ONC 2020 Grand Winner ~ ~ "When the halls run red with the poison of your life, I will rest. Until then, consider your ruin a promise of mine." ~ ~ Four years ago, Yin Ruwei sold her blood to the northern god Xuanwu in return for revenge. Now, after years of perfectly orchestrated deaths at hands that are not her own, she snaps and puts red in her ledger, killing a man personally. Mu'en is more brutal, more cunning . . . and less heartless than he'd wish the world to know. Someone has been killing off his men with all the fury of a hurricane. Tearstained anger blankets every death and he almost feels sorry for the murderer - until they kill the man he loves. Ruwei and Mu'en find themselves on two sides of the same coin, counting fate like they do the stars in the sky, hoping for a better day, a happier life, a brighter world in the shadows they call home. Sometimes you must seek what you've lost to retrieve it again. Sometimes that which you've lost can no longer be retrieved. And sometimes, just sometimes, those broken pieces find their way back to you. ~ ~ ONC 2020. Prompt 4. Written: 29.02.2020 - 05.05.2020. ~ ~ A paranormal revenge story with roots in Chinese mythology. ~ ~ Please do not use or translate my work without my permission. If you would like to use something, please ask me. ~ ~ Warning: Contains violence, death, etc. Alludes to: abuse, assault, trauma. Contains: Chinese culture, Chinese mythology, LGBT+ relationships, disability.

[12 Chapter Preview of 2019 Edition-2025 Edition Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble] When an army of darkness falls from the sky, Alex Kingsley enlists the help of her male peers and ventures into spirit-infested lands to save humanity. ***** She's an outcast cursed to consume the memories of anything she touches. A woman fated to repopulate the nation's army. A breeder barred from the sword. And she's desperate for a taste of freedom. So when a tournament is held to recruit the army's best candidates, Alex Kingsley does what she does best: she intervenes. But it's only after dark forces are unleashed upon humanity that Alex finally has the chance to prove herself -- and put her curse to good use. ***** 2020 Watty Award Winner: Fantasy 1st Place Admiration Awards 2020: Fantasy