Travis Starnes posts
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The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 14
DevnumSorantius stepped off the carriage into the busy streets of Devnum, gazing around at the transformed city. Every time he came back to the city, he was amazed. A year and a half ago, Devnum had been a modest settlement, struggling under constant Carthaginian threat. Now it was the capital of a ...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 13
Gaul, North of the PyreneesVelius stood on the edge of the bustling encampment, taking in the organized chaos of the construction site. All around him, the legionaries and auxiliaries were hard at work, digging with pickaxes and shovels, excavating trenches, and digging out foundations for the walls...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 12
Northern Germania“They’re all like this?” Ky asked, looking across the Rhine from the small hilltop they stood upon at what had once been a small village.Dark plumes of smoke curled from the charred ruins and even from here, Ky could see bodies littering the ground, with no one left alive to b...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 11
“Come,” Lucilla said at the knock on the door to her quarters.She’d been up all night writing out the rubber process details for Sorantius, and planned to get a late start on the day, after getting a few hours sleep. It occurred to her somewhere near dawn that Ky must have been doing this all ...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 10
FactoriumLucilla’s carriage rattled down the cobbled road, the rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves filling the air. The newly added stones were a step above the worn down and pitted dirt track, but it was still anything but smooth. A bright side was that the jostling kept her from dwelling o...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 9
DevnumIt had taken almost two weeks following his meeting with Lurio for him to get to see the Empress. After her return from Factorium, there had been some kind of crisis in Caledonia that she had to deal with in person, all the time they were getting closer and closer to the day he needed to be un...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 8
DevnumMedb sipped her calda, a mixture of wine, spices, and warmed water that she found oddly pleasing in spite of herself, as she watched Cormac stand adjusting his tunic in front of the mirror, its clear and even glass reflection one of the several miracles she’d seen since coming to the capital...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 7
North of the Pyrenees MountainsOptio Quintus Tullus Hortalus pulled his woolen cloak tighter, though it provided scant protection against the biting cold. The icy wind howled and rolled down the mountain and across the rolling foothills, whipping powdery snow into swirling eddies. His leathers creak...
Border Crossed Update
I just realized an error in Border Crossed. Taylor and Whitaker's kid at the end of the previous book was a girl named grace, but I switched it to a boy named henry in chapters 1 and 3 in this book. I guess there was so much time between the two I just forgot. I've corrected those two chapte...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 6
DaramoudaTabnit looked around at his assembled officers, a sea of attentive faces staring back at him over a large table set up to hold a massive map of the continent. Wooden markers were scattered across the map denoting the positions of armies, theirs and the invading Romans, and the largest settl...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 5
“… your crops are purchased, and make sure the larger farms can’t mandate which growers a market is required to buy from. Will that suffice?” Lucilla said, trying to maintain her focus in spite of the last five hours spent listening to dozens of petitioners.“Yes, Empress. Your wisdom is an...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 4
North-Western GermaniaKy crept through the snow-covered forest, Vandili and Istvaeones tribesmen moving with equal stealth on either side of him. A dozen men in total, they were the ones who’d shown the best marksmanship with the new muskets over the last three weeks of training. Each was seasoned...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 3
CarthageTabnit marched through the massive bronze doors leading into the emperor’s throne room, his polished armor and red cloak swishing around his ankles with each step. His upright walk didn’t give any indication of the bone-deep exhaustion he was feeling. He had been in Cairo five days ago, ...
The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 2
Port Invictus, Iberian CoastVelius, Legate of the 7th Legion and overall commander of the Britannian forces, gazed across the small but still-growing port from the nearly completed battlements. In a matter of weeks, his men had moved the heavens and earth to complete these fortifications before the ...
The Fires of Vulcan (Imperium #5) - Chapter 1
North-Western GermaniaAnyone who looked at Ky, Consul of Britannia and commander of the Britannic forces in Northern Europe, could tell he was an outsider. Even dressed in the traditional Roman garb, worn by most of the Legionnaires, Ky stood out as a man out of place. Everything about him from the ...
