Someone to Believe In

silentlysnowing | one_shot | Complete

Siren is an artist of all trades who fills her time with creation and performance. Zander is an adventurer who is always on the hunt for new challenges and undiscovered wonders. Both are solo acts, beings who make their own way through life and never settle for long in one place or with one person. Both are also immortal in a universe where living forever is a privilege held by very few. After a chance meeting and a planetwide catastrophe, Siren and Zander agree to work together in an effort to set things right. But when a simple mission goes wrong, these two independent souls might learn that sometimes, even an immortal needs someone else to lean on.

10.10 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 13:43

A Broken Pact

cathfach | one_shot | Complete

All living things have needs that must be met if they desire their life to continue. Such needs range from the universal requirement for sustenance, to the more specific, such as the requirement of all higher life to sleep, or even the esoteric, such as the requirement of a pain demon to inflict suffering. The ability to exploit those needs is what separates, to pick a random example, a successful summoner from the shrivelled (but very happy) corpse that had, a few minutes earlier, conjured up a succubus with no plan of how to control her. The Cruithia Kingdom is well known by its neighbours (or at least, by the subset of them that aren't carbonised silhouettes) for exploiting such needs to bring a shining example of the world's apex predator under their control. For the past hundred years, anyone daring to encroach on the kingdom's territory has found themselves faced, very briefly, by a dragon. But perhaps 'control' isn't quite the right word, and it's that very dragon that the kingdom's betrayed crown princess is going to need to convince to aid her if she ever wants her position back. A creature of selfishness and pride, evil by any human standard, and yet occasionally steerable by those who know the correct levers. Not that convincing the dragon to help her take back her kingdom is her primary concern. That accolade goes to the need to convince the dragon not to eat her. Again. This is a short story (8 chapters/17k words) about a betrayed princess and an evil dragon. Neither has a particularly great time. Published here and scribble hub. If you see this anywhere else, it's stolen.

9.82 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:24

With the Power of the SUN!

Pakko | one_shot | Complete

My submission for the January Writing Contest POWER of the SUN is a Cells at Work-inspired comedy short story about a hydrogen atom that goes on an adventure trying to stop the sun from going out. This story contains some mild profanity and dumb hijinks, Not everything is serious throughout this story and some things will not be explained because I do not care. Enjoy the story!

9.57 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 16:20

Acolyte

mau3 | one_shot | Complete

Ceit is a young girl working on her family's dairy farm, trying to find her path forward after a traumatic experience.

9.34 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 10:59

The Bounty Hunter's War

Icalos | one_shot | Complete

Soldier. Survivor. Killer. Hunter. Legend. Hero. In truth, Jhena Cuuhl was but a drifter, wandering her way across the stars, plying her skills to the highest bidder. Little more than a weapon without a wielder, cutting her way through an uncaring galaxy. And then everything changed. A strange message crossing her eyes. The boundary between worlds collapsing. Death and destruction raining from above the skies, deadly creatures spilling out from beneath the ground. A catastrophe engulfing the entire universe. And so the galaxy turns to her, and places its fate in her hands. One last mission. One last chance. Can one woman save the universe? A System invades novel set in a Sci-fi universe. SciFi vs. Fantasy! Technically LitRPG but we won't see the MC's status much for story reasons. My entry for the June 2022 Royal Road Community Magazine Contest. Now complete at 15,653 words!

9.24 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:28

ECLIPSE: A Complete Fantasy Novelette

Aster Loka | one_shot | Complete

~First place winner! January 2022 Royal Road Community Magazine Contest~ When all else fails, when all hope is lost, perhaps madness is less important than results. If the world is going to end, save what you can from the ashes. No matter the sacrifice. When came the monsters, So fell the elves; The rising of the Dungeon Queen, And then the sun went out.

8.70 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:11

Codename: Ghost

Trish | one_shot | Complete

Everyone has superpowers, and mine wasn't anything special... until I got recruited out of prison. [June 2023 RR Magazine Contest] This short story is a study of a background character in a collaborative project I've been working on with a fellow RR author, Arlen K. Our collab is projected to start posting in 2024, so if you are enjoying Codename: Ghost and would like to see more of this world that he lives in, smash that "Follow Author" button to be alerted to new releases. If you would like more of this world now, check out Portal to Regret. Maybe you'll recognize the MC. = As always, comments, follows, favorites, ratings and reviews are appreciated, especially as there is a lot more planned for this world. Codename: Ghosthas been exclusively published on RoyalRoad. All other sites have stolen the story. If you find this title anywhere else, please PM me on RoyalRoad or email me at [email protected]. Thank you!

8.64 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:22

Wet World Wonderland: The Happiest Machine.

Alzoran | one_shot | Complete

This is a short story based in the world of Wet World Wonderland. The Machine is reborn, inspired by a great light he will journey to find it once more, giving everything he has as he upholds his prime directive.

7.99 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 16:44

To Run Again

drewhead118 | one_shot | Complete

Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world. She's the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she's found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome. Brett Harmon's paralysis is total: he can't move his arms, legs, torso, neck, or face. To the outside world, he's little more than a statue that breathes... but Dr. Brandie's KSE might be the miracle that allows Brett to run again.

7.96 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:38

Warned

Yousureimnotarobot | one_shot | Complete

Earth is in a hostile galaxy and we tried to tell them to stay away. They didn't listen. I wrote this for HFY in chapters and this is a rewrite, including a lot that was left out or skipped over.

6.88 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:26

The Lightning Witch

officialleehadan | one_shot | Complete

Daramethe was a hedgewitch until lightning struck her for a second time, and she gained incredible, devastating power. Her husband is a blacksmith who loves his tiny electrical wife, and would like prophets to stop kidnapping him.

