MichaelJSullivan | one_shot | Complete
TWO ROGUES | FOUR SHORT STORIES | ONE CLASSIC FANTASY OF UNLIKELY HEROES The Riyria novels featuring Royce Melborn (a cynical ex-assassin) and Hadrian Blackwater (an idealistic ex-mercenary) have been enthralling fantasy readers for more than 15 years. Now for the first time four short stories and two full-length novels are available for free on Royal Road. You can read these shorts in any order, but if you haven't read any of my books, I suggest starting with The Thieves. The Thieves:THEY ATTACKED TWO RIDERS. THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY. THEY WERE WRONG.A band of thieves set upon two lonely riders in the middle of the night. They had a larger party. They had the element of surprise. There was no reason to be concerned. But they didn't realize who they were dealing with. The Viscount and the Witch: WHO WILL BE SCHOOLED?A desperate woman seeks help to rid her barn of a drunkard. Hadrian agrees to help, and Royce goes along only to teach his idealistic partner that no good deed goes unpunished. What they find isn't what they expected, and maybe it'll be Royce's opinion that will be changed. Professional Integrity: YOU WANT US TO STEAL WHAT?Several years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start their thieves-for-hire organization, better known as Riyria. Things have gone well enough for the team as they perform tasks for nobles throughout Elan. Usually, that means stealing something, but when a young heiress asks them to steal her . . . well, that's a first for the pair. The Jester: WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH?Stop me if you've heard this one. A thief, a candlemaker, an ex-mercenary, and a pig farmer walk into a trap . . . and what happens is no joke. When Riyria is hired to retrieve a jester's treasure, Royce and Hadrian must match wits with a dwarf who proves to be anything but a fool. Difficult choices will need to be made, and in the end, those who laugh last do so because they are the only ones to survive. If you enjoy these Riyria short stories, you'll be happy to know there are another 10 full-length novels (2 are available for free on Royal Road) featuring these rogues-for-hire and a total of 19 novels in an epic series that spans 3,000 years. The novels are spread across four collections as seen here. The Riyria Revelations:Theft of Swords(containsThe Crown Conspiracy&Avempartha).". Rise of Empire(containsNyphron Rising&The Emerald Storm) "Heir of Novron(containsWintertide&Percepliquis) The Riyria Chronicles:The Crown Tower " The Rose and the Thorn " The Death of Dulgath ". The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter Legends of the First Empire:Age of Myth " Age of Swords " Age of War " Age of Legend " Age of Death " Age of Empyre The Rise and Fall:Nolyn "Farilane " Esrahaddon
22.48 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:36
AlexaLee | one_shot | Complete
Follow Dasher, the food delivery robot, as he fights to deliver food to hungry people, even though the journey is at times scary and perilous. Plagued with fading memories from his life before, he struggles to hold on to his humanity whilst also making sure he keeps the items entrusted to him safe until he reaches his destination.
19.07 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:47
This is book 2 of the series! If you haven't read book 1 (which you can find here https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34776/new-game-reborn-as-a-reluctant-demon-lord-book) then you should probably do that first to avoid spoiling yourself in the synopsis. But that's just a suggestion. If you want to be confused, go ahead. Have I used enough space so that you can't see this in the preview yet? Okay, good. ----- For a [Demon Lord], not even death is the end. So, after death, I found myself revived once again in the world of Placeholder as a grotesque monstrosity. That was my first reincarnation, but it would not be anywhere near my last. Disillusioned with the admins and their quests, and wanting nothing more than to fix the mistakes of my past, I set out with a new goal in mind. To bring back the woman I loved. Or maybe... to ensure that she never died in the first place.
248.68 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:06
FrustratedEgo | tragedy | Complete
Follow Grant Legate's trials and tribulations through:Memories, Made, Realities, Crash, Together. Memories: A man broken by despair and depression, Grant Legate finds himself in a once-in-a-lifetime situation after receiving an Ultimate Edition copy of Continue Online. All hewishes foris a distraction from the thoughts plaguing his waking hours. He dives in headfirst, unknowing of the AIs intentions. They offer him the chance to play as one of their own, a NPC deserving of a proper send off. What he discovers during the journey shakes Grant to his very core. Made: No longer playing as a Local from the world of Continue Online, Grant Legate's adventure can begin.The Voices offer him a unique title along with a test and reward.To starthe'll have to survive underground horrors, old girlfriends, become a warrior.To winhe must become an imp familiar and kill another player, one with a dozen tricks up his sleeve. Realities: Worried for his sanity after poor in-game choices, Grant Legate's sister, Liz, blocks access to Continue Online. With no way around the restriction, he ventures into a new worlda VRMMO game based in spacecalled Advance Online. There he must help his companion AI, Hal Pal, overcome an identity crisis, race to the center of the universe to bring back his true love, and figure out where he stands on the scariest implication of all; AIs are bringing the dead to life. Crash: Grant's prior adventures tie together and he finds himself back in Continue Online, as Hermesin jail. He's forced to experience life as a digital convict and earn redemption points to gain his freedom. Each in-game death pushes his goal of helping his friends out of reach. The AIs Grant's grown to love, trustand sometimes fearare facing extinction, he holds the key to their survival. Together: The game is no longer about adventures in a new world or exploring fantasy lands. Grant's digital wife faces deletion, along with everyone else he cares for. He, and those who know this is more than a game event, search for clues to salvation left behind by the game's creators. Even if he finds them all, the Voices have one last task for their messenger. A sacrifice.
