Travis Starnes

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 14

Devnum

Sorantius 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 growing Empire and the center of technological innovation. The change was so much that a year ago Sorantius would never consider his particular interest in natural philosoph...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 13

Gaul, North of the Pyrenees

Velius 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 and towers of the half-finished fort. In the distance, beyond the tree line, came the sound of axes and falling trees as men worked to clear sightlines for the soon-to-be e...

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 bury them.

“The ones our people have actually seen, yes,” Bomilcar said. “There are tales of more villages deeper inside Carthaginian territory getting the...

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 those times he was locked in his quarters at night. She knew he’d told her that he could go much longer without sleep than anyone in this time, because of the alterations made to his body,...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 10

Factorium

Lucilla’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 on a growing list of pressures that were building on her. She didn’t know if her father had felt these things when he was alone, the worry and fear of not living up to his ...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 9

Devnum

It 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 underway, still without getting the supplies he needed for the expedition.

Now that he was here, though, he almost wanted to turn around and go back to his ships. The la...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 8

Devnum

Medb 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 very sight of him primping frustrated her. Another day of him wasting time as an observer in the Britannian Senate.

Months had passed since he’d been sent here...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 7

North of the Pyrenees Mountains

Optio 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 creaked as he trudged through the knee-deep drifts, one weary step after another.

Around him, the fifty legionnaires under his command slogged along in silence, heads bowed...

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 chapters here (the content is all the same, just changed out the name, he for she and him for her).  It doesn't change anything, but I didn't want anyone surprised when more chapters poste...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 6

Daramouda

Tabnit 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 settlements, mostly Carthaginian, but a few very large indigenous villages as well.

The city they were currently in was marked as one of the largest Carthaginian settlement...

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 example to all of us,” the farmer said, starting to genuflect.

“There’s no need for that. We’re all citizens here. Just ensure you treat your employees well and sell at a fair...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 4

North-Western Germania

Ky 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 in fighting and hunting in the thick Germanic woods, and five knew this very area like the back of their hands.

It was easy to see their skill with each slow, precise...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 3

Carthage

Tabnit 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, putting down another pointless revolt by the Israelites, when he received the summons to be at the capital within five days. It had taken almost eighteen hours a day in the ...

The Fires of Vulcan - Chapter 2

Port Invictus, Iberian Coast

Velius, 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 Carthaginians could bring new forces to bear, and he was immensely proud of them.

A curtain of sturdy stone walls, extending well out into the surf, protected the smal...

The Fires of Vulcan (Imperium #5) - Chapter 1

North-Western Germania

Anyone 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 almost bronze color of his skin and almond-shaped eyes, to the way he sat on a horse, said he didn’t belong here … mostly, because he didn’t. He’d been born thousand...

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-referenced reports and case files against one another, slowly building a theory that actually fit the circumstances instead of trying to make the circumstances fit a theory like Sullivan had been ...

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 feel right. I agree that the drugs and the violence are related, but I don’t think the bombings are targeted at the task force or anyone else in particular.”

“Then who do yo...

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 about his “malicious and criminal behavior,” as they put it. The article went on to detail a lot of the things he’d done, and it did it without mentioning me by name.

I didn’t know i...

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 all of the stuff I’d missed.

Compared to the work she’d had to do getting me to grade level last year, this was at least easier since I was only making up a month and a half or so and not ...

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, but I guess I felt my absence would have been noticed. At least it kept my ego in check.

Kat was still doing early practices, so just like the day I was expelled, I was all by myself. Also like...

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 hurry, since we at least had someone to back us up at the Blue Ridge, but summer was two months away, and we needed to make the most of our time until then.

Since Lyla never rolled out of bed...

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 previous meetings like this, I didn’t have a personal relationship with the superintendent, so there was no reason for him to hate me the way Mr. Packer and the school principal seemed to. For...

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 deal with him for much longer. Besides, I doubted he could hate me any more than he already did.

“I can’t thank you enough,” I said, turning to Mr. Eaves, who was collecting all of his...

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 get something done with my music. If it wasn’t granted, it would be fall before my case actually went to trial, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from that kind of delay.

It got so bad I...

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 realize this wasn’t the life for me. I needed to keep busy or I was going to go crazy.

Kat had done a good job of getting me out of the depression I’d been in since my mom died. I was still sad...

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 and setbacks, over and over, on a depressing loop. Finally, I had to get up and do something. I noticed it was about time for school to get out, and I also knew, from Kat, that the main swim t...

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 Mrs. Philips and Kat when I got home; just telling them I was tired and wanted some sleep. While I was tired, I wasn’t sure I could ever get to sleep again. My brain felt like it would never...

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 close to any of her extended family, a fact I only later realized had been on purpose. Like most abusers, my father found it easier to control her when she didn’t have a support system to fall back ...

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 gotten much rest during the previous week. After showering and eating the night before, I had only stayed up for another hour before going to bed and crashing hard. I was completely exhausted. Appa...

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 dormitory.

I found my bunk and sat down, feeling hopeless. A million dollars. Where was I ever going to get that? If I didn’t, I was going to be stuck in this place where people were already seemin...