Havok Publishing

Humor

Dragon, Knight, Princess

Everyone knows the tale of the dragon, knight, and princess.
An evil dragon kidnaps a princess and whisks her away to his lair. A brave knight in shining armor is tasked with saving her from her infernal fate. After an epic battle, the knight slays the dragon and rescues the princess, before riding off

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A Fistful of Socks

His meticulously planned caper at Footsie Rolls Novelty Sock Emporium was off to a poor start. Crouched behind a sneaker deodorant display, Achilles and two other sock gremlins stared down the aisle to where a pair of guards waved flashlights back and forth.
Achilles smacked Shin-Splint across the back of his head.

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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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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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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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Rolling Snake Eyes

“Behold!”
The ringmaster’s bellow startled me into sitting up so fast I slammed into the calliope I was fixing. With a moan, I squirmed out from under it.
Mr. Trent brandished a contraption that looked like a bicycle snapped in half. “Behold the latest invention, the unicycle! Its rider will save Trent’s Traveling Circus.”

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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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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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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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New Jersey and You

“Officer, what you mean I can’t pump my own gas?” The shorter man scowled up from his car, biting off his words. The neon sign of the station flickered on and off while the smell of exhaust filled Officer Ortega’s nostrils.
Ortega sighed. “I’m sorry sir, that’s the law in New Jersey,”

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Destination: Nowhere

Carter walks through the terminal doors and blinks. One minute ago, he was stumbling around in the dark, lost in a briar patch along the Appalachian Trail. Now he’s standing in what looks like an airport from the 1970s. A group of stewardesses in robin’s-egg blue uniforms giggle and wave as they pass.

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The Necromancer’s Diamond

“Perhaps the necromancer’s asleep?” asked One-Legged Val.
From a distance, the necromancer’s ship looked abandoned, dark except for the giant glowing diamond shining from the masthead like a full moon. The crew of Nevermore floated in deep water off the coast of Dogshead Isle, their lanterns doused and sails tied down, transfixed

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