Havok Publishing

Fantasy

The Defect

“I need to return my golem.”
Uri flicked his gaze over the man glowering at him from the doorway. Beside him stood an umber golem with glowing amber eyes. It waved its fingers.
Recognizing the golem, Uri pursed his lips. The clay figure had been purchased barely a month ago. It had also…

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Operation Cub

The chain link fence surrounding rows of storage units came into view, and my skin crawled. “Everyone in position?”
“We’re ready, Peter.” Agent Natalia’s voice came through my earpiece.
“Good. Let’s finish this,” I growled. With a nod at my partner, Cassandra Chantos, I crossed the remaining distance, walking up to a man

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A Dying Phoenix

Lyric’s quill scratched across his parchment faster than the other mages-in-training, but he was still too slow to keep up with their bestiary professor.
The old man’s robes dragged through phoenix droppings inside the hatchery. He smiled as they reached the nesting trees in the heart of the habitat, where at least a hundred

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Taming the Dragon

I scrambled up the jagged mountainside, the indifferent wind numbing my face. Why don’t dragons prefer tropical islands?
The thought of my bedridden mother and hungry siblings spurred me onward. Just a few gold coins from the dragon’s treasure. Easy in, easy out.
I glanced down at the valley. Our dwindling flock of sheep…

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Pepie

Gently floating to the surface, Pepie’s gaze darted around the crowded shore. It was that time of year again. He smiled as he took in the boisterous throngs decked out in bright t-shirts sporting a cartoon version of his face. A large banner read “Happy Pepie Day!” beneath the picture of a long-necked creature…

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The Mender of Broken Things

Bramble Dinkenspry was very good at fixing things. In fact, her entire family was good at it. But when you’re a brownie, you expect nothing less.
“Bram! It’s time!”
Bramble nearly dropped the stopwatch in her nimble fingers. She’d been listening to the gears as they whispered secrets of the device’s inner workings.

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Unwanted Blessings

Outside the glass walls of my office, people bustled purposefully about the main floor of the Magical Persons Agency. I, however, sat behind my desk ready to hit my head against one of said walls.
Someone knocked on my door, then rattled the handle. I looked up just as Agent Natalia phased through the

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Glaukopis

Pushing Gran’s wheelchair across the threshold into the city’s largest art museum, I was immediately struck by the grandeur of the place. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. I wasn’t sure whether Gran’s apartment or this museum held more fascinating paintings, books, and artifacts.
For today’s weekly excursion, the care home

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The Dream Eater

“Baku-san, come eat my dreams.” Woozy with exhaustion, I laid my head back on the clean white pillow to wait. But not to sleep. I could never sleep until the mission was over.
Outside the window of the tiny hotel room, a neon sign flickered in the endless city lights of Tokyo.

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Return the Human

“Another human got in.”
Clio yawned and preened one long coppery feather. Annoying humans. “Another? Which portal this time?”
“That’s the problem.” The minotaur shifted his hooves in the sand of the desert zone. “We don’t know how she got in.”
“You’re too soft, Terminus. You should block every portal. How are

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The Unfulfilled Quest

Katrina stood poised at the edge of the cave, her breath held behind clenched teeth. Her sword was raised as she waited for the sandworm to smell its prey. Breathe in… Quietness burned in her ears. Breathe out… Nothing stirred from the depths. Katrina couldn’t move. Her eyes vibrated from staring into

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Lester’s Business Venture

When facing a monster, espionage missions don’t have to be lethal.
Hopefully this is one of those times, Secret Agent Rebecca Edelweiss thought as she knocked on the cabin’s entrance. She squared her shoulders and put on her I mean business face while waiting for the creature to answer.
A bushy-haired, seven-foot man

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