Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 127: The Sacred Climb

The decision was made in the snow.

"The Shrine," Marquis Konrad said, staring up at the jagged peak that loomed over Winter-Hold. The summit was shrouded in perpetual clouds, but now, faint flashes of purple lightning flickered within the grey mist. "It’s been forbidden for centuries. Only the Elders were allowed to climb the steps."

"Tradition is dead," Rurik growled, wiping blood from his lip. "My son is up there. If the gods have a problem with me trespassing, they can file a complaint after I punch them."

"We go now," Caspian agreed, his voice tight. "The magical pressure is rising. Whatever the Boss is doing, he’s accelerating the timeline."

Primrose tightened the straps of her snack bag. She wasn’t a warrior, but she was the only one who had stood face-to-face with the Boss before and lived. She had a feeling she would be needed.

Duchess Freya turned to the children.

"Astrid," Freya said, her voice leaving no room for argument. "You stay here. You guard Orion. If the beacon goes out, you light it again. Do you understand?"

Astrid opened her mouth to protest, her hand gripping the hilt of her oversized sword. "But Mother! I can fight! I proved it in the ruins!"

"You proved you have courage," Freya said, kneeling down to look her daughter in the eye. "But the Shrine... the altitude alone will kill you. The air is too thin. You will pass out before we reach the first gate. Stay here. Protect the Prince."

Freya kissed Astrid’s forehead, then stood up.

"Let’s move," Konrad ordered.

The five adults—the Wolf Brothers, the Duchess, the King, and the Fox—turned and sprinted toward the mountain path.

Astrid watched them go. She watched until they disappeared into the swirling snowstorm that guarded the base of the peak.

Then, she slammed her sword into the ground.

"Stupid!" Astrid yelled, kicking a pile of snow. "Stupid thin air! Stupid altitude!"

Orion stood nearby, wrapped in his layers of wool and fur. He watched her tantrum with calm, analytical eyes.

"They’re right, you know," Orion observed, shivering slightly. "The oxygen up there is barely enough to keep a bird alive, let alone kids. And it’s freezing. If we go, we’re just going to be frozen statues by the time we reach the top."

Astrid whirled on him. "So we just sit here? While that shadow thing has Vali? While Vivi is... gone?"

"We monitor the situation," Orion said, pointing to the beacon. "We’re the lookout. That’s a real job."

"It’s a boring job!" Astrid snapped. She pulled her sword out of the ground. "I’m not staying. I know a shortcut. The Goat Path. It winds around the back, out of the wind."

Orion blinked. "Astrid, that sounds like a great way to fall off a mountain."

"I don’t care," Astrid marched toward the side gate. "I’m going. Are you coming or are you gonna stay here and be a popsicle?"

Orion sighed. A long, suffering sigh that seemed too old for his five-year-old body.

"If I stay, I’ll probably freeze," Orion muttered. "If I go, I’ll probably freeze and fall. But at least if I go, I can tell you ’I told you so’ before we die."

He waddled after her. "Wait up. I need to tighten my scarf."

The Stairway to Heaven was a misnomer. It should have been called the Escalator to Hell.

It was a vertical ascent of five thousand stone steps, carved directly into the spine of the mountain. The wind here didn’t just blow; it tried to push you off the cliff.

"Keep moving!" Konrad shouted over the gale. "Don’t stop or your blood will freeze!"

They were halfway up. Primrose was struggling. Her fox biology made her agile, but she wasn’t built for brute-force endurance like the Wolves. Her lungs burned. Her legs felt like lead.

"Here," Caspian said.

He didn’t ask. He simply scooped her up with one arm, holding her against his chest while he continued to climb with the other.

"I can walk!" Primrose protested weakly.

"Save your energy," Caspian said, his eyes fixed on the summit. "We will need your brain at the top. Let me handle the cardio."

Suddenly, the mist ahead of them shifted.

Shadows detached themselves from the rock face.

They weren’t rats this time. They were humanoid. They wore the tattered remnants of ancient Wolf Clan armor. Their helmets were rusted, and their eyes glowed with the familiar violet light of the Void.

The Corrupted Guards.

"The Elites," Konrad whispered, stopping in his tracks. "These were the Honor Guard who went missing ten years ago. The ones who swore to protect the Shrine."

There were twelve of them. They stood on the narrow stairs, blocking the path. They drew weapons made of black ice.

"They aren’t men anymore," Rurik growled, his claws extending. "They’re husks."

"We don’t have time to mourn them," Freya said, drawing her sword. "We have to break through."

"GO!" Konrad roared.

The melee began.

It was a brutal, close-quarters fight on a staircase barely wide enough for three people. One misstep meant falling thousands of feet to the death.

Konrad and Rurik took the front line. They fought with a synchronicity that only brothers could have. Konrad blocked a massive hammer strike with his claymore, and Rurik lunged over his shoulder to slash the attacker’s throat.

Freya danced along the edge of the cliff, using her speed to deflect strikes and kick enemies off the ledge.

Caspian put Primrose down behind him. He raised his hand.

"Hydro-Lash."

Whips of water slashed through the air, freezing instantly into ice-blades that decapitated two of the corrupted guards.

"Clear!" Rurik shouted, kicking a headless body down the stairs.

"More coming!" Konrad yelled.

From the mist above, another wave descended.

"There’s too many!" Freya shouted. "They just keep respawning!"

Primrose looked up. Beyond the fighting, she saw the massive stone gates of the Shrine. They were closed.

And on the gate, there was a glowing puzzle lock.

It wasn’t a keyhole. It was a massive, shifting geometric pattern of runes.

"The Gate!" Primrose shouted. "We need to open it to stop the respawn! The source is inside!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Can you crack it?" Caspian asked, deflecting a black arrow.

"I... I think so!" Primrose said. "It looks like a sliding puzzle! I’m good at those!"

"Get her to the Gate!" Rurik bellowed. "Formation V!"

The warriors formed a wedge. Konrad and Rurik at the point, Freya and Caspian on the flanks. They became a snowplow of violence, carving a path through the corrupted guards.

"Move, Primrose!" Rurik shouted, shoving a zombie off the ledge.

Primrose ran. She scrambled up the slick steps, dodging stray arrows, until she reached the massive stone doors.