Travis Starnes

Second Down - Chapter 23

Wednesday was the first chance I was going to have to practice with Li. She’d had tutoring until almost dinnertime both Monday and Tuesday, and I still had a lot of studying to do for the week, between school and watching video. As part of the extra work I’d asked Coach for to start making impro...

Second Down - Chapter 22

The little bell over the pharmacy door clinked as I pushed it open. After Dad had gone to work, Mom never came out of her room. I thought she was working, until I heard a noise from the back of the house and went to investigate.She was lying there, listless, in the dark. Apparently, she called in si...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 3

Athans, GreeceRamirus questioned the reasoning of holding this meeting in this particular Bouleuterion with the temperatures descending as they were. He had seen such buildings in other parts of Greece, particularly northern Epirus, where the sides of the building were at least enclosed, offering mo...

Second Down - Chapter 21

Everyone was excited as the bus rolled into Trinity High’s parking lot next to their football field. After last week’s game, practice all week had felt different, like the team was starting to think they could win again after a long losing streak.I was feeling it too, with something like excitem...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 2

Devnum DocksThe wheels of Hortensius's hired carriage clattered to a halt on the cobblestones near Devnum's sprawling dockyards. He stepped down, his boots meeting the stone with a solid thud, only to have to hop back into the carriage almost instantly to avoid being run down by a man with a...

Second Down - Chapter 20

I fantasized about getting my hands around Elijah’s throat and choking him out the entire way home. Admittedly, that was taking things a little too far. Sure, he was an asshole, and he’d ruined my clothes, but I’m not sure going to prison for attempted murder would be the best way to deal with...

Out of Control - Chapter 6

Note: I've decided to back off on how explicit this book will get. It should now be closer to a more standard romance novel (it's not a romance novel, but the level of explicit should be about that level), and I'll make its own category for the series and start handling it like the rest ...

Second Down - Chapter 19

I wiped sweat from my forehead as I yanked another weed from Eduardo’s mom’s vegetable garden. In west Texas, October still nineties or, if we were lucky, maybe it would drop into the eighties.I actually didn’t mind it though. Maybe it was because of all the time spent practicing outside in th...

The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 1

Eastern GermaniaThe autumn wind bit through the fabric of Ky’s cloak as he entered the large command tent, which offered little additional protection against the cold of the oncoming Germanic winter, even with the stove burning in the corner.Not that it actually bothered him. The nanites streaming...

Second Down - Chapter 18

Saturday, I was out for my first game actually on the field with the JV team. We were playing Whyatt High School from Fort Worth, which had a record of three and one as opposed to our four and oh, and they had a hell of an offense from the tape we'd watched.Still, I was as pumped as I could be t...

Second Down - Chapter 17

As good as Thursday’s game went, at least my quarter of it, Saturday’s game was a disaster. Jorden struggled the entire time, with four interceptions and a botched handoff, the last of which turned into a touchdown for the other team.I was actually glad I got a chance to observe the game in pers...

Second Down - Chapter 16

“...worry about it. Mom will understand,” Eduardo said as we walked into the cafeteria.“Make sure she knows I’m going to keep coming to help, but it might have to switch to Sundays for now. JV plays on Saturdays every week, which the evenings are going to be pretty packed. Maybe I could come...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 4

They traveled south down the road for thirty minutes, until after the sun was well down over the horizon and the sounds of the night started their song. Smaller animals and insects came out to look for food under the cover of darkness, and larger animals looked for the smaller animals.Finally, Rowan...

Second Down - Chapter 15

Friday was the first practice in a while where the coach didn’t ride us like we were screw-ups. In fact, he was in a downright amazing mood. We did the least amount of warm-up we’d ever had to do before and spent a fair amount of the practice looking at film from the game, with the coach explain...

