The Last Sacrifice of Kalinga: Crushing the Goddess's Harem

Chapter 3: A Sanctuary of Ruins

`[System: Host's consciousness fading. Activating emergency Prana resuscitation...]`

`[System: Consuming 500 Prana. Stimulating nervous system.]`

"Cough! Ack! Damn it!" 

Aristha’s eyes snapped open as his lungs violently convulsed, spitting out a mouthful of freezing, muddy river water. He dragged his screaming muscles forward, his fingers clawing desperately into the wet, squelching mud of the riverbank. He gasped for air, his chest burning like hot coals as he used every ounce of his remaining strength to pull a second, limp body out of the churning torrent.

"Gayatri! Hey! Wake up!" He pressed his hands against her chest, pumping frantically. "Come on, breathe! Don't do this to me. I didn't jump off a cliff just to watch you drown on the shore!"

`[System: Target's airway is clear. Initiating mild electrical stimulation to stimulate cardiopulmonary reflex. Cost: 100 Prana.]`

"Do it! Just do it!" Aristha yelled.

Zzap.

"Cough!" Gayatri convulsed, her head jerking sideways as she vomited up a rush of freezing river water. She gasped, her chest heaving violently, but her eyes remained closed, her skin deathly pale and shivering in the dark. 

"Thank God," Aristha wheezed, collapsing backward onto the wet mud. "System, status report."

`[System: Current Prana: 3,390. Target's core body temperature: 31.5°C. Severe hypothermia detected. Survival probability: 35% if left untreated.]`

"Thirty-five percent? Are you kidding me?" Aristha forced himself back up on trembling knees. He looked around the dark, misty forest surrounding the riverbank. "Where's the nearest shelter?"

`[System: Scanning... Dilapidated structure located 50 meters northwest. High thermal isolation potential.]`

"Right. Let's go." He hoisted her over his shoulder, groaning as his sore muscles screamed. "Seriously, Gayatri... you need to eat fewer royal pastries when we get out of this."

*

Aristha kicked open the rotting wooden door of the ancient, abandoned shrine. 

"Smells like mold and regret," Aristha muttered, gently laying her down on a dry bed of dusty leaves in the corner. "But it's dry. System, can we get a fire going?"

`[System: Dead wood detected nearby. Directing Prana to ignite. Cost: 50 Prana.]`

"Do it."

With a small whoosh, a pile of dry twigs in the corner of the stone shrine burst into a warm, flickering orange flame. The light danced across the cracked stone walls and the headless statue of some ancient deity. 

Aristha knelt beside Gayatri. Her lips were turning blue, her wet silk robes clinging to her body like a freezing second skin. 

"Okay. Cold hard logic time," Aristha muttered, rubbing his temples. "Those wet robes are literally keeping her frozen. I have to strip them."

He hesitated, staring at her beautiful, pale face. 

"I'm just an extra. I shouldn't have main-character privileges like this," Aristha whispered. "System, is there any other way? A magic hair dryer? A thermal barrier?"

`[System: Negative. Conductive cooling from wet fabrics will bypass any spiritual barrier. Immediate removal of wet clothing is recommended.]`

"Great. Just great. If she wakes up and kills me, I'm blaming you, System."

Aristha reached down, his hands shaking slightly as he unbuttoned the heavy, gold-trimmed outer coat of her royal robes. 

"No weird thoughts, Aristha," he muttered to himself, peeling away the heavy, waterlogged fabric. "You're a doctor. Well, not a doctor, but a guy who wants to live. It's a medical emergency. Purely professional."

Underneath the heavy silk was a thin, white linen undergarment. It was completely translucent from the water, clinging tightly to the curves of her waist and chest. 

Aristha swallowed hard, his face flushing hotter than the campfire.

"Damn... the author of this novel really spent three paragraphs describing her physical proportions, and honestly, they under-delivered." He shook his head violently. "Stop it! Focus! Fire! Warmth!"

He dragged her closer to the crackling fire, laying her on her side. He took off his own damp outer tunic, wringing it out before hanging it near the flames.

`[System: Target's core temperature is stabilizing. Rate of recovery: slow. Direct physical contact recommended to accelerate thermal transfer.]`

"Whoa, hold on, System!" Aristha barked, waving his hands. "I'm not trying to get executed twice in one day! If she wakes up and finds me cuddling her, she'll castrate me!"

