"Bring your brother back alive." With these words, her family had sentenced their unwanted daughter to death. Frail and broken in more ways than one, she was ill-prepared to face the post-apocalyptic nightmares of the fallen capital. Yet legends are forged on the anvil of adversity. When the last heroes are dead and the powerful dance in madness, a chance encounter with an old friend set this tormented girl on a path to change destiny. Now the weak must become the strong as wit prevails. But sanity is a scarce commodity when the skies are ruled by a false star and primal entities awaken from slumber. [This is an action-horror story set in a gothic scenario. It includes some Yuri-Romance elements in a grimdark setting.] Please note: The first chapter includes a short tag overview at the end. If you like your author chatty, I'm always happy to reply. Each chapter also has a bit about my writing process. Check in, see what's there and if you like it, cool. If not, tell me how I can improve. This story is a proud participant in The Pledge. This means it won't be dropped and is guaranteed to get the intended ending. You can find more about my update schedule at the end of the first chapter and more info about The Pledge by clicking the banner.
113.74 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:47
EldritchPotato | horror | Complete
My life was overtaken by one purpose that killed me, but I made peace with that. The problem was when I suddenly found myself in an alien fantasy world. To make matters worse I'm a walking corpse wielding unholy magic and enemy number one for the holy crusaders who guard the kingdom from creatures like me. Now I have to figure out how to survive in this world and what my purpose is now, well that part is easy at least, I'm going to rid this world of one piece of filth at a time. Who would have thought the heroes would be worse than the villains? Warning: This story contains explicit violence and content which some people may find offensive. Reader discretion is advised. Life of a Lich will be updated every Tuesday and Thursday. Chapters are released early on my patron.
27.53 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:45
The only thing scarier than being alone in the dark, is not being alone in the dark. Alice had always been good at keeping secrets. However, when a young man mysteriously disappears, a catastrophic series of events are triggered, threatening to upend Alice's seemingly quiet life. Haunting memories of her past threaten to make themselves known. A childhood protector turns predator, threatening to defend her from all threats No matter the cost. Can she navigate the dangers of the unpredictable present? More importantly, is her secret worth dying for?
21.53 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:48
GhostImageArt | horror | Complete
Betty Jewel, A simple artist taking a tour of the Highlands takes a wrong turn and finds herself in a new world. Now she's lost, alone, and surrounded by aliens. Oh, and she just got the Slasher class. That can't be good... right? I will be publishing this work on Amazon under the name C.J. Danvers
26.86 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:54
The world is different now. Darker. Much has become a desert, permanently poisoned by radioactive fallout. Nature has reclaimed the rest. Humanity endures, barely, in underground refuges and fortified city-states. It is a time of great hardship. As if that wasn't enough, mankind is now beset by a new horror. Witches. Twisted beings of unimaginable power, these fell creatures stalk the night, preying upon the battered remnants of humanity. Only one mysterious organization has the will to defy their unnatural menace. They are the protectors of the righteous. They are the arbiters of justice. They are the Inquisition. Chief amongst these Holy Crusaders is Inquisitor-Brother Frederick Konstantin. This is the story of his fall.
42.27 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 18:50
Random Mudkip | horror | Complete
A coven of vampires is investigated by a hapless FBI agent. Trigger Warning: Contains gratuitious violence and foul language.
