Plot Twists Fantasy Short Stories & Bias Novels

Everyone thought my sister, Nyssa, was the cursed one, except me. I knew that on my eighteenth birthday, Death would come to claim me for the Underworld. I was the Dark Elf Death had chosen. But to protect my sister, my family chose to sacrifice me. My parents abandoned me, my kin reviled me, and Caelum, the elven prince I had loved for centuries, chose to stand by Nyssa's side. They said I was a harbinger of disaster. They told me to offer Nyssa my blessing. Little did they know, they were pushing Death's true acolyte toward her awakening. When the Night of the Shattered Moon arrived, I finally met my fate. I died in the mortal realm and was reborn as the Underworld's new emissary. And those who once hurt me would come to pray for my forgiveness, trapped in the eternal punishment I had wrought. I was no longer a girl who waited for love.

After the war between humans and beastmen ended, both sides agreed that half-beast nobles would govern the world together. Under the marriage pact, every hundred years, each couple must bring their children before the altar. The High Priest cuts each child's palm and lets their blood drip into a chalice. The child with the purest blood becomes the next King. I married Todd, heir to the fox clan, and gave birth to a half-beast fox with the purest blood of them all. My sister, drawn to the wealth and status of the hawk nobility, chose their proud and distant heir. But he had no interest in women, and their marriage drove her mad. Consumed by jealousy, she demanded another test of my son's blood. She used a potion from the hawk clan to corrupt his blood, and my son and I were flayed alive after being accused of falsifying his claim to the throne. I woke again on the day we were supposed to choose our husbands. This time, my sister had already chosen Todd. Then I knew. She had been reborn too. What she didn't know was that the foxes lived for pleasure. Todd was always surrounded by women and made a terrible husband. I didn't want the hawks or the bears. I chose Leon of the white dog clan instead—the only man who had tried to save me in my previous life. But the white dog I chose was no dog at all. He was the last of the ancient celestial lions.

I was an elf with powerful healing magic. While I was restoring the ancient sacred tree, I found a wish-granting lamp. My younger sister, Ilona Ashwood, had always been sickly, so the lamp became the surest way to protect her. When Ilona got scratched by a branch, our mother, Grace Ashwood, had me wish for the wound to heal right away. When Ilona sprained her ankle jumping around like a brat, she demanded that I wish for a body that could never be hurt again. Little by little, their demands grew. A strong body. A beautiful face. Endless wealth. Even power... What they didn't know was that the lamp had bound itself to me. I paid for every wish with my life force. The bigger the wish, the more it cost. When Ilona wanted to become Queen of the Elves, I had no strength left. I clutched the front of Mother's dress and begged, "Mother, my body can't take another wish." Mother's face went cold. She shoved me away hard, and a dead branch cut my forehead. Mother acted as if she hadn't even seen it. "You're the most powerful healer among the elves. You can heal yourself!" When I tried to make the wish with the last of my strength, the lamp shattered. Mother kicked me square in the chest. "Lucia Ashwood, you are so selfish! You actually destroyed the lamp? Go down to the cell and fix it! You're not coming out until you're willing to!" What Mother didn't know was that I was just like that broken lamp. My life was nearly over. And if the lamp was destroyed, every wish it had ever granted would be undone...

Everyone at the Golden Crown Court knew I was the Dragon King's youngest, most beloved daughter. A childhood injury had left my dragon breath — the power inside me — unstable. Every seven days, I needed someone to help steady it. But my three childhood friends had stayed by my side for more than a decade: Lucas Ashford, commander of the dragon knights; Darian Stormwell, my father's personal guard; and Silas Wintermere, a dragon priest. They'd sworn before my father that they would always take care of me. Then everything changed. On her first day at court, Kassan Blackthorn, a black dragon, defeated three of our dragon knights. Lucas was impressed. He called her a true dragon warrior. He forgot his promise to practice sword fighting with me and spent the next several days following her around, eager to please. Darian said Lucas was like a sailor under a siren's spell. "He's not worth getting upset over," he told me. A few days later, Darian missed his turn to help regulate my dragon breath, too. Pain swept through me, burning hot one moment and freezing cold the next. Just before I passed out, Silas burst through my door and gathered me into his arms. Holding me tight, he said, "Evelyn, whatever happens, I'll always be here for you." But three days later, I watched him fasten around Kassan's wrist the very dragon crystal bracelet I'd wanted for myself. He gave her the same tender smile I knew so well. That was when I realized I had nothing left. So I knocked on my father's study door and told him I wanted to go north and marry Derek Frostborne, chief of the frost dragons.

