Havok Publishing

Fantasy

The Book Below

The portal closed with a whumph and the smell of old books. I’d teleported myself deep beneath the massive castle complex of the Infinite Library, chasing rumors of ancient, forgotten books.
Dangerous books.
I hadn’t been expecting carpet.
I Imparted will into a small light sphere made of bronze. It floated at eye-level

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I Am Not A-Muse-d

Most people think the life of a Muse is easy. Sounds like a breeze, doesn’t it? You sit around all day eating Pringles and drinking Coke as you throw scrumptious ideas at your constantly inspired, always eager-to-please writer. Sure thing, mate. It’s the life. The good ol’ American dream. Piece of cake

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The Case of Rage v. Peace

The bailiff stood. “The day has come for all to rise before the judge, I fear. We know the reason we stand here.” When the highly honored and revered Judge Justice appeared, the court rose to its feet. As she sat, all sat with her, and the deliberations began. The prosecutor was the

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Dragon’s Mercy

I sat stooped at the edge of the castle fountain, waiting patiently to die. The hum of humanity inundated me. It filled the outer bailey—travelers swapping rumors, merchants shooing children from their tents. I was surrounded by people, yet alone. I had no offspring, no kin, not a soul who knew my name.

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A Matter of Pride

Being one of the Seven Deadly Sins wasn’t supposed to be easy, but Pride thought it would be a heck of a lot simpler than this.
It started when his sister, Envy, bet that she could find one person he couldn’t taint. Seemed like a straightforward win, considering most humans were corruptible beasts.
Until Cresella.

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Master the Beast

The warmth of the stew steamed up my glasses and the taste of it cut through the bitter cold of the highlands. But the conversation behind me drove all thought of food away.
“It was headed straight for the coastline. I had to let it go—the curse has passed from me,”

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Ask Nicely

It is dangerous to travel alone,” the old man said. He shuffled to a wooden wardrobe in the corner of the study. “You must take this.”
Hart took a deep breath and grinned. Finally, a weapon worthy of my call as the Crimson Champion! He put a hand on his new red belt,

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A More Powerful Magic

“Trish, that’s amazing,” my best friend cooed as I drizzled the final icing whisker over the last ginger cat cookie. “You’ll win the scholarship tomorrow for sure!”
Still clutching the blue-handled frosting knife, I swiped the back of my arm across my forehead. “I wish I had your confidence, Bri.”
“Come on, girl,”

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Tempest in a Teacup

With a final cry, I swept the ogre’s foul head off his body and sidestepped as he crashed to the ground beside his two brethren. Before the dust settled, I bounded up the hill to their lair, whence black smoked billowed. They kept their ill-gotten treasures within—and their captives, who cried piteously

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Dragons Are Not Heroes

Rule 44: Dragons are not heroes—do not act like one.
It’s one of the many rules I, Orpheus, abide by. One of 345, to be exact. Though please don’t ask me to recite them all—I simply haven’t the time. Cave dwelling involves much slumbering and polishing of scales.
But I’ll tell you a few.

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Vein Beauty

Rumors said she went mad for beauty.
And while Briar’s search had begun with a desperate desire to keep the fairy-given beauty… it had evolved into so much more.
She hadn’t gone mad for beauty.
She’d transcended it.
A red horizon lit the battlefield and illuminated the corpses of those who had tried to

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Super Gus, Do You Copy

The glass roof of the museum’s atrium shatters, and I duck behind a pillar. Twenty-three rotund robots rappel through the jagged opening on extensible steel arms. Riding atop the center bot is a short, pudgy man in a purple-and-green-striped lab coat. Frizzy orange curls encircle his bald scalp like clouds around a shiny mountaintop.

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