"Surrender is not a strategy, Gidi. It is a waiting room for death," Malika said, her voice calm but carrying across the terrace, silencing the argument below.

Malika didn't look back at her advisors. She focused on the horizon, where the smoke of burning villages stained the sky.

She ordered the falconers to dispatch the signal, not to retreat, but to advance.

Malika turned, her eyes reflecting the orange glow of the distant fires. She gripped the hilt of her ancestral blade, The Sun-Shard .

"The Fire-Stalkers believe they are fighting a girl," Malika told the leaders. "They will learn they are fighting the dragon of the savannah. We do not hide behind stone walls. We ride."

Queen_malikamp4 <TRUSTED ◉>

"Surrender is not a strategy, Gidi. It is a waiting room for death," Malika said, her voice calm but carrying across the terrace, silencing the argument below.

Malika didn't look back at her advisors. She focused on the horizon, where the smoke of burning villages stained the sky. queen_malikamp4

She ordered the falconers to dispatch the signal, not to retreat, but to advance. "Surrender is not a strategy, Gidi

Malika turned, her eyes reflecting the orange glow of the distant fires. She gripped the hilt of her ancestral blade, The Sun-Shard . "Surrender is not a strategy

"The Fire-Stalkers believe they are fighting a girl," Malika told the leaders. "They will learn they are fighting the dragon of the savannah. We do not hide behind stone walls. We ride."