The Curse of the Dodo's SongOn an island veiled in mist and memory, the last dodos do not know fear-until the first ship breaks the horizon. They are creatures of pure trust, living symbols of a balance maintained by a sentient, whispering land known as Mama Zilwa. But the rats that spill from the ship's hold are no ordinary vermin; they are the island's ancient, intelligent immune system, a living curse unleashed upon the intruders. As a desperate sailor, a girl who speaks for the land, and a matriarch of the rat colony forge an impossible alliance, they must wage a war not of muskets, but of myths. They must teach a hungry world a terrible, beautiful lesson: that some treasures are not possessions to be stolen, but songs to be heard, and that the true price of conquest is the harmony of the world itself.