Havok Publishing

Tag - mythical creatures

The Dream Eater

“Baku-san, come eat my dreams.” Woozy with exhaustion, I laid my head back on the clean white pillow to wait. But not to sleep. I could never sleep until the mission was over.
Outside the window of the tiny hotel room, a neon sign flickered in the endless city lights of Tokyo.

Read it now

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

Read it now

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

Read it now

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.”

Read it now

Lament of the Phoenix

Easing my pale arched wings through the insistent wind, I watch the Last-Spoken far beneath me. Soft-skinned bodies frolic on the warm sands. They drift and splash in the teal waves that crest around them. On a day this clear, little separates the blue of the sky from the reflection coloring the watery expanse

Read it now

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

Read it now

Life or Death?

We all face certain choices: Life or death, nurturer or destroyer, violence or peace. Each kitsune must choose her own path.
When grown, we travel into the world of Men, choosing a man to bind ourselves to… for the rest of his life. If we choose the path of violence, suffering and death come

Read it now

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,”

Read it now

The Hidden Land

An enormous shadow crossed the plain, extending its darkness in every direction. Eclipsing the warmth of the sun, the object above blocked the light, painting bushes and wild scrub black. The rear portion of the shadow rolled forward like a curtain, forming a visible line between day and night.
The preschooler blinked at the

Read it now

The Redwood Restoration

Although Muir Woods had been closed for a year, I stole through the barricades in the dimness of dawn. No birds sang. No rustling. Only a presence.
As sun rays weaved through branches, so did the whispers. I caught human and woman on the wind’s tongue, and I prayed the forest would reveal what

Read it now

The Debt

The shadows of rocky outcroppings stretched across my path as the sun lowered toward evening. It was dangerous to be alone this late—I knew it well. But my feet drew me onward, until the caravan was lost to the hills behind and even their voices and the noise of the camp faded.

Read it now

Terra Australis Incognita

Williams followed Haley, making sure to keep several paces behind his bright orange snowsuit. Aside from her lab partner’s reasoning that it would help if they needed rescuing, she didn’t fancy walking next to a target. Even if Antarctica’s predators were primarily colorblind and oceanic. Besides, any minute now, that Staypuff Creamsicle was going

Read it now