AHHHHHH IT'S DONE! I honestly never thought I'd be able to finish this ONC 2023 entry, but here we are!

I'd like to thank quite a few people who have stuck with reading the story and/ or have read a decent chunk of it! AtheinaVismark , dreaminginreverie , Hatramska , backto541 , Oxviola , AriaOfStorms , sandydragon1 ! Thank you all so much for helping me stay motivated to write this T-T

Check the awesome people above out, folks! They all have amazing works you should check out and some of them are even participating in ONC 2023 too! :D

Thank you to everyone else who decided to pick up this story too! To all the silent readers and to those who voted only once or twice. The thought that people want to pick up this story even though they're not in any book club is very heart-warming <3 I appreciate the time you took to get here!

This novella is, of course, a first draft that needs to undergo some serious editing. My original outline was for a novel version, so I had to change, adapt, and take out a lot of the content I wanted to include. This means that some parts of the story might seem a little off in pacing.

If you have any constructive criticism that you have, it would be much appreciated! <3

After that ending, there will be a second book! We'll follow Zofia to the Nusal Empire where we'll get to see Larc again ;) AND it will also include Haera's POV where we'll follow her journey in trying to save her sister. Haera also may or may not get a love interest too, so stay tuned!

Book two is currently in the outlining stage and most likely won't come to my profile until this book has been fully expanded into a novel. As I mentioned above, there's a lot of content that I had to cut out to get it below to 40K word count limit, so I want to put it all back in :)

I also have an idea for another novella set in this world as a sort of prequel! I'll probably save it for the next ONC so I don't have to think of another idea XD This story will follow the Goddess and her story of saving the Kingdom of Aerla from the darkness that threatened them all those centuries ago.

MILESTONES
1/2/23 - Started writing
3/2/23 - First posted
27/2/23 - Reached 100 votes
15/3/23 - Reached 500 reads
18/3/23 - Reached 1K comments
25/3/23 - Reached 200 votes
14/4/23 - Finished writing novella version
18/4/23 - Finished posting novella version
18/4/23 - Reached 1K reads
18/4/23 - Reached 2K comments
25/4/23 - Reached 300 votes
1/6/23 - Reacued 400 votes
27/6/23 - Reached 2K reads
3/7/23 - Reached 4K comments

HIGHEST TAGS
26/3/23 - Hit 6 in #onc2023
2/7/23 - Hit 1 in #lyre

Final Novella Word Count: 30 973 (Google Docs)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Wings of Deceit was featured on the Featured High Fantasy Stories reading list AND the CAMELOT | Medieval Fantasy reading list on highfantasy on the 2nd of May 2023.

Wings of Deceit was featured on the Romantasy reading list on Fantasy on the 1st of August 2023.

Wings of Deceit was featured on the FAIR VERONA | Romantic Fantasy reading list on highfantasy on the 5th of August 2023.

Wings of Deceit was featured on the All The Places We Will Go | Fantasy reading list on newlywrittenbooks on the 9th of August 2023.

Wings of Deceit was featured on the Romantic Fantasy reading list on YAFantasy on the 6th of January 2024.