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   Table of Contents Cover Title Page Books by Eric R. Asher Copyright Page Epigraph Map Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Epilogue Note from Eric R. Asher Books by Eric R. Asher About the Author STORMBORN THE STEAMBORN SERIES, BOOK SEVEN ByERIC R. ASHER Books by Eric R. Asher Keep track of Eric’s new releases by receiving an email on release day. It’s fast and easy to sign up for Eric’s mailing list, and you’ll also get an ebook copy of the subscriber exclusive anthology, Whispers of War. Click here to get started: www.ericrasher.com The Steamborn Series: Steamborn Steamforged Steamsworn Skyborn Skyforged Skysworn Stormborn Stormforged Stormsworn The Vesik Series: (Recommended for Ages 17+) Days Gone Bad Wolves and the River of Stone Winter’s Demon This Broken World Destroyer Rising Rattle the Bones Witch Queen’s War Forgotten Ghosts The Book of the Ghost The Book of the Claw The Book of the Sea The Book of the Staff The Book of the Rune The Book of the Sails The Book of the Wing The Book of the Blade The Book of the Fang The Book of the Reaper Dreams of the Forgotten Dead The Vesik Series Box Sets Box Set One (Books 1-3) Box Set Two (Books 4-6) Box Set Three (Books 7-8) Box Set Four: The Books of the Dead Part 1 (Books 9-14) Box Set Five: The Books of the Dead Part 2 (Books 15-18) Vesik: The Dufris Years (Books 1-8) Mason Dixon – Monster Hunter: Episode One Episode Two Episode Three Episode Four Season 1 Box Set *Want to receive an email when one of Eric’s books releases? Sign up for Eric’s mailing list. Copyright © 2022 by Eric R. Asher All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Smashwords Edition, 2021 Smashwords Edition License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Edited by Laura Matheson Cover typography by Murphy Rae Cover artwork by Enggar Adirasa  ~ History is not always written. ~  CHAPTER ONE Owen would never escape the vision of his brother on the Red Hand’s blades. It was a mercy he’d been dead by the time they strung him up on the wall, but Owen also knew enough of the outside world to know Fel was a cruel place. A cruel home. Part of him wished he had taken his family away from Fel long ago. He wished he’d taken them onto that strange airship with Jacob and Alice, but he couldn’t leave Hefina behind, and he couldn’t ask those outsiders to wait. He reached out and rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder. Hefina glanced up at him, her forehead creased as though she expected him to deliver more terrible news. Owen spoke after a long silence. “It’s good we’re leaving, Hefina.” She squeezed his hand. “We’ll be home one day. I know it.” He didn’t answer that thought. In some ways, she was right. They’d find a home. Maybe in Dauschen, if their family had survived there. Or perhaps they’d take to Ancora, where the Ancorans apparently raised children as warriors to face down the likes of Mordair. Wherever the tides took them, Owen was thankful his son hadn’t seen what had happened to his uncle all those years before. Even as the thought entered his mind, his gaze trailed to the bow of the speeder, where Vaughn watched the waters like his father had taught him. There was no windscreen at the speeder’s bow, but his son didn’t mind, clearly enjoying the wind on the sea even now. The Black Sea wasn’t a kind place for speeders, with tall waves and a chill that would cut through the best of the blacksmiths’ diving suits. Owen knew if they sank, they were doomed. But he still guided them past the mouths of the rivers that led through the North Woods. It wasn’t until they passed the second that Vaughn questioned him. “Why not head inland here?” “The North Woods haven’t been fond of anyone from Fel in a long time, son. Best to avoid them. And best to keep distance between us and anyone who might have followed.” Vaughn frowned and looked back at the dark waters. “No one’s going to follow us out here.” “I lost your uncle, and I’m not going to lose you from a lack of caution.” It was a low blow. Owen didn’t like prodding at old wounds, but he also didn’t like the idea of Vaughn doing something ill-advised in a spur-of-the-moment decision. He remembered being that age, and he’d managed to make terrible decisions, even without his entire city being overthrown. Maybe that’s what it needed in the end. Maybe it was time for Mordair’s terrible reign to be finished. But the cost was too high. And the thought that Vaughn could die alongside his uncle, and