Travis Starnes

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 25

Port Vikhavn

Liu Yi looked over his fleet and was finally satisfied as the dying light of the sun cast everything in a soft orange glow. It had been a hard several weeks to get enough of his damaged vessels back in shape after the mauling they took on the attempts to break into the Westerners’ port, but they had finally gotten the job done.

Five of the ships had to be beached and torn down for scraps, but that had given them just enough parts to get the rest of ...

False Start Character Images

Blake Sims (1), Thomas Sims (2), Heather Sims (3), Joshua Sims (4), Wheaton High (5), Wheaton High Football Field (6)

Second Down - Chapter 1

1994

I opened my eyes, trying to adjust for a moment. I finally realized the sound I was hearing was my alarm clock. I reached over and slapped around for it a few times until I hit the button to make it shut up.

Everything felt... wrong. Out of place. Damn. That dream hit so hard. I blinked a few times, hard, trying to shake off the feeling of it. The dream had been so vivid, like one of those where you go through your whole day just to wake up and realize you ha...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 24

Sardinia

The sprawling villa was, at first glance, opulent and over the top in the classic Italian style, which had become something of a melding of older pre-diaspora Roman style and follow-on Carthaginian styles melded together.

The closer Llassar got to the villa, however, the more signs of wear and age he could see. It was the kind of place built when there was great abundance, but that fell off as the money disappeared. The decline wasn’t significant, the k...

Out of Control - Chapter 5

Note, this book will have adult themes and situations in it, and should be skipped if you do not want to read that.

The walk back to my dorm was the longest of my life. It was early in the morning and the campus was all but empty, which was good by me. I really didn’t feel like talking to anyone anyway, not after all that.

The moment I pushed open the door to my room, I beelined for my bed. No time for shoes off or anything else, I just face-planted onto ...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 6

Starhaven, Sidor

Serwyn sat with his back to his office, ignoring the trophies and ornate tapestries as he stared out the window. His uncle had stacks and stacks of correspondence and missives for him to read, but he’d quickly grown bored of it.

While he’d rather be down in the training grounds sparring with a weapons master or working on his archery, he knew his Edmund would hear of it from one of his little spies and come give him ‘advice.’

Serwyn ...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 11

Taylor closed his eyes almost as soon as they were on the plane and it was in the air. He’d learned in the service that you never knew where your next bit of shuteye was going to come from, so get as much of it as you could whenever you could.

If anything, his work with the bureau had been even worse. Many of his cases ended up keeping him going for twenty or more hours at a time, and this one had been no different. He’d been go go go since the minute he’d touched down in Caracas ...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 23

Carthage

“And then,” Marcellinus chuckled, “the fool actually believed me when I told him the crate was full of salted fish! Can you imagine?”

Medb gave a throaty laugh, pulling her arm slightly against his so her body brushed his side slightly. He joined her laugh as they made their way slowly up the palace steps.

“And he believed it? You must have nerves of iron to face him and not break. I just... how can they be so gullible. You really are quit...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 22

Temporary Legion Hospital, Eastern Germania

Ky stepped off the small military train and was immediately stopped by multiple soldiers who wanted to reach out and touch him or wish him well or just get his blessing.

Their level of adulation still made him uncomfortable, but he understood that in some ways, they needed it, so he did his best to give them what they wanted, offering them as hopeful of words as he could, to soothe their worries as best he could.

T...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 10

Thankfully, the rest of their trip to the airport was uneventful. Taylor was pretty sure they had seen the last of the mercs. If there were any more of them out there, they would be rudderless without their boss. Or at least that’s what he had hoped.

Or at least that’s what he had hoped.

Taylor made his way to the airport, which was smaller than the one in Caracas but still a decent size since it handled some traffic from South America and the US. Enough at least, to make it a...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 5

Starhaven, Sidor

Edmund sat at his ornate desk, quill scratching furiously across parchment as he put every bit of anger and fury into the scathing letter the scribes would send to each of his barons, but targeted specifically at a hated few. Thurston and the rest of the border barons along Iron Keep all thought they were so clever. Their peasant heroes had gained an upper hand in their rebellion, only because his barons, men who’d sworn fealty to him as their duke, w...

Second Down (False Start #1) - Prologue

Dallas, 2024

I opened my eyes to the sterile white ceiling of the hospital room, the same view I’d been staring at for weeks now. I almost cursed being awake, since awake meant pain. The doctors were doing what they could, but at this point, it was almost impossible to keep the pain management up.

