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The Jester and the Ash Queen

He paints a smile on his face so that no one sees the monster beneath. Ciro is the King's Dog—an elite assassin hiding behind the mask of a foolish Court Jester. But when the King sells the only thing Ciro loves to a sadistic Prince, the Dog decides to bite his master. To the Kingdom of Morvath, Ciro is just a fool. A Jester who juggles apples and trips over his own feet for the court's amusement. In the shadows, he is the King’s most lethal blade. A broken weapon forged in the torture pits of the Kennel, living only to protect one person: Princess Elara. For years, Ciro has washed the blood from his hands before touching hers. He was content to be her shadow, guarding her innocence from the dark. But when the cruel Prince Kaelen of the South arrives to claim Elara as his bride—and treating her like cattle—the Jester’s mask cracks. To save her, Ciro must do the unthinkable: He kidnaps the Princess and drags her into the Ashlands—a post-apocalyptic wasteland of poisonous dust, mutated monsters, and forgotten technology. Here, gold is worthless. Here, water is life. Here, the Jester cannot save her alone. Stripped of her silk and crown, Elara must decide: Will she remain a porcelain doll waiting to break? Or will she pick up the knife and become the Wolf that Ciro needs her to be? The King wants his daughter back. The Prince wants his property. And the Ashlands... the Ashlands just want to eat them alive. The Princess is dead. Long live the Survivor. "My hands are dirty, Elara," Ciro rasped, holding them away from her pristine dress. "I just butchered three men. I cannot touch you." Elara stepped closer, her eyes burning with a fire he had never seen before. She reached out and grabbed his blood-stained hands, pressing them against her own heart. "Then stain me," she whispered. "If we are to burn in hell for this, Ciro, then we burn together." Genre: Dark Fantasy / Romance / Post-Apocalyptic / Action Tags: #WeakToStrong #Bodyguard #ForbiddenLove #Survival #FaceSlapping #Loyalty #AntiHero
Adoyyy · 8.1k Views

Fragments in the Wall(Mature Story)

When humanity faces extinction, what breaks first? our bodies, or our humanity? How much of ourselves are we willing to lose to stay alive? The world has already ended, but its consequences haven’t. In the OctaCore: the last of humanity's shelters, resources are limited and the radiation is rising fast. Within two years, the surface will become unlivable. Long before that, the food will run out. The monsters that destroyed the world are still out there, but they’re no longer the worst threat. With the shelters on the brink, the council faces an impossible choice: Cull 80% of the population to preserve the remaining 20%, or Launch a suicidal mission into the wasteland to retrieve a supply shipment that could sustain humanity long enough to rebuild. A small team is chosen for the Hail Mary attempt. Memory-scarred survivors, soldiers who’ve already lost too much, and civilians carrying secrets they’d kill to protect—bound together by the thin hope that something out there might still be worth saving. Outside, they will face the world that once was: a ruined city haunted by monsters, nazis and the aftermath of choices no one wants to admit they made. What to Expect: 1. Morally questionable characters 2. No clear good or evil—only survival 3. Character-driven beginning → escalating high-stakes plot 4. Brutal worldbuilding 5. Mature themes (genocide, moral collapse, societal failure) 6. Gore, violent imagery, disturbing psychological content DISCLAIMERS: This story is officially published on multiple platforms under the pen name Zachelodeon. If you encounter it elsewhere under a different name, it has been stolen or reposted without authorization No audio adaptations, translations, derivative works, or commercial uses are permitted without written permission from the author. For adaptation inquiries, please contact the author directly. For professional or rights-related communication, please email: [email protected] Copyright: 2025 Zachelodeon. All rights reserved. This work is an original creation by the author. No part of it may be reproduced, reposted, mirrored, translated, or adapted without explicit written permission.
zachelodeon · 6.6k Views