I'm a daughter of the Rayne family, part of the Black Dragon Clan, and I have a twin sister. Our family is about to hold an investiture ceremony for my sister Cecilia and me. We would each receive our own title and domain. The Elders argued for an equal split, but my brother insisted on giving all the domains, mines, and guards to Cecilia, leaving me with nothing but an empty title stripped of land and power. Lorne, the boy I'd grown up with, was the first to agree. My parents went along with it. All because Cecilia was prettier than me, better at charming everyone. In their eyes, she deserved everything. What they didn't know was that although my dragon soul had awakened later than Cecilia's, I carried the oldest bloodline of all! This time, I would never be Cecilia's stepping stone again.

Tonight was the night I was to be invested as Commander of the Dragon Rider Corps. It was also my sister's coming-of-age ceremony. But my mother was afraid my investiture would steal my sister's spotlight. So she had my brother lock me in the basement with anti-magic chains. They said they'd make it up to me after Lina's celebration was over. They didn't know that dragon hunters broke in and carved out my heart. I used the last of my dragon flame to send a mind-link plea to my blood kin. My brother's voice finally came through. "Can't you just let Lina have one happy night?" He was busy placing the coming-of-age crown on my sister's head, and with his own hands, he snuffed out my mind-link to them. Later, they thought I was sulking and refusing to leave the basement. They didn't know I was already dead. I was never coming out.

"Today is supposed to be a good day. We're choosing Wendy's dowry. Stop standing there bringing bad luck down on us!" My mother pulled my sister back in disgust, afraid the blood I had coughed onto the floor would splash the silver-bound chest. When a forest elf girl is born, her family plants a bonded tree for her, a tree that lives and dies with its owner. When a daughter marries, her eldest brother takes the old branches the tree has dropped on its own and builds her a dowry chest, a sign symbolizing a lifelong covenant of love and kinship. The chest is filled with gowns and with whatever the family gives her, and the larger the chest, the deeper the blessing. My brother cut my tree down and damaged its roots as well. "Wendy's tree is too thin and weak. It isn't worthy of the Royal Court. I had no choice but to saw yours into boards and put together a respectable chest for her." My sister stroked the silver-bound chest made from my ancient tree like a highborn princess. The whole family gathered around her to pick out what would go inside, as though they had forgotten that I was a bride that day too. My voice shook. "Then what about me?" My mother looked at me shaking there, and her face filled with disgust. "You insist on marrying that short-lived human. A wicker basket is dowry enough for you." Only in that moment did I understand that to them my life mattered less than Wendy's dignity. So I no longer had to treat them as family.

I was a runaway mermaid princess. To break the curse on a pirate captain's two sons, I sacrificed my radiant tail and the voice I treasured above all to a witch. I was left crippled and confined to a wheelchair, and whenever I opened my mouth, my voice came out in an ugly, breathy rasp. But they swore that one of them would marry me and the other would guard me for the rest of my life. Then, during a clash at sea, they rescued a human woman and kept her aboard as a maid. From that day on, everything changed. They were both addicted to the maid's body and could not tear themselves away from her. The younger one said, "You're so beautiful. Far more beautiful than Heloise, that fish with no legs..." The older one said, "If we didn't owe her our lives, neither of us would ever marry her." I wheeled myself onto the deck and released a raven with a letter tied to its leg. I had accepted the proposal of the most terrifying overlord of the oceans. The Basque brothers still didn't know that the witch's contract spelled out one condition: the moment they betrayed me, the curse would return. One would turn back into a toad, the other into an octopus.

The Southlands priest once prophesied that the Duke of Winslet's house would produce a Saintess who could command every beast alive. I'd hidden the golden serpent mark on my wrist since childhood, but my cousin, Rose Winslet, flaunted a poisonous snake coiled around hers every day. When the marriage decree came, she got exactly what she wanted: the Crown Prince. I was given to the Seventh Prince instead, a man with two ruined legs whom the entire court despised. For six years after that, I trained hawks to carry messages and drove wolves through enemy lines, and it was my hands that put him on the throne. The day he was crowned, I told him, overjoyed, that I was the true beast-commanding Saintess all along. He had my hand tendons severed and threw me into the Serpent Pit. "Monica, if you had to pretend to be someone, why did it have to be Rose? If you hadn't hidden that mark on purpose, how could I have mistaken my true savior for someone else? "Rose was tortured to death by the Crown Prince, and it's all because of you!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the priest tested the Saintess's identity before the entire court. The Seventh Prince got there first, slicing open his palm and letting his blood drip into the mouth of the venomous snake Rose kept as a pet. "Father, I'll give up my claim to the throne. I only want to marry Rose Winslet."

