Mangocult Stories

Bon is a war priest though he hadn't done much of that since the Marshes Rebellions ended. These days he took confessions and gave blessings on Reflection Day until the day he was summoned to court by the King. King Vishen Algiovann had lost his only son and made a grief-induced decision to make the son of his cousin his heir. Bon finds himself in a whole new war, one that was primarily fought with secret meetings, schemes and poison needles under pillows.

Every step away from home is a chance for an adventure and Darcy is on her first one. She's been dreaming of finding her father for as long as she can remember. He's out there and she's got a list of clues and a crappy map, but it'll do. Less than a day into her travel she's accosted by a mango throwing thief and lands herself in a band of mind controlling musicians. Taking over the world wasn't on the itinerary.

This is an entry for the Open Novella Contest (ONC) 2024! Dragons and magical beings. A bond like no other. In a town in the middle of the continent, Silver City is home to some of the most powerful magic wielders. Layla Arclight, an ambitious young magus, who possesses the unique trait of being able to wield two elemental affinities instead of one, learns her way around this magical world, accompanied by her ever-present, ever-nagging Azure Dragon companion Notus who steadily helps her one nag at a time to become the strongest magus in the capital However, Layla shoulders a heavy responsibility beneath her adolescent persona. She guards over a strange magical object. A box that contains the power of divinity that could tip over the power balance of every nation permanently. -- Credit to @Farleykins for this amazing cover!

After getting in a car accident a young reserved plant enthusiast must embrace reality in order to make amends with family and be there when his loved ones need him before it's too late. - - - When reserved and plant obsessed 14-year-old Oren Spalding flies down to Georgia to see his other dad for the holiday season, he could have never predicted the trouble that ensues. Still not certain he wants to see the other half of his old parental body, he goes anyway, scarcely embracing the experience. Everything changes when the renuinted family gets into a car accident. He finds his brother hanging to life by a thread and his head spinning like never before, literally. As Oren navigates this alien situation, tensions between he and his dad come to a crescendo. Forgotten words are remembered. Untold knowledge is revealed. He wants to pretend this is all a dream, but he can't deny the truth, of what was said, what was done, and what he can't change. He needs to accept the reality as it is, but life might not wait for him to catch up. ONC 2024 entry Main prompt: #1 - Sometimes words speak louder than actions. Completed: April 26, 2024 Word Count: 20,000 - 25,000 Cover credits to the lovely @BlueStarrySky1 💜

Erika had always hated weddings - a hate that only grew as she watched her siblings get blindly married off. Her father played with their lives like poker chips, using his children to fill his own wallet through marriage deals. It wasn't long before Erika found herself being fitted for a gown, only hearing about her groom to be through secondhand stories. There was no way she was going to accept getting married off - especially to a man she had never met. || Featuring #ONC2024's prompt #88 {Content Warning} This story includes: Suggestive Themes & Mild Language

Death is no mystery to Peggy after living as a vampire for over half a century. That doesn't mean the death of her best friend isn't devastating. Add to that the threat of someone going after that friend's great granddaughter, Maya, and suddenly death has a new fear to it. She'll have to push the boundaries of life itself to uncover what and why Maya has suddenly become a high priority target for a secret society. There might just be answers to her own murder hidden in the web of secrets.

Amesh is the fourth and youngest child of the Suriname family, a family of well known superheroes that protect not only their world but others that surround it. While his siblings are out saving the world, Amesh is at home playing Mango Life. Unlike his siblings, Amesh has no interest in being the hero of the story, he prefers to be normal. And like all normal teenage boys he locks himself in his room and plays video games all day and night, only to come out when the dinner bell rings. The only family member you don't want to piss off is Momma Suriname, and dinner is always reserved for family meal time. It was a normal family dinner time, the Powerhouses were relaying their adventures of the day, Father and Momma Suriname gleamed at the tales, and Amesh drank his strawberry mango smoothie. That was until the tales became a little too similar to the gameplay Amesh had experienced earlier that day. ======== Written for ONC 2024 Main Prompt: 50 Sub Prompts: 49, 87 Fun Fact: Amesh means "Sweet like a Mango"

