She wakes with missing hours, a burning imprint carved into her shoulder, and no memory of who put it there. Nyxara Blackvein is an assassin who survives by control. Control over her body. Her blades. Her choices. But the mark beneath her skin has a will of its own, pulling her toward Stillreach-a city protected by an impossible shield and a power no one dares to name. Torin Cross was never part of the plan. A half-elf swordsman with a charming smile and secrets of his own, he's headed in the same direction for reasons that don't quite add up. When violence forces them to fight side by side, trust forms before either of them is ready for it. Whatever waits in Stillreach is already watching. Prompts used. 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment holds a much bigger truth. 86. A wasteland hides pockets of thriving communities protected by mysterious shields. 99. You wake up with a strange mark on your skin after a late-night encounter you can barely remember, and its meaning grows more unsettling by the hour.

In the elder days before mortal kings etched their borders into stone, before time was measured by crowns and conquests, when Elven Folk shared the world with mortals under treaties older than memory, there came upon our people an age of quiet sundering. It was a time when Giants still walked the high places, when Dragons passed like storms along the horizons, and when Elven Folk shared the world with mortals under treaties older than memory. Yet even then, doubt found root. In those days there arose among mortals a whispering hunger, seeded by those who wore borrowed faces. The Changeling Wizards, who fed fear as if it were wisdom. Convincing mortal kings, the magic of the elves no longer served them. What had once been shared truth became superstition. What had once been kinship became a war of wills. From that hour, the old goodwill ended. Thus the space between our peoples widened, until the old paths closed and we were pressed back into the frost-bitten heights of our ancestral lands. And what would happen next would leave the old world in the silent throes of AN UNEASY REALIZATION THAT ALL WAS NOT AS IT SEEMED... A time when love and acceptance became fear and those fears bred greed. Greed bred forgetting. And forgetting became blame. But in that age arose two souls. One born of mortal blood, one of mortal grace. Who chose to stand where others turned away. Alvaro, and Daniela of the western shores, whose names the stone itself remembers. ─ᛰ─ ONC Prompt 78 You begin to realize that things are not as they seem. 🎏 Author Comment: This tale has been designed and written for younger readers but it can be enjoyed by all.

If you dial the number 4444, no one will pick up. But fall asleep afterwards, and a man will visit you in your dreams. He will introduce himself as an assassin of sorts, and you will tell him your darkest desire. After all, the Dreamwalker can become your enemy's worst nightmare...for a price. Nathan Lee is many things: a slacker, a skeptic, and above all, hopelessly infatuated with the illustrious Aurora Kim. But when he accidentally swaps phones with a stranger, he ends up face-to-face with Cyr, a contract killer who travels through dreams. And his next target is Aurora. Desperate to save Aurora, Nathan takes it upon himself to hunt down Cyr's client. But when the bodies begin piling up, Nathan is forced to question who Aurora Kim really is...and what it will cost to keep her alive. (Prompt #56: After grabbing the wrong phone at a busy deli, you discover the stranger's life is far more tangled with yours than you ever expected.)

Life's a mess. She's a mess. Claire gets fired from her coffee shop job, has her designs called 'trash' by the rude prick who was supposed to sponsor her first fashion collection... And then, her best friend, the love of her life, announces his sudden engagement and wedding next month in Hawaii. And guess who gets to be maid of honor? This is the last fucking straw. This book contains: Cussing & An absolute disaster of a protagonist. You have been warned.

When Brie lands a spot on Cheese Whiz, a cheese-themed cooking competition, the last thing she expects is to run into Colby Jackson, the man who left her heart with more holes than Swiss cheese. ~~~ It was supposed to be simple. Enter the contest, win the prize money, open her own restaurant. Easy peasy, extra cheesy. So of course Colby freaking Jackson and his smug, entirely too sexy face just had to come back into Brie's life like an extra stinky wheel of limburger cheese. Surrounded by fierce competitors and legendary amounts of dairy, Brie and Colby exchange barbs sharper than any cheddar. Yet, as the competition heats up, Brie quickly discovers the mozzarella isn't the only thing melting. Against her better judgment, Colby is once again worming his way into her heart. Will Brie find a whey to make things work between them, or will he leave her feeling bleu? 🧀 Rivals to lovers 🧀 Second chance romance 🧀 All puns are fully intended Using prompts 29 and 89 for ONC 2026! Cover by @-DeeIsDead-

September 1806. The janissaries are advancing towards Istanbul, with an army raised by Rumelia ayans, and are threatening everything Nurcan, a witch serving as the defterdar of the Sihirsizler (non-magical) Irad-i Cedid, has worked for during the past twelve years. Fearing for her life, as the Sultan Selim III is about to sacrifice the Irad-i Cedid for internal peace, she flees to the forests of her native Trabzon Eyalet and leaves behind the Sublime Porte's instabiity. Note: This story is written for the 2026 Open Novella Contest, using the following prompts: 16: "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." (quote by John Muir) 78: You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. #1 in administration and taxation (February 8, 2026) #1 in Napoleonic Wars (February 27, 2026) ONC Round 1 qualifier (March 8, 2026)