3.21 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:38
The Devourer | horror | Complete
I awaken to a startling realizationI've transformed into a dragon! My wife and children still slumber, oblivious to my newfound form. Panic courses through me as I grapple with this surreal existence. No longer human, I must make a hasty escape to prevent my growing size from bringing our house down. But the world beyond is unkind. I'm hunted, captured, and subjected to torment, cast as the feared Leviathan, a creature of religious dread. Will my spirit shatter under the weight of these trials, or will I find the strength to resist? In my fight for freedom, I seek refuge and form unlikely alliances, constructing a new family amidst this bewildering transformation. How will my human family react to these newfound companions? Forced into a different gender by the imperative of rebuilding my species, I find myself adrift in a world devoid of Pok閙on. Monstrotanks? Brotherhood? It's all unfamiliar territory, and I long for peace, disavowing any connection to the charred town that has left a stain on my identity. I am Daathrr, not Sister Noah of the Ark, nor Mr. Freeman's cousin, and Black Mesa is not my workplace. I yearn for solitude in my hangar, far removed from these tumultuous events. My narrative takes an unyielding stance from the perspective of a dragon thrust into the complexities of modern technology, grappling to find a place in our contemporary world. It serves as a mirror to our society, revealing that, despite our technological advances, our mindset often mirrors that of the Middle Ages. Racism persists, but interspecies prejudice is an even darker shadow, stripping beings of their basic rights. How does one retain their humanity when it seems irretrievably lost? As the dragon's persona consumes my human side, it delves into the intricate realm of Dragon Psychology. The language I employ is straightforward, repetitive, and somewhat mechanical. I ask for your patience, as I am not an author, and my native language is French. If clarification is needed, please feel free to comment or request explanations, or simply refer to Google for further understanding. I strive to be as comprehensible as possible for those unacquainted with this world. Lastly, a word of caution: Do not attempt the incantations found within this story. I disavow any responsibility should scales suddenly begin to sprout upon you! Additionally, I do not own all the images used, and if any issues arise, I will promptly replace them. ATTENTION THE 70 first Chapters can induce depressions for some readers. There are unbearable sc鑞es of suffering when the MC is in an experiment lab with mad scientists. The story can be disturbing and hard to follow. There are like the TV serie LOST with mysteries, answers not explained, flashbacks and flashforward chapters. Also timeline can be broken. This is due to paradoxes. A paradoxes is when reality meet an other dimension, other time and it crashes when the MC goes back to another time with him in the same dimension. They cannot meet and they cannot be 2 Yvan at the same place at the same time or meeting. Then time froze and an sinister agent in dark blue suit appear : The G-Man! If you are totally lost there is a SPOILER in the tome2 and the explanation of this twisted story in the chapter 3 (Explanations of the tome 1)
69.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 16:36
davel.gomoz | horror | Complete
This is my testimony about the day I discovered the horror that lived in Cerro Alto. I wanted to forget about the matter as soon as possible, but today, I believe my words could serve the world. --- Hello! Davel here. This is a Lovecraftian, short story set in my country (M閤ico). The events of the story take place in the same world as in my story "The dweller under the waters", which you can find here in RoyalRoad
4.23 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 10:38
forevercelest | horror | Complete
The second story published on RR, with a complete change in genre, compared to the first story uploaded. This story is about the adventure of Jasper. Being lost in the deep ocean, nonetheless, did he not lose any hope. What awaits him at dawn? How will he fight?
0.26 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 11:57
Robin Autumns | horror | Complete
A boy thinks he's getting away this time, but nature won't let him.
0.60 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 11:56
Cosmic deities? Ha! They're far more than that. They are our universe and its masters, and the masters of all other worlds, their flesh being the space between. They are the creators, the destroyers, preservers. Alpha and Omega. Their immortal servants are mistaken for demons and angels on the world of plain and stupid mortals, and although we may call ourselves their descendants, our divine blood has been so diluted and our eyes have grown so rotten that we can no longer see them without going mad upon a mere glance at the outline of their shadows. No, instead we delude ourselves, thinking we can hurt them by battling with their ageless, yet barely killable abominations of children, just like the old Mad King, and just like me. Baron Arthur Grey of Oxfordshire. A fool and a coward, who's fear of losing his own world, led him to lose a free one.
1.40 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 14:32
Orb of Night | horror | Complete
A Cold and Cruel world besiege the dammed as everything dies off. A Collection of Grimdark & Horror Stories.
1.52 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 14:33
Saint Sword | horror | Complete
A Field of Persistance is about an 18-year old boy who gets lost in a mysterious cornfield trying to find his dad.
0.66 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 14:37
fsarbolaez | horror | Complete
A man lives his life in Boca del Locura County, with no actual social life to speak of, but not exactly by choice. One day, he overhears his supervisor and coworkers talk about something that might be connected to peculiar and disturbing circumstances, which has haunted him throughout his life. This moment of eavesdropping quickly sends him colliding into a confrontation with tragic consequences. (Content Warning: Contains abuse, other traumatic experiences, and a moment of gore)
2.61 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 14:36
(Y/N - your name) After years away from your home town, you return to the old pizzeria, this time not as a guest but as a nightwatch worker.
7.84 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 13:54
C.J. May (Goddess of Records) | horror | Complete
Feed a bat a special mushroom and what do you get? Bright red lard that burns longer and hotter than kerosene. For those daring enough to eat it, it can lead to superpowers, or even immortality. Feed that same fungus to a child, and well& there's no telling what powers their lard will produce. When Kid's class is abducted by an evil man and taken to the slaughterhouse, she does everything in her power to save them. But how far can she go, when the abattoir descends dozens of levels below the earth? And rumor has it there's something even more monstrous than the man, and it's hungry for more& An unlikely hero, Kid, teams up with Old Man Snaggletooth and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime: to save her class, or die trying.
