Ignoring Nanisca’s orders to stay back, Nawi joins a reconnaissance mission to scout the Oyo forces. The mission goes wrong, and several Agojie, including Nawi and Izogie, are captured by the Oyo and taken to a slave port to be sold to the Portuguese.
Nawi is fiercely independent and questions the strict rules of the Agojie, particularly the vow of celibacy and the ban on having children. During her training, she learns that General Nanisca has a dark past. Years earlier, Nanisca was captured by the Oyo, raped, and held prisoner. She later gave birth to a child but gave the baby away, marking the infant's shoulder with a permanent scar to identify her if they ever crossed paths again. As Nawi and Nanisca grow closer, Nanisca discovers a scar on Nawi's shoulder and realizes that Nawi is her biological daughter. Ignoring Nanisca’s orders to stay back, Nawi joins
Back at the palace, King Ghezo refuses to authorize a rescue mission, believing it is too dangerous. Defying the king's orders to protect her people and her daughter, Nanisca leads a group of loyal Agojie on a covert mission to liberate the captives. A chaotic and bloody battle ensues at the slave port. During the fight, Izogie is tragically killed while trying to help Nawi escape. Heartbroken but determined, Nawi and Nanisca fight side-by-side. Malik, horrified by the brutality of the slave trade, helps the warriors by creating a diversion and freeing more captives. During her training, she learns that General Nanisca
In the 1820s, the Kingdom of Dahomey (located in modern-day Benin) is under the rule of King Ghezo. The kingdom is guarded by the Agojie, an elite group of fierce female warriors led by General Nanisca. The story begins with the Agojie liberating Dahomean captives who had been abducted by slave raiders from the Oyo Empire, a powerful rival kingdom that demands tribute from Dahomey. As Nawi and Nanisca grow closer, Nanisca discovers
Following this successful raid, King Ghezo prepares for an inevitable war with the Oyo. Meanwhile, a young, headstrong girl named Nawi is given to the King by her father after she refuses to marry an abusive, older man. Nawi is placed in the care of the Agojie and begins her rigorous training under the guidance of Izogie, a seasoned and highly skilled warrior.
Tensions rise when a group of Portuguese slave traders, led by Santo Ferreira and accompanied by the half-Dahomean Malik, arrive to buy slaves from the Oyo. Malik is drawn to Nawi, and she learns from him that the Oyo are planning a massive attack on Dahomey.