Nyvoria did not answer fire with fire.
It answered with preparation.
The city near the border changed overnight. Streets were cleared. Supplies were moved underground. Families were guided to safer districts without panic or shouting. Soldiers took their places quietly, checking armor and tightening straps with steady hands.
Lunara moved through it all.
She did not raise her voice. She did not rush. She listened.
"Barricades here," she told a group of soldiers, pointing toward a narrow street. "If they break through the outer gate, this will slow them."
"What if they come with fire?" one asked.
"Then we make them fight where fire doesn't spread," she replied.
Some of the older officers watched her closely. Not with doubt but with expectation. The kind that weighed heavier than fear.
At the inner hall, the council argued.
"Rhaegor will strike again," one said. "Harder."
"And we will not chase him," King Eldrion replied. "We hold. We endure."
A priest stepped forward. "The spirits are restless. They warn of blood mixing where it should not."
Eyes turned briefly toward Lunara.
She felt it but said nothing.
Later, a messenger found her on the wall. "You're to take full command of the eastern defense," he said.
Lunara paused. This was no longer a test. It was a line being drawn.
"Yes," she answered.
As night fell, torches burned low along the walls. The land beyond lay quiet, too quiet. Lunara rested her hands on the stone, listening to the wind, to the faint whisper of spirits that refused to settle.
Across the border, Kael watched Nyvoria's defenses take shape.
"They're not panicking," one of his officers said. "They're digging in."
Kael nodded. "Because they expect another strike."
"Rhaegor won't disappoint."
Kael said nothing. He only watched as lights appeared along Nyvoria's walls—orderly, calm, unafraid.
For the first time, Kael understood something clearly.
Nyvoria was not weak.
And Lunara though he did not know why he was sure of it would be standing at the center of whatever came next.
The night stretched on.
Both sides waited.