ONC 2025 Reads
19 stories
Your Story Has Been Deleted by StephanieProchaska
StephanieProchaska
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She was once a character in a deleted story, now lost and memoryless in the Library Limbo. If she wants to get her memories back, she's going to have to work on her backstory - by helping to fix some stories that have gone wrong. Now, she's forced to team up with an overly-peppy cheerleader and a guy who insists he used to be a detective. As they delve into romance, mystery, and fairy tale stories, she realizes that things might not be as simple as they seemed. All she can do is hope the next plot twist isn't her own.
Fairy Logic (and Other Matters of Academia) ✓ by avadel
avadel
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Entry-level magic professors aren't supposed to be responsible for fixing the generations-long problems that come from a library haunted by fae. But when the administration sweeps the dangerous situation under the rug, Constance Wylf sets out to expose the truth. Armed with logic, a cart of books, and her personal-companion fairy, Constance is ready to storm the long-abandoned shelves. What she isn't prepared for is a tavern-keeper who's madly insistent on tagging along, especially since he seems convinced she's unravelling along the edges. Which is impossible. Unravelling, as everyone knows, is for people with emotions. And Constance Wylf is absolutely determined to keep any emotions she might have tied up tight. ~ * ~ Longlister in ONC 2025 Prompts 65 and 102 Main: What is science, if not magic governed by laws instead of emotions? Secondary: In a world where books are feared for their power to possess readers, one Scribe enters a haunted library full of cursed stories. The question is: will they leave the same person?
Never Say Die, Alyson Gardner by Exequinne
Exequinne
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🏆 SHORTLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 A misfit actress must give a performance of a lifetime before her true identity gets uncovered and her hidden empire crumbles down. ⋯⋯⋯ Alyson Gardner, the misfit daughter of the Ocalira chief, is a master of disguise. It is not easy controlling the largest pleasure district in Hylsa Lyllan behind a curtain, so when a student from university goes missing in her turf, she must do everything she can to clear her ties to it even if it means shedding her masks bit by bit. But with an impatient perpetrator out for her ruin, she must turn to friends and foes alike to star in the greatest performance of her life, one that will shake her empire's foundations down to the last brick. From the author of the award-winning novella, 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘈𝘳𝘭𝘰 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, comes a story of privilege, wealth, and the divide between the elite and the common. Ideals are a salvation for many, but in the quest for freedom and power, sometimes, they are the first to go. AN INSTALLMENT OF THE LYLLAN UNIVERSITY OF MAGIC AND MISFITS SERIES ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• © 2025 (First Edition) [25,000 - 30,000 words] [All graphics are made by @sardonictabby] ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• 🏆 LONGLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 2 AMBASSADOR PICK - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 2 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 1 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025
Where the Star Weeps | ONC25 by ToWolfKin
ToWolfKin
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SHORTLISTER + ROUND 1 WINNER ONC25 || Running from a war-torn world, Aulka and her pack find refuge in a Dream where there is no suffering, no pain, and no death. It's a well-needed reprieve...until Aulka is attacked by the very creatures that killed her family. She is rescued by the mysterious, Dream-dubbed "hero", Kaone, who tells her that the Maikai is dying and the Dream along with it. And she, the Dream-dubbed "healer", is the only one who can heal him. But there are things in the Dream that will do anything to stop her, and Aulka quickly finds herself caught in a Coren's Challenge, her own grief, and a desperate race to where the star weeps before she's eaten, Kaone's killed, or Maikai dies. There's one thing for certain: she must finish what she started. -||-||-||- ONLY ON WATTPAD. If you're reading this anywhere else, your device is liable to malware! NO AI TRAINING || ONC 2025 ROUND ONE WINNER 11/3/2025 || ONC LONLISTER 21/5/2025 || ONC SHORTLISTER 1/6/2025
Deep in the Depths by Silverdawn_
Silverdawn_
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The years came and went. Earth is no longer the only planet out there, and adventures are only just beginning for Aurora's crew. Bessie Marvin didn't think she would be selected to join the Aurora. After all, as a freshly graduated agriculture bioengineer, she lacks the experience most of those in her position hold. So, why would a government send someone like her out to the great unknown? The answer comes sooner then she thinks when their ship crash lands at their destination, a water exoplanet with little land in sight. Orion has always wondered if there was more beyond the glowing lights of his world. This idea pulls him away from his tiny reef and the ocean's comfortable currents, creating a fissure between him and his family. When a strange creature crash lands onto his tiny island, Orion knows this is his chance to finally tame this growing curiosity once and for all. However, meeting Bessie Marvin and falling in love was far from his plans. With the world between the two of them collided, there's no way to go back how things once were. Now, they will have to navigate cultural differences from both space and ocean if they wish to stay together throughout the growing tension between the two sides. With time running out, Bessie and Orion will have to decided if they're willing to stand their ground or give in to the pressures of the ocean's depths. Future cover to be made by @-DeeIsDead-
The Broken Prince by abbeyberning
abbeyberning
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When college student Celine Marlowe finds a piece of a shattered unicorn horn in the forest, she doesn't expect it to contain ancient magic connecting her to its owner Soren, the exiled prince of the Velkeros. With Soren's magic trapped inside her and the remaining pieces of his horn still scattered around the world, Celine is pulled into a centuries-old conflict between a corrupt scientific empire called the Argent Accord, and the once mythical beings they exploit. The Accord wants Velkeros blood for immortality, Soren wants to reclaim what they stole from him, and Celine just wants to make it out alive. Magic was never supposed to end up in Celine's hands, but the more she learns, the more she realizes that her and Soren's connection might be the key to saving everything. This story is my entry in the 2025 Open Novella Contest! Follow @OpenNovellaContest to be notified about the next one! The prompt I chose: #12. While hiking through a forest, you stumble upon a unicorn's horn.
Thornbound: The Stray and the Summoner by mirielleansel
mirielleansel
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#ONC2025 #Round2AmbassadorsPick For as long as she can remember, Ivy Reece Tauria has worn an unbreakable ring on her finger. A childhood relic, a forgotten gift...until the day it opens. It happens after she stumbles upon a door made entirely of briars and thorns, hidden deep in the forest where no door should exist. The moment she steps through, something awakens inside her something ancient, something powerful. And then the world shifts. In a land on the brink of chaos, an ancient evil resurfaces. The Dark Sorcerer, Malagar, long thought vanquished, has unleashed an army of metal warriors to conquer the world. With the realm in peril, retired heroes of the past are forced out of hiding to fight once more. A stray cat isn't just a cat. A unicorn's horn is more than a relic. And a forgotten oath is about to be tested. But the biggest mystery? The tiny creature that emerges from her ring, claiming to have been waiting for her all along. Ivy is about to learn that some secrets are meant to stay buried because once they're uncovered, there's no turning back. Main Prompt: #1 Sub Prompts: #2, #7, #12, #13, #39, #75
Unicorns and other Misfortunes | ONC 2025 by Wolfwhistle
Wolfwhistle
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When Elliot and his kid sister go hiking together, he's expecting typical problems like blisters and rain. He's not expecting the deluge of fantastical problems that await him on the second day of his hike. And he's not happy about it.