"Bound in the Mountain"[Part 41] Wukong's Path - An Infinity Kingdom Story

🔷 Introduction

Welcome to part 41 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 40:  "Ash and Echoes"

After defeating Tut, Wukong and friends return to find a village ravaged by trolls who didn’t kill but took people instead, leaving behind destruction and a warning. Realizing the attack was a calculated move meant to draw them away, they brace for the true war still to come, as distant drums echo once more from Norheim.

🔷 Part 41:  "Bound in the Mountain"

The path into the mountains was narrow and uneven, twisted like a scar through the earth. Wukong moved first, his staff slung low across his back, eyes scanning every ledge. Wu followed close behind, silent as a shadow. Seondeok walked a few paces back, her senses flared, fingers grazing the air like she was reading something invisible. Hippolyta brought up the rear, her sword strapped across her shoulder, her hand never far from its hilt.

They moved quickly and quietly. The air grew colder with every step, thinner too, like the mountains didn’t want them breathing. They had scouted before, but this was different. Something about the silence felt wrong. It was too clean, too perfect.

It started with a rock.

A single stone tumbled from above, harmless at first. Then came the roar.

From the cliffs on both sides, trolls poured down like an avalanche. Dozens, maybe more. Bigger than anything they had seen before. Nine feet tall. Some closer to ten. Their skin was hard as stone, cracked and blackened, like they’d been baked in the earth. They moved faster than trolls were supposed to, with purpose and coordination that set off every warning bell.

Wukong barely had time to swing his staff before one of them slammed into him, knocking him flat. Hippolyta charged, blade flashing in the thin light, but it barely scratched the troll’s hide. Seondeok threw fire with both hands, but even that only staggered them. Wu darted between legs and arms, cutting where he could, but they were surrounded too quickly.

It wasn’t a battle. It was a trap.

The world spun. The ground hit hard. Someone shouted. Then everything went black.

When Wukong woke, the first thing he noticed was the cold. Not just around him—inside him. Like something had reached in and started draining the warmth from his bones.

They were tied to stone pillars deep underground. The walls around them pulsed faintly, lined with glowing runes that hummed just low enough to rattle his teeth. The air was thick with the scent of ash and something sickly sweet.

Across the room, a figure stepped out of the dark.

A troll, but not like the others. Tall and robed, draped in bones and feathers. A crown of twisted antlers sat crooked on his head, and his skin gleamed like oil. His eyes burned a pale, ghostly green.

“The shaman,” Seondeok whispered, her voice hoarse.

He said nothing at first. Just stared at them, then lifted a hand. The runes flared brighter. Wukong felt his energy tugged, not ripped, but pulled like thread from fabric. Slowly. Painfully.

“You fight,” the shaman finally said. His voice was like dry, old stones grinding together. “So full of light. So full of waste.”

“What do you want?” Hippolyta snarled, straining at the bindings.

He stepped closer. His staff—a gnarled root capped with a crystal skull—glowed brighter.

“Your strength,” he said. “Your spark. It feeds the army.”

Behind him, shadowed alcoves revealed rows of dormant trolls. Small ones. Not yet alive. But twitching.

He turned away, as if bored.

“You will become what you tried to stop.”

For the first time in their long journey, none of them spoke.

There was no clever plan. No strength to break free. Only the slow, gnawing dread that they had finally lost.

📄 Recap Questions

How is it that our heroes were so weak to the trolls and captured with ease? 

What was the shaman doing, and what was their plan for escape?

🔷 Conclusion

Wukong and his friends have gotten themselves into a bit of a mess without stopping to think about a plan yet again. First, they were tricked and outsmarted by Tut multiple times, and now they were caught and subdued by trolls. Our heroes need to be more careful with their plans!

See you next week!

🔷 Hades, Press Officer.

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