Havok Publishing

Tag - heartwarming

Uncoiled

“Florence. Florence! I’m sorry. Please come back.”
The shouts ricochet between the chimney-like hoodoo rocks, making it seem like Aunt Junie is everywhere at once. I huff. If anyone could master that superpower, it’d be her.
“Leave me alone! I hate you.”

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When Lions Fly

“His mama left him.”
I fumbled to take off my reading glasses and blinked at my seven-year-old nephew, hoping the creature in his arms might turn out to be a puppy or barn cat. Alas, the round ears and dark spots peppering the buff-colored fur said

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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

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Master of the Tide

I floated nervously, trying to hide my twitching tail. To my left, my twin brother Ellion swam proudly, confident—perhaps too confident—that he would be the next Master of the Tide, King of the Merpeople. His soul-bonded shark swam in menacing circles beneath him.
My soul-bond

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All the Comforts of Home

“It’s dangerous to stay here.” Lili gazed at me with red-brown eyes. “We should go.”
Leave the comfort of Steve and Talia’s house? I had to calm Lili’s fears before she ruined the good thing we had going.
“We’re house flies,” I protested. “If we weren’t meant to live in houses, why call us that?

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Wish

Once in a lifetime, a birthday wish came true.
Theo wished his hadn’t.
He surveyed the bustling marketplace and leaned back against the fruit vendor’s stall. Beside him, two women haggled with the farmer over the price of a clementine. He groped forward and plucked two

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Beyond the Veil

Naria sighed heavily and gathered her auburn hair into a ponytail. How had she been accepted into the most prestigious artistry battle-mage academy in the realm?
“Focus, recruits,” General Peters demanded as he stalked between rows of easels. His voice echoed

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Friendship Is HearSay

“Why are you soaking wet?”
Scamper reeled back from his best friend, HearSay, to avoid the shower as the awkward, towering droid dripped water from the ragged trench coat draped on his thin frame. HearSay brandished three glimmering fish impaled on his makeshift spear for Scamper

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A Shepherd’s Solution

A roar from a nearby mountain blasted across the village of Torma. Dropping their wares, the inhabitants of the village pulled their cloaks tighter from the booming screech, but a young shepherd walked along as if on a mission, his head held high.
The noise ceased at the same time the sheep tender approached Mayor Lun.

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The Lightkeeper

Cold air burns my throat as it rushes in and out of my lungs, my feet pounding across the snowy shore in rhythm with my heart. My eyes are locked on the lighthouse, on its strangely muted glow. Gemma would never let the stars outshine it.

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Scales

Aria stared at her arms. Her scales were showing again. This time, they were dark blue. She squinted daggers at them.
Go away!
“Aria! Are you ready for school?” Her mom yelled. School. Ugh. She was one in one million, someone who held dragon

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From the Ashes

Maire strode through the center of the war camp, head held high, one hand resting on the pommel of her sword. The phoenix crest on her scarlet robes identified her for anyone who still hadn’t heard the stories, and murmurs trailed behind her as people bowed and

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