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 2026 entry, prompt 5. Every day at the exact same time your cat slips out of your home. One afternoon, curiosity gets the better of you, and you follow, only to discover it's living a secret life you never imagined. My take, cats save the world as a backdrop to a romcom.

Noir with a twist.

ONC 2026 In a world woven with secrets, silence can be deafening. Eighteen-year-old Luca Kant has never known the sound of her own voice; born deaf and raised under the suffocating grip of her controlling father, she is haunted by the shadow of her mother's mysterious disappearance. Did she flee from the clutches of a man who could be a monster, or did something more sinister happen? Nineteen-year-old Boy Harrison lives at the wrecking yard. He can speak, but hasn't spoken since he was four. He is haunted by nightmares that echo a woman's voice warning him that to remain safe, he must remain silent. Fate draws Luca and Boy together. Long-buried memories and cryptic connections between their lives begin to unravel. As they delve deeper into their entwined pasts, eerie parallels unfold-did Luca's father play a role in the dark mystery surrounding her mother's fate? Does he hold the key to both their truths? How is Boy connected, and who is the woman he dreams of? In a gripping tale of identity, resilience, and the haunting weight of silence, Luca and Boy must confront their monsters and uncover the chilling revelations that bind them on a riveting journey where silence speaks volumes and whispers could change the course of their lives. PROMPT 80 - Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds. (Variation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous quote.) My interpretation - Monsters didn't live under your bed. They sat at your table.

ONC 2026. Prompt 19. "When you accidentally spill coffee on someone, the moment that should have been ruining your day becomes the beginning of surprising and life-changing friendship, in our case, romance." She remembers every time they've met. He remembers none of them. She is immortal, as long as she does not interfere. He is human, and without knowing it, he is changing everything. One meeting altered their destinies forever. She has spent lifetimes turning back time to save him, losing pieces of her immortality each time she fails, becoming more human with every loss. Every version of his story ends the same way. Him dead. This is her last chance. To save him, she may have to attempt the one thing she has never tried before: let him go. Because loving him might be the very thing that kills him.

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!

The stars whispered to amateur astronomer Levi, and to his alarm, one by one they disappeared within the abyss. But when he witnessed one such disappearance, the star fell to him and took a human form. Together, Levi and Celesta faced a darkness that threatened to consume the entire universe. A fantasy story written for the 2026 Open Novella Contest, utilizing prompt #69: The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers.

In January 2020, I lost my father in a traumatic way as he passed while I was performing CPR. As a way to cope, I started to journal. My journal entries quickly turned to poetry, a form of writing that I had no experience in. Over time, my poems have evolved to be about more than my father. I'll start to share them in this book. I believe the works in here are a collaboration between my father and I. Rest in peace SBR. I love you and hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoy the comfort I get from writing these poems

"I've never had poison flow through my veins, but this is exactly what I imagine it would feel like." A series of fictional memoirs written by fictional patients. Read on for a satirical retelling of diseases, their symptoms and their cures. Every word written - albeit exaggerated - is 100% accurate to the best of my knowledge. I've double and triple checked every fact.

When a killer feral hog invades Verity State Park, Officer Rylee Harding quarantines the entire area until the threat can be eliminated. She soon discovers doing the right thing isn't easy, because summer has just begun, and the livelihood of Verity's residents depends on the seasonal flood of tourist dollars. Facing opposition from town officials, her neighbors, and even members of her own family, Rylee stands firm in her decision and risks her life and the life of her unborn child to face down the remorseless monster. This story is written for ONC2026 using prompt number 78: You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. Updates every Thursday. Jowls, Copyright ©2026 by Dennis Royer, @dennisroyer All Rights Reserved. Cover art by Deviant Art / ArtVixen0520. Used by permission.