hotmtlnovel Chapter 445: Dragonfire Burns Sunspear
Chapter 445: Dragonfire Burns Sunspear
Chapter 445: Dragonfire Burns Sunspear
In the corridors of the old palace, Davos hurriedly searches for the prince's heir.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, there is a chaotic flurry of activity. Servants hastily pack belongings while soldiers prepare to abandon the city.
Davos walks through the Sun Tower and then heads to the Water Gardens outside the city.
As night falls, the atmosphere grows tenser.
Sunspear, East Coast.
This coastal town, surrounded by the sea on three sides, transitions from a brief desert section to sandy beaches lined with reefs.
The moon shines brightly, with few stars in the sky, and dark clouds drift by.
Davos walks on the beach, holding a two- or three-year-old girl in his arms and guiding a five- or six-year-old boy by the hand.
The children are wrapped in silk, their faces tense and anxious.
"Lord Davos, does Father really have to send us away?" Qyle Martell asks timidly.
Davos's expression softens as he replies, "Don't be afraid. Dorne will win this war sooner or later, and you will return."
"Why are we fighting?" Qyle's eyes fill with tears, his young voice quavering.
Lacking the precociousness of his sister Aliandra, he instinctively hates the war that has shattered their peace.
Davos pauses, looks up at the crescent moon, and sighs helplessly: "This is a difficult question. There is a war every second of every day in the world. The difference is the number of people involved."
He recalls a story his grandmother once told him.
A farmer lost a mule and noticed that his neighbor had an extra one, leading to a fight between them.
The fight drew the entire village, with people taking sides.
In the chaos, someone got injured, and the injured person's relatives from a neighboring village got involved, causing a war between the two villages.
The war disrupted the harvest, affecting the taxes collected by the Lord.
Unable to collect taxes, the Lord went to war with other Lords for gold.
Eventually, the war spread like a plague, affecting every inch of the continent.
In the end, war is about plunder and capital.
The Iron Throne is strong, and Dorne will be beaten.
The stronger Dorne becomes, the more the Iron Throne's position will be threatened.
The two sides are on the same continent, making war inevitable.
Qyle half-understands, his black eyes flowing with tears as he is consumed by the sadness of separation.
Splash!
The evening wind churned the waves, sending them crashing violently onto the beach.
Outside the reef, a small boat bobbed like a child adrift, far from home.
"Children, it's time to go."
Davos removed his white cloak and, without further ado, carried the two children to the boat.
In the darkness of the night, two larger cargo ships floated on the sea, waiting to receive their precious "cargo."
Davos sat in the small boat and paddled towards one of the cargo ships.
Soon, the boat bumped against the hull of the ship.
"Mate, I'll throw you a rope. You bring the kids up."
A bearded man stood on the deck, speaking in Valyrian, and threw down a thick rope.
Davos glanced at the sail, seeing the emblem of a cold tiger's head.
Confirming it was the connecting ship, Davos held Coryanne in his arms and Qyle on his back.
Bang!
Leaping nimbly into the boat, Davos untied the silk around Coryanne's chest and reminded the man, "Take care of the little princess. The prince will be very grateful to Triarch Tesrio."
"Of course, the Triarch is the most hospitable person."
The bearded man smiled broadly and reached out to take the child.
"Good, I'll take Prince Qyle with me."
"Don't worry, the boat is coming."
"What?"
Davos was taken aback and turned around in surprise.
Suddenly, a dagger plunged into the back of his head, the tip piercing through to his jaw.
"Sorry."
"Valar morghulis (All men must die)."
The bearded man's tone changed, and he tore off a piece of his face, revealing a foreign visage.
Brown curly hair, weathered by the wind and the years, framed a face with a smile that never left his lips.
The sea rippled gently as the sun's reflection turned the horizon a fiery red.
"Roar..."
A loud dragon roar shattered the calm of the sunrise.
Above the Shadow City, Sunfyre soared in, releasing a stream of Dragonfire without hesitation.
As the sun reached halfway up the sky, Sunfyre, with its golden scales and pale pink wing membranes, appeared like a radiant sun that had gone astray.
Boom! Boom!
A large army emerged from the Greenblood River, surrounding the gates of the city and launching boulders from catapults.
In Sunspear's royal palace, Qoren jolted awake, startled by the commotion outside.
"What's going on? What's happening?!"
He tore aside the bed curtains and rushed out of his bedroom, grabbing a guard.
"The Sea Snake is attacking?" he demanded.
The guard, trembling, replied, "The army is blocking the entrance to Shadow City, and a dragon is attacking the buildings."
"Bastard!"
Qoren kicked the guard aside and staggered out of the room, muttering to himself, "There is a tunnel under Shadow City. Sunspear can't hold out."
As he spoke, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he almost collapsed. With sheer willpower, Qoren summoned his troops, understanding a harsh truth.
No wonder the people of Essos hated the Dragonlords and their dragons. Before the dragons, Westeros's power lay in its thick armor, mobile cavalry, and impregnable castles.
But the dragons changed everything. Thick armor was burned through, cavalry became mere playthings, and even the sturdiest castles, which once boasted natural defenses, crumbled under the might of dragons with air superiority.
Outside the city walls of Shadow City, a 3,000-strong Crownlands army marched proudly, maneuvering siege engines to attack.
The Sea Snake, with a grim expression, shouted, "Release!"
Boom! Boom!
The catapults launched boulders that smashed into the brownish-yellow battlements.
The defenders, numbering only a few hundred, couldn't withstand the dragon's onslaught and were quickly overwhelmed.
The Sea Snake waved his hand and commanded, "Break into the city!"
The soldiers pushed the siege weapons forward, easily crashing through the unblocked city gate.
At that moment, the sun rose fully, and the sky filled with fiery clouds.
The Sea Snake looked up, his face twitching slightly, an indescribable excitement welling up in his eyes.
...
"Run!"
"One by one, the exit is in the desert."
In a hidden corner of Shadow City, Dorne soldiers surged forward, scrambling to enter a secret passageway.
One mile outside the city.
Bang!
A muffled sound came from the sand, followed by a pop as a wooden board was pushed aside.
Qoren, covered in sand, crawled out of the hole on his hands and knees.
"Hurry up! The Water Gardens are ahead. Go around them and take the path to Ghost Hill."
A large number of soldiers climbed out, and Qoren led the way into the desert.
The road is impassable, so it's safer to travel through the desert.
Ghost Hill is the closest to Sunspear. We can get supplies there and then make a plan.
Hoo-hoo!
He labored through the sand, and a gust of wind blew past his head.
Qoren froze, his joy of escape extinguished, and he looked up with difficulty.
The sky suddenly darkened, and a shadow covered the earth, blocking the bright sun.
Above his head, the blue sky disappeared, replaced by a huge black dragon.
The dragon's pupils were a dangerous shade of green, and it was at the top of the food chain.
"Dracarys!"
Suddenly, a clear voice rang out.
The next second, green Dragonfire poured down.
Qoren's teeth clenched, and he only had time to see a silver-haired figure on the dragon's back looking down at him with contempt.
The hot air rushed towards him, and Qoren, like a lamb about to be slaughtered, let out a desperate cry:
"No!"