Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush

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A serpent dropped from the low branch above with a dull, wet thud, all of them moved with snake-like manner , but their tails and curved and segmented...ended in hooked scorpion barbs that glowed in the fire light.

Eli shot upright, already reaching for his staff when he woke up . "Shadreks! Do not let their tails touch you!" he barked.

Iris yelled, already knowing a few things from her hours of reading. "Their venom is not in their fangs-it is in their tails!"

Xander, already scrambling backward, blinked hard. "What kind of discount biology is this?!"

Iris swore under her breath as a Shadrek lunged toward her and she rolled out of its path as fast as she could, grabbing the still-smoking tree branch from their fire pit. She swung wide, smacking it across its midsection. It hissed as it flew back.

"Scorpion-snakes," she muttered through gritted teeth, parrying another one. "Great. That's a new one to add to this nightmare."

"Why are they ignoring you?!" Xander called out, narrowly dodging one that slithered straight past Iris and Eli.

Eli grimaced, swinging his staff low to knock one aside. "Because you are the reason why they are here!"

"What?!" To be honest, with the way things had been going these past few days...he wasn't all that surprised.

"They are drawn to you. To the crystal."

"Of course they are," Xander groaned. "Why not add them to the long list of things trying to kill me."

A Shadrek lunged fast...a little too fast-and nearly clipped his side. Iris moved instinctively, slamming the branch down with a panicked yell.

"Back off!" she snapped.

Eli raised his hand like he'd done this dozens of times before, the purple flame burst from his hand from and sliced through three Shadreks in a single breath. Their bodies curled to ash, hissing into nothing.

Iris swung her branch again. This time it caught one square across the jaw-it reeled back, then lunged straight at her shin about to sting her. She screamed, stumbling backward as Xander grabbed a rock and hurled it at the thing's skull with a grunt. It hit, barely. The Shadrek hissed but didn't fall.

"Why are there so many?!" Iris yelled, swinging wildly.

"One got through-left flank!" Xander warned.

Eli turned, flame pulsing from his palm in a violent arc. But not fast enough-

The Shadrek's barbed tail grazed his shoulder, slicing fabric and skin.

He winced, but didn't cry out. Just staggered half a step, breath locked behind his teeth.

Xander saw the blood.

"Eli-!"

"I am fine," Eli ground out. "It is a mere scratch."

"That thing stung you and you're calling it a scratch?!"

Eli's blue eyes locked on his. "Xander-you need to use the power of the crystal. Now."

Xander stumbled back, shaking his head. "What? No. No, last time I nearly bled out and passed out and exploded at the same time-"

"No!" Iris stepped between two Shadreks, breath heaving. "He can't! He'll pass out again or worse!"

Eli's jaw clenched. "He is the Kaelhi. If he does not do it, we all die."

"But he'll get hurt!"

Eli shouted, voice cracking with something deeper than fear. "Do you think the gods chose him because it was easy?! This is his fate!"

Xander backed up until his heel hit the edge of Eli's pack. His heartbeat felt like thunder in his skull. The crystal under his ribs pulsed again, he could barely breathe.

"I don't know how," he whispered.

Iris looked at him-dirt on her cheek, branch shaking in her hands.

Xander clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling too fast. He reached inward anyway calling for the power beneath.

Nothing.

Just silence. Like the crystal was just watching him with a blank stare without responsing, he gritted his teeth, pressed a hand over the pulse beneath his collarbone.

"Come on," he muttered. "Do something."

Nothing.

Xander bent forward slightly, trying again harder this time, like he could force something to happen if he just wanted it hard enough.

But the power didn't come like he did before.He opened his eyes his breath shallow. "It's not working," he said. "I...I failed."

Then the Shadreks surged, six of them maybe more. Eli stepped in front of Xander with a cry, flame roaring from his palms again-but it was weak this time. A flicker. Barely more than a warning light. "You still have a long way to go, young Kaelhi."

Iris put herself at Xander's side, branch shaking in her hand and Xander backed into her without meaning to. "I'm sorry," he choked. "I can't-"

But suddenly there was light, a blinding, white-gold heat that grew as it moved. Every shadow bent back. Every serpent froze and they screeched.

One by one, their bodies convulsed, burned from the inside out like someone had lit their cores on fire. scales curled. Tails shriveled and teeth turned to smoke.

And then- they were ash...most likely returning to the abyss the beast king released them from to torment the earthly realm.

Xander blinked hard. "What the hell just happened?"

Iris stared around them, breath caught somewhere between her ribs. "Was that... you?" she asked Eli.

Eli was on one knee, gripping his staff which was it was the only thing holding him up. His head lifted-barely. "No," he rasped. "Not me."

If Eli hadn't done this, then who did?

They turned around to see a girl stood at the treeline. She wore a blue hooded cloak and carried a fire torch. She stepped forward, cautious and timidly, like she wasn't entirely sure she was supposed to be there, Iris stood frozen beside Xander, dirt smudged across her cheek and the branch still trembling in her grip.

The girl, maybe sixteen, seventeen years of age asked in a soft voice. "A-are you... the Kaelhi?"

Xander stared at her, not because he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

Iris took half a step forward, eyebrows pinched as if she was wondering if the girl would pose as a threat even if she had just saved their asses. "Who... are you?"

The girl flinched at the question, but didn't look away.

"I'm no one," she said.

Then glanced toward Xander again.

"But if you're him...

I've been sent to find you."