Half the time I was so doped up I was barely conscious, which was probably how everyone wanted me to do it. I was so close to the end, regardless of what they said abo...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 9

For the next hour, the drive was more or less uneventful. Taylor knew the mercs were out there and just hoped they ran into them before they got to Valencia. Even if the locals weren’t bought off, getting into a gunfight in their city would cause the locals to come down hard, which would make getting on a plane difficult.

Taylor was on a straightaway just past a curve, with another one coming up ahead, when Bonnie said, “Shit.”

“What?” Taylor asked, looking in the rearvi...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 21

Pella, Macedonia

Ramirus stood by the window of his temporary quarters in Pella, his eyes fixed on the bustling streets below. It had been a less than productive several weeks since his first meeting with the Greeks. They had only grown more stubborn and contrarian since. To the point where he was pretty sure they were not negotiating on an even field, and had sent young Gaius to keep an eye on some of their Greek friends and see what was really going on.

As if he...

Cover Reveal - The Wings of Mercury

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 20

Sardinia

Medb was back in a dark room, the windows shuttered against the outside world, partially for secrecy but also to keep the noxious spell of fish and salt out of her nose. She’d never loved ships and tried to stay on dry land as much as possible, but she hadn’t realized her dislike of it would translate into docks as well.

Of course, she rarely spent much time at them, aside from getting to and from whatever ship she’d been forced to take. Now, not on...

An Ending of Oaths - Chapter 4

Starhaven, Sidor

“… purpose of which is to bolster our own tax levies for support of our ongoing and successful war against the Lynesians, while punishing the increasing levels of purifier goods coming in on Inos flagged ships,” Baron Stonehill said. “For too long, we have turned a blind eye to their filth coming onto our shores and tainting the very memory of the ancients upon whose shoulders we stand. I say no more. True, we have a treaty with the Inosians, pr...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 19

Devnum

Hortensius made his way down the docks again. The non-stop travel was a reminder of how time was catching up to him. It felt like only a few years ago that he was just opening his first factory, working constantly, getting it running and profitable through sheer willpower alone.

He still had that same willpower, but his body was starting to let him down, his hips screaming at him for the long walk from the train station to the docks. While he found the enti...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 8

Taylor steered the stolen car westward. Bonnie kept insisting she had a place to go, but as they started to get to the outskirts of Caracas, and then out of the city, Taylor became less sure. With the airports off limits, he was a little unmoored, but just wandering the jungles with a mass murderer didn’t seem like the best option they could choose.

Maddeningly, she just kept telling him to drive. The outskirts of Caracas gave way to rougher terrain, dusty roads winding through sparse...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 18

Camp Banwīhraz, Central Germania

Ky walked past the two guards on duty outside of the large tent with the prison camp commander, Sellic, glued to his side as his other Lictore joined the legionnaires on guard outside. Sellic had on his guard face, but even without the serious expression, Ky would have known how annoyed the man was.

He, and the other lictore commanders, had lobbied hard against Ky’s plan to leave the army for almost a week ...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 17

Carthage

Summer in Carthage was dreadful, especially for someone like Cormac, who had grown up in the cooler and much wetter climates of Ériu. Cormac had thought it got warm in the summers, but he now realized it was nothing compared to Africa.

Even Hispania in the late summer could not compare to the oppressive heat here in Carthage. He was glad, at least, that the new standards for military officers, which he still styled himself as at least in dress, regardles...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 6

Somehow, I just realized chapter 6 never posted.

Taylor could hear the gunfire before he rounded the corner, in spite of the midday sounds of the city. The SUV had been driving like a bat out of hell, weaving in and out of traffic, making it hard for Taylor to follow. The only thing that had worked in his favor is people drove like maniacs in Caracas, so his keeping pace far enough back was unlikely to draw suspicion.

That and the mercs were more focused on...

Desperate Rendition - Chapter 7

They both remained nervous, constantly glancing over their shoulders, on the lookout for anyone following them, but no one else appeared. Taylor had continued taking a winding path to the airport, just in case, but it seemed like they’d managed to lose them.

After a few more blocks, he finally let himself relax.

“So who is this high-profile person in the U.S. government you did a job for?”

“Straight to business, huh?” she said with a small smile. “Can’t even bu...

The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 16

Eastern Germania

"It's good ground for a fight," Ky subvocalized, watching his men set up their positions in the undergrowth just where it began to thicken after thinning out at the creek that marked the front of his lines.

It wasn't a steep hill, at least not enough of one to give his men a high ground advantage, but the creek had just enough water in it to keep the enemy from using it as cover and slow them down as they climbed onto its muddy banks.

"I...