Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 112: The Village in the Mountains

The group emerged from the tunnel, blinking against a sudden, vibrant light.

They had expected a cave. A damp, dark hole in the rock.

What they found was a city caught in an eternal twilight.

The Fox Sanctuary was built inside a colossal volcanic cavern, but it was lush with life. Glowing blue moss covered the walls like wallpaper. Massive trees with silver bark and cherry-blossom leaves grew directly out of the stone, their roots twisting into bridges and staircases.

Paper lanterns floated in mid-air, drifting aimlessly like lazy fireflies. Waterfalls cascaded from the ceiling, feeding a steaming lake in the center of the village.

"Atmospheric conditions: humid," Archduke Cassian noted, wiping fog off his monocle. "Aesthetic rating: High. Structural integrity of these tree-houses: Questionable."

"It smells like soup," Lord Rurik sniffed the air. "Good soup."

Caspian took a deep breath. The air here was thick with raw, wild mana. The black veins on his neck stopped throbbing for a moment.

"The magic..." Caspian whispered. "It is old. Older than the Empire."

"Welcome to the hidden world," Primrose said, putting the key away. "Now, we just have to find the—"

POOF.

A cloud of pink smoke exploded in front of them.

POOF. POOF. POOF.

Three more clouds erupted behind them.

When the smoke cleared, they were surrounded. Twelve figures stood on the tree branches and rocks around them. They wore porcelain fox masks and dark, flowing robes. They held spears that crackled with lightning.

Fox Guards.

"Intruders!" the leader hissed, hanging upside down from a branch by his tail. "You smell of Dog, Cat, and... Snake."

"I beg your pardon," Duke Lucien smoothed his coat. "I smell of lavender and shadows."

"Silence!" the guard barked. "Surrender your weapons and your wallets!"

"Wallets?" General Rajah raised an eyebrow. "Is this a robbery or an arrest?"

"Both!" the guard said cheerfully. "We have an economy to maintain."

They did not surrender their wallets, mostly because Rurik looked like he was about to eat the guards.

The leader jumped down. He circled Primrose, sniffing the air. He frowned behind his mask.

"Wait," the guard whispered. He looked at her back. "Where is your tail?"

Primrose froze. "I... I don’t have one."

The guards gasped. They backed away as if she had the plague.

"Tail-less!" one shouted.

"An abomination!" another hissed.

"She is incomplete! She is cursed!"

"I am human!" Primrose argued, though she knew that word meant nothing here.

"Take them to the Elder!" the leader commanded. "Especially the Tail-less One. Renard will decide her fate."

They were escorted to the highest point of the village—a pagoda built into the trunk of the massive central tree.

Inside, sitting on a pile of silk cushions, was Elder Renard.

He was an ancient Fox Beast Kin. He had white fur, long drooping eyebrows that covered his eyes, and—most notably—nine tails fanning out behind him like a peacock. He was smoking a long, thin pipe that smelled like cinnamon and gunpowder.

"So," Renard wheezed, blowing a smoke ring shaped like a skull. "You brought the Four Calamities, a dying Fish, and..."

He looked at Primrose. His eyes narrowed.

"...a creature with no balance."

"Her name is Primrose," Caspian said, stepping forward protectively despite his weakness. "She is my Tutor."

"She is an affront to nature," Renard spat. "A beast without a tail is like a sky without stars. Useless. Why are you here?"

"We seek knowledge of Ophelia," Primrose said boldly. "The First Nine-Tailed Fox."

Renard froze. The smoke stopped swirling.

"You speak a forbidden name," Renard whispered. "Ophelia... the only one who wielded Divine Magic. The only one who could counter the Void."

"Caspian has the Void inside him," Primrose explained quickly. "The Star-Iron was used to plug it, to stop it from spreading. But the plug is failing. We followed the ancient maps to find this place. We need Ophelia’s magic to remove the Void entirely."

"And why should I help you?" Renard sneered. "You are outsiders. You bring chaos into my house."

"We are willing to pay," Cassian offered. "We have gold. We have political favors."

