Aiko Miller moved into her tiny house at the edge of the city for one simple reason: she wanted something that was hers. After a childhood shaped by military relocations, strict expectations, and the constant pressure to be perfect, quiet feels like freedom. For one week, her mornings have belonged only to coffee, sunlight, and the small garden she planted with careful hands. Then she finds a dragon sleeping in her flower beds. Before she can decide whether she is hallucinating or losing her mind, a calm, infuriatingly composed stranger appears at her door and insists the dragon must be retrieved before anyone notices. Unfortunately, someone does. Her mother arrives unannounced. Now Aiko must juggle a baby dragon the size of a Saint Bernard, a classified magical secret, and a fake boyfriend who is far too convincing for her own good. As the day spirals into improvised love stories, cultural interrogations, and near-disastrous bursts of smoke, the lie begins to feel dangerously close to the truth. And when the lying stops and the smoke clears, Aiko will have to decide whether independence means standing alone-or choosing who gets to stay. ཐིཋྀ.𓈒𓂂𓏲܀.𓈒𓂂𓏲𖥔܀.𓈒𓂂𓏲܀❀.𓈒𓂂𓏲𖥔܀ཐིཋྀ❀.𓈒𓂂𓏲ཐིཋྀ܀ Participant of the || Open Novella Contest 2026. Main prompt: 3. You don't expect much excitement in your quiet garden until the day a dragon suddenly appears among the flowers. 2026 Umi Moriko Original

Dragons. Fae. Love. Deception. The perfect recipe for disaster. Yvana Warnock, rebellion leader and ex-dragon rider, is tasked with protecting her Kingdom, and dragon-kind against the cunning, and ruthless Fae. When Fae Prince Aurelion Koraltior Meldrum is captured by her squad, he offers Yvana information she cannot ignore. Determined to win the war, she accepts his dangerous bargain, risking not only her life and kingdom, but possibly the entire of continent of Xamarath itself. But nothing is as it seems. When Aurelion makes an impossible bond with a dragon, Yvana is forced to teach him the ways of dragon riders, and pray to all the powers that he will fight against his own kind. Should he refuse, then her only choice left is striking a new bargain: her freedom for his absolute loyalty. －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ ᴏɴᴄ 2026 | ᴍᴀɪɴ - ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ | ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ 45: "ᴋɪɴɢꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜᴏɴᴏᴜʀ, ꜱᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ʙʀᴀᴠᴇ, ᴘᴏᴇᴛꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɪꜱ ʀᴀɢᴇ!" - ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅ ʙʏ ɴᴀᴇᴛʜᴀɴ ᴀᴘᴏʟʟᴏ. ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅᴀʀʏ - ꜰᴀʟʟ | ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ 78: ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀʟɪꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪꜱ Qᴜɪᴛᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ꜱᴇᴇᴍꜱ. －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ Cover by Meiferyms!!! ♥

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 |

Ki Centauri is a man with many faces. The life of a military peacekeeper is not a kind one, and the people he's lost are nearly as numerous as the ones he knows. Time and time again, lives slip through his fingers, and all he is left with is the black skies of people now gone. Yet human beings cannot live without connections. Somehow, there must be a way to find friends beyond the limitations of Crest and Clan and forge connections that last and truly matter. But is the pain of finding love in an often bleak and broken world worth the cost of of threading a family across the stars? An ONC 2026 story based on prompts 29 and 69: "You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart." "The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers." New cover by @toruinagod!

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

Cordelia Green is a spirited and temperamental nineteen-year-old with a deep devotion for music, living in Philadelphia at the dawn of the year 1905. Her carefully ordered world collapses in the most humiliating and distressing manner when, by a cruel mistake, she sends a letter that was never meant to see the light of day. One in which she confesses her forbidden love. By fortune or misfortune, the letter does not reach its intended recipient. The true calamity begins when Cordelia receives a reply. The sender should not exist. What follows is a tale of unexpected romance and tangled emotions, of hearts drawn together and torn apart, bound and released by the quiet, inexorable hand of destiny. ⭑*•̩̩͙⊱•••• ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑ Participant of the || Open Novella Contest 2026. Main prompt: 79. A letter arrives addressed to you, written by someone who shouldn't exist. Secondary prompts: 24. Staying as friends feels safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take. 2026 Umi Moriko Original

Laufey Valerie had just broken off her engagement to one of the realm's most brilliant bachelors. On vacation in a little town known for its wonderful parks, where she reconnects with something she had thought lost. Together with her newfound 'companion' she crosses paths with twisted creatures called Discorn, that threaten the World's Harmony. She would come to discover a dark secret that will shake the foundations of her Rhythm magic. Cover by mysticariumch on IG Prompts 17. You fall in love with someone whose heartbeat matches a song you haven't heard since childhood 36. You are told to choose a weapon before battle but when you approach the table, the only weapons laid out are musical instruments. 45. "Kings have honour, soldiers are brave, poets have heart and all I have is rage!

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-

Unlike her master, who was one of the very first witches to ever exist and even pioneered the study of magic, Evelynn Kerubin was simply a witch-in-training who did menial tasks. These ranged from helping a child find their missing toy, or going down to the town and refilling the dried well. Which is exactly why it surprised her when Asa Luciferis, heir to one of the most powerful families in the continent, came to their cottage to ask for help. His job for them isn't simple, either; evil spirits and ghosts are haunting the Eden Estate, and it has gotten to the point where his father has locked himself in his room due to his paranoia. It was one thing that Evelynn has to deal with powerful spirits, but going to the manor was a different story--she once lived there as a child and had to escape. If she were to return, it might open unhealed wounds. But whether she wants to admit it or not, Asa was the only friend she made as a child. And if she wanted to help her friend, it means she has to face the ghosts of her pasts. Figuratively, and perhaps even literally.

No one ever dreams, until one day someone does. Filippa's world is turned upside down when she dreams for the first time ever. She doesn't know what her cryptic dream means but something tells her it's important. Then her cat leaves like usual, and she realises that her dream might not be a dream at all but a vision. When she meets Emory, a vampire with a lot of keys, and Merrick a necromancer who can hear the stars whispering, she realises that this vision was aligned perfectly for her, and she has one job only, to find the key that opens all the doors. But when the stars start disappearing, and Fillippa meets Alodia, just how far will she go to find the key, and who will be left behind when the world ends?