Chapter One Hundred & Twenty Two

Chapter One Hundred & Twenty Two
Nora's P.O.V

I tilted my head slightly, studying him like he was already beneath me.

“So I’ll ask you one more time,” I said. “Why shouldn’t I end this right now?”

Silence stretched.

“Okay,” I said softly. “You don’t want to talk.”

I let my fingers flex just slightly.

The flame in my palm answered.

Green fire slipped from my hand like it had a mind of its own—fast, precise, controlled. It moved across the floor, up the walls, threading through the space in seconds before anyone could react.

Then it rose.

Every guard in the room froze as it wrapped around them.

Not burning.

Not yet.

The air tightened instantly—pressure building, heat without heat, power pressing in from every direction. A few of them tried to move, instinct kicking in—

The fire reacted.

Tightening just enough to remind them.

No one moved again.

I stepped forward slowly, my boots echoing in the sudden stillness, the glow from the flames casting everything in sharp green light.

“Let me be very clear,” I said, my voice calm, controlled, carrying through the room like it owned it. “You don’t get to sit across from me and decide when you speak.”

My gaze locked onto the one at the center.

“You don’t get to decide anything.”

The fire pulsed once—heavier this time—and I felt it respond to me, to my control, to my will.

Every guard felt it too.

I tilted my head slightly, watching them, watching him.

“Because right now,” I said, quieter now but far more dangerous, “every single one of them is breathing because I’m allowing it.”

A beat.

Then—

“So let’s try this again.”

The flames flickered—still controlled, still waiting.

“Talk.”

The room didn’t feel like it belonged to them anymore.

I let out a quiet laugh as one of them finally moved.

A woman at the far end of the table stood, slow and deliberate, like she thought that alone meant something. Her eyes dragged over me—dismissive, assessing—and then she smirked.

“That’s it?” she said, voice sharp with contempt. “All this build-up for a girl playing with tricks?”

The room stilled.

My smile widened.

“Careful,” I said, tilting my head slightly. “You’re starting to sound like you think you’re still in control.”

She scoffed, folding her arms like she hadn’t just watched me take over her entire room.

“You’re nothing more than a weapon that doesn’t understand itself,” she snapped. “Power without discipline always burns out.”

That was enough.

The flame in my hand shifted—not bigger, not louder—just… precise.

It moved before she could say another word.

Green fire snapped around her in an instant, wrapping tight, locking her in place. The arrogance vanished too late, her body going rigid as the heat closed in—close enough to feel, not yet enough to consume.

The room went dead silent.

I took a slow step forward, my voice calm, almost bored.

“I gave you a chance to talk,” I said.

The flame tightened.

Then—

I let it burn.

It consumed just enough—fast, efficient—before pulling back, leaving nothing but ash where she’d stood.

I didn’t look down.

Didn’t need to.

“Nope,” I said, my gaze already back on the rest of them. “I said talk.”

A beat.

“Not disrespect me.”

The fire around the guards pulsed again—subtle, but enough to remind them how easily that could have been any of them.

I stepped closer to the table, boots echoing in the silence, my presence filling the room like it always should have.

“Now,” I said, voice steady, final, “who’s next?”

A man on the other end of the table shifted.

He didn’t stand right away—just leaned forward slightly, like he understood exactly how thin the line was now. His eyes flicked once—brief, controlled—to the ash on the floor… then back to me.

Smart.

“I think—”

The fire tightened around the guards before he could finish.

“Think carefully,” I said, voice low, cutting straight through whatever he was about to say. “Because you don’t get a second attempt.”

Silence pressed in again, heavier than before.

He swallowed.

“We miscalculated,” he said, slower this time. “About you.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Clearly.”

His hands stayed visible on the table.

No sudden moves.

No attitude.

“We believed you were emerging,” he continued. “Unstable. Untrained.”

The flame in my hand flickered once, reacting to the word.

Unstable.

I smiled.

“And now?” I asked.

His jaw tightened just slightly.

“Now we understand you’re… neither.”

Better.

I took a step closer, closing more distance between us, the fire casting sharp green light across his face.

“You attacked my home based on a theory,” I said. “You put people I care about in danger because you thought I might be something you could control.”

He didn’t deny it.

Another smart choice.

“We act before threats fully form,” he said.

I let out a quiet breath.

“And I end them when they do.”

The room tightened again.

The fire pulsed.

“We can be an asset to you,” he added carefully.

That almost made me laugh.

“An asset,” I repeated.

My gaze swept the table again—every one of them sitting there, still pretending they had something to offer.

“You walked into my house like I was a problem to solve,” I said.

“We want to avoid escalation,” he corrected.

I stepped closer to the table, close enough now that there was no space left between us that mattered.

“You already escalated,” I said quietly.

Then I leaned forward just slightly, my eyes locking onto his.

“This,” I added, the faintest edge of a smile pulling at my mouth, “is the consequence.”

I turned—slowly, deliberately—my gaze cutting to the guards still wrapped in my fire.

“You have a choice,” I said, voice calm, carrying without effort. “You either become loyal to me and drop to one knee…”

The flame pulsed.

“…or you end up as ash where you stand.”

The door behind me opened.

My guards entered in formation, precise, controlled, lining the back wall without hesitation.

And without a word—

They dropped to one knee.

The shift in the room was immediate.

The guards caught in my fire looked from them… to me… then to the table where their so-called leaders sat.

The man at the center shot to his feet.

“Don’t you dare,” he snapped. “You are the Order.”

I didn’t even look at him.

I watched the guards.

One second.

Two.

Then—

They moved.

One by one, then all at once, every single one of them dropped to one knee.

Thirty men and women.

Armed.

Trained.

Choosing.

My fire loosened around them, not disappearing—just… acknowledging.

I clapped my hands together once, the sound sharp in the silence.

“Well,” I said lightly, a smirk pulling at my mouth, “that took a turn.”

My gaze slid back to the table.

“Now,” I continued, tilting my head slightly, “what Order do you have?”

The man’s face twisted, something between anger and disbelief.

“You are nothing, Iriath,” he sneered.

I smiled.