" To be in love with a demon was the last thing on your Wishlist. " *** Three thousand years ago, Anna, a young girl, married Lance, one of the knights of King Arthur's court. They lived a good life, but one war changed everything. A boon became the bane of her life, tearing her and Lance away from each other. **** Annahita Singh Sisodiya was born into a royal family in Rajgarh, a small kingdom in the west of Rajasthan. Despite her royal lineage, she preferred to live as a commoner. Her life was not as lavish as that of a typical princess. Around 250 years ago, one of her ancestors summoned a Yakshini, only to be cursed by her-no girl born in his lineage would ever reunite with her true love. **** #OpenNovellaContest2025

A forgotten goddess, a love torn by fate, and a war that shattered the heavens-Elaria must choose between power, love, and the future of existence itself. 🔥🔥🔥 Eleanor thought she was human-until her soul bond shattered, awakening powers no mortal should possess. As memories of her past life return, she discovers she was once Elaria, the Weaver of Fate, a goddess erased by the celestial order. But her return was no accident-her inner powers may have called her back. Now, Cupid, the god of love, claims she is meant to restore balance, while Veyron, the demon of obsession, whispers that she was betrayed and must bring vengeance. Yet as her power awakens, so does a force within her that even the gods failed to anticipate. Will she preserve love, break fate's chains, or uncover a hidden truth that could rewrite the laws of gods and mortals forever? Time is running out, and the choice is hers-if destiny doesn't claim her first.

Bound to a magical bangle and a demon, sea drifter Ninnette has only three days to break the curse--or die trying. ---------- Ninnette is a sea drifter with the power to command water, dredging shipwrecks and salvaging lost treasure. But when she braves a wreck no one else dares to dive, she finds no gold, no jewels--only a strange clockwork bangle. The moment she wears it, the artifact latches onto her wrist, binding her to an ancient curse, and to Kazi, the demon who leaves destruction wherever he goes. Kazi is infuriating and dangerous. He refuses to help her break the curse. Worse, a secret organization is hunting them, believing the bangle to be a map to something far greater than treasure. But the true danger isn't the organization. It isn't Kazi. It's the curse. The moment Ninnette puts on the bangle, a countdown begins. If she doesn't break the curse in three days, she will die like every wearer before her. ---------- ONC 2025 Honorable Mention ---------- Romantasy High Fantasy Fantasy Adventure SciFi Steampunk Fantasci Young Adult

A girl in a white veil, the forest calls her to itself. She will be lost in it forever. A quiet voice, a whisper leads his bride far away. Somewhere there stands an old castle, a cursed prince dwells within its walls. When the full moon rises in the night sky, the monster awakens. The white veil of the bride turns crimson. A story as old as time. Nereyeny ran towards the forest as if her life was at stake. She hesitated for a moment before crossing the line of no return. She looked back at the place where she had grown up, lived, and was supposed to die and lie in the ground there forever. All her life layed there, everything except the one thing she longed for the most. Freedom. "Nereyeny!" They were already looking for her. She couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. She turned on her heel and stepped into the darkness. She knew that no one would dare to chase her there. Only a fool. People were afraid of the cursed forest. Eyes watching your every step. Whispers leading you into the void. Creatures from the depths of hell itself. They say dark forces dwell there, no one who goes in will ever come out. And Nereyeny was proof that it was all a lie, spending almost every day there, running under the treetops like a wild wolf. She didn't believe those tales. About the full moon. About the proud prince. About the curse. Until she too became one of those lost in its bowels. Trapped in the same trap as Prince Astreus, son of the Sun and the Moon. A proud prince, real, made of flesh and blood, who is not at all like she has heard of him. At least the fairy tales are wrong about one thing. And maybe they are wrong about everything. Secrets, pride, the whims of the gods, and maybe even fate itself. A burnt-out faith in breaking the curse. Nereyeny must now find a way out before the next full moon comes and the monster finds her.

🏆ONC 2025 SHORTLISTER 🏆 Veyr Thalric was born beneath a blood moon, his fate inked in the past and bound to a future he cannot escape. The son of the slain Wolf, he has spent his life hidden in the shadows, waiting for the moment he can claim vengeance against the one who stole everything from him-Rowan Ashwood, the legendary hunter who wears his father's pelt like a crown. But vengeance is never so simple. The deeper Veyr treads into the hunt, the more the forest whispers warnings of paths that cannot be undone. A deck of fate waits to be drawn, its cards promising revelations he may not be ready to face. And when love enters the fray in the form of Amerie Rosarot, a woman with fire in her heart and tragedy in her veins, Veyr is forced to confront the question that haunts all doomed hunters: When you challenge the magic of the world, can you truly finish what you started-no matter the cost? In this tale of blood, betrayal, and destiny, the line between monster and man blurs. And in the end, the real question is not who will survive...but what will be left of them when the hunt is over.

🏆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 young Nevae loses her grandma to the hands of the Big Bad Wolf and kills him in self-defense, she doesn't expect the shapeshifter's children to kill the rest of her family as payback. Orphaned and alone, she takes refuge in the house of a witch, becoming the old woman's apprentice and vowing to kill all the shapeshifters. Nevae becomes a powerful witch and starts taking revenge, until there's only one shapeshifter left, the youngest son of the Big Bad Wolf. However, something happens that stops her right when she's about to kill him, and she hesitates. Will she fulfill her vow to extinguish that race, or will she let her heart lead the way for once? And what will she do about the two abandoned kids that show up at her door shortly after, and the wedding party of princess Ella, and the mysterious icy woman that freezes the heart of men when she kisses them? ❄❄❄ Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and some other fairytales. ❄❄❄ Open Novella Contest 2025 ❄ Prompts: #2, #54 and #126

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2025! Join a society of writers and take on the challenge to create a timeless 20,000+ word novella in 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2025 - so mark your calendars with this date!