8.44 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 17:31
CloverCloverClover | horror | Complete
BOOK 1 COMPLETED A young wizard journeys west, through dark forests and dangerous lands, searching for something. Accompanied by a wild witch who has secrets of her own, they come across terrible creatures, hauntings, cursed villages, and memories from their past. Who else will they meet along their journey, and to find what he is looking for, how far will the wizard have to wander west? NOTE: The above synopsis is intentionally written to be as spoiler-free as possible. If you would like a more in-detail synopsis, one that contains minor spoilers, please check out the "Synopsis" chapter at the beginning of this fiction. If you read and enjoy, please leave a rating or review! FORMERLY TITLED: THE GLIMMERLING This story was formerly titled "The Glimmerling", because the first part was a short story of that title; it has since been expanded upon, thus the title change. Chapters 1-8 (30k words) are the first 'arc', if you want to get a feel for the story. To give some context on the setting: Magic is a bit weaker in this story than you might be used to, and we start off following some relatively new magic users. For some perspective, being able to light a campfire with magic is considered relatively advanced for someone who is the age of the main character. Magic can become very powerful - and there are some examples of powerful wizards within this story - but it's not where the main characters are yet. Part of the story is about following them as they learn more about magic. Enemies are also very dangerous, and running, hiding, or trying to talk their way out of a dangerous situation is often a better choice than fighting for the characters. While I have added tags for traumatizing content, sexuality, violence, swearing, etc. I try to avoid super-explicit descriptions of these things. But they are part of the story.
228.03 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:26
The dead have never been so alive. After a deadly contagion reduced the world's population into mindless, undead cannibals, the ruins of America still teem with activity, as some of the dead have regained their intelligence and created their own society; one free from the living's touch. Now, more than a decade later, survivalist extraordinaire Liam Fenix seeks to reunite with his family after undertaking a harrowing escape from the uninhabited island that has been his prison, only to discover that he is the sole survivor of the civilization he left behind. He is not alone, however, as undead bounty hunter Leah believes that Liam holds the key to reversing the pandemic that created her race. Armed with their survivalist expertise and following traces of the past, the two must traverse the wastelands together and bring back life to an otherwise dead world, even as they are pursued by a tyrant who does not want this plague to end. **This series is tagged as Multiple Leads because it contains multiple POVs throughout. **These stories are styled as if they were a set of paperback novels being released concurrently as opposed to a weekly web serial. Some sections may have wonky pacing as a result.
150.17 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-13 16:35
[This is a reimagining of the story The Tutorial is Too Hard by Gandara.] On New Year's Eve, Lee Ho-Jae decides that he wants to die. The universe seems to hear him for the first time in his entire life, and just as the clock hits 00:00, a message pops up inviting him to the Tutorial. Lee Ho-Jae accepts. But at the prompt to choose the difficulty level, is there anything the former pro gamer can do but pick the very hardest--appropriately titled Hell? And so begins Ho-Jae's true descent into Hell in every conceivable form, thrusting him into a world where pain is the currency needed to gain power, and the only ally he has is his own flesh and blood. It doesn't take much for the human mind to crack and crumble, but to build it up again is even harder. In the spiral of white madness that Ho-Jae finds himself tumbling into, will a hand reach towards him and pull him out, or will he just drag them down with them? [This version of the story has now been concluded; the story continues in "A Gamer's Guide to Beating the Tutorial" from the same chapter as it ended from] This story is loosely based on the concept and story by Gandara, but is apart from the setting and name of the main character different on almost every conceivable level. You do not need to read the original story to read this, and doing so will change very little of your experience with the story. It is almost recommended not to read the original if you enjoyed this one since the original has a vastly more lighthearted tone in comparison. Thank you, and I hope you'll enjoy the story!
138.19 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:40
DWinchester | horror | Complete
[June 2023 Royal Road Magazine Contest Entry] This story is a work of Lovecraftian horror set in the 1920s, detailing the inexplicable happenings at the Bergen Estate, and the only one Josephine can turn to for help is a 200-year-old vampire. Though she has thwarted many smaller evils, and is not without her own powers, sometimes only a monster can hope to defeat another monster.
6.30 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:43
