Rain poured from the gray heavens in thick, slanted sheets, turning the borderlands of the Celestial Dragon Empire into a churning sea of brown mud.
Three full weeks had passed since the slaughter at Shattered Pass.
Along the winding mountain road leading northeast toward the iron-rich ridges of Azure Fall City, thousands of soldiers trudged through ankle-deep slush. Heavy supply wagons creaked and groaned as iron-shod wheels sank into the mire. Teamsters in soaked hemp cloaks cracked their whips over the backs of six-legged armored scale-beasts, shouting hoarse curses as the beasts snorted white steam into the damp air.
Near the center of the marching column, six towering scale-beasts pulled a gilded war carriage draped in imperial yellow banners.
Inside that warm, dry carriage sat First Prince Huang Wei.
