Travis Starnes

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 26 (Final)

Camp Banwīhraz,Central GermaniaMedb walked quickly toward the door to the walled prison building from her carriage. She had too much dignity to run, but the rain that had started the previous night had intensified, and was coming down in thick sheets.She was happy to be out of it, inside the brick ...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 25

GreeceKy moved through the muddy forward trench that still had not dried in spite of the lack of rain for the past week and the relatively warm temperatures. The dampness was affecting everything, from the men’s morale to the construction of the very trench itself.The planking laid down to provide...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 24

Alexandria, EgyptValdar watched Alexandria grow in size as his fleet approached the city, holding onto the short ceiling of the heavily armored riverboat that wasn't meant to operate in open seas, even one as calm as the middle sea.The trip here from Britannia had been harrowing. Worse, he'd...

The Barons' War - Chapter 4

Frozen Sea, Near the Silent IslesWilliam didn’t know if he’d ever been this cold. Even through thick gloves, he could barely feel his fingers, and ice crystals had formed on his eyebrows. The Frozen Sea lived up to its name, great sheets of ice floated like pale islands upon the dark waters, som...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 23

GreeceMud caked their boots in thick, sucking globs as Ky and Modius made their way down the secondary trench. Recent rainfall combined with thousands of men moving through the narrow passages had turned sections of the defensive network into a quagmire and the wooden boards put down to ease the sit...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 22

GreeceGundomar pressed against the muddy trench wall as another shell screamed overhead. Thirty yards behind their position, it detonated, hurling dirt and metal fragments in all directions. It was as though Nastrond, the shore of corpses, had been brought from the underworld into this place. They h...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 21

Factorium“Empress,” Hortensius said to Lucilla, and she and her guards were ushered around into the firing range. “Your timing is perfect. We’ve just completed our final checks.”She could smell the harsh scent of spent powder, suggesting he’d already been testing the weapon this morning,...

The Barons' War - Chapter 3

Sidorian Army Camp, Outside Rendallia CityIsolde crossed the muddy ground between the tents, her ladies-in-waiting and the handful of guards Pembroke required to be with her trailing in her wake. Although the sun had already gone down, the camp had not stopped working, and she could still hear the c...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 20

Camp Banwīhraz,Central GermaniaMedb settled onto the rough wooden bench in the watchtower just as the sun started to make its way over the horizon. She’d been watching these people for weeks now and she found she’d gotten the most useful information in the morning, before the sun was all the wa...

Out of Control - Chapter 9

For the next several weeks I became a ghost. Not literally, though after what happened in that physics lab, who knew what was possible, but at least socially. Classes, meals, sleep, and the bare minimum of Alpha Sig events kept my pledge status technically active. Otherwise, I vanished.I never heard...

The Barons' War - Chapter 2

Bleakwater StraightThe weight of Marrow’s Bane felt strange in William’s hands. For as long as it was, the full length of a longsword, it wasn’t as heavy as he would have expected it to be. Not as light as Eskild’s curved sword, but still, lighter than what he’d been training with his whol...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 19

Eastern GermaniaKy frowned as he read over the latest reports from the observation balloons. While he had been pleased that they finally had good weather for the balloons to operate continuously for the past two weeks, and the news they had been getting back was not what Ky would have wanted.It hadn...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 18

DevnumFor the third time in a short few months, Lucilla made her way into the Imperial Forum in hopes of finally getting the conscription laws through and the men in training. She couldn’t help but still be angry at most of these men, who’d cost valuable time they did not have.As it was, with tr...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 11

Other than the journal, which gave context for what was happening in the tower when the Calaphium fell, there wasn’t much else in the living area to give them information on the Blackstar. They headed back to the central corridor and followed the footsteps to a large, spiral staircase in the cente...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 17

Medb was happy to finally get off the train. With the exception of two short boat rides, she had been on one for the past five days, traveling up from Kalb to the coast of Gaul and then from Londinium up to Devnum.While it was a miracle they could travel so fast, since a trip like that would have ta...

The Barons' War (Shattered Lands #3) - Chapter 1

Drayford, Dunwic’s Reach, KingsheartIt took several minutes for the banging at the door, firm as it was, to push through into William’s consciousness. The days following the Battle of Twyver where William, Aldric, and Garris, along with the eastern Kingsheart barons, had secured the town and fre...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 16

Southern Wistla RiverLeodgar walked along the iron top deck of the Isarna, enjoying a few minutes of calm night air. These iron ships were a miracle and he’d shown dozens of times over the last eight months just how powerful they were, but being inside of one was a little like being inside of a cl...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 15

Lucilla set aside another report detailing Egyptian raids on Britannian merchant vessels. They were getting bolder by the day. Kalb had started to send out patrols to slow some of the bleeding, but most of the experienced captains were with Valdar, and until he arrived, the bulk of their warships we...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 10

Osric pushed against the massive doors, straining hard to get them to move enough to let them in. The entire thing strained against its ancient hinges. It occurred to Osric that if the baron’s men did hack at the door to get it open and passed through it into the tower, how did the door close?It s...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 14

Port CaralosThe sickly-sweet stench of sweat disease permeated the makeshift hospital wing. It was overwhelming. He made this trip every day, even with the quarantine in place, because he had it.It was no different than standing on the main deck in the heat of combat, with shells smashing all around...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 9

The night was an uneasy one. Even with someone on guard, no one slept well. The crazy old man wasn’t the problem; he curled up and slept the sleep of someone completely unbothered by his surroundings. The rest had to listen to the noises outside the cave.It was like the night before they entered, ...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 13

DevnumLucilla walked with purpose, her head up and her face set like stone, as she crossed the courtyard and started up the steps toward the Imperial Forum. Ministers and others with business inside the palace complex moved out of their way when they saw her, and not simply out of deference.She igno...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 8

Osric breathed a sigh of relief as he and his companions finally moved out of sight of the teeming mass of moths. They might not be able to cross whatever invisible line had stopped them, but the very sight of them unnerved him, along with the scraping clicking sound they made with their awful-looki...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 12

FactoriumHortensius hurried onto the shooting range they had set up behind one of the factories on the west side of town. He’d scheduled this test two days ago, but a sudden emergency with the ship test platform had required him to run to Devnum quickly.How foolish he’d been when he’d thought ...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 7

The night spent in the shadow of the Claws had been an uneasy one, and Osric wasn’t sure anyone got enough rest. It was made worse by sounds, ranging from howls to strange clicking, that went on throughout the night.At least it made it easy for everyone to be up and get an early start. They were a...

Cover Reveal: The Plains of Pluto

Question for the future

What other genres would you be interested in seeing. I almost certainly won't start anything new for at least a year (cause I have enough ongoing stuff right now), but I have ideas for a bunch of different stuff kind of nudging me, that I want to explore. I'd also like to hear something I do...

Out of Control - Chapter 7

Note: Not sure how I missed posting this. Sorry about that.It was the sunlight hitting just across my eyes that woke me up. For a second, I tried to figure out where I was. My head felt heavy, although not from a hangover. It took a second for my brain to join the rest of me awake and catch up. I re...

Out of Control - Chapter 8

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. It was still afternoon and the dorm was mostly quiet. Some kids were moving in, but classes started Monday, so most were here already. I guess this being their first week at school, they didn’t want to spend it cooped up in their dorm room, and were...

Second Down - Chapter 40

The next week flew by and before I knew it, it was Christmas morning and I was waking up to the sound of muffled voices downstairs. I loved Christmas and was excited, although a lot of that was tempered by how things had been around the house since Thanksgiving.Mom and dad had started talking to eac...