When my sister and I were born, a prophet foretold that my sister would fall into a deep depression because I was more gifted than she was. On the day of the Fire Dragon Clan's Trial, she would throw herself into the frozen lake and never resurface. To protect her, my parents locked me in the freezing chamber on the day of the Trial. I knelt and begged them until my knees bled. My mother shoved me inside and sealed the door from the outside with a barrier. "You know your sister will die because of you, and you still insist on taking the Trial? How is that anything but trying to get her killed?" The chamber had already dropped to a hundred and twelve degrees below zero, yet I was wearing nothing but a short-sleeved shirt. I threw myself against the barrier, desperate to break out. "Mother, it's freezing in here! Please let me out!" "You're a fire dragon. A little cold can't hurt you. Who are you trying to fool?" My mother's voice was edged with impatience. "The barrier blocks your magic, but we didn't even turn on the refrigeration system. Your sister will be safe soon. Can't you think of her for once?" The sound of their wingbeats faded. My scales cracked from the cold, and blood dripped onto the floor. The barrier had sealed away my magic, and the chill quickly sank deep into my bones. I knelt on the floor as my body stiffened, inch by inch.

I spent five years beside Kaelan, heir to the Elf King, and bore him a son, yet he never once acknowledged me in public. He said that when he became Elf King, he would give us the highest standing there was. Instead, at the Elven Assembly, he announced that another woman was his fiancée, then personally handed her our son's life-saving elixir to use as a facial treatment. Later I took my child away to the border, and he was finally willing to acknowledge us. But the child who used to run after him calling him Dad no longer needed a father.

After the Intermediate Mage Examination, I stood outside the door and overheard my mother tell a relative, "The Royal Academy's tuition is too expensive. We can't afford to send both daughters." The relative tried to reason with her. "They're both your daughters. You can't send one and leave the other behind." My brother cut in. "Liana can't even cast a basic light spell. She's the one who needs the extra help. Ella's talented enough to manage on her own. Send her with Liana as a maid. She can sit in on classes whenever she's free." Then came the voice of Caden Vale, the boy I had grown up with. "That's fair." Standing outside the door, I finally understood what fair meant to them. Liana got the place at the academy. I got to save them the extra tuition and wait on her as a maid. When we were kids learning the levitation spell, the only cushion in the house always went under Liana. Once, I fell and cracked my head open. Even then, I made excuses for them. I told myself Liana needed more protection than I did. But as I listened to them laugh, something inside me finally snapped. This time, I would not let Liana use me as her stepping-stone.

I was the only female in the Golden Feather Clan born with a complete, pure, and powerful beast core. The priestess prophesied that I would become Queen of All Beastfolk and bear the cub destined to unite the Twelve Clans. From that day on, every eligible male saw me as the perfect mate. But I only ever loved one person: my childhood sweetheart, Ronan. Everyone was certain I would end up with Ronan. I waited three years for him, helped him secure his place in the clan, and claimed victory after victory in battle. Instead, he cast the only bonding ring I'd ever have into the mud and crushed it under his heel. Then he fastened the silver fang necklace, a symbol of lifelong protection, around the neck of Selena, the White Deer healer. Taking her hand, he sneered at me. "You can go ahead and bond with some pus-covered Rotskin Beastmen for all I care. I still wouldn't go back to you." Just like that, I stepped down from the altar. A monster covered in festering sores crouched in the mud, cleaning my bonding ring. He couldn't speak. He didn't even bear a clan mark. Every beastfolk shrank away from him in disgust. That monster was afraid of dirtying what belonged to me. He tore the only clean strip of cloth from the lining of his cloak and carefully wiped the mud away, bit by bit. I cut my finger and let a drop of blood fall at his feet. "My name is Evelyn. "Will you bond with me?" Three years later, we crossed paths again. When Ronan realized I was pregnant, he lost his mind.

In my last life, I fought for power, kept the books, and built alliances for my fiancé from the Fire clan until I had secured his position as heir. On the night of the victory banquet, he killed me with his own hands. He said Sophia was the woman he truly loved. I had taken her place and forced their love into the shadows. They had been conspiring all along, and even the child I had raised so lovingly was their illegitimate son. I died consumed by hatred. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the marriage contract was to be signed. This time I wrote Sophia's name on it.

Seven years married to Adrian Locke. For me, he tore the unbreakable scale from his own body and left the deep sea for dry land. For him, I left everything and moved to the beastkin world. To everyone else we were the most loving couple. Even I believed it. Then he started coming home carrying a fox scent that wouldn't wash off, and every illusion I had about him shattered. The late nights came more often. The nights he didn't come home at all came more often. I knew it was time for us to end. And then that woman sent me the results of her pregnancy test. I filed to dissolve our marriage with the Beastkin Authority and bought a one-way ticket back to the human world. Adrian, if you can't promise me your love is mine alone, then I won't take any of it. From now on, we never see each other again.

