Fantasy Prologue II

The Prompt

By popular demand, we’re returning to the magical realm of fantasy in our Revisited series, paying homage to the extremely popular Fantasy Prologue Challenge! For our Fantasy Prologue II, we’re asking you to craft the first chapter of a new fantasy saga. Whether it’s filled with heroic quests, enchanted forests, ancient prophecies, or mystical creatures, your story should build a world unlike any other.

This time, your tale must begin with the line: 'The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished.' Where will this mysterious event lead? Is it the start of a kingdom’s downfall or the beginning of a legendary adventure? Perhaps the Queen holds the key to an ancient magic, or her disappearance signals a long-awaited prophecy. The rest of the journey is yours to tell.

The rules are simple: Use the provided sentence as your opening line and create a first chapter that hooks your readers. This is just the beginning, so don't give it all away at once!

In order for your submission to qualify, it must:

• Be between 600-2,500 words, including the provided first sentence.
• Begin with the first sentence: 'The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished.'
• Be submitted to the Fiction community. Choosing a community is a final step in the submission process.

The Prizes

• Grand Prize: $500
• Second Place: $200
• 10 Runners-Up: $20

For your piece to be eligible, it should follow the rules above and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until 11:59 PM ET on November 15, 2024 will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Fantasy Prologue II Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://shopping-feedback.today/vocal-plus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="css-1923z11-Text">To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.

Any content that is determined to be generated by artificial intelligence will be disqualified and will not be eligible to place in any challenge. Read more on our stance here.