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
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
Adelaide West | contemporary | Complete
Julia wanted revenge, but she didn't imagine she'd get a demon to help her with it. Three girls worked together to cast a ritual, and summoned a demon to grant their wishes. Whether its peace of mind, the confidence to not be bullied, or revenge, the demon is willing to please. What matters afterward is the price that has to be paid. Not only by the summoners, but by the ones who have wronged them. --- Cover photo by Mallory Johndrow on Unsplash.com --- [participant in the NaNoWriMo Royal Road challenge]
26.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:03
H F J Ballard | historical | Complete
A loose retelling of the story of Prometheus. They say that with the wheel and money the greatest thing man got was fire. The god we got to steal this funny red-orange burning wood or (pot) was tired of being comfortable alone and cried for cold men down below, and so he stole the warm-lit red orange glow& or tried or did, but all he got, for his effort was caught.
21.63 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:34
deepfriedtails | historical | Complete
"All liars are angels and devils, and none quite fair as those under direct control of the puppeteer." Welcome to the Era of Progress! The turn of the century could not have been more grand. Prosperity has reached this corner of the world, and rapidly gaining steam as it builds into a world where every man a king, but no one wears a crown. Life for the everyman is great, family life is great, and everyone is happy! All for the good of a society. People all over the world are coming to this country to build better lives. After all, this country was built on the foundation of liberty and justice, and who wouldn't want the taste of the dream? "Tear down the old world, build a new world," as they say. Cover art - Disparate de miedo by Francisco Goya. Updates intermittently What to expect: A story about people running away.
15.05 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:41
Manic_design | horror | Complete
Follow the story of an entity that devours and absorbs Creatures and assumes their form. Watch as the results unfold as the entity starts its humble beginnings as a measly insect, and then eats its way to the top of the food chain, gaining self awareness every step of the way.
18.54 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:46
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
Denwa Macska | mystery | Complete
Mutated, despised, hunted and sentenced to death this is life as Salia knows it, and it catches up with her when she and hundreds of others are captured to drown in the vastness of the sea. But water doesn't forget, and just as the last hope threatens to fade, a way out reveals itself that requires only one sacrifice: Humans.Destruction can be so simple.Until Salia realises that revenge will never bring peace.
15.22 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 17:58
Glacialfury | satire | Complete
What if the illustrious Mr. Hawking was right and searching the stars for life is a bad idea? Read on for a different take on the age-old question.
0.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:15
DarthKirby | tragedy | Complete
Perhaps the most well known of all devils, demons, or fallen angels is the one known as Lucifer, Satan, the Father of Lies. The cultural influence of this figure throughout history is by no means small. Despite that, it wasn't until the time of Milton's classic Paradise Lost that we saw an attempt to portray a dramatized version of the events leading to this figure's fall from grace and power. And while this is the case, Paradise Lost is not about Lucifer though it goes into great detail about his potential musings. No, Paradise Lost was, and still is, about the fall of mankind. So, in light of this, and the feeling that the classical story deserved another telling, I present to you all The Fall a story focused particularly on Lucifer's fall from grace and his musings both before and after.
4.75 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:30
Pocket_Pigeon | historical | Complete
Left behind by the flow of time, how would you spend eternity?
0.91 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:30
Evil_Reviewer | satire | Complete
A short story. Involves the main character tragically suffering her terrible fate. Is very well-written, although there may be some small errors. Has one chapter.
0.56 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 09:35
SomethingNew | comedy | Complete
After scrubbing the Duke of Derrington's floors for fifty odd years, old maid Hattie decides to nose her way into an adventure or two to make up for her lost youth. You're never too old to start something new! Updates Wednesdays and Sundays, chapters are a minimum of 1000 words.
15.77 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:24
----EMMM---- | historical | Complete
An absent-minded twelve-year-old takes on uncharted waters, changing history along the way. But what does his own history have in store?
7.97 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:45
D. L. Schindler | historical | Complete
Anthology of horror stories with historical or fantasy settings.
17.85 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 17:30
Mad Sadie | one_shot | Complete
A guard has a conversation with a storm. A short story.
0.52 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 13:38
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
Blue Draggy | tragedy | Complete
An adult imagining of Beatrice Santello's life prior to the events of Night in the Woods. There are no explicit depictions of sex here, though there are obviously adult themes and situations involving it. I wasn't going to post it to Royalroad as I didn't think Fanfiction was okay here - but now I see it is and I am quite convinced it is the best work I've ever done yet, I've got to see what any fans of NitW think about it! The first chapter was originally written as a short vignette and wasn't intended to be continued into a full blown story. It was just intended to be moody and evocative. Even though anyone that has played Night in the Woods has a good idea how this must end, I hope it will still be worth the read. Also, since I've finished writing it, I'm going to post it as one big chapter dump all at once. Cover drawing by GreasyMojo and colored by me (with permission!). I don't think it should be too risque on it's own but I suppose I'll soon find out.
11.25 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 13:52
Critical-meltdown1 | contemporary | Complete
This great witch will write some short stories from my life here. Updates will be irregular
7.79 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 14:09
OceansInTheSky | contemporary | Complete
Even though it's their first day of high school, Yuuko and Yuya are already late, but things begin to change when Yuya encounters a blonde boy being pummeled to the ground. "Are you okay Luka?" Can the thoughts of two strangers have any affect on a boy who has none for himself-- "You see New Kid, a community is made of like-minded people. Like-minded people work well together, they support each other.....when someone acts out from the group, they destroy the balance." --especially in a case where someone may not want to move at all?
22.12 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 15:27
