Havok Publishing

Archive - June 2023

Life or Death?

We all face certain choices: Life or death, nurturer or destroyer, violence or peace. Each kitsune must choose her own path.
When grown, we travel into the world of Men, choosing a man to bind ourselves to… for the rest of his life. If we choose the path of violence, suffering and death come

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A Matter of Dark Matter

Cal Ravenwood would have killed for a cigarette. Much to his chagrin, he was trying to quit. Not so much for health reasons, but because nicotine and the use of magic didn’t mix well. It was one of the unspoken laws of the Dark Matter, the entity from which all magic was born.

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The Job Sounded Fun on Paper

“I understand your frustration, and can offer you a ten percent off coupon for any inconvenience this situation has caused.” I hold the glossy paper out in front of me like a shield. Judging by her pursed lips and battle stance—the kind honed in combat during multiple tours of 4 a.m. Black Friday

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Mending Dreams

I find my father standing on the balcony overlooking our courtyard, his arm drawn back, a trident in hand, aiming at my airship.
“This invention is worse than Icarus’s wings,” Páppa shouts.
“Don’t!” I drop my sewing. Strips of whalebone scatter on the floor. Instead of winding through my side of our U-shaped home,

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An Internship in Antarctica

“Don’t worry, I’m generally pretty good at this stuff,” Detective Thomason said, using a gloved finger to prod the corpse.
“Generally? What do you mean by that?” Sabrina couldn’t control the horrified look on her face as the detective started sniffing the body.
“Hmmmmm.” Thomason frowned. “I think it best to say this man

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Cats of the Hermitage

The air smells like history, old paint, and other cats.
Your stomach flips as you look around the basement, the human who carried you down already retreating back upstairs. Cats of varying breeds mill about, lounge atop antique pipes, and nap in the crumbling nooks and crannies of the hall, a patchwork of…

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Up in the Clouds

Whoever imagined living on a cloud would be comfortable is an idiot.
Now, obviously, I don’t mean a real cloud. Those are just water droplets suspended in the atmosphere. No. I mean the type of cloud children envision: big fluffy cotton balls where naked babies sporting soft, feathery wings hang out and play the harp.

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A Sheepshead for the Slaughter

Saul almost missed the drop at the Del Mar Fish Market in Sarasota, no thanks to his enlarged prostrate and the constant need to pee. When he finally arrived, a few fishmongers were already dumping pink ice down storm grates while others hosed down the concrete under their tents. All the king mackerel and

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You Dance Divinely, My Dear

Cooling my jets on a passenger transport from the outer planets to Mars, I was looking forward to conducting my research on pre-android robots from a safe, but observable, distance from Earth. Naturally, that’s when it happened.
The radio crackled and the captain of a passing freighter, leaving Mars for the outer quadrants,

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A New Mission

Frantic banging on her door shattered Shantel’s much-needed rest.
“Pastor! I know you’re here! Please come out!”
The banging continued.
“Coming!” she called. Dragging herself from the bunk, she opened the cabin door. Shantel shielded her eyes from the hot Bahamian sun, trying to remember her interrupted dream.
Charlie, Nassau’s lead immigration official,

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Man Nor Beast

“Help!”
The voice is desperate. Wild. It cuts through the screaming winds and lashing sheets of rain that pound you and the earth. You lift your lantern, peering into the blackness as you attempt to steady your pounding heart.
You see naught but the driven rain at first; even the ground is murky…

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Manhunt

Gentle waves brushed against the rocks of the southern California beach, the sun dipping into the ocean. Seagulls chattered as they pecked over scraps of food left on the empty beach.
Mariana jogged down the worn boardwalk, her bare feet stinging from the fading heat of the day. Glancing over her shoulder,

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