Fantasy

What the Snake Said

Hi Readers,

We have good news! Kindle Vella is launching today. We don’t have any details yet about how to read Kindle Vella stories since all the links weren’t working when we put this newsletter together. But all our episodes that are published on Kindle Vella are published on our Patreon account, and we have links for that.

We’ll have more information next week about Kindle Vella for those who prefer to pay by episode. So that’s exciting. Episodes from His Angelic Keeper Fallen will publish through the first week in August on Kindle Vella and our Patreon account, so you don’t have to buy each episode.

Episodes from The Lord of the Sea will start publishing on Kindle Vella and our Patreon account starting in a few weeks. And now back to the snake situation.

Some concerned readers wrote in last week, and I wanted to share their advice. We’re always grateful to hear from readers. So let’s dive into that while the snake laughs at us.

“Barbara wrote in with some points to consider in case anyone else encounters a situation like this.” I pulled on Papa’s cloak to get his attention.

“What did she recommend?”

I cleared my throat and read her email aloud, not caring if the snake heard it. Maybe it would slither away in fear. “Her email says:

Dear Ran,

You haven’t told us what type of snake it is. Unless it is venomous, Sarn can just grab it and take it outside. If it IS venomous, it first needs to be pinned with a long stick with a split at the end just wide enough to pin the snake before he grabs it just below the jaws. Even better would be a snake-keepers lasso. Perhaps he could magic one? But I don’t know how or where to safely dispose of a venomous snake without killing it. Generally, I try to go by you live your life and I’ll live mine and don’t interfere with snakes as they keep troublesome other critters in check.
May you have a blessed day.“

“Thank you, Barbara,” Papa said, but he didn’t comment on her advice.

“What do you think about her advice?” I tugged on his cloak again when he didn’t reply.

“I don’t want to kill the snake, especially not now that it spoke to us.”

I nodded. “I don’t want it to die either. It might be the last talking snake in New York.” I turned to the laughing snake, which was somehow sticking to the wall. Now seemed like a good time to ask the snake a few questions. “What kind of snake are you?”

The snake flicked his forked tongue over the cinderblock wall, tasting it. “Why should I tell you?”

“Are you venomous?” I googled snakes of New York since I still held my Scribe’s phone in my hot little hands. By the way, I am Ran, the son of the Curse Breaker, who’s standing in front of me. Papa leads the Curse Breaker series, and I am his small but talkative sidekick.

“I don’t think the snake is venomous.” But Papa blocked my attempts to get around him.

“It doesn’t look like the pictures of venomous snakes in New York.” Thankfully, there were only three kinds of venomous snakes here. The snake was long, skinny and black.

“Then I can just grab it like this and take it outside?” Papa moved so fast, he blurred.

When he stood still again, he held the snake behind its head, and it glowered at me. I took a step back just in case it could work magic.

“You’ll regret this.” The snake looked directly as me when he said that.

“Why? We just want to move you away from people, so no one gets hurt. People don’t react well to snakes inside buildings.” I grabbed a handful of Papa’s trousers since his hands were full of the snake. Either it had grown while we were talking to it, or it had been a lot longer than I’d realized.

The snake flicked its tongue out and the air swirled around it, flinging items it picked up from the floor at Papa but not me because a shield flared up around him and cupped me in its radiance. Papa ignored the flying laundry and exited the laundry room holding the snake.

“Wait, Papa!” I hurried up the stairs after him, but he reached the door and rushed out into the parking lot. We both stopped and stared because it had been destroyed in a previous newsletter adventure.

“Is something wrong?” The snake laughed when we glanced at it.

“Well, not wrong, but something is fixed that shouldn’t be.” I stopped talking because I didn’t know how to explain this anomaly. But the parking lot had been a smoking hole and now it wasn’t. How did they fix it?

“I know why, but I won’t tell you until you release me.” The snake’s eyes gleamed, and I shivered at the look in its eyes.

We’ll see you next week for more. Have a great week!


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