380.09 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:22
alstonsleet | action | Complete
For Joshua Still, Skills were the lifeblood of his business. He wanted to understand them, collect many of them, and teach a few of them. Which was a problem because while his profession of a Skill Trainer was perfectly legal, it was frowned upon by most of the kingdom. After all, it wouldn't do for a non-tailor to teach Tailoring. Or, so says the Tailors Guild. The same could be said by the Blacksmiths, the Bakers, the Butchers, the Candlestick Makers, the Mages, and every other Guild with enough money and clout to complain. But still, Skill Trainers provide a valuable service, and so he has managed to start his business and keep it under the table. To a degree. With many a bribe. But his quiet anonymous life of research, practice, and training was about to change. When the Baron demands you pay him a visit, you have little choice.
101.35 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:30
Exterminatus | comedy | Complete
So let's say there's this girl. A young girl who happens to be a highly-trained, psionically-gifted, nanite-infused, genetically-enhanced and emotionally unstable assassin that doesn't know the concept of 'mercy' or 'holding back.' Let's say she and her imaginary friend miraculously pass through the borders of reality into an alternate universe, crash landing into a world of swords and magic aboarda starship full of high-tech wonders. Now, let'salso say the first person this borderline psychopathmeets happens to be her doppelganger - a highly gifted mage who happens to have a few problems of her own, like a bad temper or a bad habit of chronic self-delusion. With me so far? Good. Now,what's the on theagenda forthese two different people who happen to be the same person?Settle down, start a family and thoroughly enjoy life.Maybe get married and have some kids. How about befriending a violent alcoholic or defeatingan ancient evil being? Perhaps kill a few dragons and wreck a city along the way. Anything can happen around the city of Runetap, after all. It's a place where bizarre and strange things occur on an almost weekly basis. The people living there have long abandoned silly things like common sense or minding the details. Agiant flaming UFO streaksabove the city in broad daylight? That's just another Tuesday. The City Guard even had the form for that, so believe me when I say this. It's your loss if you mind it. This is the light-hearted and fluffy tale of Ellie and Kira as they forge their own path of absurdity and crazyness across a world that often makes little sense. Loosely inspired by the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett, even though the author hasn't actually read any of them. Contains yuri, mature themes and the author's personal views on several subjects. Explicit content is kept to a minimum.Does NOT contain slavery, rape, drugs or any other similarly heavy themes.
196.21 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:50
Mikkei | contemporary | Complete
In an alternative school for delinquent girls Holly Hayfield has no place to belong. Her kind and gentle nature is seen as weakness by the other students. They don't know that she has a dark past just like the rest of them. To make matters worse, the resident sociopath, Valentina, wants Holly's help with a mysterious plan to take over the school. Holly's quest to find a place to belong is hijacked when she uncovers the corpse of a former student. From that moment on mysteries and conspiracies enshroud the school. What begins as the far-fetched urban legend of the Killing Cat turns into grim reality. Will Holly make a place for herself in this dangerous new environment? Or will the school collapse in the shadow of a vengeful spirit? [Cover Details: The girl is Malorie, the former student that the synopsis refers to. She is holding the mask of the Killing Cat (Vigilante/Serial Killer). The cat with her is Nyx, the original Killing Cat.]
