuaded me to stay my hand over killing the boy. She was...right
to do so. The battle was ending. He didn't need to die." He looks across as the Fire Elementals, Amber and Elian, are drawn away. "The boy fought bravely," he adds more sombrely. "Perhaps they can both be shown a better path."
"Perhaps," nods Hendricks, a little more doubtful.. His eyes work again towards the wide square, where our soldiers continue to gather. "Have you heard from our other commanders?" he asks. "Colonel Hatcher? Brie?"
Ares shakes his head weightily. "I lost contact with Colonel Hatcher some time ago during the fight. The same is true of young Brie. She was fighting alongside Captain Marcus. I'm sure they will arrive soon."
He glances to me at that, evidently aware of my concern for the latter. I'm fully aware of Brie's often reckless and impulsive attitude to battle, commonly putting herself in tight spots when, really, they could be avoided. She has also grown quite obsessive over testing her new powers. Eventually, I know, such a thing will backfire on her. I just have to hope it wasn't this day.
And, unfortunately, Marcus isn't too dissimilar. The young captain is an especially skilled and agile warrior, but he's got an appetite for the fight to match or even better the most insatiable Neoroman warriors. And here was me thinking that the likes of Zander and I had a deepset desire to seek conflict. Well, the Neoromans, particularly those who were once gladiators, seem to take all that to a whole different level. And Marcus, being a former champion, is certainly high up on that list.
I turn my eyes up to Hendricks at that, another concern burgeoning in my heart, now opened to such stresses so much more than it once was.
"Have you seen Domitian?" I ask him. "He arrived with us. I told him to make his way to the city, get to Inner Haven or the Oasis." I cast my eyes into a worried frown. "You...haven't seen him, have you?"
"Not personally, Kira, no," he says. "It's possible he ventured straight for the Oasis. Where might he have entered the city?"
"The east gate," I say. "I said that was probably the best way in, given the way we came and where the battle was taking place."
"We ventured out of the east gate to fight," Hendricks muses, stroking his chin. "We had a few soldiers stationed there to operate it. They should have let the Emperor in if they saw him coming. How long ago was this?"
I look to Ares, thinking. "Not that long. We arrived towards the end of the fight."
"Then perhaps he's still on his way here," Hendricks suggests.
I nod. It sounds reasonable. Knowing Dom, he might well have stayed for a while upon the crest of that hill, observing the battle below, before moving towards the city.
"I'll send a couple of soldiers that way," Hendricks goes on, drawing the eyes of a couple of his less weary-looking men nearby. They rush over, and he passes on a quick order for them to hurry towards the east gate, find out if they can discover Dom's whereabouts.
They nod and move off. Around us, the surviving soldiers of New Haven continue to arrive, doing so in dribs and drabs now, a few here and a few there. I continue to scan, searching for Brie or Captain Marcus.
Still, nothing.
A man in resplendent silver does, however, catch my eye. He marches towards us in his usual stern manner. In other, more regular company, he'd be considered fairly tall. With the likes of Ares around, not to mention the formidably large Brutes among the City Guard, he cuts a rather more modest figure.
"Commander Ares," he says, marching towards our little gathering outside of the City Guard HQ, not far from the monument to the dead that stands where the High Tower once did. It will, now, be added to with several hundred more names.
"Commander Maximus," Ares responds, the two men bowing to one another respectfully. Naturally, Max bows a little lower, owing to his lower rank. Yes, they share the same title of 'commander', but Ares is one rung above him on the ladder. "Your presence here warms me."
"More than happy to be here, sir," Max says. He looks to me and bows. "We lost you out there, Lady Kira."
"I got distracted," I say. "Ran into Ares and joined in his fight. You didn't look like you needed my aid."
My mind turns back, briefly, to the battle not so long ago. Our arrival had started auspiciously, running right through several hundred enemy men without losing many of our own. It was the first time I'd seen Max in battle, the first time I'd seen the depths of his telekinetic powers in full flow. It was remarkably impressive to say the least.
"So long as you were killing," Max says, his eyes narrow and grave, though with a hint of good humour, "then that's all that matters." He turns to Ares. "We lost twenty good men," he says. "I have an additional one hundred remaining."
