A HEIST GONE WRONG. A GANG SHATTERED. Volya Angelov, known by the public as the Priest for his cult-like following, knows how to cut a deal and take what's rightfully his. He and his criminal prodigies have siphoned Gorod Krestov's wealth for years and are slowly draining the city's slums with their profits. Yet when he is arrested and shipped off to an island prison, his empire is left to his closest ally, Mysh, a girl who stands a mere five feet. It's up to her to manage what he's left behind and decide whether or not the syndicate should be risked for his life. But with demons from a haunting past and sinister characters converging all around her: can Mysh pull it off? "SIX OF CROWS" meets "PEAKY BLINDERS" in this twisty, 1920s-set novella with enough suspense to keep you reading until the church bells chime. Honors/Awards: ONC 2021 Top 5 Winner (4th place) ONC 2021 Ambassador's Pick (Round Two) "NOVYYE SAINTS" is 7x featured on: @shortstory's "another time, another place" reading list @action's "thriller" reading list @action's "action spotlight" reading list @historicalfiction's "decade fiction" reading list @badassreads's "the ruffians" reading list @storiesundiscovered's "historically inaccurate" reading list for august 2021 @opennovellacontest's "2021 top five winners" and "2021 ambassador picks" lists Copyright © 2021 Elle Chaika Open Novella IV (2021) | Prompt No. 29

A Knights of the Old Republic fan fiction. In orbit over a backwater world named Taris, the Endar Spire, a Republic vessel, is being torn apart by the Sith battle fleet. Survivors flee in escape pods, crashing onto the cityscape that covers Taris. One such survivor is Seth Kast. A battle-hardened veteran who has been a soldier in service to the Republic for over a decade now, he finds himself in possibly the worst situation of his entire career: the Undercity of Taris. A sunless, forgotten place locked away beneath the surface of the cityscape, it is filled with suffering outcasts and exiles, ruthless gangs, and monstrous abominations called rakghouls. Working with a grim twi'lek bounty hunter, a stoic ithorian technician, and an awkward but skilled selkath medic, Seth must do whatever it takes to escape Taris, stay alive long enough to get back into the fight with the Sith, and help anyone he can along the way. But little does he know that the Jedi are about to ask him to engage in a dangerous mission that will take him across the galaxy, and Taris is just the beginning of a new chapter in his life...

[THIS STORY WILL BECOME FREE ON MAY 27, 2021] Ammas Mourthia is a cursewright: an outlawed magician sworn to break curses. Contracted by the Emperor's daughter, he's pursuing a curse he may never break. ***** Ammas Mourthia is a cursewright -- an outlaw magician who casts and breaks curses. Practicing his trade in the bustling city of Munazyr, he is hired by the last person he ever expected: Princess Carala, the daughter of the Emperor who murdered his family. Bound by his oaths, Ammas delivers the cure to Carala ... only for it to fail. Confronted with a sickness he cannot treat, pursued by werewolves who want Carala for their own purposes, and forced to return to a nation where he is a wanted criminal, Ammas must find a real cure. But there are forces at play he cannot control, and dark secrets waiting to be revealed. Fulfilling his vows might be the last thing Ammas Mourthia ever does. [[Wattys 2018 Winner: "The Heroes"]] [[1st Place, Rebel Wars @Rebel_Town]] Trigger warning: Graphic violence, sexual situations, strong language. [[word count: 300,000-350,000 words]]

FIVE TOWERS. FIVE COLORS. ONLY ONE WAY OUT. Cipher wakes up in the Blue Tower with no memories of his former life. He discovers that he is not alone. Dozens of boys and girls must compete in a battle called the Scouring against four other towers: Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. In his first Scouring, Cipher captures Emma, a girl from Yellow, whose memories from Victorian England move Cipher to uncover his own past. He must learn who he was before he can figure out why he's here...and how to get out.

Updating Fridays and Sundays, Kingdom's Fall is a fantasy adventure set in a world where heroes find themselves pitted against an ancient and powerful magic. Kara has lived her whole life trapped under the roof of her father's inn. She longs for adventure, but there is little to be found in a backwater village: at least until Aiden Baird arrives. Noble, rogue, and spy - Aiden Baird is the most notorious man in the Kingdom. Or he would be, if he could remember who he is... Cuan has lived his entire life as the garrison brat, surrounded by soldiers. Unwanted and ignored, he travels north in the service of the one man he looks up to: Gray, the garrison captain. But Captain Gray has concerns of his own. It has been fifteen years since he last saw the King, and they did not part on good terms. Something dark is growing in the Kingdom. Trade from the south has choked to a standstill, and the air over the marshes hangs heavy with the threat of war. In the north the sea-wall, the ancient defence that protects the coastline, is crumbling. The people look to their lords for guidance, and the lords look to their King. King Varion has little time for their concerns. His daughter has been kidnapped by a priest-cult who intend to sacrifice her and summon an ancient power into the world. Faced with an enemy beyond human understanding, there is only one conclusion. In order to save their people, the Kingdom must fall.

1952, France. In a world where Germany is winning the war. The Nazi's defeated enemies now reside in labour camps. Every year, they gather boys of all ages, from all over France, to take part in a trial. It's simple. Just make it from point A to B without getting caught. If you win, you get everything you could ever want. But, if you lose. You die. The cover is made by me, but I do not own any of the images used. -MacMillan

Murderous pirates, battleships galore, and too much treasure for one man to hold. What else could anyone ask for? Captain Nathaniel Thatcher sails alongside his scurvy crew raiding merchant ships, hunting booty, and most importantly scouring ports for rum. With his right-hand, Matthias Clarke, keeping his recklessness at a minimum, the Captain became the envy of the five seas. Whether it was his power, money, liquor, or constant 'companionship' that drew people towards him, they all had one thing in common. They wanted him. Dead-or-Alive. Sybil Collier was no exception. On the eve of her father's disappearance, she knew something was awry. Her mother had pushed her to set her worries aside, because there had not been an accident in the mines for over a decade, but when rumors of pirates raiding a mine on the coast for treasure flooded the village, Sybil's heart sunk. Her father had vanished without a trace, while the other miners remained behind and not a single lick of treasure went missing. Now on the prowl for any clues, Sybil knows her only chance of finding her father is with Captain Thatcher's help. Not that he is at all willing or interested in helping a miner's daughter. Highest Ranking Fantasy: 7/22/17 #629

[COMPLETED] On the seemingly endless cliff face of the Dawnwall, one wrong step means a long fall and a slow death. In a place where airships fill the sky and cities rest in alcoves of stone, a fear of heights is an embarrassing affliction, not that Aelyn Ellis will ever admit it. At fifteen years old the young shepherd is perfectly content spending his life buried in books, studying swashbuckling adventure from the comfort of a wool-cushioned chair. Unfortunately, as it is said on the Dawnwall, no one is above that which lies below. It is a cold and windless morning when Aelyn's non-paternal grandfather dies in an accident at the town's pier. Without a will, Aelyn loses everything: his home, his flock, and his library. Aelyn is left with only the clothes on his back and a single book in his pocket, a book that holds a dangerous secret. Burdened with the knowledge of a treasure unlike any other, Aelyn makes the choice to face his fear, setting forth on a voyage across the high-skies. Pursued by bloodthirsty sky pirates and haunted by ghostly apparitions, Aelyn must band together with a crew of privateers to unlock the secret of a fortune so valuable it could change the future... and the past.