Warmoon [ONC 2020]•[Shortlisted]•[Honorable Mention List, Stunning Worlds]

Witchspawn. Rotbringer. Child of Darkness. There are many names for someone born under a Warmoon, and Rhoa Strongcastle has heard them all. It doesn't help that on the night she was born, the Rot arrived, bringing sickness in its wake.

In spite of the suspicion surrounding her, Rhoa works hard, training to become a Keeper like her father and brothers, guarding the ancient monster locked in the tower above Ardusk. But every twenty-one years the Warmoon rises again, and under its pull the monster grows stronger. With her twenty-first birthday less than a fortnight away, Rhoa's family is preparing for a new battle to keep the monster from breaking free and unleashing fiery havoc on everyone in its path.

Things are not going according to plan. Tragedy leaves Rhoa to defend the Strongcastle fortress alone, and she makes the terrifying discovery that the Rot is more dangerous than she ever imagined - and it is coming for the tower. As threats to the fortress mount from multiple directions, Rhoa faces an impossible dilemma: trust what she knows or throw all of her hope on the very thing she fears.

Open Novella Contest 2020