Chapter 23: Beyond The Line. 121 AC

A/N: don't name your kid Aegon folks.

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[3rd POV]

Prince Qoren Martell stood inside a cave near the south coast of Dorne. He was looking at the map of the stepstones and the disputed lands, where all kinds of sculptures were on it, symbolizing positions of interests and enemies. Inside the cave are also a bunch of soldiers, some guarding the outside, many on the inside, giving food towards the smallfolk that evacuated with them.

There have been sightings of Prince Daemon near the Greenblood with his Blood Wyrm, so as a countermeasure, the Prince commanded that anyone around the area is to be evacuated, including Sunspear, Planky Town, Godsgrace, and Vaith.

Suddenly, a messenger came towards him, his face pale and sweaty, as if he risked his life to deliver the news that he was about to report.

"My prince, the Velaryon fleet have moved." the messenger said. "They're patrolling around the summer sea, raiding every village at the south coast of Dorne. Strangely, they spared the smallfolk, but they burned their boats, houses, and took their food stocks. The refugees are coming to Sunspear."

The prince could only frown. "They spared the smallfolk?"

"Yes, my prince." the messenger nodded.

"Strange…" the prince hummed. "Evacuate the refugees to one of our caves, make sure you're not being followed, maybe they're doing this because they want to see where we are hiding."

The messenger bowed. "As you command, my prince."

The messenger was about to go, but then, the prince stopped him. "Wait."

The messenger turned to the prince once again, and waited for the prince to speak.

"Where are the scouts? Have they seen Daemon's Dragon?" asked the prince.

"No sighting of the dragon for now, my prince." said the messenger. "But scouts suggest that the sky is awfully quiet, perhaps because they're anticipating the storm that's brewing on the summer sea."

Qoren frowned more deeply instead of sighing in relief. "Right. You can go now."

The messenger then left, leaving the prince alone. Qoren's gaze turns towards a sculpture of a red dragon on top of Bloodstone, seemingly reminding him of the 4th Dornish war, where Morion Martell tried to invade the Stormlands by sea, yet a day was all it took for Vhagar, Vermithor the Bronze Fury, and Caraxes the Blood Wyrm to burn all the ships that Dorne worked so hard to gather in a year.

Never again.

—

A red dragon flew over the river of the Greenblood, the Rider of said dragon, Daemon Targaryen, showed no signs of life below whatsoever, but the green pastures of many fruits and vegetables were being planted, as Spring had just come. When Daemon saw no signs of life, he commanded his dragon to dive towards the field, before unleashing his crimson fire towards the ground.

The climate of Dorne is quite dry, the grasses that grew there were a bit yellow in color, but the crops stayed healthy, as an irrigation system spread throughout much of the Greenblood. But when the fire hit the dry grasses, added by the fact that Dorne has mild winds, the fire quickly spread. Caraxes tore a path of destruction as his breath charred the fertile soil below as thick black smoke rose to the air.

While there was almost no sign of life, there was still some cattle that was left behind, the dragon flew above villages, and Daemon also commanded him to burn the place to the ground, with the cattles and all.

Daemon scoured the Greenblood, burning every single field and villages he could find, leaving none undamaged. A trail of smoke and fire could be seen from afar, smallfolk from the villages on the hills and mountains could see the path of destruction that the dragon made, and they could only curse the Targaryens for that.

Yet at the sight of this, Daemon has a flat face, showing no signs of pity, nor hesitation, nor disgust.

When Daemon arrived at Godsgrace, Caraxes landed atop the castle. Again, it was empty, seemingly knowing that Daemon will visit this castle near the Greenblood. The rogue prince was a bit bored at the lack of fighting from the opponent, and his hands were seemingly aching for a fight.

So he commanded his dragon to take off, before breathing fire to the castle. Some of the stones were charred, some were even melted, the wood quickly burned and spread throughout the castle and its surroundings.

Daemon then flew to the walls of the place, and he unleashed Caraxes's fire once again, leaving a gaping hole on the defenses of the castle.

When all was said and done, Caraxes took off again, continuing to scour the Greenblood, burning everything on its path.

—

Qoren Martell could only clench his fists as his scouts stood in front of him, reporting what they had seen outside. The men looked like they had been fighting against fire, as their faces were all black, covered in ashes and dirt.

He got reports on how Daemon was burning their fields and castle around the Greenblood, how he destroyed Godsgrace, left a mark on Vaith, and how he burned the fields around the river, and the villages surrounding the castles.

"And where is he now?" the prince asked calmly.

"He's patrolling around the Greenblood. With no resistance."

The prince slammed his fist to the table, scattering the sculptures and map throughout the ground. "The damages?" he asked.

"No fields were spared," said the scouts, gulping at the suddenness of the prince's tantrum. "The cattles were burned to a crisp, Godsgrace's walls are destroyed."

"Do you know what this means?" asked the prince calmly.

"I… I do know what it means, my prince." the scout answered obediently.

Qoren took a deep breath. "What of the refugees and the smallfolk?"

"Supplies are on the way to the caves, my prince… but… Sunspear only has food stocks that will last for 1 month if we're to keep supplying them."

"Send messages throughout the lords of Dorne, tell them to spare some food for the smallfolk and refugees in the east."

"It's risky, my prince." the scout commented. "Daemon is patrolling around the safe routes, so the food will either go through the desert, or the sea, but even then, the sea has—"

"The Velaryon fleet, I know." the prince cut him off. "But there's a small coastal path west of Sea Shore, that's our best bet."

"Again, my prince, the Velaryon Fleet is occupying the shores of—"

"Then try to be discreet." the prince said in frustration. "And send a message to the triarchy, tell them to assemble their fleet faster, we won't hold much longer if this keeps going on."

The scouts bowed. "As you command, my prince."

Qoren sighed deeply as the scouts left. He turned his gaze towards the entrance of the cave, and he saw the sight of the summer sea, with dark clouds brewing far away from the coast.

"Besieged in our own lands…" he muttered to himself, seemingly insulting himself. "Perhaps I'll become like Morion, destined to be mocked by generations to come…"