Wang Tian helped Wang Ben up onto the cart. Ben's ribs ached as he sat down.
He had said goodbye to his grandparents beside Tiexin's bed that morning. Now the camp's carts stood ready in the outer courtyard.
Wang Tian stayed beside the cart while Elder Hongwei climbed in and sat next to Ben.
Ben looked down at his father, wishing they had a little longer before the carts left. He hoped the next letter his father sent would bring news of his mother and Wang Chen.
A call came from farther along the courtyard. Elder Hongwei looked toward the gate, where the first cart had begun to move.
"Take care, Father," Ben said.
Wang Tian smiled at him. "I will."
Their cart began to roll. His father walked alongside, close enough that Ben could still have reached him. Neither spoke as they crossed the courtyard.
At the gate, Wang Tian stopped and raised a hand. Ben waved back. He kept watching his father as the cart carried him into the street. When the cart turned the corner, Ben could no longer see him. He lowered his hand and sat facing forward beside Hongwei.
...
Several days after leaving the Wang compound, they reached Ironforge City in the afternoon. They had eaten from the camp's provisions and stopped beside the road at night. A few spirit beasts had troubled the carts, but the guards had driven them off without much difficulty. Elder Hongwei had told Ben that their captain was a core formation cultivator. Ben had hoped to see him fight, but the man had not needed to intervene.
As their cart rolled through the streets, Ben heard hammers ringing. The sound and the smell of hot metal reminded him of his childhood visits. He watched the open workshops as they passed, though he could not remember this street.
When the carts stopped in a courtyard, Elder Hongwei helped him down. The guard captain told them they would stay overnight and leave at first light.
Ben looked toward the street. "Elder, can we get something to eat?"
"In a little while, if you don't mind," Elder Hongwei said. "I saw a forge master fitting a metal housing as we came past. I'd like to watch him work."
Ben agreed. Elder Hongwei led him out of the courtyard and back along the street to the workshop. They stopped at the open doorway. Inside, the forge master was filing a curved piece of metal at his bench.
Elder Hongwei waited for him to put the file down.
"May we come in and watch?"
The man grunted and nodded.
Elder Hongwei thanked him quietly and stepped inside with Ben. They went over to a low bench against the wall and sat down.
On the workbench lay a shallow metal base with part of a curved wall already fitted to it. There were no inscriptions on the metal.
"Is that a housing for a formation node?" Elder Hongwei asked.
"Yes," the craftsman said. "An inscribed stone will go inside. The housing still needs its own inscriptions to help contain the qi if the node is damaged."
The craftsman fitted the loose piece against the base. It completed the wall, leaving an opening at the top. Ben watched him turn it in his hands and examine the join.
System, can formation knowledge help me make something like that?
[CROSS-REFERENCE: Formation knowledge can guide inscription design. Weapon inscriptions function as small formations, and a formation master can supply patterns for a forger to execute. Shaping, tempering and fitting the metal require separate forging skills.]
The man set the housing down beside a curved cover. Ben had looked first for inscriptions, but now he watched how the pieces met. Elder Hongwei leaned a little to one side to see where the curved wall met the base.
The cover's edge seemed to follow the shape of the opening.
"Will you fit that next?" Elder Hongwei asked.
"In a moment," the man said.
The craftsman took up a cloth and wiped the edge. Elder Hongwei turned toward Ben.
"Shall we leave him to his work and find that meal?"
Ben had been thinking of a hot bowl of food. Now he looked back at the cover in the man's hands.
"Could we stay until he puts it on?"
"Of course," Elder Hongwei said.
The craftsman lowered one edge of the cover into place, then the other, supporting it with his fingertips. It rested evenly against the housing. He turned the piece toward the light and pressed along the join.
"Is it finished?" Ben asked.
"The fit is good," the man said. "There's still work to do."
The craftsman lifted the cover off again and laid it beside the base. Ben rose with Elder Hongwei, who thanked the man for letting them watch. They went out together to look for somewhere to eat.
They found a place serving spirit beast stew a little farther along the street. Ben stopped at the entrance as a woman carried two steaming bowls past him. There were chunks of meat in a dark broth, with chopped greens on top.
"Here?" Hongwei asked.
"Here," Ben said, and followed the woman inside.
Ben sat down at a small table against the wall. He ordered two bowls of stew. When the woman asked if they wanted anything else, he looked at the plate she had just set on the next table.
"Some of those dumplings, please."
Hongwei sat opposite him, smiling.
"You had that decided quickly."
"I've been thinking about food for some time."
The woman brought their bowls and cups of water, and Ben picked up his spoon. He lifted a piece of meat out of the broth and blew on it before taking a bite. It was tender and hot, with enough pepper to make him reach for his cup after the next mouthful.
Hongwei tried his own bowl, then drew it closer. For a while they ate without speaking. When the dumplings arrived, he moved the plate between them.
Ben took one, bit through the thin skin and caught the juice over his bowl. Across the table, Hongwei was doing the same. Ben smiled around his mouthful and reached for another.
They stayed until both bowls were empty. Hongwei paid for the meal, and they walked back together to the courtyard where the carts were waiting.
...
They left Ironforge City at first light. Ben watched the last workshops pass, their doors still shut, before the carts carried them out of the city and west along the road.
The journey continued for several more days. Each morning he took his place beside Hongwei, and at night he was glad to lie down. They talked when there was something to say. At other times Ben watched the road or dozed while the wheels rattled beneath him.
When Hongwei touched his arm one afternoon, Ben opened his eyes.
"Look ahead."
Beyond the carts, stone walls stretched across the distance. Ben sat a little straighter. Above them, a mass of rock jutted out in the shape of a dragon's head.
"Azure Dragon Fortress," Hongwei said.
Ben watched it as they drew closer. What had first looked like a single dark line separated into stonework and the shadow beneath the top of the wall. There were people up there. He could make out their heads and shoulders as they moved, small against the length of it.
The stone had a blue tinge. Ben looked along it toward the great rock, then back to the road. Their carts were heading for the open gate.
He had grown used to having another day of travel ahead. Now he kept looking for a glimpse of what lay inside. The loaded cart in front hid most of the entrance, and he had to wait until the road brought them farther around.
Hongwei was looking toward the gate too. Ben turned to say something, then looked ahead again. He could hear voices now, though he could not make out the words over the wheels.
The first cart slowed. One after another, the others followed. Ben rested his hand on the wooden side as their own cart drew nearer, close enough now that he had to look up to see the men on the wall.
They rolled into its shadow and stopped at the entrance to Azure Dragon Fortress.