Aunt Mabel is dead, found lying amongst her daisies in her garden. Two eyes anxiously watch over her. The police arrive, but questions soon crop up. Is it actually Aunt Mabel? And who or what did it? A wild animal? A person? A baby dragon? Something strange is afoot in the Auntie's garden and it's up to Officer Holt Martinez, Estelle, and her cousin Julia, to figure it all out before it's too late. Little does she know that an unplanned trip to the Dragon's Lair Bookshop will upend everything she thought she knew about life, this world, and those beyond. * Respectfully submitted to Wattpad's Open Novella Contest 2026, under prompt #3, with subtle influences from prompt #41.

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 ."

At seventeen, Chloe is finally invited into the formal gatherings that mark a young shifter's place in society. As a lower-rank wolf, she's learned it's safer to be overlooked. So when a sharp-eyed stranger starts noticing her, she tells herself it means nothing. Only a glance. Only a dance. Until it isn't. Because in a world where rank is everything, the most dangerous question isn't about tradition - it's whether she deserves more than the place she was given.

~Written for The Open Novella Contest 2026~ ~Prompt 16: And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul- John Muir~ When her mother passes away, Lauren Corvus finds a letter from a long-lost relative. Eager to find answers about her family's mysterious heritage, she heads to the family farmstead, deep within the forests of upstate New York. One car accident involving a deer later, Lauren finds herself stranded in the remote countryside, and she makes a discovery that challenges her perception of herself, her family, and the entire universe. Something unlike anything on Earth is living in the woods, and its hungry. And it's coming after Lauren.

In the ancient town of Kosha, a sacred sword waits-silent for centuries, bound by prophecy to choose the worthy. Hundreds of commoners enter the royal tournament, though most believe the blade will answer only to those born with the Light-the Lightborn, tyrant rulers of Kosha. A prophecy Aira Ash intends to shatter. For her, the sword is neither faith nor legend. It is the only path left to vengeance. But fate has other designs, binding her destiny to a Lightborn - the very one she was meant to destroy. And in the shadows of Kosha, a mysterious man moves unseen, seeking not the sword, nor the throne, but the end of everything.

A forgotten amulet. A whisper of fate. A princess it commands, but at what cost? Maela, princess of the Seelie Court, can't sit through court affairs to save her life. To avoid another royal meeting, she takes a new path through the forest, stumbling upon ancient ruins. The secret within their shattered walls sets her on a path she must find the answer to--before it's too late. Main prompt: ~ 93. Buried beneath the ruins lies an artifact that whispers memories of an ancient being. The first memory it reveals is a warning and it's meant for you. Sub prompts: ~ 16. =And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul= Quote by John Muir ~ 11. The daughter of the most powerful witch(changed to Fae) is nothing like her mother. ~ 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more that wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all.

#ONC2026 |🏅Round 1 Ambassador Pick | Speaking to the dead is permitted, but raising the dead is forbidden. After discovering an unlikely copy of The Necrotic Guide, budding necromancer Emelie is both delighted and disgusted by the powers the book promises. Will it be enough to speak to her lost love again?

Kai Liang was called a legend long before he ever became an adult. He bears a Mark capable of bending light and ending the war that has been devouring his country for years. Now everyone calls him a hero. Everyone wields him like a weapon. But a year ago, he killed his best friend... or at least, that's what he keeps telling himself whenever he needs another reason to fall apart. Since then, he tries too little, jokes too much, and sleeps even less. Because every night he dreams the same scene: a rooftop under the rain, a black crack splitting open across skin... and Yue watching him as he dies. They say the Marks choose those destined to save the world. But Kai Liang has always known how, and when, he will die. And when a dark power brings Yue's body back to life, the vision becomes reality.

Born to the immortal, fickle aes sídhe, Lorcán Ó Miach pays little heed to the turning world around him. His only concern is a strange, nagging boredom that follows him like a second shadow. So when a mortal child stumbles upon the home he and his two brothers share, he delights in the chance to learn about the odd girl. But humans are fearful, delicate creatures, and they are not the same. Careless, selfish, and perhaps broken, Lorcán must confront his very nature. The line between good and evil is a blurred one; if he cannot decide which path to walk, he will lose the only thing he holds dear-his family. ☽❇☾ ~ Standalone prequel to The Sun Sídhe (same world, different characters!) ~ ONC 2026 entry | prompt 46 & 80

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.