AMINA: THE LIONESS OF ZAZZAU

Night in Zazzau was supposed to be quiet. But tonight, the wind carried something different. Smoke. Amina woke before the guards sounded the alarm. Not because she heard them. Because she felt it. Her eyes opened sharply in the dark chamber. For a moment, she stayed still, listening. The palace was too silent in the wrong way like the world was holding its breath. Then it came. A distant shout. Then another. Steel clashing. Fire crackling somewhere far off. Amina was out of bed instantly. Barefoot, she moved to the window. In the distance beyond the palace walls a glow was rising. Orange. Hungry. Alive. “Village fires…” she whispered. A loud knock slammed her door open. “Amina!” a guard gasped, breathless. “You must stay inside!” “What is happening?” “Raiders. They struck West Gate villages. The Queen has ordered lockdown.” Amina was already moving. “Where is my mother?” “The war chamber” She didn’t wait for the rest. She ran. The palace was no longer calm. Servants rushed like scattered ants. Guards tightened formation. Doors slammed. Orders flew. But Amina moved through it like a blade through cloth. At the war chamber doors, two guards stepped in front of her. “Princess, you cannot enter.” Amina didn’t slow down. “Move.” “It is forbidden” She grabbed the first guard’s spear and twisted it aside in one motion. Not enough to break him but enough to show she could. The second guard stepped back. The doors opened. Inside, chaos had turned into strategy. Queen Bakwa stood over the war table. General Dantala was already pointing at burned markings on a map. And the moment Amina entered, silence cut through the room. The Queen’s eyes snapped up. “I told you to stay in your chambers.” “I told you I don’t listen when the kingdom is burning.” Dantala exhaled sharply. “Not now.” Amina stepped forward. “How bad?” The Queen didn’t answer immediately. Then.. “Five villages attacked in one hour,” Dantala said. “All coordinated. No warning signs. No survivors left to report details.” Amina’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not bandits.” “We know,” Dantala replied. A servant placed a cloth on the table. Burned. The same symbol. A broken circle. But now.. It was marked with ash that hadn’t cooled yet. Amina touched it lightly. “It’s fresh.” The Queen’s voice dropped. “They are close.” Amina looked up immediately. “Close where?” Before anyone could answer A horn blasted outside. Long. Sharp. Urgent. Every guard in the chamber froze. Dantala turned. “That’s the inner alarm.” Amina was already moving again. The palace courtyard erupted into panic. Guards ran toward the eastern wall. Firelight flickered over stone like moving shadows. Amina reached the balcony above the courtyard and saw it.. Arrows. Not random. Not scattered. Controlled. Landing in perfect rhythm along the outer defenses. And then.. Something worse. Figures moving in the dark. Too fast for normal men. Too organized for bandits. “They are inside the perimeter!” a soldier shouted. Amina grabbed a dropped bow from a fallen guard. “Amina!” Dantala shouted behind her. “Stay back!” But she was already climbing the outer wall. “Then stop me.” She reached the top of the wall in seconds. Below her, chaos had fully broken loose. Soldiers clashed with unknown attackers dressed in dark cloth, faces covered. No insignia. No language she recognized. Only silence and precision. Amina drew an arrow. Released. One attacker dropped. But two more replaced him instantly. She frowned. “They don’t retreat,” she muttered. A blade flashed behind her. She ducked just in time. A masked attacker lunged at her. Fast. Too fast. She blocked with the bow, kicked him back, and grabbed his arm mid-fall twisting him over the wall. He hit the ground below with a dull thud. But before she could breathe Another appeared. Then another. They were climbing the wall. Not scaling. Hunting. Amina backed up, then ran along the wall edge. “General!” she shouted. “They’re breaching from the east side!” Dantala looked up from below. His expression changed. “Fall back!” he ordered the troops. “Protect the inner gates!” Amina jumped from the wall onto a wooden beam below, landing hard but steady. She kept moving. Fire spread near the granary. If it reached it.. The entire palace supply would collapse. She sprinted toward it. But halfway there.. She stopped. Something felt wrong. Too quiet. The attackers weren’t pushing deeper. They were… withdrawing. Amina narrowed her eyes. “No…” she whispered. This wasn’t an invasion. It was a signal. A distraction. Her eyes widened. “The Queen.” She turned sharply and ran back. Inside the palace corridors, panic had multiplied. Servants screamed. Doors were locked. Guards ran in the wrong directions. Amina pushed through all of it until she reached the war chamber again. Empty. Her stomach tightened. “Mother…” she whispered. Then she saw it. The broken circle symbol. Painted freshly on the war table. Still wet. And beside it.. A small piece of cloth. Royal fabric. Queen Bakwa’s robe. Amina’s breath stopped. “No…” A voice came from behind her. Calm. Cold. “You move fast for someone still learning war.” Amina turned slowly. A masked figure stood at the edge of the chamber. Not rushing. Not attacking. Just watching. “You did this?” Amina asked. The figure tilted their head slightly. “We tested the kingdom. And it failed.” Amina stepped forward. “Where is the Queen?” A pause. Then.. “She is not here anymore.” Something inside Amina snapped. She grabbed a dagger from the table and launched forward. Fast. Angry. But the figure moved just as fast. They caught her wrist mid-strike. Too strong. Too controlled. Amina twisted, kicked, broke free, and slashed again This time cutting the figure’s mask slightly. For a second… She saw eyes. Not unfamiliar. But unreadable. Then the figure stepped back into the shadows. “You will chase her,” the voice said. Amina followed instantly. But the chamber doors slammed shut on their own. Heavy. Locked. When she hit them.. They didn’t move. And behind her.. The war table caught fire. A slow burn. Like a message. Amina turned, breathing hard. The symbol was still there. Now glowing in flame. And she understood. This was not an attack. It was a beginning. Outside, the kingdom still burned. Inside, the Queen was gone. And for the first time in her life.. Princess Amina was not being protected. She was being invited. END OF EPISODE TWO