***This book is now complete. No further chapters will be added. When the port of Hastrior is invaded by marauding high elves, two mages and the pirate they tried to kill are forced together in a fiery alliance. The feuding trio are reunited by a dragon mage and a smart-aleck sphinx when the Emperor of the West seeks to reassert his rule over the free kingdoms of the Eastern Reaches. The magical beasts have a plan to save the East, but they need the trio to settle their differences and work together, or else the world will once more suffer under the high elf Emperor’s brutal rule. For these three, even saving the world doesn’t seem worth this tempestuous alliance. Five years ago Ozora fled from Hastrior and the pirate who’d taken it over. The Journeying mage was swept away by the handsome and dangerous Fraser Connell but her love quickly turned to rage when she learned he was trading in hippocamps. No punishment was too severe for the crime of catching the magical, half-horse, half-fish creatures and selling them to the highest bidders. And Ozora had no problem handing down that justice. Fraser Connell was the killer people called him, and it paid well. He and his crew sailed the seas, hired by the wealthy and royal to protect their merchants and fight their battles. Five years ago he claimed Hastrior after her Prince died under mysterious circumstances, then abandoned it after Ozora sank his ship.  Taenya DeLange was studying magic when she found out Fraser killed her Prince and took over her beloved Hastrior. Naturally she wanted him dead. After she failed to inspire a murderous mutiny in Fraser’s crew, she sought in the farthest, unexplored territories of the Eastern Reaches for a means to ensure her revenge. And found it. Now, they must learn to go beyond their past pain and betrayals, reforging relationships and finding new bonds.   *********   Thank you for reading Salt, Sky, and Fire. This isn’t my first book but it’s my first time publishing on Royal Road, and I’m thrilled to be sharing here.   Salt, Sky, and Fire is an original, complete, first draft manuscript. Per Royal Road standards, throughout this book you will find: Profanity Mild sexual content, equivalent to a PG-13 movie. Mild violent content, equivalent to a PG-13 movie. Sensitive content for: rare (<5) mention of substance use and self-harm.