The cave was small, damp, and smelled of bat guano. But it was dry.
Kaelen dragged Reed over the threshold, her boots slipping on the wet gravel. She collapsed against the stone wall, hauling him up beside her.
Outside, the storm had broken. Freezing rain lashed the river gorge, turning the world into a cacophony of thunder and rushing water.
Inside, the silence was worse.
"Reed?" Kaelen gasped, slapping his cheek.
Reed didn't respond. His eyes were half-open, dull and glazed. His lips were a terrifying shade of blue.
He was vibratingva violent, bone-rattling shudder that shook his entire frame.
[STATUS: CRITICAL.]
[CORE TEMP: 91°F (Dropping).]
[VOID CHILL: ACTIVE.]
The Void Shard in his pocket wasn't helping. Even through his wet coat, Kaelen could feel it radiating a necrotic cold that seemed to suck the heat right out of the air. It was an ice cube in his veins.
"Fire," Kaelen muttered. "Need… fire."
She tried to snap her fingers to summon a flame, a basic Paladin survival cantrip.
Fzzzt.
A weak spark jumped from her thumb and died instantly.
"Empty," she cursed, leaning her head back against the rock. "I poured it all into you on the road."
She looked at Reed. He was curling into a fetal position, his teeth clacking together audibly.
"Cold," Reed mumbled, his voice a slur. "So… cold."
Kaelen looked at her own body. She was wearing sixty pounds of Silverite plate armor over a wet, padded gambeson. The metal was freezing. It was a refrigerator suit. Every time Reed touched her armor, he flinched.
I am killing him, she realized. I am a heat sink.
She looked at the entrance. No wood. No magic. No supplies.
She looked at Reed.
She gritted her teeth.
"Survival Protocol 9," Kaelen whispered to herself, her cheeks flushing in the darkness. "Preservation of Sanctioned Assets via… thermal transfer."
She sat up. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the buckles of her pauldrons.
Clack. Clack.
She threw the heavy shoulder plates onto the floor.
Next came the breastplate. It was heavy, wet, and stubborn. She broke a fingernail undoing the side straps, but she didn't care. She yanked the steel cuirass off and let it clang against the wall.
"Come on," she hissed, fighting the wet leather of her greaves.
Piece by piece, the High Inquisitor dismantled her defense.
Greaves. Gauntlets. Sabatons.
She was left in her soaked gambeson. a thick, quilted jacket meant to absorb blows. It was sodden with river water.
"Useless," she growled.
She stripped it off.
Underneath, she wore a simple, thin linen tunic and breeches. They were damp, but not soaked. The air in the cave bit at her exposed skin, making her shiver.
She grabbed her white fur cloak. It was waterproofed with wax; the inside was dry.
She crawled over to Reed.
"Avatar," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Asset. Wake up."
She grabbed the lapels of his velvet coat. It was heavy with water. She stripped it off him, tossing it onto the pile of armor. She pulled off his boots.
"K-Kaelen?" Reed stammered, his eyes fluttering. "W-what…?"
"Survival," she said sternly, though her voice wavered. "Do not make this weird. Just… come here."
She wrapped the dry fur cloak around her shoulders, spreading it wide like wings. Then, she pulled him in.
She wrapped the cloak around both of them, sealing them into a cocoon of fur and linen.
Reed's skin was ice cold.
When he pressed against her, Kaelen gasped. It felt like hugging a corpse. The chill seeped instantly into her warmth, making her gasp.
"You're freezing," she whispered.
"You're… hot," Reed murmured.
He didn't fight it. His body recognized the heat source. He burrowed into her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his chest flush against hers, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
His legs tangled with hers.
"Too close," Kaelen breathed, her heart hammering against her ribs.
This was forbidden. This was heretical. He was a Dungeon Lord, a creature of Chaos and Void. She was a Paladin of the Silver Flame. They were natural enemies.
But right now, he was just a man shivering in the dark.
And she was the only fire he had.
