September 2021 – foxfirefiction.com

All Header Pictures

I went and added a bunch of images to the header today. To celebrate, here’s a list of all the images the header contains as of September 2021. Continue reading “All Header Pictures”

Living Story Excerpts

The cat continued to follow him like a silent shadow as he walked through Ironforge. The tunnels seemed considerably smaller now than they had when he was a kid.

The gryphon master was uninterested in lending him a gryphon, and so Seryth hired out a dwarven riding ram instead. The beast snorted as he stepped it down onto the snowy cobbles of Dun Morogh. He looked back and saw the cat still standing behind him, watching.

Seryth sighed. “Oh, fine! Come along if you want, but don’t cause any trouble for me.”

The cat bared its fangs, and leaped onto the ram’s hind end, changing into an imp in midair. The ram bawled and bucked and bolted, and for a while, it was all Seryth could do to hang on. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 3”

Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 2 (Actually Chapter 3b)

Living Story Excerpt(s)

Chapter 3: The rewards for the gnoll-slaying and the farm chores were enough for Seryth to break even on his losses, but not enough to turn any profit. Seryth knew his father would be furious if he didn't come home with some extra silver to justify the trip. As he wandered the streets of Stormwind pondering the dilemma, Seryth was stopped by a dwarf smith who offered him coin if he took a message to Loch Modan. Loch Modan was a long way away, but the courier fees would more than cover the profits Seryth had expected to get from his now-stolen harvest. Seyth told the dwarf he would think about it and that he'd return in the evening if he decided to take the smith up on the job. The dwarf grumbled for him not to take too long.

While in the city, Seryth helped a child catch wayward balloons, bought himself a hat that was too big for him, and met a gnome with a pet bear named “Mangeclaw” that Seryth swore he had seen before, though it wasn’t clear to him why that’d be so, bears being a rare sight in Westfall.

Throughout it all, the calico cat continued to follow him.

As night fell, Seryth returned to the dwarf smith. Despite running errands for the local shopkeepers, he still hadn’t managed to make enough money for his foster father to be happy. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 2 (Actually Chapter 3b)”

Conversion: Chapter 4

Living Story Excerpt

Chapter 4: The tram arrived. Letting out a shout, Seryth jumped on it, thinking it would get him away from the imp. The imp only jumped aboard after him, still grinning as if baring feline fangs. "Hey, bud, I like you. You got spunk." It clung onto Seyth's robes and hung on as Seryth flailed around, trying to get it off. "Leave me alone!" "Nah. I can help you. You've got that kind of fire, y'see." The imp climbed up Seryth's robes and poked him in the chest. "You know the magic, right?" "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about--" Seryth had of course learned a few cantrips from the local hedge-wizard, mostly to do with making little flames in his hands or blinking around. He had a feeling the imp meant something else, though. "I mean you gots the FIRE," said the imp, digging a claw into Seryth's chest, hard enough to make him yelp. "I can sense it, right here. Don't believe me? Don't you ever remember a time that you just got a little..angry? And things seemed to happen, terrible, wonderful things, that fulfilled your wishes at the time?" "No," said Seryth sharply, trying not to think of his attacks on the gnolls. The tram had finally come to a stop on the Ironforge side of Deeprun, and Seryth hurriedly leapt down to the platform. The imp hopped off of him, taking a stance just a few feet away. "You should get, before some dwarf sees you and kills you," Seryth hissed. As if to punctuate the point, a gnome who had been standing nearby besides bunches of squeaking boxes, hailed Seryth and beckoned him over. Seryth side-stepped, the swish of his robes hiding the imp from sight. "Let me prove it to you," said the imp. "You help the gnome, and I'll help you." "Shut up," hissed Seryth, rubbing the clawmark in his chest. It was starting to bleed, sting, really, like a very hot fire. "I'll watch then," said the imp slyly, turning back into a cat.

Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4”