282.16 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:19
munxy | contemporary | Complete
Volume I is now available on Amazon! An all powerful entity bestows individuals with a powerful brand in the form of a tattoo. Using the system that is controlled by the tattoo, you can learn supernatural abilities, acquire knowledge unknown to man, and acquire objects that would only be found in fiction. The world is changing... and it has yet to be determined if it is for better or worse.Two friends who grew up together, Ace and Vincent, have been chosen. Ace lives for physical improvement. He loves the feeling of breaking his records and growing stronger. Unfortunately, he has plateaued in recent months, discouraging him greatly.Vincent is plagued by little to no desire in anything he does. Good grades? Successful life? He feels nothing. Except, perhaps, the feeling of pain and fear. Sadly for him, modern day society is a peaceful one.The arrival of the tattoo flipped their lives upside down. It granted them the ability to fulfill their desires. However... they weren't the only ones who were given the tattoo. DISCLAIMER: As each volume finishes on RRL, it will be removed and uploaded to the Amazon Kindle Unlimited Program. Thank you for your understanding.
3.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:05
javert | contemporary | Complete
Jonah is a college senior who can't seem to score an internship, so she's returned to the summer job that she's had every year since she was old enough to work: lifeguarding at the run down waterpark on the outskirts of her small town. Things take a turn for the worse when a dismembered body is discovered in the lake that feeds the park's attractions, and the whole staff becomes convinced that they are the murderer's next target. [participant in theRoyal RoadWritathon challenge] (this story is complete as of 12/3/19, though no promises I won't make edits at some point lol)
37.12 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:13
Oftentimes, our suffering plays out in the things we're drawn to, and out of all of his amazing & powerful friends, Xander was the one stuck in a vicious time loop. Either he's the most unfortunate soul on the planet or he really is destined for something more. This is the journey of discovery Xander Harris never got.
334.21 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:31
van | historical | Complete
It will be awesome, they said. It will be an adventure, they said. Like hell it was! Gargh, what is this mess?! Finding himself reincarnated in a world of magic and swords, Aiven started out as a seemingly below-average boy whose only aspiration was to live and enjoy his new life. That is, until he and his friends met the hero, the demon king and some other suspiciously dead people or something. Sigh, just wake me up to my next reincarnation, maybe next time there's TV and a working toilet! [unreliable story summary] Cover Art: AI (app.wombo.art) Note: I've fixed the first part of the story so there would be a lot of mismatched comments on the chapters posted. (I originally planned to delete and repost everything, but I really appreciate the input of others in creating this story that I can't make myself delete them entirely, XD). Book I is completed with Chapter Summaries.
96.01 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:44
Black Iron & Cinder is complete and will no longer be updated except for important announcements. If you're interested, consider purchasing the published version on Amazon, which is a brand new revision with error fixes and approximately 2000 more words in length. Also, please check out my newest fiction, The Wolf of Asano. Six months ago, a colorlessmiasma swept across the entire northern section of the continent of Yhordran, creating a vast army of undead that lurks within its boundaries. In an attempt to encourage citizens to help restore order, the crown creates a public organization called the "Mistwalkers", made of individuals who register to venture into the mysterious fog to discover and stop its source. A foreign knight in self-exile from his home is one of those Mistwalkers, and on a desperate journey for meaning, he steps into the grey abyss with the company of Yhordran natives to make his way 400 miles north to reach the plague's epicenter.
92.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:53
LC Oakleigh | horror | Complete
Bertand, a young soldier in the Francia army suspects foul play from the Collation when unreliable reports come in about the eastern regions of the Francia Conglomerate being under assault by an undying enemy. Dispatched there alongside two entire legions to eliminate the threat, he will have to use every ounce of his wits and willpower to survive the upcoming storm of carnage and chaos. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] started decently late so will be uploading every time I make a new chapter, so roughly every day. I don't quite know if my story is gory but I still put the tag just in case Cover courtesy of FabioKun Also my grammar does get better. At about chapter 10 I figure out how tenses work which is nice. Also around chapter 35 I actually get a pretty awesome proof reader and now spend around an hour for editing. So it does get better I promise
41.11 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:56
WinnieSallow | horror | Complete
On the alien planet of Scaldigir, where the people are grey, there are average individuals, and then, there are arcanes. Every arcane gets one power, except for the reapers. They can take as many powers as they want, so long as they lift them from the bodies of the dead and the dying. It's a useful power that could preserve the best abilities among the arcanes in theory. Thus far, every reaper has been too impatient to wait for the deaths of their comrades. Murder and neglect; the words are synonymous with reaper. That's how everyone else sees it. Pan, the last of the reapers, doesn't think she's that bad. She hides among the arcanes as a ghost seer. She's content, with being the one and only reaper, not to mention a secret, until she meets a special ghost. Updates Monday, Wednesday, Friday Revisions completed in April 2021
283.82 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:13
Lykanthropy | mystery | Complete
[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] What happens when heroes are sent back in time to stop a terrible apocalypse, given blessings and physical boons beyond comprehension. In all seven survivors managed to survive the great purge. The only problem was, the heroes fought the gods to a standstill, it was clear no side would truly win, though both sides had losses. The solution, offer up one wish to each of the survivors. The only problem, is that the Gods cheat, lie and steal. The first six asked to be sent back in time so they could prevent the apocalypse from unfolding as it had.Of course, only after those six left did Maria, the last of the legendary seven realize the flaw with the wish her companions asked. They went back in time with no clear advantage, with no means to be able to enact the change they so desperately wished to be upon the world. That was why Maria asked to be sent back with powers. This exception was granted, but modified slightly, making it so she would begin with maxed out attributes, and the legendary exceptional growth skill. Feeling confident in her amended choice she accepted the compromise and was sent back. The only problem, none of those who went back in time to prevent the apocalypse from happening, asked to retain their memories the horrors they went through. Now Maria finds herself in the past, her body and mental acuity has seemingly changed over night, the only sign that something life shattering is about to happen is the fact that she keeps remembering bits and pieces of her past life, in her nightmarish dreams that constantly warn of the impending doom coming to claim everyone.