She wrapped her arms around his back, rubbing his shoulders vigorously to generate friction.
"Breathe," Kaelen commanded softly. "Take the heat. Steal it if you have to."
Reed let out a long, shuddering breath. The Void inside him sensed the proximity to her Light. It stopped fighting. It started feeding.
Slowly, the violent shaking subsided. His breathing evened out.
The cave was silent, save for the rain and the rhythmic sound of their breathing.
Minutes passed. Or maybe hours.
Kaelen didn't let go. Her chin rested on top of his wet, messy hair. She could smell the river water, the ozone of his magic, and beneath it all, something uniquely him.
"Kaelen?" Reed whispered. His voice was clearer now.
"I am here."
"I have a bomb in my pocket," Reed mumbled into her neck. "And a rock that eats souls."
"I know."
"And I'm hugging a Paladin."
"You are executing a thermal recovery maneuver," Kaelen corrected stiffly.
Reed chuckled. It was a weak, raspy sound, but it vibrated against her chest.
"You saved me," he said.
"You saved the town," Kaelen replied. "The bridge is gone. The army is washed away. You did your job."
Reed shifted slightly, pulling back just enough to look at her.
The cave was pitch black, but her eyes had adjusted. She could see the faint violet glow of his irises. They weren't scary anymore. They were soft.
"I'm scary," Reed whispered, repeating the fear she had seen in his face earlier. "The Void… it wants to eat everything. Even you."
Kaelen looked at him. She thought about the bridge. She thought about him tackling her to save her from the explosion. She thought about him charging a skeleton army with a grease scroll.
She moved her hand, brushing wet hair out of his eyes.
"You are terrifying," Kaelen admitted softly. "You are Chaos incarnate. You break every rule in the book."
Her thumb traced the line of his jaw.
"But right now…" she whispered. "You are just warm."
Reed closed his eyes. He leaned his cheek into her hand.
"That's good," he murmured. "Warm is good."
His breathing slowed. His body went heavy against hers. He was asleep.
Kaelen stayed awake.
She stared into the darkness, holding the monster who had saved her life. She felt the beat of his heart against her own.
Thump-thump.
It synced with hers.
She knew, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that things had changed. The line had been crossed. She couldn't go back to being just his Auditor. She couldn't look at him as just an "Asset" anymore.
She pulled the cloak tighter around them, shielding him from the draft.
"Sleep well, Dungeon Daddy," she whispered into the dark, a small, sad smile touching her lips.
Then, she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her too.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Resting Bonus Applied.]
[Status: HYPOTHERMIA CURED.]
[Relationship Status with Kaelen: COMPLICATED.]
The Next Morning
Kaelen woke up to the sound of boots on gravel.
She blinked, disoriented. The storm was over. Morning sunlight streamed into the cave mouth, blindingly bright.
She was warm.
She looked down. Reed was still asleep, his head resting comfortably on her chest, his arm thrown over her waist. Their legs were tangled together under the fur cloak.
It was intimate. It was domestic.
"Well, well, well," a dry, nasally voice echoed from the entrance.
Kaelen froze.
She looked up.
Standing in the cave entrance, flanked by four armored Silver Flame Guardsmen, was a man in a pristine grey suit. He wore rimless spectacles and held a ledger. He looked at the pile of discarded armor. He looked at the two of them huddled under the cloak.
Director Vane.
"High Inquisitor," Vane said, his voice dripping with bureaucratic disdain. "I expected a status report. I did not expect to find you… fraternizing with the wildlife."
Kaelen scrambled to sit up, pushing Reed off her.
"Director!" she gasped, trying to cover herself with the cloak. "This is not—we fell in the river—it was thermal—!"
Reed woke up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, looking like a disheveled wreck. He saw the guards. He saw Vane.
"Oh," Reed groaned, his voice raspy. "Are we being audited?"
"No," Vane said coldly. He signaled the guards. "You are being liquidated."
The guards raised their crossbows.
"Target the Avatar," Vane ordered. "Fire on my command."