The weather refused to cooperate. The afternoon of the third day had been clear and sunny, but toward dusk, fierce winds suddenly swept across the entire Honeywine basin. A rare storm descended without warning.
The night was black as ink. Fierce winds drove torrential rain mercilessly across the Honeywine basin. Even the Red Mountains to the east and the area around Sandstone were caught in the storm.
This brought terrible misfortune upon House Qorgyle of Sandstone. Sandstone was the hottest, driest region in all of Dorne. Apart from an ancient well within the town, only a few underground rivers nearby could supply them with water.
To evade the great dragons' attacks, House Qorgyle had moved all its elite troops, supplies, and people into a cavern beside an underground river.
Now the sudden downpour sent the underground river surging, flooding more than half the cavern. They scrambled out of the underground cavern, driving their livestock ahead of them, like rats fleeing a flooded burrow.
Unlike the unfortunate House Qorgyle, House Dayne of High Hermitage felt deeply relieved. The Earl of High Hermitage even climbed to the castle's highest point and looked toward the distant docks.
"Let this storm rage even harder! Better yet, let it destroy the entire Holy Flame Fleet! Hahaha! It seems heaven is still on our side here in Dorne!"
But the Earl of High Hermitage was likely to be disappointed. The sudden downpour had indeed made the Honeywine exceptionally treacherous, but it was nothing compared to the storms at sea.
The Holy Flame Fleet's ships were the most advanced in the world. Barring an exceptionally severe disaster at sea, they could sail almost anywhere. The mere Honeywine could do little damage to the fleet.
However, the sharp rise in the Honeywine's water level would drastically alter the