“She had loved the enemy and saved him. She had set him free. 

And he had done this.”

In Days of Blood and Starlight, the sequel to her bestselling Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor continues the tale of Karou, the blue-haired art student who grew up among monsters. Karou crossed enemy lines to connect with the beautiful, haunted angel Akiva—and now, she must pay the price.

Your challenge:

Write a story about someone who hurts the person they love the most. (You can write from the perspective of the wronged, the wrong-er, or both—or an outsider.)

Prizes:

One grand-prize winner will receive copies of Days of Blood and Starlight, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Libba Bray’s The Diviners, and Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures. The grand-prize winner will also receive a Figment tote bag and the opportunity to choose the featured stories on Figment.com’s homepage for one day.

Three runners-up will each receive copies of Days of Blood and Starlight, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Diviners, and Beautiful Creatures.

How to Enter:

1. Read the full rules.
2. Create an account on Figment.com.
3. Start a new writing of 1,200 words or less.
4. Tag your writing with BloodStarlight on the Details tab.
5. Press “Publish Now.”
6. You should receive a pop-up confirmation of your entry, and in about two hours or so, your piece should appear among the submissions.

You have until Monday, November 19 at 11:59 p.m. ET to enter your story. Voting will run until Monday, November 26 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Author Laini Taylor will choose the winners from the top ten most-hearted entries!

Please note: The comment box below is only for questions about how to enter this contest or other logistical issues.

For comments, thoughts, suggestions, complaints about the contest system, please visit our Contest Input forum. To find someone to read your story, try the Contest Promotion forum.