In an immortal Roman Empire where fading means erasure from living memory, Reaper Aquila is a man obsessed with remembering. Numb, exhausted, and running from a past he relives through fractured memories of those he loved, he prays his own impending fade will grant him blissful oblivion. His final task seems simple: resolve the lingering attachments of a group of immortals who have lived far too long. He doesn't expect Valeria, who instantly sees him for who he is behind the reaper and meets him with a warmth that pierces his frigid exterior. Though left with a crippling injury after being caught in the crossfire of the empire's shadowy underworld, Valeria's radiant and unbroken spirit defies the darkness - and makes him question if fading will truly free him. When they discover a sinister device that can remove an immortal's right to fade, Aquila must confront the remnants of his tragic past and use his connections throughout the empire to uncover the one behind it all. But with a love he never thought he'd find and an uncertain path ahead, Aquila must choose between his long-awaited fading or chasing his newfound feelings. A paranormal sci-fi story with slow burn romance, set in an empire with emerging steam technology and advanced biomedical engineering. Please note that this is a first draft, so I will be reworking the pacing and such. I would appreciate any comments on improvements! :) Human written. No AI :) This book is FREE. If you see it sold anywhere, it has been stolen. Best Rankings #11 in Immortal out of 16.9K stories #1 in dreamlandbooks out of 636 stories

🏆 ONC 2026 Honorable Mention 🏆 ''Nothing is what it seems in dreams.'' In the depths of a dark and twisted forest, Aris, crown prince of Lancaster, is tormented by recurring nightmares of the Tainted--monstrous creations of the black fae, a corrupting force that seeps into all who live within its woods. Relentlessly hunted in the dreams, he finds unexpected aid from a mysterious girl named Elara, and with her help he is able to elude the creatures each time, breaking free from the nightmare's clutches. But when Aris is wounded by one of the Tainted, the line between dream and reality begins to blur. When a weapon deadly to the black fae appears in his grasp from the dream, Aris and his sisters--Tamryn, Maeve, Maeril, and Aine--must race against time and his failing health to uncover the ancient truth behind the forest's curse, or face the imminent threat of the black fae and its vengeful master, the guardian of the dark forest, Erebus Nocturne. ✧☽ ✧ ☼ ✧ ☽ ✧ Cover design by Aravis Brightspell ✧☽ ✧ ☼ ✧ ☽ ✧ If you are reading this story on any platform other than Wattpad, you are very likely to be at risk of a malware attack and reading a plagiarized copy of my work. If you wish to read this story in its original, safe form, please go to https://www.wattpad.com/user/Aravis-Brightspell.

ONC Shortlister 2023! There are few rules in the Kingdom of Kadotaru, and punishment is not kind, even for the young prince who wishes he was anybody else. Tied to the crown, to his family, to his kingdom, there isn't much he can do. He isn't born to bear the crown, to rule over all the creatures of Kadotaru, but it still haunts him. He never thought to break a rule, there was too much fear deep in his heart. He never thought to break any rules, until she was able to see him. Humans. Humans don't have true sight. They aren't seers, or creatures of Kadotaru. So why can she see him? Why does she reach out to help him? And why did he have to break Kadotaru's most sacred rule? ------------------------------------------------------- This novella will include extreme violence. There will be warnings at the beginning of the chapters that include this show of brutality, but do not reach this novella if you do not wish to read horrific scenes. For the Open Novella Contest 2023 | Cover designed by me with art by Corbell | Prompt 62 Word Count - 38,637 RANKINGS: #44 in High Fantasy - 27/04/2023 #90 in Fae - 10/02/2023 #79 in Dark Fantasy - 10/02/2023 #09 in opennovellacontest2023 - 10/02/2023 © elmaloney 2023 | all rights reserved

💎1st place in THE SAPPHIRE AWARDS 2023 - Historical Fiction With her husband's sudden death, Queen Elizabeth of Hungary knows her life and the Kingdom's future is at stake. Pregnant and with the looming threat of invasion, she must contend with the nobles who see their opportunity to obtain power for their own hands. Spreading fear and false promises, they begin to divide the Kingdom amongst themselves. Yet, little do they know, the Queen has a plan of her own.

