Onc26 Stories

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!

For Centuries Grim has been collecting souls. It's what he does, it's his purpose. One day, while collecting a soul in the park, he comes across a lost puppy. For reasons he can't explain, the urge to return the small dog to his owner is overwhelming. He soon finds the animal's owner, a woman in her mid-twenties named Maria. He is struck down by her beauty and realizes that he had once claimed the soul of someone she loved. He becomes even more conflicted when he realizes he has just one year to claim her soul.

"Here is the information about your target." The file was handed to Taehyung, along with a shoulder pat. "You got three weeks. I'll let you know when it's the time, then finish him without any suspicions." "Park Jimin, Age 23, the only heir of Park Seojun, the chairman of the biggest real estate group - Park corp..." "Tsk." He clicked his tongue. "It's my first time getting a target the same age as me." ──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── "Hello Jungkook. I've sent you the details of your next target." The female voice said from the other side. Park Jimin, age 23... "He is too pretty to die soon, you know?" Jungkook's laugh echoed in the silence of the office room. ──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── Taehyung and Jungkook - assassins from rival organizations called Shadows and Crimsons respectively. Same target - Park Jimin, 23, blind... What did a blind heir possible do to make two powerful organization want him dead? Will he survive the flames of hate this time? Will they find out the truths behind the flames that never died? ──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Bee's life is sort of stable: she has a flat, a bipolar diagnosis she's getting a handle on. Well, as much as possible, when her reckless and unruly personality shines through. Theo - her childhood neighbour, moral compass, and lifelong critic - has moved back into the apartment across the courtyard. Now he's in her bar. In her kitchen. In her friend group. And, judging by the way he pointed at the window last night, extremely aware of which bedroom is hers. They've spent the last decade living separate lives on purpose. Different cities, different people, one annual birthday party where they confirm they're still wildly incompatible and leave again. But Theo isn't leaving this time. And apparently, neither is the possibility of whatever they've spent ten years avoiding. Prompt: You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart.

It was supposed to be simple. One mission. One target. Substantial compensation. Instead, two elite assassins from rival organizations show up with the same assignment, the same instincts, and wildly inconvenient chemistry. Ezra and Elaine had everything planned and organized. The guests. Fake, but whatever. The food. Which they did not get to eat. Tragic. One dreamy gown. Ruined by an idiot who also smashed their wedding cake. Oh. And the bullets. Because when you make a living pulling triggers, it is only fair that the past shows up armed. Now the guest list is bleeding, the vows are under fire, and the mission they thought they understood is unraveling into something far bigger than either of them signed up for. Turns out, when your love language is violence, your happily ever after comes fully loaded. ---- [First draft - unedited]

After discovered the opposition power and their fragments identity, Scarlet Bright and Lithanine "Lilith" Diesel continue their journey, discovered a new friend, Lucin and Lilith just discovered the new power. And not just that, Lilith will find new fragment identity soon or later. This story was Al-generative chat and edited by me to keep the fixed plot.

When a magic mirror brings forth an army of reflections to invade her kingdom at her father's wedding to his new bride, Mechtild, Princess Aneira will do anything to save her land. Taken captive by her new stepmother, Aneira escapes Mechthild's clutches through the very mirror that brought the reflections into a far-off land of ice and snow. Hunted by Mechthild's reflections, Aneira quickly learns she won't have to battle Mechthild alone when she finds seven knights with magic powers fighting. Granted a quest to restore both their lands Aneira must travel to plant a golden apple in the center of a tundra and if she has any hope of succeeding, she'll need help from a reflection, one of Mechthild's very own soldiers to guide her along the way. Enjoy this Snow White-inspired story based on ONC prompt 105: You're chatting with someone when you suddenly notice the mirror behind them shows everything except their reflection.

