A Falcon's Light

Chapter 26

The man sat in the middle of his room. A timber rattlesnake sat coiled net to him, completely at ease. A copperhead wound around his neck and a cottonmouth sat on his lap. None attacked the man, all completely calm and relaxed.

A knock at the door had all of them flinching. The man settled the cottonmouth in one hand while the other opened the door. A woman with blonde hair stood there a startled look plastered on her face at the sight of the deadly snakes.

"Can you talk to them? Can I do that?" I asked with a grin forming. The beautiful copperhead hissed slightly but didn't really do much else.

"Yes I talk to them, you might be able to, I don't know. Why are you here anyway?" His green eyes bore into mine with a dead, emotionless look.

"Maybe I left you with a little more power then I thought. I came here to talk, nothing more. Can I come in?" He looked angry at first but stood aside and let me in.

The rattlesnake that was on the floor started to rattle and rise to a striking position. Apophis gave it the order to relax and it did, settling back down to its coil and it's tail finally coming to a stop. I shot him a curious look as he settled the other two snakes on the windowsill.

"What exactly did you want? Why bother with me?" He sounded defeated and sad.

"Well, I came to help you find out what it means to be human. Re told me you haven't really gone outside, and I was getting worried." I shrugged smiling at a friendly corn snake that came out of hiding. I gently reached down and picked up the pretty red and gold snake.

"You're not afraid of them?" He questioned. He shook like a druggie on withdrawal. Was he nervous?

"Of course not. I love snakes! I've wanted to get a ball for a while, simply because I know they make good starter snakes. I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable enough for hot snakes like those three," I motioned to the venomous snakes. "but I love them." I smiled at him.

"Well thank you, miss." I heard a small voice in my head. I looked at the corn snake in my hands. "Yep, that was me. See master she can hear us too!" The little snake turned to Apophis who smiled slightly.

"You know there's a demand for people who can remove snakes from people's homes. You could do that if you wanted. Especially since people who can't get a snake catcher usually end up killing the poor things. You could save them." I patted the little one on the head and let it twine itself around my fingers.

"Really? I could help them?" He looked at the venomous snakes who perked up at his look.

"You might also make a zoo of some sort, as a way to teach people about them. There's a wonderful place where I'm from that does that same sort of thing but with gators instead of snakes."

"Do you really think I could do it?" He took a seat with a huff and looked up at me, like a lost little puppy. I sat next to him and smiled, taking a hold of his hand.

"I came here to help you down your path, to get you started. If you want to start off small, you could take a part-time job at a pet store and take care of their reptiles, or go straight into being a 'snake wrangler'. It's really your choice." I put a hand on his shoulder and he smiled. "Ooh I brought you something, would you mind if I used your stove?" I held up a small package with a smirk.

"Go ahead." He whispered. So I shrugged and waltzed into the kitchen. A northern water snake chilled in the filled sink and I reached in to scritch its broad head. I could feel Apophis' gaze as I heated up some water for coffee and heated the oven for a fish I had bought.