Entry for the Open Novella Contest (ONC) 2024 For as long as they could remember, Ivan and Vixen have lived their whole lives in Oaksville, your typical town inhabited by folks repeating a menial cycle for decades with seemingly no hope for anything short of a white-collar job. People work, come home, rest, and the routine seemingly repeats for generations without any signs of stopping. The very definition of "Unexceptional" However, those bygone days would be cut short, and a dangerous game was about to be played. On a fateful night, that cycle is forever broken, and their lives can never be the same again as the town is seemingly terrorised by a serial killer involving sever particular victims with some sort of relation to both Ivan and Vixen. Ivan and Vixen must learn to keep their friends close, and enemies closer, as the killer plays a long-term scenario of cat and mouse with all proceeding clues leading to one dead end after another, and any eyewitness with clues to the killer's identity is hastily silenced. No one can help them but themselves, and the only lead they have is a proclamation from the killer written in bold "YOU ARE THE CENTRE STAGE" -- Cover made by @ClaraElisibeth

🏆 SHORTLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 🏆 A young journalist must navigate a war-torn country and the intricacy of first love in order to save herself and her family. ⋯⋯⋯ In 2042, invaders crossed Philippine waters and marked the start of the war. Two years later, Maian Dizon, a displaced Metro Manila journalist, navigates the war-torn streets in search of a way out of the country. However, when her path crosses with Kian Lucero, a reservist medical doctor, doubts creep in. With the guilt he carries, the foreboding loss on her shoulders, and the pressing needs of her family, her calling points her back to her homeland with no promise of salvation. But the attacks crawl closer every day, and Maian must devise a plan to save the people she loves, even if it means sacrificing herself. From the award-winning author of 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘌𝘯𝘥 comes a story of love and life, and how they fade and thrive at the face of war. There is an end to peace, memory, and glory, but there are things that will live forever. We only have to find them. ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• © 2024 (First Edition) [30,000 - 35,000 words] [All graphics are made by @sardonictabby] C/TW: Some scenes in this story contain graphic physical violence, disturbing themes, or character introspection that may upset or trigger the reader. Please read at your own risk. 🏆 LONGLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 🏆 ROUND 2 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 🏆 ROUND 1 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024

Hope is as rare as water in a kingdom of sun-scorched sands and ancient walls. Princess Ilaria of Sigyn is poised to secure peace for her desert kingdom through an arranged marriage to Prince Godred, the ruler of a rival land. But when a shadowy assassin nearly takes her life, her plans-and her trust in those around her-crumble like desert dust. Forced into hiding on the distant island of Zospery, she finds herself under the protection of Lord Alaric Voss, a man as cold and unyielding as the sea cliffs that guard his home. Alaric is known as the Devil of the Spire, a relentless warrior with a reputation for cruelty and a heart as closed off as the fortress he commands. Yet, beneath his rigid exterior lies a past scarred by loyalty and loss, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep the princess alive-even if it means standing against the forces that seek to silence her forever. As enemies close in and the line between duty and desire blurs, Ilaria must confront a harsh truth: her greatest danger may not be the assassins lurking in the shadows, but the man who stands beside her, guarding secrets that could shatter everything she's fought to protect. But the more she learns about the unyielding knight, the more she sees glimpses of a depth that calls to her, even as her own resolve hardens into something far less forgiving. In the shifting sands of war and whispered betrayals, two souls clash-one desperate to keep hope alive, the other burdened by a past he cannot escape. And as threats loom from all sides, Ilaria and Alaric will have to decide whether they can truly trust one another... or if the secrets they keep will be the very things that tear them apart. -- COVER BY @-deeisdead- ONC 2024 SHORTLISTER