`[System: Host's survival is linked to the target's survival. If 'Ni Luh Putu Gayatri' dies, the Taksu System's primary anchor will destabilize.]`

"Wait, what? You're telling me I'm bound to her?"

`[System: Correct. She is a core pillar of this world's destiny. Your presence has already altered the timeline. Her death will cause a temporal collapse.]`

"So if she dies, I die?" Aristha groaned, rubbing his face. "Fine! Fine! I'll do it. But I'm keeping my pants on."

He carefully lay down behind her, wrapping his arms around her shivering waist, pulling her cold back against his chest. The warmth of his newly upgraded 'Spiritual Apprentice' body began to radiate into her.

"You're freezing, Gayatri," Aristha whispered, his chin resting near her wet hair. "Just stay alive, okay? We made it past chapter one. Don't ruin my streak."

*

For a few hours, there was only the sound of the crackling fire and the howling wind outside. 

Then, Gayatri's body began to tense. Her breathing turned shallow and rapid. 

"No..." she whimpered, her head thrashing from side to side. "Rama... please... I didn't do it... I didn't steal the relic..."

"Gayatri?" Aristha whispered, shifting slightly. "Hey, wake up. It's just a nightmare."

"You promised!" she suddenly shrieked, her eyes flying open. They were wild, bloodshot, and completely devoid of sanity. "You liar! You betrayed me!"

"Whoa! Gayatri, calm down!"

Before Aristha could react, she turned around, her fingers curling into claws as she lashed out at his face. 

Slash!

"Ow! What the hell?!" Aristha flinched as her nails scratched his cheek.

"Get away from me! You're one of his guards! You're going to drag me back to the dungeon!" she screamed, her voice hoarse and raw. She tried to scramble backward, her bare feet slipping on the dusty floor, heading straight for the open doorway and the freezing rain outside.

"Gayatri, stop! You'll freeze to death!" Aristha lunged forward, grabbing her ankle.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she cried, kicking him in the chest with her free leg. "I'd rather die! I'd rather die in the woods than let you touch me!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Aristha roared. 

He yanked her back, pinning her down onto the dusty leaves. He threw his weight over her, grabbing her wrists and slamming them against the floor on either side of her head. 

"Let me go, you monster!" she thrashed violently beneath him, her hips bucking, her teeth bared as she tried to bite his shoulder. "Kill me! Just kill me already! Why do you keep torturing me?!"

"Look at me!" Aristha yelled, his face inches from hers. "Look at my face, Gayatri!"

She froze for a fraction of a second, her chest heaving against his, her wild eyes trying to focus through the dark.

"Am I Rama?" Aristha demanded, his voice dropping into a deep, commanding growl. "Am I one of those smug, gold-plated royal guards?"

"You..." she whimpered, her lips trembling. "You're... Aristha..."

"Yes! Aristha! The guy who got kicked in the ribs, almost got his head chopped off, blew up a scaffold, jumped off a fifty-foot cliff, and dragged your heavy royal butt out of a freezing river!" He stared down at her, his eyes cold, grounding, and completely serious. "I didn't do all of that just to watch you run out into the storm and die of a cold."

Gayatri stared up at him, her breathing still ragged, but the frantic, wild terror in her eyes slowly began to crack, replaced by a deep, hollow exhaustion. 

"Why...?" she whispered, a single tear cutting through the dirt on her cheek. "Why did you save me? Everyone else... everyone I loved... they all wanted me dead."

"Because I'm not them," Aristha said quietly, his grip on her wrists loosening just a fraction, though he didn't let go. "And I don't let my partners die."

She stared at him, her lips parting slightly, her gaze locked onto his. 

Just as the tension in the room reached a boiling point, a low, guttural growl echoed from the shadows outside the ruined doorway. 

`[System: Alert. Hostile spiritual beast detected. Level 2: Shadow Fang Wolf. Distance: 10 meters.]`

Aristha’s eyes widened as two glowing red eyes materialized in the dark rain outside. 

"Well," Aristha muttered, slowly letting go of her wrists as he reached for a half-burnt piece of wood from the fire. "It looks like our welcoming committee has arrived."