53.67 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:08
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] The year is 2202. Pandemics, apocalypses, demons, and nuclear war have ravaged the planet. Climate change has become nearly random. Forests have become desert. Tundra has become rain forest. The Amazon is infested with monsters. The world is split in a super power dipole in name only. The ten billion humans left on Earth follow whoever is closest at hand that can feed them. Special Operative Iris Haber has become one of "America"s most important war assets : a human capable of entering radiation zones. The only organic parts of her left are her brain and her heart, easily shielded. The only land that matters anymore is farm land, and the only people who matter are the ones able to capture that farm land.
31.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:17
wercwercwerc | one_shot | Complete
Inspired bythe following writing prompt: Your car changes slightly to accommodate your day, the day it snows, it magically has snow tires, the day it floods, it becomes a four by four. Today you walked out the door, and it's a tank. (Complete)
3.22 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:26
A seed of hope in a world of hate War rages as land runs out. Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and other races fight for control of the limited space they have. When a land mass suddenly appears out of nowhere, people flock to it, only to be caught up in its mysteries. Kaia, one of the last living members of the Treek race, heads to the new land to find others like herself and escape the war that surrounds her. With conflict at her back, and untamed wilderness ahead, she and the companions she makes discover the truths of the new land and themselves. Sprig was completed in November of 2022 and is now also available in Paperback, Hardcover, and eBook.
168.84 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:40
Meeting his fate at the hands of seven great heroes, the wicked drake now stands in Death's hall. Met with the Grim Reaper itself. Defeatedand its pride broken, the drake doesn’t beg or grovel, it simply awaits judgement. It waits for the God of the afterlife to send it on its way, to either the heights of bliss and peace or where it knew it would be sent. The depths of agony and torture, the halls of Tartarus, the father of monsters. Grim looked up from its oaken desk and down at the creature that would haveotherwise, if grown wiser and older, matched the reaper itself in power. Its faceless guise, hidden by a black hood and whirling shadows, it briefly stared at the drake. “You are unfit for the sky yet also too fit for the abyss,” Grim spoke, its voice a cracking whisper. “Your time came too soon, the actions you have taken will lead your world to ruin…Be reborn, pitiful serpent. Yet remember what you have done, see what your actions have made that realm into. Let me show you, how your greed and gluttony have warped such a wonderful place and time.” Grim raised its black-feathered pen towards the beast “Be reborn, as the weak pitiful creature you should have been born as. Take this both as a punishment and…a learning experience. For failure, can be the best teacher.” The drake took a step back, hoping to escape this cruel fate. Yet none escaped Death, less so its embodiment. Screaming shadows engulfed his form, ripping away at his body and shape. Fangs of darkness sinking deep into his draconic flesh, warping it, changing him into something else… Opening his eyes, the wicked drake felt none of its power, none of its magic and none of its might. As it stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down upon a ruined valley of rot and miasma. It glanced down at itself, seeing none of its sturdy scales or sharp claws. The drake had been reborn... As a Human. Will also be posting on CreativeNovels found here;CrN Where chapters will be posted earlier than RRL.
177.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:37
A man gets thrown into an alternate world after what was supposed to a harrowing escape from death. Follow him as he uses his knowledge from his previous life of research to adapt and survive in a place that is void of human contact, only to find out later how absurdly ridiculous his abilities are. Journey alongside this man as he attempts to change the new world for a better place, to turn it into one that he loves. PS, it will follow the reincarnation template very closely in the beginning (what do u expect? this is RRL), but will deviate from it as the story progress Warning: Crude language
139.76 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:47
