"Ash and Echoes" [Part 40] Wukong's Path - An Infinity Kingdom Story

🔷 Introduction

Welcome to part 40 of my Wukong series. We are following three famous fire immortals and their ally Wukong, who is currently training in the arts of fire. They have had a challenging journey as of late, and their adventure is constantly changing with new challenges just beyond the horizon. 

📄 Recap of Part 39:  "Where Illusions Burn"

A team of four legendary warriors infiltrates a fortress consumed by illusion and darkness to confront the powerful sorcerer Tut, whose magic nearly breaks reality itself. Through flawless coordination and trust, they defeat him not with brute force, but with unity—sealing his lingering power as both a warning and a safeguard against future threats.

🔷 Part 40:  "Ash and Echoes"

The battle was over. But the heaviness of it hadn’t gone anywhere.

Seondeok held the urn close, feeling the last of its warmth fade from her palms. Inside, Tut’s ashes settled in silence. Around her, the fortress lay still. No more illusions. No more creeping shadows. Just broken stone and sky and that strange, raw hush that comes when something big finally ends.

For the four of them, it wasn’t just a win. It was something deeper. Like shedding a skin they hadn’t realized they’d been wearing.

They stood quiet in the rubble, blinking into the soft light of dawn. Wu crouched near what had been the eastern wall, thumbing the hilt of Tut’s sword. The obsidian blade had gone dull, but it still buzzed faintly with power. Something sleeping, not gone.

“Keep it,” Seondeok said. Her voice barely carried. “Stuff like that doesn’t just die. It waits.”

Wu nodded and wrapped the sword in cloth, careful not to touch the metal for too long. No one stopped him. After all they’d seen, no one wanted to second-guess what was real and what was left behind. The sword, whatever it was, felt honest. It had weight. It had truth.

By the time the sun was high, they were halfway down the mountain. A small village waited in the valley below—stone rooftops, wooden carts, smoke rising in lazy curls. From a distance, it looked peaceful.

But when they got closer, something was off.

Doors were shut. Windows boarded. Kids cried behind curtains. People just stood there, in the streets, looking lost. Like they’d already buried something.

An old man stepped forward. He was limping and covered in dust. His eyes were bloodshot.

“They came after the storm,” he said, his voice dry and cracked. “Big ones. Gray. Trolls. Not many. Three... maybe four. But fast. One of them leveled the mill. Another tore up the west side. They didn’t kill. They just... took. A dozen people. Gone.”

Nobody spoke for a moment. The air felt tight.

Seondeok closed her eyes, like she was listening to something beneath the surface. Then she opened them again, sharp.

“They’re not far.”

“Didn’t waste any time,” Wukong muttered. His hand tightened on the staff at his back.

They followed the signs—deep tracks in the mud, walls shredded like paper, and entire carts snapped in half. One house looked like it had been peeled open with claws. Inside, on the dusty floor, sat a child’s doll. Clean. Untouched.

Wu picked it up. Turned it over once in his hand.

“This wasn’t random,” he said. “They weren’t here for loot. They came for people.”

“They knew we were gone,” Hippolyta said. Her eyes scanned the horizon. “They waited for us to leave.”

Near the blacksmith’s, the ground was torn up badly. Splinters, stone shards—something had hit hard there. Seondeok crouched down and started sifting through the mess. She paused, then pulled something from the soil—rough gray skin, dry and cracked like tree bark.

“Trolls, yeah,” she said. “But this wasn’t hunting. These ones were scouts.”

“This wasn’t even a real raid,” Wukong added. His jaw was tight. “It was a message.”

Behind them, the village stirred. People had started to gather, unsure, scared, but watching. Waiting for what the Watch would do next.

Wukong unwrapped the sword, just enough to feel the hum of it in his hand. The obsidian was still cold. Still hungry.

“Tut wasn’t the end,” he said, almost to himself. “He was the distraction.”

He looked toward the mountains, already knowing.

“This is the war.”

And far off, past the hills, deep in the spines of Norheim, the drums began again.

📄 Recap Questions

Now that our group has established itself with synergy, how will they figure out this new challenge, which seems to be trolls?

Where are the trolls coming from, and what do they want with the people of this land?

🔷 Conclusion

Wukong and his friends have finally outsmarted their enemy, but it doesn't end there. There seems to always be a new challenge just around the corner, and they can never catch a break. Now it seems they will have to deal with a troll invasion, but this may just be the beginning. 

See you next week!

🔷 Hades, Press Officer.

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