Ryazan, one of the grandest cities in all Rus', lays along the war path of thousands of Tatar warriors eager to seize the spoils of a short-fought campaign: the women of the city and gold from its treasury. Having set up camp just beyond the city, they await a reply from the envoys of Grand Prince Yuriy. As the Grand Prince deliberates, his boyars both caution and counsel him. If Ryazan falls, the rest of Rus' may be next ─ an outcome his people grow ever more wary of, turning to priests and old rituals alike as rumor and fear run rampant inside the city walls. Finally left untended, the Polovtsian princess Yanay, conquered once before, now betrothed to one of the Grand Prince's brothers, quietly observes these developments. She prays to her old gods when she can and aligns herself with a young Tatar captive and quick-thinking kinsman, all the while secretly seeking her freedom and revenge. ──────── ☽ ◯ ☾ ──────── A retelling of the Siege of Ryazan complete with rageful women and warrior princes; gods both kind and cunning; and tragedy aplenty. Copyright © 2026 Elle Chaika Open Novella Contest 2026 | Prompt No. 45 »Kings have honor, soldiers are brave, poets have heart, and all I have is rage!«

Elodie Argent knows how to lure monsters. In a city of crumbling stone and silvered moonlight, she hunts the creatures that hide in human skin - and survives their bite when no one else can. Then she meets a man who doesn't run from the darkness in her. As bodies fall and the full moon rises, Elodie finds herself drawn to someone who feels dangerously safe... in a world where love lead to death. Some monsters stalk the night. Some walk right beside you.

🏆 | Round 2 Qualifier of ONC 2026 ❛❛ She remembered the labyrinth of secrets that had drawn her in, secrets she could not yet comprehend. He had carried the weight of guilt and forces older than memory, hiding behind a mask of piety. Together, they had faced a world that refused mercy, discovering that freedom and redemption existed only in the spaces between lives, identities, and worlds . . . ❜❜ A nun and a priest navigate a world where faith and deception collide, and the line between reality and fevered dreams dissolves. The Vatican experiments on belief itself, and the Crevice waits for those who are lost, cursed, or forgotten. In this collapsing reality, love and sacrifice may be the only paths to survival---and the only means to remember. 𖦹 𓍼꩟ ﹻ © Wattpad 𖦹 𓍼꩟ ﹻ © Banner & Cover by @mxtsuro 𖦹 𓍼꩟ ﹻ © Enmesharra ,, 2026

A mild-mannered archivist, Meilin "Mei" Russo, discovers a photograph of herself from four years before her birth, a mystery deepened by the fuzzy memory of a non-existent man who saved her from a fatal car crash. She soon learns she is a living temporal paradox: the target of a future catastrophe, and the anchor of a time traveler sent to prevent it, a man she is already beginning to remember and love.

What is the price for knowledge, and what will you do to get it? Felix North, dreamer, sailor, charmer, friend. From when he was young he had heard tales of the fabulous and mysterious Drowned Library of Watu. Descriptions of its grandeur had ensnared him and his friend Pedro for many years, and finally they are embarking on an adventure of perilous proportions. What secrets does the Drowned Library hold? Is it magic? The secrets of immortality? Or perhaps something more... But before they arrive, they must face the open sea, and no man has ever claimed she is an easy thing to master.

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. ONC 2026 Round 1 Winner Word Count: 26,177

Not all corpses are as dead as they seem. Ivy knows she found her ex-boyfriend, Kayson, in a pool of his own blood within Hollowmyre: her uncle's historic village. The issue? No one believes her, because Kayson's body is nowhere to be found. Until he shows up in her bedroom with fangs, a bloodthirsty new appetite, and no memory of his transformation into something less than human. All he knows is it had something to do with Hollowmyre Village, a hotspot destination for vacationing families... and a site where bodies have piled up for weeks. Not all of them have been found. Together, Ivy and Kayson must reluctantly team up to find the creature who turned him before the entire village falls prey. __________ MAIN ONC PROMPT: 90. You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death. __________ ©️2026 Wrenna Stone "Hollowmyre" is posted exclusively on W a t t p a d . c o m. If you are reading this novel on another platform or website, please inform the author via W a t t p a d, as you may be reading it from a mirror site or any other platform where it has been plagiarized.

When the immortal mother died, her most beloved daughter went with her. Five hundred years later, Livia rises again, and the world has changed. So has her brother. After Livia and Camille reunite, they decide to set out to the mysterious Point Crimson to reconnect and clench their thirst. The town, however, is now watched over by the Saints, a group of vampire hunters suspicious of any newcomers. Keeping their vampirism a secret quickly becomes a lot harder with two particular hunters around. ***** ONC 2026 entry, using prompts 11 [main] and 29 ***** started writing: February 2026 started posting: February 2026 ***** cover: drawn by me, temporary rough sketch

After a year spent healing at St. Francis Mental Hospital, Neillah must piece together the life she was forced to leave behind without getting caught. ⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆ When Neillah Thomas is released back into society she expects her family and friends to have moved on--not believe she's dead. Convinced it was for the best, her mother assures her temporary grief was better than long drawn hardship that could only end in pain, keeping her wellbeing a secret from everyone, but also single-handedly cutting off Neillah's entire support system. Sworn to secrecy, she attends college at her dream school only to find her former friend group in shambles. Between the cold stares, scathing retorts, and literal evasion, Neillah is shocked to find her first crush is a loner and that hot-headed best friend of hers? He seems to be staring in her direction a little too long. Clinging to her promise to remain out of sight, Neillah stubbornly fights for the closure they all deserve and answers she never got, no matter the cost. | An Open Novella Contest Entry | | Cover by the Amazing @Caralogues |

ONC PROMPT #6 My name is Sera, and that's all you need to know. I don't have a past, or I have faith. I have skills the powerful need and the good sense to charge them for it. In a world that burns the old languages, I'm one of the last who can read them, and I learned long ago that heritage is just a fancy word for a death sentence. So when a Consortium patron offers me a fortune to pull some artifact from forbidden waters, I take the job. I don't believe the warnings carved into the temple walls, but I should have. Because something woke up when I took that spear. Something old and red and hungry combines with a mischief. Something that knows my real name, the one I buried with my father. He says I'm his bride. That I promised to return, but I don't remember any of the myth he is speaking of. He's going to make me.