Havok Publishing

Science Fantasy

Grim

“Plan on harvesting some wheat?” Jake asked, lifting a brow. “Or hacking your way through the jungle?” Trent snorted. I rolled my eyes. “This”—I proffered the scythe—“is a souvenir from my latest investigation.” “Another spirit taking issue with his new living conditions?” Jake paused. “Or, I guess, lack thereof?”

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A Self-Guided Dragon Safari

Carl rested his head against the passenger window of the family-sized hovercraft, wishing he was anywhere but the middle of the Pacific Ocean, traversing the Ring of Fire. Family road trips were the worst.
He glanced at his younger sister. Stella sat beside him, happily braiding her hair. That would be one way to pass the time

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Tangled in Knots

The end of the world was an inconvenient time to have eighty-foot-long hair.
Rapunzel bolted through the forest, trying to ignore the echoing moans that chased her. Her head snapped back when an unruly strand of hair tangled around a branch. She yanked it free, then pumped her legs as hard as

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Saving the Uglies

Detachment of limbs is a superpower.
Really. Being able to pop off your legs or hands and send them to do heroic things while your body stays safely behind can be… handy.
Of course, I attach limbs. No one considers that a superpower, just like absolutely no one considers me a hero. Besides,

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A Haunting Conversation

When I emerged from my coffin to stalk the darkness, I didn’t expect to find inspiration.
I strolled through a graveyard under a blanket of night. The gravestones glowed a ghostly gray luminescence under the gaze of the full moon, and shadows jittered with ghoulish glee as the boughs of trees swayed

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Rydinger and the Wolf

Rydinger flipped the hood over his head as a chill wind whipped around a corner. He clutched the waxed fabric parcel closer.
“You sure about this, Red?” His insides twisted at his cowardice. Nessa deserved better.
The shadow in front of him didn’t slow.
“I guess that’s my answer,” he muttered, quickening

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The Mystery of the Sphinx

Jane poked at the arrangement of boulders that formed an archway in the middle of the room.
“This is the portal?” She lifted her glasses and peered at one of the boulders. “It doesn’t seem like it should stay upright, and yet it appears solid.”
“Don’t try to understand Xaether magic,”

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Reuben’s Farm

Once more, the sun set on Reuben’s farm. Beneath the fuchsia sky, no kittens mewed, no cattle lowed. Eerie quiet filled the chicken coop, the barn, and even the doghouse. Not even birdsong broke the farm’s unnatural silence. To the east, however, the world began to stir as sunlight left its skies. Living creatures

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The Purple Parrot

The green sun of Lilen rose over the city of Shooshun. Its warm rays pierced a certain upper-story window of a certain stone house near the outermost edge of the city’s innermost ring. Soft green light shone on the face of a young Lilenite as she slept among piles of silky-soft furs.

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Captain Dragon

“Absolutely not!” My bass voice shook the room. “I refuse.”
King Elrose Pendrake VI merely grinned. “Oh, don’t be like that, you big lizard. Wasn’t it you who taught me not to refuse something without knowing what I’m refusing?”
“That’s different. I know exactly what kind of nonsense you’ll be involving me in.”

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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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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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