Havok Publishing

Archive - February 2023

Pharaoh’s Path

Ammon blinked, the flicking torchlight illuminating the stone walls covered in hieroglyphs. Pressure throbbed in his head, and he felt wrapped tighter than a cocoon. He groaned and pressed a hand to his head. Turning about, he surveyed every corner of the chamber filled with jars, gold, and jewels. This isn’t my room.

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Alien Abduction

Searchlights lit the night sky, mounted on the aliens’ vehicles that raced over the hill. Iya, ever on guard, barked orders. “Tembo, quickly, to the trees. Tiou, help the young. Indloyu, with me.”
There wasn’t much hope. Someone was going to die. Iya pushed two of her daughters out of the way…

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The Thing about Adventures

The thing about adventures is they’re only fun in hindsight.
Take last week, for example. My car broke down, which wouldn’t be too special, except it was in a ginormous mudhole. While it was raining. Actually, raining is too mild a description. This was a monsoon.
I stared out the windscreen…

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The Curious Case of the Missing Kaiju

“Kaiju activity in quadrant E74-Delta. Standby for launch, I guess. Ugh, what a pain.” Bossa had no eyes to roll, but the wonky AI’s tone conveyed annoyance well enough.
I settled into the cockpit of my forty-ton mecha, determined to ignore the cold spear of doubt slicing through my mind as the walls of…

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The Blue Scarab

“A blue scarab!”
I glanced over at the spectacled woman currently interested in my daughter’s new… pet. While I wasn’t a big fan of bugs in general, our metro had been delayed twice already, and the beetle had kept Zahra occupied. Since an insect crawling across Zahra’s arm was more preferable than…

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The Stars

“I still don’t understand why you had to drag me out here to the literal middle of nowhere,” I muttered, staring out the window at the expense of the Namibian desert.
There was nothing to see for miles but sand, a few trees and bushes, and an occasional animal that might have been…

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Hunter and Hunted

The bodies appeared slowly at first.
The Elders remind us to take care, for this one and that were foolish, leaving the city’s safety only to be ravaged by hungry beasts. People often go missing in our harsh land— it is nothing new. But when the body of the High Elder’s granddaughter is discovered…

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Paint the Nile Red

Raiders shoved Dr. Byron Stoneburner into the wooden crate. Hands bound, mouth gagged, the professor squirmed while the sliding lid clicked into place—trapping him within a world of darkness as thudding hammers nailed his coffin shut.
“What do we do with grave robbers?” a muffled voice crooned from outside the box.

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Something’s Burning

Huey pulled at his shirt collar as sweat ran into his golden-brown eyes. He didn’t know how much of this stifling darkness he could take.
Zip.
Huey, god of mischief, inhaled fresh air as Tema opened her suitcase. “Hiya, best friend,” he greeted her. Tema shrieked.
“Huey!” She slapped his arm repeatedly.

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