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 bard 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. ONC 2026 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.

25-year old Lee still hasn't figured out why they could not form any long-lasting relationships, even friendships for that matter. Aside from family members, which they are obligated to talk to, there is no one else Lee had even come close to calling a friend. Well, maybe except for one. -------- Submitted for ONC 2026 @OpenNovellaContest Using the following prompts : 29. You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints in your heart. 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all. 106. After waking at 3AM to a freezing room and a door you're certain you closed, you find wet footprints and melting snow leading from your bedroom into the hall. Realizing someone or something is inside your home, you follow the trail to uncover the truth. ------------- © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. All rights reserved. Cover design © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. Images used in this work belong to their respective copyright holders and are used under license or in accordance with applicable Creative Commons terms. Edited or altered images are copyrighted by the author in their final form.

𝗢𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 | 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶-𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 | 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 "He is my only salvation - the only one who has kept me from death. And yet, at the same time, I can't shake the feeling that he's the very one dragging me deeper into ruin." After a catastrophic accident aboard his reconnaissance ship Skuld, pilot Elio awakens in the infirmary of the mothership Valkyrie. At his side stands Dr. Lysander Vale - a brilliant physician and scientist, as attentive as he is gifted. But something isn't right. Whenever Elio seems to get better, his condition takes a sudden and far more drastic turn for the worse. Is Elio truly just gravely ill? Or has he lost control over his own body? Perhaps Lysander is not his salvation after all - but his downfall. An accident makes Elio a patient. Dr. Lysander Vale turns Elio into his experiment. ⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱ • Warning: Sexual content, drug abuse, emotional manipulation, PTSD • Dark Romance • Science-Fiction • ONC26 ↬ Cover by BeyondBorderland Begin: 28th February 2026 End:

She is sent to kill the dragon. Instead, she might become his only salvation. *** In a world swallowed by the Ever-Dark, Iva Vernigora is nothing more than a lowly servant in the house of the cruel Voivode Yakub Ivanov, Duke of Highroot. But when Voivode blackmails her with the lives of her parents, Iva is forced to pretend she's his daughter, as she infiltrates the royal academy of magic - Kolegium. Voivode Yakub's order is absolute: poison the Prince Konstantin Veliki. Prince Konstantin is the heir to the throne, the last of the line of Dragons - a Zmey warrior of light, who was blessed with a dragon-shifting gift. At a first glance, he is nothing but a smug, pompous royal, and everything Iva is supposed to hate. Yet every touch, and every shared lesson at Kolegium blurs the line between the enemy she must kill and the man she is beginning to crave. While Iva stalks her prey as a knife in the dark, waiting for the chance to extinguish Konstantin's light, she discovers that the dragon everyone fears is the only thing standing between humanity and the void. As the Ever-Dark Shades rise, Iva must make an impossible choice. Will she carry out her sinister orders and secure her parents' freedom, or will she stand by the Dragon in the battle for the world's last light? *** The Shades are coming. The Dragons are falling. And the Eternal Spark is waiting for its host. © 2026 EvelynHail Exclusively on Wattpad Based on prompts: 97. "When the world slips into endless darkness, something begins to move in the shadows and you must find a way to survive in a night that never ends." 4. "You discover that the dragon everyone fears is in danger, and you are the only one who can save it from the knight sworn to slay it ."

ONC Prompt 5 My cat likes leaving the house every morning at the same time. When this little habit of his causes me to burn my breakfast, I use his tracking collar to follow him on a whim, while searching for a decent cafe. My mind and body start to warp, as I find him and some other neighborhood cats at the back of an alley, in a small patch of grass, meowing in symphony. When I wake up from what I thought was a massive hangover, I find I am actually in what turns out to be my cats secret home world. Filled with magic instead of milk bowls. Lances instead of litterboxes. Monsters rather than meow-mix. What I thought would be another day at work, turns out to be a fight against evil that our cat friends have secretly been waging for centuries. (This is a bit of a tribute story to my cat who went out one day and never came home)

For seven years, a cruel curse has plagued the people of Hesperonias: Every evening, they're transformed into agrions, terrifying creatures that thirst after the blood of those born under the sun. But during these dark hours, they aren't merely sniffing out Helioran prey-they're seeking an ancient fruit that could purge them of their blight. ♬𓍢ִ໋♫⋆♪₊˚♬✭❂☽❊☾❂✭♫𓍢ִ໋♪⋆˚♬ ﾟ Being only weeks away from turning eighteen, the Princess of Heliora fully expects to join in on the Hunt against the merciless agrions that murdered her mom-until her father forbids it. Furious and vengeful, Castelle sneaks out of the castle, only to end up in the midst of the pack of monsters she'd planned to kill. Before she's ripped to shreds, however, the enemy prince rescues her with the sole purpose of preventing her from hindering his people's search for the magical plant. But when he realizes that she might know more about the cure he's been trying to find than anyone else in his kingdom, he convinces her to help him. With a bargain forged under the Tree of Truce, the two young rulers must race against time, embarking on a journey laden with secrets, lies, love and danger, all in the hopes of healing a nation and preventing a war from breaking out between both realms. #ONC2026

For Centuries Grim has been collecting souls. It's what he does, it's his purpose. One day, while collecting a soul in the park, he comes across a lost puppy. For reasons he can't explain, the urge to return the small dog to his owner is overwhelming. He soon finds the animal's owner, a woman in her mid-twenties named Maria. He is struck down by her beauty and realizes that he had once claimed the soul of someone she loved. He becomes even more conflicted when he realizes he has just one year to claim her soul.

"Do first, think next" would be the single statement to describe Scarlett, a nineteen-year-old walking bad decision. When her bestie (and patner in crime) goes missing, she creatively investigates and unknowingly abducts a literal crime lord, Augustine. What could be the possible outcome when a chaotic crackhead crashes straight into a calm, controlled crime lord? ONC 2026, Prompt 51.

I woke up to flame, fury, and a rare spark of hope in my heart. Thalia is a Princess- or, she was, before the Chancellor betrayed and killed her father. When Saltspire falls and a legendary dragon tears through the city, a captive heiress must choose between revenge, escape, and survival in a world ruled by a vicious prince. From prompt number: 4

In a world full of monsters, sometimes you have no choice but to become one. The kingdom of Aspera is in disarray, and its queen, Julia Semel, fears that she may lose everything. She's losing popularity with the royal court, her cousin rightfully contests her claim to the throne, and invading armies threaten to ravage her homeland. The chaos is a prime opportunity for the enemies to strike. If she fails to unite her people, it's the end of Aspera as they know it. However, there seems to be nothing she can do, especially with Melinda Bellerose, the ruler of a world power, vying for the throne. There may be one solution, though. In a dark forest, under the light of the full moon, Julia makes a great and terrible decision. After all, there appears to be no other choice. Making a deal that could cost her everything, she turns her citizens into an army of unstoppable monsters with the promise of them being able to turn back after the conflict is over. Still, this does not remain secret. Hearing of this immediately, Melinda, along with all her other enemies, plots to counter her risky move, and the possibility of her defeat becomes more real by the minute. Will she win, or will she perish? And can she handle the price of her actions? *** Based on Prompt 96.