Second Down - Chapter 14

I again managed to make it out of practice without any more confrontations, although I was getting a little annoyed to do so basically required me to skip going into the locker room after practice. Since I sometimes stayed with Miguel and Tyrell, and now I was staying after with Wayne and Bennet, it...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 3

They spent the rest of the day retracing their steps back to the sage’s glade. Even with Jasper’s proclamation, the mood had turned somewhat darker, if that was possible, as the fullness of their task became apparent. Rowan and Jasper spent most of the walk describing what they would face when t...

Second Down - Chapter 13

I managed to avoid Elijah all day on Tuesday. Monday after practice, I made sure to walk in when Coach did, grabbed my stuff, and got the hell out of there. It wasn’t that I was afraid of Elijah and his bunch, but I didn’t want to deal with his bullshit, which was going to be extra because he bl...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 25

Drayford, Dunwic’s Reach, KingsheartThe week following the victory in Twyver had been hectic, to say the least. The routed crown forces had scattered, but it was not the last crown army to deal with.Thankfully, the dueling defeats in Iron Keep and on the Thunderhorn were enough to give the men his...

Second Down - Chapter 12

Monday, things were peaceful for most of the day. Sure, there were the dirty looks from Elijah, but that had become almost standard by now. The only thing missing was Jamal. He’d been in a splint on Friday after that bad hit he took at the game, but he’d said his parents were taking him to Midla...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 24

The battlefield at the Four Corners stretched out before Garris, wheat fields trampled by his army and retreating civilians to the northwest, tree-covered hills down the road to the northeast and southwest, and mountains down the road behind him.He had lined his forces ahead of the road, stretching ...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 23

Devonport, Barony of Shalesport, KingsheartBaron Kieran Newberry entered his private solar to find seven of the eastern barons finally assembled, seated around his broad table. It had taken most of the day to sneak the men into the city through hidden passages and side alleys, and then into the keep...

Second Down - Chapter 11

Coach ran us ragged on Friday again, I guess thinking if he put us through enough pain, everyone would get on the same game plan.The only thing that gave me any hope that things would change was he paid specific attention to Elijah and his crew. The optimistic part of me thought that might mean Coac...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 22

Starhaven, SidorEdmund shifted papers around his desk, tired from a long day of audiences. He had already not had enough time in the day to deal with the matters of state when he had Serwyn to handle the audiences, most of which mattered not at all. Nobles and representatives of barons either beggin...

Second Down - Chapter 10

Tomorrow is game day, and Coach had okayed us to use a few audibles in the game. I hoped it wasn't needed, and Elijah wouldn't be an idiot and try to sabotage the team again, but I knew that was wishful thinking. I knew Elijah from our past and from our future in the dream, and he'd alwa...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 21

Treweg, Barony of Stourshire, River MarkAldric surveyed the field where a hundred conscripts drilled with spears, their movements still unpolished after days of practice from atop the stone walls that surrounded the market town. Sitting at the point where the Horn Road and the East Road merged, beco...

Second Down - Chapter 9

My stomach finally pushed me to get off the bench and head inside. I was still struggling with the idea that I needed to become friends with the guy who would maybe, if my dream was right, kill my father in a year and a half. It was the right call, really the only call considering there was no way I...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 20

Wyvern’s Tail, Stormhaven, Iron KeepGarris walked down the rocky beach, looking from the land and then back out to the sea, envisioning in his head where ships would come from and the best place to position his men.Even in the height of summer, it was cold this close to the Icelands and Alchmara, ...

The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 2

A small change from Chapter 1. The tower they're going to, mentioned in the document in chapter 1, is the Nexus Tower, but the artifact is called the Blackstar.A month was a long time, and they had settled into the safe and amazing world of Avendell in that month. Not quite put down roots, but ...

Second Down - Chapter 8

While the game and conversation the night before were occupying a lot of my thoughts, it wasn’t the only thing I had to focus on. Football was a priority, but so was school now, and I’d been busting my ass to get the year started off on the right foot.So Friday morning, I was sitting in the fron...

Cover Reveal - An Ending of Oaths