Queen_malikamp4 ✦ Trusted & Deluxe

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

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

"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." She ordered the falconers to dispatch the signal,

The dust of the savannah hadn't settled, but Queen Malika stood unmoving atop the highest terrace of the Azzazian citadel. Below her, the coalition of tribal leaders argued, their voices rising like the desert wind. They doubted the 17-year-old queen could hold the line against the encroaching Fire-Stalkers. "The Fire-Stalkers believe they are fighting a girl,"

With a roar that outdid the wind, Malika breached the camp. She was no longer just a ruler; she was the warrior she was born to be.

"Queen Malika, your people are scared," Prime Minister Gidi said, his voice trembling. "They say it is time to surrender the eastern grain stores to buy time."

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