Ares nods, dipping his chin in respect of the lost. "They have fallen to a worthy cause," he says. "Our contingent here have also suffered similar losses."
"For Neorome," Max says, clenching his fist into a ball, and raising it chest-height in front of him.
"For Neorome," Ares repeats, doing the same.
The words are followed by a short, reverential silence, only broken by the voice of Commander Hendricks.
"I should introduce myself," he says, looking to Commander Marcus. "My name is Glenn Hendricks, Commander of the City Guard. We are very grateful for your arrival, Commander Maximus. Without your forces, the battle may have gone ill."
"Much obliged, Commander Hendricks," says Max, stepping forward and taking Hendricks's hand, shaking as Ares did only minutes ago. "Do you have an idea of the state of the enemy forces?"
"They had a little over four thousand, five hundred prior to the battle," Hendricks says. "It's difficult to know how badly they have suffered, but their losses far outnumber our own."
"And, Emperor Domitian?" asks Max, turning his eyes to me with a worried frown. "Has he arrived yet?"
I shake my head, a slight throb of concern still probing at my heart. "Men have been sent to the eastern gate. There was no fighting over in that part of the city, or beyond. He...should be fine."
Maximum nods, his eyes fixing sternly once again, his chest puffing. "Then I must lend my aid in the search," he says dutifully. "Emperor Domitian's safety is my responsibility. I will not rest until he is..."
Ares lifts his hand, silencing Max. We follow the eyes of the great Neoroman, towards the streets working away to the east. "No need," rumbles his endless voice. "It would appear our Emperor has arrived."
A jeep, covered in mud and caked in dirt, comes grumbling down the road in our direction, flanked by a small cohort of City Guard Dashers. I peer forward with my eyes as my heart relaxes with a deep pulse of relief. Behind the wheel, old Merk clings on tight, taking on the duty of chauffeur. And right there next to him, my future husband sits.
"Thank God..." I find myself whispering, a smile flourishing on my lips. The others appear to display similar sentiments, though without quite the same reaction as me. We immediately uproot and head in the direction of the car as it rolls to a stop ahead of us, halting with something of a judder as Merk, nervous perhaps in such company and circumstances, stalls the engine.
The doors quickly open as Dom leaps out, his eyes only on me as he steps forward with several long strides and takes me into a brief, though tender, embrace. "Are you injured?" he asks me quickly, stepping back, looking me up and down.
I shake my head. "I'm just fine, Dom."
He nods several times as Merk comes rather shyly round the corner, lingering in the background as the rest of us gather into a circle. Dom's eyes work over to Max, nodding his deep gratefulness. Then, he looks to Ares.
"Commander Ares," he says. "How wonderful to see you again."
Ares bows deeply, his sizeable frame bending low. "And you, my Emperor. I am not at all surprised to see that you have come. Yet I hear there is some political conflict in Neorome?"
"Squabbling would be a better word," Dom says, shaking his head in a suppressed state of anger. "You're well aware of our systems, Ares. I didn't expect the new political structure Lucius and I devised would be tested so quickly. But," he says, turning his eyes around, "it w
ould appear that we’ve been bought some time. And it's all down to you fine gentlemen." He nods to them, as the two Imperial Guard commanders bow again, before turning to Commander Hendricks, stepping over, and firmly shaking his hand. "Good to see you again, Commander Hendricks," he finishes.
"And you, Emperor Domitian. I have passed on my thanks to Kira and Commander Maximus for your timely arrival. I suppose much of our gratitude should be directed at you."
"Oh no," says Dom, shaking his head modestly. "It is ours to share between us. I wasn't about to abandon our treaty so easily as some of the senators back in Neorome, and Commander Maximus is as loyal a man as they come. He and his men were willing to circumvent official protocol to come with me. No Neoroman warrior likes to sit back when their own countrymen are fighting, and dying, in a war." He looks to me. "And, well, Kira's motivations are fairly obvious. If nothing else had happened, I'm certain she'd have found a way home, even if it meant swimming the ocean to get here."
He stops in his short monologue, turning his eyes around as Merk hovers a little behind him. I notice Commander Hendricks nodding at the old man and offering him a grim smile. It's a nice touch that probably helps to ease Merk's rather nervous demeanour amid such company.
