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 ."

She's trapped in the past, and he's always looking ahead. ~*~ After her fiancé Travis dies in a storm, Candace Peyton receives a voicemail from him sent after his confirmed time of death. Clinging to his impossible message and lost in memories of their lifelong love story, she isolates herself in grief. Only by connecting with Travis's brother and uncovering painful family secrets does Candace begin to understand the man she lost and find the strength to build the future he wanted for her. *** (Prompt 90: You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death). Wired for the Open Novella Contest 2026

When her office burns down an editor must work together with the most infuriating man alive or risk the promotion she's been working her entire career for. **** Chielozonam 'Elo' Williams is doing great. All things considered. It doesn't matter that the job she loves as editor at PerfectRomance, the publishing imprint she's been working at for the past five years has started to feel more like a chore these days. It doesn't matter that her judgemental father might be right about her wasting her life away by not using her full potential. What really matters is getting her dream promotion and enjoying the prime years of her youth. That is until the unthinkable happens. After Elo's office building burns down overnight she's forced to share an office with the one person that makes her blood boil: Connor Price. Archenemies since their days at college Connor makes getting under her skin an art form. He's brash and rude and irritates her like nobody else can with his scathing looks and contemptible behavior. It's not long before they're locked in a battle of wits, neither willing to back down or give up. When they have to work together to acquire a potentially lucrative manuscript, they are forced to put aside their long-standing animosity for an adventure that will blur the line between hate and desire until neither of them can tell where the fighting ends and the falling begins. PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION meets ANYONE BUT YOU meets THE HATING GAME in this contemporary rom-com about resilience, self-discovery and two sworn enemies who can't tell the difference between wanting to kiss or kill each other. An ONC 2026 story inspired by prompt 40. THIS NOVEL IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON WATTPAD AND INKITT. IF YOU ARE READING THIS ANYWHERE ELSE, PLEASE INFORM THE AUTHOR VIA WATTPAD, AS YOU MAY BE READING FROM A MIRROR SITE WHERE IT HAS BEEN PLAGIARIZED AND YOUR DEVICE MAY BE SUBJECTED TO A MALWARE ATTACK.

Fall, 2022: On the Bayou of Southern Louisiana. Ozzy, a 14-year-old artistic honors student, is looking forward to starting high school and the talented theater program. But a whirlwind trip to the ER and an MRI reveals Ozzy has a brain tumor - and later, a pediatric cancer diagnosis - changes everything. During a year-long fight for a cure in the hospital, hope comes to Ozzy and their Mama through art, music and letters from friends, family and even strangers. There are so many that some remain unopened, collected in a box that goes home with Ozzy after they are discharged from the hospital a year later. The box sits in Mama's closet for over two years. Neither Ozzy nor Mama have opened the box as they struggle to return to "normal" life when "normal" is no longer possible. Until today, 2026: when what begins as spring cleaning turns into opening the box, reading its letters, and venturing out into the woods. And it just may be what 17-year-old Ozzy and their Mama need to reveal the unexpected, ordinary magic that can help them heal, move forward- and live. ONC 2026 Prompts Used: #16, #28, #69, #79, #104. Stacie Eirich @spacetodream

Three months ago, Press Gregor was the most popular mage influencer at Vale College. He had the brand deals, the enchanted content and the boyfriend everyone envied. Then came that stupid garden party. Now Press can't remember what happened that night. All he knows is that his magic combusted, someone got hurt and Mateo Santos, the boy he loves, broke up with him before the smoke cleared. Fresh out of magical rehab and forced to live with his ex's mother, an arcanist assigned to monitor his recovery, Press is trying to rebuild. But the people closest to him seem invested in making sure he never remembers what really happened. When a blackmailer gives him five days to leave Caldera Heights or watch his worst night go public, Press realizes the combustion that ruined his life might not have been his fault. Someone wanted him gone. Someone may have cursed him. And the conspiracy runs deeper than one garden party. Now Press has five days to clear his name and survive a world where old money, new magic and dangerous secrets collide. The closer he gets to the truth, the more he realizes that everyone around him has something to hide. Including the boy who broke his heart.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Updates weekly.

Fallon never meant to survive the night. Broken by grief and haunted by shadows that she can no longer outrun, she throws herself from the cliffs into the storm-torn sea-choosing darkness over another dawn. Instead of death, she finds fire. A dragon rises from the waves and pulls her from the abyss. Ancient. Wounded. Hunted. When the beast vanishes, and a stranger with molten-gold eyes takes his place, Fallon learns the truth: dragons are not the mindless monsters the kingdom fears. They are shifters-rare, powerful, and nearly extinct. And Ambrose is the last of the Draco. The realm has already sent its most revered knight to finish what generations began: the eradication of dragonkind. If Ambrose is found, the Draco will fall forever. Fallon owes her life to the creature the world calls a monster. As soldiers close in and secrets of the old magic awaken in her blood, Fallon must choose between the safety of the kingdom that failed her-or the dragon who saved her. Protecting Ambrose means defying the crown, confronting the knight sworn to destroy him, and risking her heart to a being of fire and shadow. Because the greatest danger isn't the blade hunting dragons. It's falling for one. [Entry for the Open Novella Contest 2026]

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!