He sat down on a delicate, bamboo chair reserved for guests.

CRACK.

The chair disintegrated under the Archduke’s weight. Cassian landed on the floor with a dignified thud.

"My apologies," Cassian stood up, dusting off his robe. "Your furniture is... structurally insufficient."

Lord Rurik tried to lean against a support beam.

CREAAAAK.

The entire pagoda groaned.

"Do not touch anything!" Renard screeched, all nine tails bristling. "You are too big! You are brutes! Get out!"

"We aren’t leaving," Primrose said firmly.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Key.

"If you won’t help us for gold... help us because of this."

Renard froze again. He stared at the rusted iron key in Primrose’s hand. The anger drained out of him, replaced by a deep, ancient sadness.

"That key..." Renard whispered. "Where did you get that?"

"A fox named Jax gave it to me," Primrose explained softly. "He gave it to me so we could open the gate."

Renard’s shoulders slumped.

"That foolish boy," Renard muttered. "He stole that key the night he ran away. He stole my heart too, though he doesn’t know it."

He looked at Primrose with new, wet eyes.

"You... you know him? Is he... eating well? Is he staying out of trouble?"

"He eats very well," Primrose smiled. "He is the Head of Security at my daycare. He is safe. And... he has found a partner. A lovely bunny named Luna."

"A bunny?" Renard’s eyes popped open. "A prey beast? Hah! That boy always did have strange tastes. But... if she makes him happy..."

The Elder sighed, a long, rattling sound. He tapped his pipe ash into a bowl.

"Fine. Not because you are welcome here. But because you brought news of my son... and because you clearly cannot fit through the door to leave without breaking it... I will help you."

He pointed a clawed finger toward the steaming lake in the center of the village.

"The Spring of Severance," Renard said. "It is fed by the same volcanic veins Ophelia used. You must bathe in the waters at moonrise. It will hurt. It will burn. And if your will is weak... the Void will consume you entirely."

While Caspian rested in the guest quarters (on the floor, to save the furniture), the Warlords were given free rein of the village market.

General Rajah slipped away from the group. He had a mission.

He found a small, colorful stall selling trinkets. The merchant, a young fox with orange fur, grinned at him.

"Welcome, giant tiger man! Buying a souvenir? We have wind-chimes made of bones! We have illusion candy!"

"I need... an apology gift," Rajah grunted, looking over his shoulder to make sure Rurik wasn’t watching.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" the merchant winked. "What did you do? Forget an anniversary? Eat her leftovers?"

"I left without saying goodbye," Rajah admitted. "To a Lioness."

The merchant whistled. "A Lioness? You are a brave man. Or a dead one. You need something big."

The merchant pulled out a box. Inside was a beautiful, intricate hair comb made of Moon-Glass.

"This is enchanted," the merchant explained. "When she wears it, it whispers compliments in her ear every hour. Things like ’You are radiant’ and ’Your claws are sharp’."

Rajah stared at it. It was perfect. Leonora loved compliments, and he was terrible at giving them.

"I will take it," Rajah said, slamming a bag of gold on the counter. "Wrap it. Double wrap it."

Back at the guest house, Primrose was helping Caspian prepare.

"Are you scared?" she asked, folding his coat.

Caspian sat on the floor, looking out at the glowing village. "Terrified."

He looked at his hand. The black veins were pulsing faster now.

"Primrose," he said. "The Void... it isn’t just an infection. It’s a memory eater. If the water washes it away... what if it washes away me too?"

"Then we fill you back up," Primrose said fiercely. "With new memories. Better ones."

The door opened. Elder Renard stood there, holding a ceremonial robe.

"It is time," the Elder said grimly. "The moon is rising. The Spring is hungry."

Caspian stood up. He took Primrose’s hand.

"Let us go," the King said. "Time to face the music."

Outside, the Warlords were waiting. They formed a protective circle around the King and the Nanny.

Rurik cracked his knuckles.

Cassian polished his monocle.

Lucien merged with the shadows.

Rajah patted the gift in his pocket.

They marched toward the steaming lake. The final trial had begun.