6.80 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-13 10:50

Vanveiss

Vantonne | one_shot | Complete

He lead a relatively simple life. He studied up until high school and went to college. He had pretty decent grades but he didn't overstep his boundaries, because honestly, he couldn't give a single shit. If it weren't for the games he played and the stories he had often read with really nasty characters that showed the true horridity of the human nature, he prolly already had killed himself off. The monotony that accompanied his loneliness was far greater than any piss-off-life-is-great person could understand. It was due to this that he had found solace in xianxia novels.

6.28 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 09:54

Tales From Mirthland: Rorik's Quest

NicholasDuval | one_shot | Complete

Rorik Stormcoast, a wizard of some regard, has embarked upon a new quest. He's dared to climb a perilous mountain and seek out a legendary dragon to learn his secrets. But as Rorik makes for the summit, he is joined by a strange companion, and soon finds his quest more challenging and dangerous than he ever anticapated.

5.97 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 11:10

To the Valley of the Salt Sparrow Heart: More than Just the Prince of Pirates

The Jester in Red | one_shot | Complete

Famous poet and self-proclaimed adventurer, Orion Auslandin, sets off on a journey to find the mythical Valley of the Salt Sparrow Heart and prove that there is more to him than simply being the son of the Pirate King. Inspired by ancient poetry and a journal entry from a long dead author, Orion hires a crew to aid him in his quest of discovery. Along the way they face down pirates that wish to capture him, strange creatures that inhabit the island, and dangerous waters.

5.91 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 16:24

Romance in the Stone

Damaged | one_shot | Complete

A side story for The Heart Grows, in which romance and intimacy within the dungeon is explored. The main story is to be considered required reading to follow this. When Ludmiller gets outplayed by a dungeon and becomes one of its minions, she thinks the man she loved is lost to her forever. Now living as a kobold within the dungeon, she tries to reconcile her feelingsand she's not alone. Others living within the dark chambers underground find emotional holes in their lives. This is a short side story for The Heart Grows starting around chapter 25 and ending around chapter 60. All my works come with a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This means you are free to download, publish, and even make derivative works of my writing so long as you include this license, attribution, and don't sell the works. Keep it free!

5.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:25

Ultimate Universe Elemental Madness

Ultimate Universe (Krishna) | one_shot | Complete

Introduction This universe consists of Gods, Superheroes, Villains, and many more advanced civilizations. This universe was created by Omkar who is the god of gods. He created many universes and then they created Lord Brahma The Lord of creation, Lord Vishnu the Lord of preservation and Lord Shiva the destroyer, they were also called together Trimurti by other gods. They made other gods and gave them their unique powers. They decided to make a leader of the gods and they chose God Indra to lead other gods. Trimurti also created rakshas, asura and many more powerful monster like creatures but, that was their mistake to create them as they attacked on the gods to get more powers and the motive was to conquer the world but Trimurti helped Gods and locked monsters in several pockets of patal lok every pocket could be unlocked with several special keys made by God Vishvakarma, and gods started living in swarglok which was so peaceful place. Later all gods decide to make 5 elemental rings(these rings also can choose their owner by there own) full of cosmic energy (there are two types of energy that are Cosmo and Cosmic, Cosmo energy can be achieved by anyone but Cosmic energy can't be possessed by anyone who is not a god except one in the history) with the help of God Vishvakarma. They made some elemental stones with the help of rings which can be attached from the rings(unlike rings, stones can't choose their owners by themselves). All the rings were preserved in 5 different chambers no one knows where those chambers were. Thousands of years later one person got all of the rings and unlocked some of creatures from patal and started killing everyone in the universe but some gods managed to kill that person and decides to not interfere in the universe directly instead operate all of the universe from swarglok and again put all the rings in the chamber and later that chambers got broke and all rings lost in darkness of the space some says that the chambers broke eventually and some says it was broken by someone Later on&..

5.51 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 12:27

Lock Pick Hero: LPL Loose in Another World! [OP MC Parody]

KeeperAbra | one_shot | Complete

No shackle can bind him. No seal can stop him. He's the Lock Picking Lawyer...in another world. An OP MC parody of LPL. You ever see those lowkey memes where he's unstoppable? Yeah... A short story by KeeperAbra.

5.22 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 13:44

Leave No Survivors [RRCM Winner Jan. 2024]

Aest Belequa | one_shot | Complete

The Highwayman leaves no survivors. He hasn't in over a century of terror on the Old King's Road. His reputation for ruthlessness and immortality is his greatest weapon. When a dying noble begs him to spare his daughter, the Highwayman is faced with a choice; he can protect his reputation, or he can do the right thing. One choice lets his myth live on forever. The other may mean the Highwayman's end. Edit: I'm incredibly honored to have won the January 2024 Community Magazine Contest. Thank you all for reading!

5.10 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:13

The Out of this World Adventures of a Jellyfish Trucker

TealiciousTea | one_shot | Complete

A jellyfish in space. Also, cats, tea, AI with blue boxes, mech-bunny suit, giant duck, ape space pirates and more. I promise two of these things are true: melodrama, self-insert protagonist and a complete three-part story.

4.86 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:22

Carousel of Lives [Immortality is a Myth - January 2024][Completed]

E.J.Lockwood | one_shot | Complete

Ardeus's existence is a cycle of countless lives, each a wheel of death, choice, and starting anew. This latest death, ended by a sharp blade wielded by wild eyes, has unlocked an unprecedented choice. The Magnificent, the overseer of his eternal journey, presents Ardeus with reincarnation options new even to the timeless being. Now, Ardeus stands at the crossroads of life, death and determining the elusive value of eternity.

4.52 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 17:56