So I got back into the swing of things, and at some point every little moment of joy or humor that Chris or one of the others engendered in me stopped creating a backlash of guilt that made me feel like a lower life form. I’d never be the same, but I recovered, and I went on.
It was time to rejoin the game of life.
Chapter Nineteen
The sun was bright in the east, just over the horizon, as the birds serenaded in a new day. We were outside the city, and I was looking at the man who would be my new partner. It was my grandmother’s idea. She’d told me to keep it in the family. The echo of loss I felt was reflected in his eyes as well, as well as determination.
Maybe Death’s Mistress had been right, because that moment felt more right to me than it had a right to, if that makes sense.
Sarah’s son was my new partner. Steven Carson. Like his late mother, he was a rare mix of bruiser of energy super. Flight, strength, toughness, and fire. He was family to me, an older cousin and right around thirty years old. He was well built, with short red hair and brown eyes.
I really wasn’t sure what to say to him that first training class, and I hadn’t seen him in a long while. I wanted to say I was sorry for his loss, but if he was anything like me that would just annoy the hell out of him, because I was heartily tired of people expressing regret for the loss of Lia.
So I skipped it, and I went straight to the heart of the matter.
“Welcome to the team, Steve.”
He nodded, a faint smile on his face as if he’d seen right through my thought process, and maybe he had. Maybe he’d considered offering condolences, and then he’d rejected it for the same reason I had.
“It’s good to be here, Amber.”
We both looked at Gabriel. It was still my and Chris’s company, but he and Ella were our trainers. Ella wasn’t there that morning though.
Gabriel said, “Your training will be rather unique. Normally we train partners as offensive and defensive, but you can both act as a bruiser or a supporting energy wielder if in wildly different ways, which will make you quite effective together. It’ll also make the training a little more difficult, as you trade those roles off liquidly in a fight depending on the supervillain’s strengths and weaknesses. You’ll need to learn to read each other even better than most team-ups. A miscue that puts you both on defense could be deadly, similar to a hesitation.”
As if I didn’t know that? I squashed the sarcastic thought into dust, and paid attention. His training might save my life one day, or more importantly, Steve’s life.
He continued, “For this first week we’ll do little more than sparring against each other, and against me and Ella while the other watches. That should give you a good idea of each other’s fighting styles, then we can work on you two fighting together as one with a lot of after-breakdowns.”
That sounded good, and we got started. It felt good, it felt right to be back in the suit, and working toward bonding with my new partner. A part of me was almost afraid to get to know him, for the obvious reason, but he was already family in my eyes, and I pushed through it.
My fighting styles were radically different, when on the offensive as I attacked and teleported randomly and constantly, but less so when I was in the supporting role and assisting. Of course, in both styles I was always aware of where my partner was, what he was doing, and if a change was needed.
He was tough, and fast. He had no shields just toughness, but he could wreath his hands in flames which gave him protection from an energy wielder eating his arm during a punch. It took time and training to learn how to fight with a new partner, but that’s what separated the trained heroes from most supervillains.
Supervillains were entitled and lazy for the most part. In truth, that’s why they lost most of the time, not because they were evil and we were good. This wasn’t a comic, and it was worth doing, always.
The next few weeks brought color back into my life, as I learned to fight alongside my new partner, and Chris and I grew closer than ever as I forgave him for his silence that day. Ella and Gabriel forgave me for running off, but it was clear to me I’d better not do it again.
This was real life, and the world went on, as it always did.
I’d always be there, to protect my client, protect my city, and if need be, my country and what we believed in.
My name is Wraith, and my story is just getting started.
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback or opinions. This was the third novel of the opening arc for this new world in times of change. If there is enough interest, I’ll write a second arc in the settled down world.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
The Rise of a Dark Mage - This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Cassandra, it takes place in the same world as The Formerly Dark Mage, but happens three hundred years later, long after Silvia is gone and some shocking changes have taken place in the world.
Cassandra is a dark mage in the kingdom of Zual, she’s also a mage prodigy.
She hates both her kingdom, and her master. She wants him dead, not to take his place, but so she can leave and explore the world. Her ambition will drive her to rediscover the secrets of the strongest of magic.
She is determined to succeed, or she’ll die trying.
Celia Winters Novel Series
Witch’s Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1
Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.
She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.