My best friend, Emily Waters, was a born social butterfly. After my childhood friend, Lucas Mercer, got to know her, he no longer wanted to practice magic with me. He thought I was dull and awkward, always a beat behind in everything. Whenever the three of us ate together, the two of them would run off to play skyball and tell me to find them at the field when I was done. At diving practice, I couldn't keep up with them. Halfway through, my spell failed, and I almost drowned. Only when I called for help did I realize they'd already made it back to shore. Finally, there was the day we filled out our academy applications together. I was still going through the list when Lucas spoke up. "You're too slow. I've gotta go help Emily grab floor seats for the traveling circus, so I'm heading out. Bye-bye. "Oh, right. We're both choosing Aldridge, the best elemental magic academy there is. Don't pick the wrong one, you little dummy." Emily giggled. "Don't talk about my Wendy like that. She's so slow, there's no way she'd pick the wrong one." They were laughing so hard that they drowned out my voice. I mumbled, "You'll never have to wait for me again." I had applied to Starglow Academy of Potions, a school devoted to potion-making. Only the very best potion makers could apply, and for our safety, the academy was cut off from the rest of the world.

At eight, I swallowed the Tear of the Abyss, hidden in the holy font by my grandmother. After that, my skin was like pearl. It would never age. She called it a curse. Left by the Sea God. Every year, on the Night of the Tides, someone had to prove they truly wanted me to stay—press a Golden Scale to my heart. Or the scales would tear through my skin. My legs would fuse into a tail. The tide would drag me back to the abyss before dawn—a mermaid, trapped beneath the waves forever. Before she died, Grandmother left three Golden Scales. She gave them to my fiancé Alaric, my brother Caspian, and my childhood friend, Crown Prince Lucian. Their promises were so easy. "Just a scale? We'd get you the stars if you asked." But on the Night of the Tides, I saw all three. Pinned to a brooch on Evelina, the orphan from the Sanctum. They said she'd suffered, never known love. The scales would soothe her "fragile soul." But me? A princess didn't need trinkets to know I was loved. She danced. "I'm the luckiest girl in the empire." I pushed through the crowd. I just needed one. Alaric grabbed my wrist. "Haven't I given you everything? Don't be selfish now." Caspian shot me a look. "Let the artist finish, then you can have them." I showed them my hand. Sharp scales were already breaking through the skin. Lucian touched them. Laughed. "Illusion magic? Seraphina, your pranks are getting old." They escorted her to the throne. In their eyes, my life-or-death curse was just a pathetic play for attention. The blood moon was setting. T he gills behind my ears tore through my flesh. Blinding agony. I finally understood. I was meant for the sea. The water is cold. But at least I won't have to beg to stay anymore.

My fated mate shut me out of our bond for the ninety-ninth time just as the last spark of dragonfire inside me began to die. I walked into the Oath Hall of Obsidian Keep alone. Black stone stretched beneath my feet, cold enough to bite through my slippers, and every step made the cracked channels around my dragon core grind deeper into my chest. “I’m here to renounce the Obsidian Court and dissolve my life-bond with the Dragon Lord.” The clerk took in my bloodless face and lowered his voice. “Lady Ashton, once I set the seal, the Court will no longer be required to protect you. Are you certain?” My dragonfire had been unstable since birth, leaving me weaker than most dragonkin. When I was ten, my father adopted Cecilia. She had a gift for explaining every disaster in the gentlest possible voice until everyone believed I was the jealous sister who couldn’t stand to share. My parents hadn’t always been unloving. They had simply forgotten how to tell the difference between the daughter who was crying and the daughter who was lying. Cassian and I had been fated for years, yet he had never crowned me his Dragon Queen. He rarely took me to Court gatherings. Most of Obsidian Keep didn’t even know I was his mate. “That’s all right.” I swallowed the taste of blood and kept my voice steady. “I’ll be dead in three days.”

On the day of the Dragon Bloodline Awakening at the Magic Academy, I became the laughingstock of the entire school. Lucia, the most popular girl in our year, awakened the rare Phantom Dragon, while my boyfriend, Miles, resonated with the noble Frost Dragon. As for me? My entire skin was covered in a thick layer of brown mud. I looked like a stray beggar. Pictures of my disastrous awakening were pinned to the top of the academy’s forum. The comment section was howling. "Covered in mud... definitely the lowest-tier Swamp Dragon!" "Oh my god, a Swamp Dragon Knight? Might as well be a normal person!" "Can she please wear a mask from now on? Just looking at her makes me want to throw up my dinner!" Lucia intentionally recorded my miserable state and put it on a loop online. Miles even started a betting pool on the forum: "Taking bets! Do you think our Swamp Loach will dare to show up at the Contract Ceremony tomorrow night?" "I bet 5,000 crystals she won't dare! She might even drop out tomorrow, hahaha!" The whole academy went crazy placing bets, the mocking comments rolling in one after another. Everyone was waiting for me to become a joke, hiding and crying in my dorm room. I stared at the soaring prize pool and couldn't help but smirk. They bet I wouldn't dare to come. I was only worried that when my dragon appeared, they’d wet their pants. After all, the bloodline I resonated with was the Primordial Divine Dragon.