Rosa and the Graven Kings - A Spiritual Warfare Novella

Chapter 7

A stolen bike. A near kill. Rosa felt like she'd done something wrong, but she reminded herself that Emmett was a stalker; he even admitted to a murder. Surely, God wouldn't tell him to save her. I don't even need saving.

Rosa had walked up the second curvy ramp this time. Now, she was at the top, huffing and puffing from the steep climb. She looked at the map and noticed something amazing. "I'm close." She glanced down a trail. "I'm so close." A sudden joy tickled her insides, a sudden hope telling her everything was about to get better.

Rosa pushed the bike forward. She hesitated to drive because it was bigger than her-probably because Emmett was tall. She and her dad were about the same height, so riding his bike wasn't a problem. Rosa sighed and got on the bike anyway, her foot straining to reach the gear shifter. All is well.

It thundered, shaking the ground. Wind gusts smacked her cheeks. Rosa shifted into high gear and zoomed down the trail like it wasn't happening. She needed to find the landmark: the rock shaped like a spear. That's what it said on the map, so Rosa squinted into the wind and kept her focus. There were many rocks on the sides of the trail. Some tall. Some small. Some pointy. Some ugly.

But none shaped like a spear.

Time passed until she saw it. She gasped with joy and stopped the bike. A tall, skinny rock was not far ahead-and indeed, it did look like a sharp spear sticking out of the ground. Somewhat. Rosa's hand covered her heart. "I can't believe it."

The words of the prophetess quickly entered her mind: Receive your healing. Receive the power to overcome the past.

Whether that was true or not.

Rosa was about to find out.

She shifted into full gear and later turned off the trail, the bike kicking sand everywhere. Her eyes landed on something black with silver rims beside the base of the rock. A briefcase. She stopped the bike, leaped off, and ran toward it. After dropping to her knees, Rosa twisted the case so the lock faced her direction. She brushed the top with her hand to remove a mess of sand and pebbles. "The answer is finally here," she whispered while slipping the backpack from her shoulders. She dug for the key and then pushed the bag behind herself in excitement.

Thunder crackled again, but Rosa ignored it. She inched closer to the briefcase, elevated it, and eased the key into the lock. With one last huff of excitement, she opened the box and peeked inside.

Something hissed.

Rosa slammed it shut, leaned back, pulled the kitchen knife from her backpack, and bravely opened it again. "I'm not doing this fear thing," she whispered.

Rosa lifted it higher.

A snake darted from the case toward her chest.

"AHH!" Rosa leaned backward on her toes and lost her balance, falling to her back. She lifted her neck and noticed the snake was on her chest. The creature elevated itself, stared into her eyes, and then curled its neck in a striking position.

Rosa was familiar with this species. She knew it was a horned viper. It was reddish, similar to the color of the sand.

The snake hissed again and then struck at her face. On impulse, Rosa's hand with the knife bolted up to block the attack, but she soon regretted this move. "AHHHHHH!" her scream blared above the wind as the viper clamped onto the side of her hand. Maybe she should have grabbed its neck and choked it instead.

Her face was blazing. But Rosa resisted the pain and stood on her knees, green venom sliding from her hand onto the ground like wet slime. Rosa's eyes blurred with water. She stood on her feet and stomped on the creature's tail to pin it to the ground. Then she swapped the knife into her left hand and slashed the snake's neck until she heard it rip.