The stars are easier to chart than the complexities of the human heart. Cecilia Hawke is one step away from everything she has ever wanted: a permanent position in the Academy of Belarune, a name built on her own merit, and a life filled to the brim with research. But it's a step long enough to bridge the gap between her and those born into old magic, and she needs any advantage to help her over the chasm. When she takes on the crown prince's request, she thinks it is the perfect opportunity to propel her forward. She couldn't have been more wrong. With her future hanging in the balance and an old wound threatening to reopen, Cecilia must recover a legendary crown, survive close quarters with her past, and figure out, once and for all, whether the life she designed for herself is truly the one she wants. ------------------------------ This is my (second) entry for the Open Novella Contest 2026, based on prompt 24: "Staying as friends feels safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take," and prompt 29: "You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart." It's a pretty rough first draft, with minimal editing. I can promise decent grammar, but you might still stumble upon some inconsistencies and plot holes.

The Kurczaka Travelling Inn has been in Meluza Dovhun's family for generations, an open door and empty room to all sorts of guests. Suffice to say, Mel has seen her fair share of the unusual, whether from working at the front desk or helping clean out rooms. Really, there's not a whole lot that could surprise her anymore. That is, until a human shows up at the hotel's doorstep, and Kurczak decides to saunter off before Mel can get him to leave. Now, Mel's only hope is to hide the human's presence and pray none of the gods and spirits (or even worse, her grandmother) take notice before she can get him home. (Plus, her sister keeps getting into trouble with the rusalki, her mother is falling into serious religious practices, and the guests are causing trouble left, right, and center.) ONC 2026 PROMPT #113 COVER BY: @AlexandraLing2000

grey area | a situation that is not clear or where the rules are not known. "Family is built in the spaces between grief, loyalty and the grey areas of the heart." ✓ When Evander's mother dies, his search to honor her wish to recognize his living kin brings him under the radar of his three billionaire half-brothers. They're only strangers with his father's blood. The only constant is Ilvie, his best friend and the only person who makes him feel less invisible. As Evander steps into a world following the aftermath of a wish and DNA tests, he soon realizes his biggest problem isn't where he belongs, but if he can let others in without losing himself. ✓ Main Prompt: 24. Staying as friends feels safe, but that doesn't mean that's the part you're meant to take.

She came to school to disappear. At nineteen, she's just another girl in oversized hoodies, keeping her head down and her secrets closer. No one here knows that her voice fills arenas. That her name trends worldwide. That under the stage lights, she becomes someone untouchable. Here, she just wants to be normal. He doesn't know why he keeps noticing her. There's something about the way she moves, like she's used to being watched, even when she pretends not to be. She's guarded. Careful. Almost afraid of being seen. He sees her anyway. But secrets have weight. Fame has shadows. And the closer she gets to normalcy, the harder it becomes to keep the two worlds from colliding. And if the truth comes out, they won't just lose their anonymity. They might lose the only place they've ever felt safe.

In a dystopian future, an acidic flood reigns and the only signs of old life lie in the deep. Alex - an outcast with an inquisitive mind and a set of strangely specific skills - must navigate a world where she is shunned from the safety of the domes and stuck in the water. One day, while exploring a set of deep-sea ruins, she is haunted by a mysterious spirit; a spirit that seems to be warning her of something. The problem is, this ancient being doesn't seem to have any memory of its previous life. With a newly-possessed fish at her side, she must now uncover a secret organisation, find out what it means to do and save both humans and spirits from their plans. --- This is my entry for the Open Novella Contest 2026. Prompts used: 93, 86 (I have listed them in the author's note) --- #1 oceanpunk | 19/2/26 #1 explorer | 19/2/26 #1 deepsea | 23/2/26 #2 flood | 27/2/26 #2 climatechange | 1/3/26 --- © 2026 | This is original work. Any references to other persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please do not adapt in any way without the author's permission.

(18. Prompt) At eighteen, Alice begin dreaming of a stranger who feels like her other half. When they finally meet in real life, everything she thought she knew about love and reality begins to shift.

