Havok Publishing

S13 - Encore

Assigned Name: Scout

Humans. Scout crouched in the narrow gap behind the couch as the two guards passed.
“Probably a glitch,” the guard that smelled like coffee said. “No one’s here.”
Scout’s ears twitched in amusement. He must’ve missed a motion sensor, but it didn’t matter. The employee lounge of CB-TED’s

Read it now

While the Dragon Sleeps

A woman strode into the dragon stable beside the stadium, then paused in the stone building’s dim light because a young girl stood in front of the stall containing a Tenebrous dragon. Warily the woman advanced.
The girl startled. “I didn’t think

Read it now

Wallace with Bagels

There was no point in thawing bagels when the twenty-foot-long alligator you were babysitting preferred them frozen.
“Make sure Wallace eats one before the moon is out,” Frank had said before leaving for work. “Whenever it’s a full moon, he gets very hungry.”

Read it now

Craving Carrion

No one sees the feeders at first.
They gather where something has just ended: a breakup outside a subway, a man staring too long at a message that begins with we regret to inform you. The air bends, and something thin slips into the space where

Read it now

Definitely Not a Chipmunk

You think you know all the weird creatures in the world—tiny dragons, cats with pine needles for fur—and then you try to enter your dorm room.
“Don’t go in there, Drew.” My roommate, Matt, blocks the door with his tall, lanky body.
“Um… why?”
“There’s a

Read it now

Defective

The torture had stopped being pain three days ago. After a while, sensation was only data. Now it was just weather.
I slumped against the far wall of my cell, metal biting into my wrists. The shackles were designed for smaller creatures. They cut

Read it now

The Parrot

There was no escape from Interhaven’s warship blockade. For forty-eight hours, we had pored over the map, looking for any possible escape route, and still we found nothing.
“We can’t leave with all our cargo intact,” I stated, flipping my long brown

Read it now

Nectar

I glanced between the “phoenix” chick perched on the countertop and the shopkeeper attempting to sell me said chick. I narrowed my eyes. “Are you sure this is a phoenix?”
He smiled broadly, his teeth blindingly white. “Of course.”
“Then why is he blue?”
The shopkeeper’s

Read it now

Icebird vs. the Dinosaurs

If there was one thing that Iris City had in surplus, it was abandoned buildings. In his Icebird guise, Houston Haas circled over a block full of them, trying to localize the lady’s cries for help. At last, he pinpointed a rusting building that had once been a warehouse, surrounded by a graveyard of other similarly decrepit structures.

Read it now

Burn Out

Brad clutched his rooster, Leopold, by the neck as he trudged up the steep mountain path.
As a farm boy, he was used to long days of hard work under the elements. But the trek up Flaimen Peak always winded him, and he wasn’t looking forward

Read it now

Ink and the Illusionist – A Dreaming Machines Story

“Come one, come all.” Erizan waved to the bustling crowds passing before his small circus tent. “Dr. Erizan Aziz’s world of mystery awaits those who dare tread the waters of the lost deep!”
He’d tailored this pitch for the ocean people of Leaslin. They were born in water, lived on water, died in water,

Read it now