Border Crossed - Chapter 4
By midnight, the FBI offices had been abandoned, as everyone but the janitorial staff, a few agents on night duty, and Taylor, had headed home for the night. Not that he had noticed. He’d been engrossed in his research since shortly after he arrived in the office, making pages of notes as he cross...
Border Crossed - Chapter 3
Taylor, Whitaker, and Matthews found a small, out-of-the-way Mexican place. Taylor always preferred somewhere quiet, over crowds, so it was perfect for him.“You really think there’s more to all this, don’t you?” Matthews asked after the waitress took their order.“I do. It just doesn’t fe...
Elegy - Chapter 36
Sunday morning, I was sleeping in, as was usual after playing the night before. I was still flying high, and not even from the shows we’d played this weekend. Friday, there had been an article in the newspaper detailing Aaron’s father’s downfall, with damning quotes from the county supervisors...
Elegy - Chapter 35
Surprising myself, more than anyone else, I actually did manage to get caught up on my schoolwork. Just like the previous year, it probably wouldn’t have been possible without Kat, who worked her practice schedule around my free time to make sure she could spend every minute she could going over a...
Elegy - Chapter 34
Monday, I was back at school, and it felt weird. I’d been gone for so long, it almost felt foreign. Weirder than that was that no one really paid attention to me. I guess I should have expected that, since most high school students really only have the energy and time to think about themselves, bu...
Elegy - Chapter 33
I made it back home very late Wednesday night, and Lyla was supposed to come over around lunchtime today to continue working on getting our songs ready without Marco’s part. Lyla had called around to some drummers she knew in Asheville, but so far we hadn’t had much luck. We weren’t in a huge ...
Elegy - Chapter 32
Monday, I met Mr. Eaves outside of the Buncombe County School District offices. Normally, these kinds of meetings made me nervous because I was in a position where one man held my fate in his hands. This time, I was actually in a positive mood dealing with them.Partially, it was because, unlike prev...
Elegy - Chapter 31
Mr. Campbell was furious after the hearing ended. He glared at the sheriff and then at me before stomping out of the courtroom. I resisted the urge to smile at him in return, since he was still going to be a problem for me. Though, if the judge’s threats held any weight, maybe I wouldn’t have to...
Elegy - Chapter 30
As the following week passed, my nerves ramped up as we were closing in on the hearing to consider the motion to dismiss my case. If we got this granted, I’d be able to finish the school year, although catching up on almost three weeks of classes was going to be hard, and I’d have a chance to ge...
Elegy - Chapter 29
It had only been two days and I was starting to go out of my mind. After a year with a schedule so packed that I hardly had time to sleep, I was now existing in limbo, waiting all day for Kat and Mrs. Philips to come home, trying to find something, anything to do. It hadn’t taken me long to realiz...
Elegy - Chapter 28
I ended up back at Hanna’s house, after being kicked out of school, just trying to figure out what to do. Kat was at school, and Mrs. Philips was working, so I was on my own, lost.I mostly just sat in one place, thinking. It wasn’t productive thinking, more like cycling through all the losses an...
Elegy - Chapter 27
I was completely drained by the time I got home. After the funeral and having to hear how everyone was sorry about my mother, and then having to face the band and tell them we were going to have to cancel our upcoming shows, I honestly couldn’t deal with any other human beings today.I waved off Mr...
Elegy - Chapter 26
Friday was my mother’s funeral. There were a lot more people than I expected, most of whom I didn’t recognize. I assumed many were from one of Mom’s two jobs, people she worked with. My grandparents died before I was born and she didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and we’d never been clo...
Elegy - Chapter 25
The next morning my alarm went off early. Well, it’s not exactly fair to say it was very early since I had set it for seven-thirty in the morning, which was later than my usual time to get up for school. However, considering the emotional strain I had been under, and the lack of sleep, I hadn’t ...
Elegy - Chapter 24
By the time I got back to the prison, there was no one around. It was after lunch and they were all out in the yard, which was apparently a large open area where prisoners could get some exercise. Because I was late, I wasn’t allowed to go join them, so they just stuck me back in the open dormitor...