"Keep your happily ever after, it ain't mine." Doomed to live forever as a side character, a dragon-shifter resigns herself to her fate. Story after story, she creates the main characters' happy endings, even at the cost of sacrificing her own. In her latest story, she inhabits the body of Jia, the best friend and third wheel in a cheap romance tale. However, when characters deviate from the script, 'Jia' must navigate the unpredictable plot twists to prevent the system from crumbling. Failure could mean being trapped in that world forever which forces her to enlist the help of a mysterious thief lurking in the shadows who holds the key to her escape. Thrown into the spotlight for the first time, will she rise to the challenge? Or will succumb to her inevitable fate, forever the side character? -------------------------------- Prompts used: ONC 2024 Main- No. 45 Secondary- No. 59 FEATURED ON THE ONC SHORTLIST 2024 @humor Ambassador's Monthly Picks July 2025 @Amby's Favourites 2025/26 for Fantasy Novella Cover credits: @raizelrose3

When Elven assassin's enslave a Fae Queen within her own mines - Chyrie is blood-sworn to forge the very iron meant to strike her down. With only a few months to sever the oath, her only hope lands in the palms of a forgotten Captain and his Sea Wyrm. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Round One 》✔️ 2k 》✔️ Round Two 》 ✔️ 8k 》✔️ Round Three 》✔️ 20k 》✔️ Longlisted 》 ✔️✨️ Shortlisted 》 ✔️✨️✨️ Lovely Cover by ©️ClaraElisibeth

[ONC '24 SHORTLISTER] When a group of assassins is onto her irritating escort, a happy-go-lucky bodyguard must ensure they survive their trip before his escort's past demons catch up to them. * * * No one expected easygoing Aspen Mendoza to be accepted into Interpol as a field agent, but she couldn't be any more excited to finally land her dream job. Her first assignment? Escort Lucas Tan, a public figure with an enigmatic past and an attitude to match, to Davao City aboard a new train system connecting every major island in the Philippines. When their five-day journey is disrupted by the poisoning of one of its passengers, it's up to Aspen and Lucas to catch the culprit before anyone else gets hurt. But little does Aspen know, Lucas is keeping a secret that threatens the lives of every passenger on the train, and she must figure it out before his past demons catch up to them. * * * | 20,000 - 25,000 words. First, rough draft. | Based on ONC 2024 prompts 28 and 60. Cover by @sardonictabby.

One is a journalist who writes about movie stars. The other is a movie star who hates journalists. Now their worlds are colliding. Reagan Porter is a small town journalist married, in every sense of the word, to her work. When everything that could go wrong before her Valentine's Day vacation does, she jets off early to the mountains in Asheville, North Carolina for some well-earned peace and quiet. But she'll have to work for it. Violetta "Vi" Dawson is bold, beautiful, and boisterous. At least, that's what the tabloids are calling her. Hoping to get away from the spotlight and her recent break-up with her long time boyfriend, Violetta seeks out The Bearside Hotel which she hopes will allow her some time away to think and reflect. When the two meet after a drunken mishap, Reagan and Violetta immediately butt heads. How else are a journalist and a movie star supposed to get along? On a chance weekend, The Bearside Hotel might just offer each of them a chance at what they've really wanted all along: true love. --- ONC Prompts: 9. After some long months of working harder than ever, you finally get to your well deserved vacation getaway but when you arrive at the hotel, there is this one star that brings all the paparazzi and trouble with them and makes your vacation one to remember. 24. A desperate wish, made from the heart, is always answered. Sooner or later. --- New cover by @-DeeisDead- Copyright © 2024 Han_writer21 All rights reserved. All plot concepts are my own. Characters are of my own imagination. I do not own any real-life locations or inspired locations and they are used for purely fictional purposes. This book should not be copied or reproduced in any way. Exclusive to w a t t p a d.