Then her mother died, and she’s about to discover she isn’t who, or what, she believes herself to be, not completely. She will learn that her entire life up until now was a lie. She’ll need to figure out her place, who she is when she no longer recognizes herself, and try to hold on to her closest friends as she gathers enemies for the simple crime of her existence.
She’s stronger than she believes, but will it be enough?
Power of Air Series:
Just a Psychic: The Power of Air Book One starts off this series.
Ben has grown up with missing memories of his early childhood.
He has known he was a psychic since his earliest memories, seeing the future and gaining knowledge with his gifts.
Is it possible he isn't just a psychic?
Ben's world is about to be turned upside down as he turns twenty-one, all is not as it seems.
Alicia Jones novels is a series that follows a bright young inventor and scientist named Alicia Jones. It is a space opera and light science fiction.
The first book is titled First Contact:
Alicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty-three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she t
ests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race.
Her life just gets more complicated after that, when she finds out who she really is, and that the universe may not be as nice a place as she’d been told. Her determination to help keep Earth safe takes her to places more dangerous and strange than she’d ever envisioned.
Spirit Sorceress series, by D. L. Harrison is a new urban fantasy series. Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent the last one hundred years growing up and learning about her power in the forests near Seattle Washington. She’s about to make her debut in the big city, but not in a way she ever expected.
The first book is titled Spirit Sorceress:
Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent her unusually long childhood in the forest away from the city with her mother and father. After tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and on her own. She knows that one day she’ll need to move to Seattle, and fully accept her birthright, and if necessary finish her training on her own.
But before she’s ready, and still in grieving, a rogue vampire and his band come along and change everything. She’ll need to learn her new place in the world, and find some allies quick if she’s to survive.
Katrina Baker Novels, by D. L. Harrison is a new series about a super named Katrina Baker. Problem is, she gets caught up in her mother’s plan, who is a mad scientist and supervillain, and gets herself transported to another world in the multi-verse. A world where mages, witches, clerics, and the gods are real. Not to mention the monsters…
The first book is titled Banished:
Katrina baker is a super. She has mental abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, and others. Her parents are supervillains, and she isn’t all that sure she’s cut out for that line of work. Her empathy with others through her power makes it hard to be uncaring, much less mean or evil to people. Problem is, the last thing she wants to do is disappoint mom and dad.
Katrina gets caught up in her mother’s supervillain plot to get rid the world of the indestructible hero Omega, and that’s when it all goes really wrong, and she finds herself on another world.
Banished.
Will she be able to find her way back home, or even understand this new world of gods and magic, or will she die trying?
Rise of the Empyrean Empire – This series is space opera / science fiction. Space, technology, other worlds, aggressive and far more powerful aliens, artificial intelligence, evolution, and advances to the point humanity doesn’t have to work to maintain infrastructure.
The first book is titled: Scout Ship
Michael Williams followed in his father’s footsteps, and joined the UEDF, the United Earth Defense Force, when he turned eighteen. Due to heroism and long distinguished service he’s elevated to the rank of Lt. Commander when most of his peers have just attained senior lieutenant. His career appears to be going very well.
The year is 2263, and the EUDF is in several star systems in a twenty-light year radius from earth, but are expanding even further. He’s assigned to a one year exploratory mission to become accustomed to his new rank, one that will finally culminate in reaching a new star system, 61-Virginis is just short of twenty-eight light years away, and he’s excited to be one of the first humans in a new solar system as they finish the race across the void between stars in the scout ship Columbus.
There will be challenges he never imagined though, especially not on a simple survey mission. Because mankind always thought they were alone in the stars. They’re about to find out they’re wrong, very wrong…
Book Description
Amber Morris, the daughter of Lady Aegis is about to quicken. Like her mother and grandmother she was looking forward to doing her part, but she had plans to blaze her own path.
The world had steadied, and twenty years had passed since the horrors committed by Dr. Grayson. Amber had high hopes for her path in life, but sometimes life throws a curve, and there were none larger than the specter of war. She’ll have to become more than she’d imagined, if she’s to survive and protect the innocent.
Author’s note: This is the third book of a clean superhero series with no mature content. Each book will be a new standalone novel of different supers, and their origin story and first steps, all in the same world during turbulent times of change. Although each independent story can stand alone, the world building and timeline will involve spoilers from past books so they should be read in order.
Wraith: Origins of Supers: Book Three Page 15