To stand as a bystander at a wedding-watching a princess walk toward a future she doesn't want, while the knight standing in the shadows sheds silent tears for the love he can never claim-is a kind of agony no story ever prepares you for. The groom waits at the altar, the bride's heart waits elsewhere, and the knight waits for a miracle that will never come. A meaningless bond is about to be sealed, all in the name of duty pressing down on her shoulders. If only they had been given a happy ending. If only there were a way-some miracle-to free them from the torment of separation and let them run from the heartbreak written for them. I couldn't bear to imagine that fate for the princess-my cousin Lillian-and her knight, Rowan. So, I decided to become that miracle. I became that twist in the tale that gives the lovers their escape. And I succeeded. Except stories don't end when the bride runs away. Because the prince she was meant to marry-the one left standing at the altar-did not take the betrayal lightly. He demanded the security footage, saw exactly who helped the bride flee, and discovered the traitor behind the plan: the bridesmaid. Me. And in his fury, he made it clear that the Mercer family would compensate him. His solution? Replace the runaway bride with the conspirator who helped her escape. Except that I, the conspirator, am ready to face the consequences-oblivious to how grave they may be. . . . This story is part of the Open Novella Contest 2026 based on the prompt "You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems".

Zirion is their home, the only one they can remember. Their colonial ship and the first city were abandoned long ago. Since then, with rifles and dwindling technology, the humans have spread across the lush planet, pushing its primitive inhabitants to the brink of extinction. In the past, the original Zirion race left behind a human child merged with the Flow, the pulse of the planet. Known as Sybil, she was a milestone for humankind, fusing human DNA with the planet's life force, able to withstand the dangerous pollen tides and predict the dangers hiding in the shadows of the jagged peaks. But centuries of shizms, civil wars and raids left the Sybil Protocol in tatters. Now only the expendable or sickly children undergo the procedure, a far cry from once perfected formula, leaving some of the survivors disfigured and exiled. Rhea is one of the last "Flowers", a human hybrid working as a scout for the Bastion, the self-proclaimed capital ruled by the Trinity Council. Shunned as a strange necessity, she tries to uncover the secret of the rapid changes on Zirion that endanger the human population. The planet itself is turning frenzied with hunger. The gravitational anomalies cause fear and apocalyptic predictions. While the Trinity Council tighten its grasp over the population, Rhea and her team seek a solution in the ruins of the old species that once lived on the planet. Uncovering secrets of the aliens who mysteriously vanished, averting extinction, she will have to answer a universal question: Is there a price too high for survival? And who should pay it? ONC 2026 Prompt used: 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.

A series of murders, a school magazine and an obnoxious colleague in the way. Suspicious letters pop up in the magazine Zoey Tan heads, she is forced to find the perpetuator who has landed her in the trouble. When the perpetuator proves to be more than just trouble to her, things take a deeper dive. When his low-key persona slips, Yuvan Tejas desperately tries to re-assemble it and protect those who shelter under it. When murder dots the city and the murderer seems closer than he thought possible, tides turn. Together they discover a truth that shakes their worlds.

When Nena finally receives the mark of her soulmate, it turns out to be a countdown. The faster she walks towards the source of the countdown, the faster the clock ticks back. Her best friend tries to get her out of this situation, but Nena knows she can't ignore the future that's coming for her. And then she stands right in front of a demon...

When a lottery decides she needs to marry the crown prince, Adaley realises this is her only chance to kill the royal family and end their bloodline for once and all. When she arrives at the palace, she meets a stranger who seems to know her very well, but when she wants to get to know him as well, he is nowhere to be found, and no one seems to know him. As if he never existed. A search for the stranger begins, and in the meantime, Adaley learns that the crown prince isn't so bad as she always thought. Can she change the kingdom where they live without killing him? Or is it too late to save everyone from their death?

Two explorers are sent to a planet that dies every night, to renew itself every day. They need to find out how that planet has blooming trees and flowers. To maybe find a way to create new flowers on their own planet. The time they have is very limited, since the planet is on the edge of dying again. But then they find other people.

Zara is a hardworking baker and one contract away from success. David is the corporate king of Abuja real estate, a man who values order above all else. When a collision in a VIP elevator douses one of David's most vital land documents in hot espresso; their two worlds finally clash. David views Zara as a chaotic, sugary mess, Zara sees him as a cold, unyielding wall of stone. But when David is caught in an ugly custody battle with his volatile ex for their daughter, Annabelle; David realizes he needs more than just steel to save his family. He needs the one woman who isn't afraid to get her hands messy. Now, Zara and David must decide if they can build a future on the ruins of their first meeting.