In 2025, Charlotte Valkyrie Wentworth, a 25-year-old English History student, is fascinated by conspiracy theories and the past. But during a visit to a Nuremberg, an inexplicable accident transports her to Germany in 1933 - a country on the brink of drastic historical changes, marked by the rise of the Nazi regime. Alone, disoriented, and with no means of returning to her time, Charlotte must learn to survive in a reality she had only known through books. As she struggles to adapt, Charlotte finds herself entangled in secrets, dangers, and choices that could alter not only her own life but the course of history. How far would she risk everything to survive... and will she ever be able to return to her own time?

Verona can't control her magic, can't trust the men who've hidden her past, and can't ignore the voices calling her by a name she doesn't understand. Worse, every time she uses her power, it burns her hands and threatens to consume her from the inside out. But the sprawling Nithra forest to the East holds answers: the truth about her lineage, the firehawk bound to her fate, and the ancient conflict that put her life in danger long before she was born.

❝ DON'T GET LOST IN THE WOODS FOR THEY ARE HUNGRY ❞ Vesnyana died a long time ago. As a rusalka, she is now bound to haunt the waters that took her life-and drown hapless folks in their cold depths to sate her endless hunger. However, her greatest desire remains unfulfilled: to become human again. That is, until the summer solstice, which drives young lovers into the trees in search of the magical fern flower. But only one of them is truly determined to find it. Which is but a game for other youths in the village of Lasow, to Yara seems like the only way to free herself from her sorrows. Little does she know there are far greater ones to come: A new priest arrives, eager to fight the old beliefs and driven by his own dangerous desires. Prophecies and dark omens plaguing Yara and her friend Levik speak of fire on the horizon. And the shadows on the wall start speaking. When death comes riding into Lasow, Yara has to decide whom to trust-and what wishes might be dangerous enough they could cost all of their lives. _______ ONC 2026 ENTRY: PROMPTS 16, 104, 114

ONC LONGLISTER 2026 A loyal hound will drink saltwater. In the Kingdom of Bevran, vagabonds are offered shelter within the walls of the castle. Orthrus, tired of running for his life, scavenging off of the dead, and never escaping the cold, couldn't think of anything better. But it seems the Queen of Bevran has secrets, plans for invading the Kingdom of Khis. Orthrus and his fellow vagabonds seek to understand how they fit into all of this, what purpose they serve in their Queen's grand schemes. What Orthrus can't figure out is why the Queen would keep her desires secret when Khis is their enemy, the reason Bevran has fallen into ruin. Any Bevrani would devout themselves to defeating their oppressor, no? When the truth comes out, Orthrus must decide on what he's willing to sacrifice in order to survive. ♙♙♙ For the Open Novella Contest 2026 | Cover designed by me with image from Pinterest {artist unknown} | Prompt 80 Current Word Count - 39,264

At the edge of the world, near Schässburg, a boy is born with no right to choose. In a family of executioners, death is not an exception, but a trade passed from father to son. This is his story, told late, when the sword has fallen silent and the memories can no longer be buried. From the graves dug with bare hands to the shadows of princely courts-from Wallachia to the gates of Istanbul-his life becomes a relentless flight between guilt, survival, and power. In an era where faith and cruelty walk hand in hand, he becomes history's intimate witness and its most unsettling tool. He encounters the greats of the age without ever truly being one of them. Memories of an Executioner is not a novel about heroes, but about the price paid by those who live off the deaths of others. It is a dark, poetic, and brutally human confession about guilt, silence, and the fragile hope of redemption.

They say King Midas was greedy. They say he begged a god for gold. That is not the truth. Midas was a faithful husband, a devoted father, and a king who valued peace over excess. But when Dionysus grows jealous of mortal happiness, he grants Midas a "gift" that turns everything he touches to gold. When the curse is lifted, Midas believes he has been forgiven. He is wrong. What follows is not a lesson in greed - but a punishment in love, immortality, and divine cruelty. Some curses do not end at the river. Some only begin there.