Omar the Immortal (Europa #1: A Dark Fantasy)

When a mysterious explosion destroys an airship, four strangers come together to uncover a vast conspiracy to plunge the nation of Marrakesh into a devastating war.

Taziri Ohana, inventor of the experimental airship Halcyon, leads the investigation across the length of the country. With the aid of a brutal detective, a holy swordsman, and an exiled princess, she discovers clandestine meetings, deadly beasts, horrific experiments, and bizarre machines that reveal a far-reaching plot against the royal family and her countrymen.

With hired killers lurking in every shadow and worker riots erupting on every street corner, Taziri learns to defend herself as only an engineer can - with her inventions. But despite all her efforts, her country's only hope for peace may be her beloved airship Halcyon plummeting out of the burning sky.

The Halcyon trilogy of steampunk thrillers:
Book 1: The Burning Sky
Book 2: The Broken Sword
Book 3: The Bound Soul

Story:
In the aftermath of Raven’s Heart, the tracker named Hawkwing and the former bandit known as the White Demon try to evade a clandestine organization known as the Seroko. “The Hawk’s Shadow” tells their tale and bridges Raven’s Heart with the upcoming Black Earth trilogy.

About:
The Hawk’s Shadow was Matthew & Stefanie’s contribution to Missing Pieces, an anthology featuring short stories by several of the authors who attended the 2010 Gen Con Indianapolis. Missing Pieces was compiled by Dragon Roots Magazine and published by Old School Publishing. In January 2011 the publishing rights reverted to Night Apple, LLC and the Verishes released the tale under their own brand.

(This is a novelette. Approximately 60 pages)

   Two teenage hockey players brutally murder their parents in an unexpected altercation after a close friend and teammate commits suicide. The town's people believe the suicide was another tragic result of bullying, but the two boys have learned the true reason their friend took his own life, and the boys decide to take matters into their own hands.

   Detective Dean Daly is called in to investigate the brutal murders and believes there is much more to the murders than it first appears.
   Not far away, a young housewife, Sarah, is in a very bad place. Her husband Gerald finally crosses the line from verbal abuse to physical abuse and breaks her arm.  She takes flight in the middle of the night, and Gerald vows he will track her down to the ends of the ends of time, and insists she can never leave him.
   Detective Daly soon becomes involved in both events, not knowing that he will soon be caught in the middle as the two stories collide. 

   This is a story about courage, strength, and standing up for what you believe