The Eye has seen-the world will end, unless the apocalypse is properly thwarted. Unfortunately, this task has been handed to the two worst people for the job. Gadowyn Harker is a poison-peddling witch of the Gold City with a curse: if she loves, she will lose her powers-and herself. Beau "The Beautificent" Beguile (not his real name) is a smug necromancer who cons the rich and has a lifelong allergy to love, and all its messy bits. Now they must do the unthinkable: bring a dragon and a future knight-princess-sworn enemy of dragonkind-together, romantically. The world would do well to start praying; the chances of success are slim at best. Meanwhile, the Gold City teeters on the brink of collapse, undead roam the streets (entirely Beau's fault), and the end of the world draws ever closer. Somehow, Gadowyn and Beau must save it all with love-without falling prey to it themselves. First draft written for ONC 2026 | Main Prompts 11 & 98

An entry-level cartographer, Liadan is the least interesting, least important member of the Nautical Guild. Well, that's what she needs everyone to believe. When a warning at sea forces Liadan to flee the Island of Tirisea, she must choose if she returns to safety or trusts a stranger who promises her the impossible: a life where she is free from a duty that was inflicted on her at birth. No matter what, she must not let the mist find her, nor allow the key to fall into malevolent hands. One wrong move, and the world will crumble. Cover by @raizelrose3 ONC 2026 Prompts: 7. One morning, the ocean washes up a message. One you've been waiting your entire life to hear. 62. They say every door has its own key. Except for one, a key said to open them all. 79. A letter arrives addressed to you, written by someone who shouldn't exist.

Rue Domínguez, a twenty-seven-year-old unemployed woman struggling to cure her boredom and at the same time earn some good amount of cash, learns about an app 'ZombieRush' which on winning, promises to reward with $10.5 million. That seemed too good to be true, but with a competitive streak to beat this almost impossible game, Rue decides to test her fate. After conquering the game, she realises it's only the 1st half of the game, and 2nd half is still waiting out there. Rue won $10,000 on completing the 1st half, winning the rest of $10.5 million after completing the 2nd half---now that seemed not too far. But willing to participate in this game that appeared too easy before would have such a horrific result, that Rue never expected. Being forced into a zombie apocalypse while attending a high school reunion and learning that the apocalypse might just be the next half of ZombieRush, Rue realises she very much is 'cooked.' And now she is officially a player, with no way out.

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-

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙. ••• Arthur Pendergast is a man who walks with the weight of generations in his shadow. As a Black man navigating the sharp corners of London, he's used to being watched, but as a necromancer, he's the one doing the observing. To pass a rainy Tuesday, he decides to sit in on a fake séance hosted by a local "spiritualist" in a drafty Victorian parlour. He expects cheap parlour tricks, hidden magnets, and the predictable scent of stale incense. And Madame Valeska is pro at it all. But as the candles flicker and Valeska begins her practiced wail, the air in the room turns unnervingly cold. Arthur quickly begins to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. The fraud in the velvet shawl isn't the only one hiding a secret, and the knocking on the table isn't coming from her foot-it's coming from somewhere much deeper. In this dark corner of the city, Arthur is forced to remember a chilling truth: monsters don't live under our beds; they live in the recesses of our minds. And tonight, one of those monsters is finally finding its way out. WC: 20,000 + CC: Inky

Roman Kerr thought he knew everything about the woman he married. He was wrong. - An entry for Open Novella Contest | Prompt: 28 & 29.

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.)

Eveleen Montclair has always despised Gilbert Crow, her sworn enemy and the heir to the Crow family. Their feud is older than either of them, bound to a curse that has shaped their bloodlines for generations and carved itself into the foundations of the city they rule. From childhood, Eveleen was taught a single, sacred truth: a Montclair can never love a Crow. To do so would mean the end of everything. The curse binds Eveleen's life to Gilbert's in ways neither can escape, pain and fear shared, distance unbearable, death impossible without taking the other with it. The only force capable of loosening the bond is an act forbidden above all others: forgiveness, sealed with a kiss. As the city begins to fracture under the weight of a curse as old as its stones, Eveleen must choose between preserving a world sustained by hatred or risking its destruction by loving the one person she was never meant to touch.

Tayla's life should have been full of adventure and battle, and it would have been had she not failed her Crest Champion test a year prior. Now she's stuck at her aunt's herbalist shop, selling potions to the very ranks she once dreamed to join. And her town has just become a hot spot for Crest Champions everywhere. The once-bound dragon Zyrel has awakened after a century of slumber, and he draws dangerous monsters to his cage. The Crest Champions must kill him before he can finally be freed. Tayla plans to keep her head down and avoid the constant reminder of her failed dream, but that changes when an alicorn appears in her garden, claiming they must join forces and release Zyrel before it's too late. There's something wrong with the story of Zyrel's imprisonment, and to uncover the truth, Tayla must join a familiar-and loathsome-face from her Academy days. Dangers await, but the greatest threat she finds in the woods won't be the prowling beasts. It will be herself. -- Shout out to @raizelrose3 for the absolutely amazing cover!!

When one morning, Zabava finds a wounded man in her garden, there is no doubt she ought to help him. But the more she gets to know about him, the clearer it seems that destiny had delivered a gruesome strike with this stranger. For her unexpected guest is Zmey, the dragon haunting the country of Skazoviya with his endless appetite for the hearts of girls. Everyone knows how this would have to end in the tales-a powerful witch in the woods, a terrible dragon, a dashing hero. But this is no tale. Zabava is no witch. The brave bogatyr has failed to kill his enemy. And the dragon doesn't seem to be quite the kind of monster the rumors make him out to be. Soon enough, he spins Zabava a tale of woe about his innocence and traps her in a bargain to rescue him. Caught between plans to trick this beast and the chains of their pact, she slowly starts to believe Zmey's story ... but what if the tales are true and what's at stake is her very heart? _____ ONC 2026 ENTRY: PROMPTS 3, 4, 11