An ordinary woman is torn from her failing modern life when a thief botches an escaping spell, dropping her into the middle of a fight in a world that was never meant to be hers. The Marrowbound clan mistakes her for their long-lost Holy Lord of the Temple of Shadows, but clearing this misunderstanding would result in a tragic death. All she wants to do is to survive long enough in this world to find a way to return home. But as time goes by, strange things happen, leaving her questioning if this is a case of mistaken identity or if she is really their long-lost Holy Lord. Was she pulled into this world by chance, or was she always meant to return?

When her office burns down a successful editor must share a workspace with the most infuriating man alive or risk the promotion she's been working her entire career for. **** Chielozonam 'Elo' Williams is thriving. Not only does she have the job of her dreams she's about to make Acquiring Editor of PerfectRomance, the publishing imprint she's been working at for the past five years which would definitely prove to her judgmental father once and for all that he was wrong about her wasting her life away at a dead end job but she's also determined to enjoy the prime years of her youth. Endless fun and casual romps in the sheets are the name of the game. That is until the unthinkable happens. After Elo's building catches fire and burns down she has no choice but to share an office with the one person that makes her blood boil: Connor Price. Archenemies since their days at college Connor makes getting under her skin an art form with his well-timed scathing remarks and contemptible behavior. It's not long before they're locked in a battle of wits, neither willing to back down or give up. When they have to work together to acquire a potentially lucrative manuscript, they are forced to put aside their long-standing animosity for an adventure that will change everything they thought they knew about each other. PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION meets ANYONE BUT YOU meets THE HATING GAME in this contemporary rom-com about resilience, self-discovery and two sworn enemies who can't decide whether to kiss or kill each other. An ONC 2026 story inspired by prompt 40. You and your greatest enemy are struck by a curse that binds your lives together. The only way to survive is to share a kiss, but you would both rather face death than each other.

When the crown is stolen and her parents killed, the kingdom of Evertoire descends into tyranny, and Aerythiel, the princess no one knows survived, must expose the truth--or die trying. ❥๑━━ In a kingdom once peaceful, now overthrown by a manipulative and corrupt king, two siblings are bound by blood and survival, forced to protect one another after narrowly escaping death--yet torn by the missions they cannot ignore. Aerythiel, the princess no one knows survived the massacre of her family, must live in secrecy while leading a hidden fight to protect her people and avenge her parents. Luthien, her older brother, has sworn to shield her at all costs, even as he struggles to outrun a past he dares not remember. Neither knows the other's full mission, and if their secrets collide, both their plans-and countless lives--could be destroyed. As the kingdom suffers under the hand of a king manipulated by unseen forces, Aerythiel faces a devastating truth: to achieve justice, she may have to destroy the life of someone she loves. What would you do when the only path to truth demands a choice so painful you might wish you never knew it at all? ❥๑━━ ONC prompts used: 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment hides a much bigger truth. --- 16. And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. -John Muir 29. You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart. 80. Monsters don't live under your bed. They live in the recesses of our minds. 85. You thought you'd burned that letter years ago--the one with the confession no one was ever meant to read. But somehow, it's back in your hands.

At the height of her fame, Haerin Moon has everything-wealth, talent, beauty, and a name that opens every door. Then she wakes up with a strange mark burned into her skin after a night she cannot fully remember. By morning, the world has begun to forget her. Invitations vanish. Cameras turn away. Indifference replaces recognition. What should be impossible becomes terrifyingly clear: Haerin has been cursed, stripped piece by piece from the socialite throne she fought to build, condemned to fade into irrelevance. The curse traces back to a first date she never meant to accept-and the man who sat across from her, elegant, enigmatic, and unmistakably peculiar. Yoru Tsukishima was never just a patron of the arts, nor merely a charming eccentric. He is a doorway into a hidden world. Now, caught between vanishing influence and growing power she doesn't understand, Haerin must navigate a web of secrets and a romance that feels as dangerous as it is irresistible. Because in a world where magic is real and attention is currency, losing everything may be the price of becoming something more. And the question is no longer whether Haerin can break the curse-but whether she still wants to. ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙☾°̩̥☽·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ Participant of the || Open Novella Contest 2026. Main prompt: 99. You wake up with a strange mark on your skin after a late-night encounter you can barely remember, and its meaning grows more unsettling by the hour. Secondary prompts: 44. »May I have this dance?« »Seriously? Right now, in this situation?« 52. You're on a first date when you suddenly realize the person sitting across from you isn't entirely human. 39. After being cursed, you go from being the most popular socialite to becoming a nobody. 2026 Umi Moriko Original