Imaya has always loved her family and her home, Navonza, Hanado, but when a single event shatters everything she thought she knew, she is forced to uncover the truth, no matter the cost. Some things can never be unseen, and some memories will never fade. As a strangely familiar voice guides her through the ever-changing streets, Imaya discovers that the Feast of the Basilisk is far more than just an old story. Sometimes loyalty can be just as cruel as betrayal. My official ONC2025 Entry Prompt 96. The road you've traveled almost every day of your life begins to change - transforming into a dark, terrifying place right before your eyes.

ONC2025 Round 2 Ambassador Pick 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. Unicorns are sacred in the kingdom of Unara, their magic a gift only bestowed upon the worthy-or stolen through death. Someone is hunting them, and if the killings continue, their magic will fall into the wrong hands. Determined to uncover the truth, Oskar sets out to find the culprit. But the deeper he digs, the darker the secrets he unearths--secrets that could shake the very foundation of the kingdom. A standalone fantasy adventure, The Unicorn's Blessing follows Prince Oskar before the events of The Girl with Scars, revealing the choices that shaped the man he would become. Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2025 | @OpenNovellaContest - Rules & Guidelines: https://www.wattpad.com/story/387452246 **Main Prompt** 12. While hiking through a forest, you stumble upon a unicorn's horn. **Secondary Prompt** 130. Protect this with your life. ©2025 E. S. Elias All Rights Reserved. Book Created & Published to Wattpad: 02.01.2025 Book Marked as Completed: 04.08.2025 Cover: Me @DesignsbyEH I used Canva.com | Cover is temporary and subject to several changes. Word Count: 26,234 / 20,000 Goals: Round 1 ✔ | 2,000 words ✔ | Round 1 Winner ✔ Round 2 ✔ | 8,000 words ✔ Round 3 _ | 20,000 words ✔ LONGLIST _ | SHORTLIST _ Honorable Mention? _ | Ambassadors' Pick ✔ Mentioned in Ambassador Newsletter ✔ Rankings: #ONC2025: #21 on 02.02.2025 | #15 on 02.03.2025 | #12 on 03.24.2025 #opennovellacontest2025: #15 on

𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, 𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍... **A mirror-wandering thief and a knight who has lived hundreds of lives try to return the most precious thing to the Queen of Ice and Snow: the Heart of Winter itself. ** "When leaves have fallen And skies turned to grey The night keeps closing in on the day A nightingale sings his song of farewell You better hide for her freezing hell" - Ice Queen, Within Temptation - Keir, a self-proclaimed master thief, finds himself in a very unfortunate situation after a failed robbery: in exchange for his life, he agrees to free the stolen daughter of the ice-cold Winter Queen from the hands of the Summer Court. However, Keir is anything but a shining hero. To succeed, the infamous 'Mirror Walker' must use his extraordinary abilities and join forces with the noblest soul under the sun: Ser Drustan, also known as the Iron Knight. The two unlikely companions must work together to brave the dangers on the journey to the Summer Court, especially since Keir is still wanted in the desert country for murdering his former master, a mighty sultan. When Keir finally manages to break into the Amber Palace amid the rust-red deserts, he discovers much more is at stake than his own life. Can a former slave, a heroic knight, and a stormy shieldmaiden change the fate of the Ringrealms? Or might dark intrigues and the war of the High Courts bring ruin to the mortal world? **** Cover by Thinkerling ONC2025 Start: 06.02.2025

[Honorable Mention, Round two winner] Sora Yōmei was the first female heir to the Veozian throne-until her step-brother's birth turned her world upside down. With her claim to the throne in jeopardy, her brother seeks to slay the mythical mountain serpent Vraniscar, hoping to claim its power and unite the kingdoms of mountains and sea. Exiled and nearly stripped of her birth right, she must confront betrayal, face ancient powers, and prove herself worthy of the serpent's protection and stop her half-brother-or watch her kingdom fall into chaos. Cover by @-MilaSteele

[ONC 2025 Shortlister] An apprentice silversmith, haunted by his reflection. A wealthy family, falling to ruin. A patron spirit, searching for a pact. Five games will decide their fate. After acquiring great wealth from a boom in silver trade, the Blackwood family moves into a mansion that was mysteriously abandoned by its previous owners. The property has everything a family of established silversmiths could need: prime trade location, a smithing workshop, and a large mirror that was left behind. To Kyren Blackwood, the promises of a new life and the riches that come with it are more than enough to overshadow the eerie tale. But the mirror watches. Reflections are not what they seem. Driven to the brink of insanity, Kyren must uncover the mirror's secrets before his family loses everything. In a desperate attempt to free himself, he agrees to play five games with the spectre in the mirror. If he can win three, the curse will end. Lose, and he surrenders his soul to the silver spirit. ~An ONC novella, inspired by prompts 13 and 55. ~Set in the same world as Buried in the Sea but can be read completely independently (with no spoilers to one or the other).

🏆ONC 2025 HONORABLE MENTION 🏆 A lone lighthouse keeper watches over the coast, tending to her light as the sea rages beyond. The storms are nothing new-neither is the solitude. She is content with the quiet rhythm of her life, the crash of waves against the cliffs, the scent of salt and parchment filling her days. But when a shipwreck leaves a battered stranger at her doorstep, the tide of her world begins to shift. The man is rough-edged, a relic of salt and shadow, with secrets hidden beneath his scars. He speaks of a past that the waves should have swallowed, of maps inked in the margins of forbidden books, of love letters lost to time. Trapped together by a storm that refuses to pass, they share stories by lantern light-one seeking refuge, the other searching for something long forgotten. Yet not all ghosts are content to stay buried, and not all storms end when the sky clears. Whispers of war linger in the distance, and the truth he carries may threaten the safe harbor she has built for herself. As the past and present begin to intertwine, she must decide-will she cling to the safety of her lighthouse, or will she risk everything to follow the reflection of something new? -- Cover by @Heuristic_Hashmath

When a fellow witch is accused of a heinous crime, Rowburta Copperbottom. A witch of minimal magical ability but a thirst for knowledge, must investigate the allegations and then prove at a trial the innocence of her colleague. But, with mysterious enemies trying to thwart her at every turn, Rowburta must rely on far more than her witchly magics to aid her in a race against time to prove that justice isn't just blind, but not averse to a little monetary tipping of the scales, either. Rowburta has more than magic to help, she has the lore. A tale in the Terry Pratchett inspired Godworld, where people are about to meet the world's first Witch Loreyer. An ONC novella, based on Prompt 14: "Not everyone in your coven becomes a witch doctor. But you? You are the witch lawyer and take care of the mystical laws of the magical world."