Havok Publishing

Fantasy

Who Saves the Hero?

“What if I told you that you could just go home?”
Toby almost believes the words… until he remembers it’s a villain speaking them, and he shakes himself. He forces a laugh, but pain stabs through the wound in his side, and he stops laughing with a gasp.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”

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Down Twisted Cypress Way

For Zadie, the first ninety-nine steps under the oppressive canopy of nighttime Pennsylvania woods were hard enough. The air was still and stagnant, and only thin shafts of moonlight pierced the darkness. But at the hundredth step, Zadie hesitated and took a deep breath. She had reached the point where she would have

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Flight or Fight

What human being, given the Gift of flight, would wish he had another one?
You’re looking at him. Er, reading about him.
Does that even make sense? Zoiks. I’m as clumsy with words as I am with people. And I’m clumsier with flight.
I hate heights. I hate speed. I hate the breathlessness

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Branchweaver’s Difference

What’s the difference between a hero and a wimp?
I fall firmly in the latter category. I don’t sing in public. I don’t raise my hand in class.
My wimpiness wasn’t really a problem until last week. That’s when Aidan Peacebringer —beautiful Aidan, with his curly hair and goofy grin and not being

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The Pink Fairy Armadillo Army

By Ronnell Kay Gibson You give one pink fairy armadillo a belly rub, and now look what’s gone an’ happened—I’ve got an army of the little buggers. The first armadillo showed up a week ago. My dog, Brewser, plum scared the bajeezers outta me when he started barking at the butt-crack of dawn. The border

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A Respectable Old Family

Comforting scents of spice, herbs, and fruits filled the wood-paneled room, cozy enough to distract from the cold rain—and the woeful news. Mistress Millet dipped a carved cup into the pot simmering over her fire, then shuffled over and set it in front of Ivy, who wiped away a tear she pretended

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Bite Size

Chomp.
Chomp.
Swallow.
Wonder at the sharpness of her new teeth. Wonder at her new teeth.
Chomp.
Swallow.
Even if she had been counting, she would have lost track long ago of the number of bites she had taken; the number of times her teeth had dulled to uselessness, only to be magically renewed

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The Wizard’s Headache

Attn: Wizard Mark Fennel
Magical Medical
Outgoing private comm records from Royal Wizard Greg Zaks
2.1.11
The headaches are back.
I know you diagnosed tension, but I’m convinced it’s something more. I can hear you saying, “They started when Flora disappeared. You have no prior history.” But they’ve lasted months.

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Birthday Balrog Blues

When the Havok community writes a collaborative ad lib story (aka “HavokLibs”), new species are born. Meet Ophelia Penelope Ostentatious the Third, a troublesome pet balrog with many tentacles and the honk of a goose!

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Sky Rays

The sky ray dipped, and I held on as vertigo kicked in. I loved flying when I was the pilot, but being at the mercy of a giant manta ray thousands of feet in the air was a different story. And after two years, I still wasn’t a fan.
I placed a palm

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The Ginormous Giant Panda Lie

There were many things eight-year-old Haddie Underwood did not like—sitting still, doing her spellcaster homework, dogs—but she hated being lied to most of all.
Haddie squeezed her sister’s hand and pointed in utter betrayal at the animal inside the deep pit that functioned as a zoo exhibit. “Where is the giant panda?”

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Theirs

Nan and I were at the hives when the stranger stopped by. “Elias Carver, your new neighbor.” He tipped his hat and nodded toward the gray house on the hill. “Belonged to my late uncle. We weren’t close. I only got word a few months ago the old place’s been empty for years. Now I’m here to settle down.”

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