There was nothing more to be done, the Blessed and the Empty were now at war.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
War is Declared
Sunday morning dawned clear and bright. The residents of Meryton prepared for church blissfully unaware that the Elders of the Blessed had spent the whole of yesterday and last night meeting together. That Mary's actions in Meryton yesterday were commendable as they ended a potentially ugly confrontation was not in dispute. Nor was it in dispute that in ending the ugly situation war had been declared. The question now was whether or not to take a formal declaration of war to the Empty or to wait for them to bring the formal declaration. Back and forth the discussion went, and still, they were no closer to finding a resolution. Eventually, they separated to go to church.
The moment Darcy and Elizabeth arrived at the Longbourne church, they knew trouble was brewing. Lined up outside the church were redcoats. Although Darcy and Elizabeth passed peacefully into the church Mary was not so fortunate. As she approached the redcoats surrounded her and the rest of the Bennets. There was no time for anyone to send a distress signal before one of the soldiers reached out and placed his hand on Mary's shoulder. That was all it took, Mary crumpled to the floor before anyone could say or do anything. The redcoats evaporated silently into the mist. The Empty had retaliated. It was Mrs Bennet's hysterics that brought everyone out of the shock[ this meaning came about in 1704]. Mr Bennet knelt by his daughter, afraid of the outcome.
The church quickly emptied each person eager to see what the commotion was outside. Darcy and Elizabeth were the first ones out the door. The scene that met their eyes was almost comical. Try as she might appear in her usual hysterics, Mrs Bennet was in fact very efficiently organising people around her and keeping the area clear where her daughter now lay slumped on the ground. Kitty and Lydia were staring wide eyed at what just happened. Neither of them knew how to respond, this being their first real experience of the ugliness that now awaited the whole of the Blessed and the Empty. Jane and Charles Bingley were slowly and silently moving toward the scene as if in a daze. Elizabeth and Darcy looked at each other. The sense of danger Darcy had felt had been a more general unease and Elizabeth's sense of someone needing help had also been more general. They wondered why it had been so when a member of their own family had just been attacked.
Mary's story was interesting. The middle child of Thomas and Francine Bennet, she had, from a baby, nurtured her gifts silently. She had equal intelligence to her sister Elizabeth and had copied Elizabeth throughout her formative years in all but curiosity. Where Elizabeth sought to explain her gift and wanted to understand it Mary, like Jane, hid her gift. Mary hid behind the pages of books, she felt lonely amongst a house where Parents had vocal favourites and siblings divided into close friendships. Mary felt she was on her own. She felt her gift made her unique and special. Never had she imagined that she would use it the way she had yesterday. Yet somehow she felt more alive and thrilled to know that it was she who was quick thinking enough and brave enough to put an end to the street brawl yesterday. That was until reality set in that she had taken the Blessed into a war they did not want. She had been reckless and foolish.
Being touched by the redcoat just now was... interesting... she had no better way to describe it than that. The soldier had reached out with the express intent to draw her energy out and send a fit of despair that it would fracture her mind and eventually she would perish as her brain failed to keep her heart beating. However, Mary upon feeling the redcoat's hand approach had taken a novel way to defend herself. Instead of sending love and allowing the redcoat to drain her energy, Mary had tapped into those years of loneliness She became an empty vessel and instead she absorbed her attacker's energy.
As the negative energy entered, at first Mary felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and then blacked out. As she came to her senses once more, her father's ear was over her mouth as he frantically tried to feel if his daughter was breathing. With a wicked grin on her face, Mary blew in her father's ear, giving him quite the shock. Thomas Bennet glared at his daughter and then aided her to stand up. The group moved into the church.
This incident was enough, it was clear the Elders must declare war on the Empty. The small skirmishes could not be allowed to continue.
Those in attendance at the Longbourne church service that morning felt oppressed throughout the whole service, though the attack was over. Mary recovered quickly with no residual effects. However the Blessed were worried. The Children of the past felt unsettled and didn’t know what had happened. The vicar changed his sermon in order to aid people to go home earlier, however, even his shortest sermon seemed interminable, as everyone had become eager to go home. Once the service was over, nobody wished to wait around gossiping, but all hurried home.
The Elders of the Blessed reconvened at Lucas lodge, and after five hours of discussion a formal declaration had been drafted:
Due to the events that have transpired in the last few days, and in order to avoid the trauma of retaliatory action, it is with regret that we The Elders of the Blessed formally declare war on those who belong to and identify themselves as being The Empty. We are very sorry that it has come to this, but we must protect all who could become casualties. By wielding the energy surrounding us, we wield powerful weapons and therefore we have a responsibility to maintain a balance and to wield our weapons responsibly. It is with that responsibility in mind that we have come to this tragic decision, that war is our only option.
To this effect the first engagement of the Blessed with the Empty will take place on:
29 July 1811 at 1 pm on the Fields of the Netherfield Estate.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Meryton at war
The first day of the war dawned grey and drizzly. The weather and the general mood were well matched, as all of the Blessed were sombre with the knowledge that they were to be engaged in what would be a very ugly business. Only a small percentage of the blessed had joined the professional army of the country, the rest of those who were to be involved in this clash between the Blessed and the Empty had only a few weeks of training in which to gain the necessary skills. Lord Matlock had trained the whole of the Blessed well and they were ready to face the Empty on fields of Netherfield. It seemed to Elizabeth and Darcy as if the few weeks since the war had been declared were a whirlwind. Going from strangers to married in a matter of hours and within a week to be involved in a war that they did not want would be hard enough for any one, yet for Darcy and Elizabeth they found themselves so completely overwhelmed that each morning they could hardly believe their good fortune to have found each other. They had yet to learn the full story of their ancestry, and who they are; yet life, it seemed, would never be the same again.
This particular morning found the blessed engaged in the preparation of Netherfield so that those who were injured or worse would be brought there to be healed. Elizabeth would be leading those of the blessed who would not engage in the actual battle but would engage in nursing those injured back to health. The guest rooms were full of guests; however, the whole of the ground floor had been converted from salons and dining parlours into treatment rooms, and the strongest healers had been arranged into teams that night and day someone would be on hand to treat the sick. Nothing had been left to chance.
Elizabeth watched from one of Netherfield’s windows as the Blessed formed their ranks and moved off to meet the Empty. Half of the Kindred had spent the night on the fields preparing for that morning while the other half had remained to guard the Blessed should anything happen before the War actually began. Both Elizabeth and Darcy had worried over this day as their sense of danger and people needing help had been increasing every day. War had been unavoidable; peace was not an option. War was here; once more the Blessed and the Empty were to meet in battle, which would eventually involve the whole world. The Children of the past would feel the shift in the energy vibrations of the world and this would invariably lead to the usage of
weapons that, though cruder than those of the blessed or Empty, would be more dangerous. Words and energy are dangerous, and when wielded carelessly or without due consideration then they could unbalance not just a single individual, but they had the potential to unbalance the whole world. Peace was always the preferable outcome, but this was not to be. Elizabeth was saddened that war had become inevitable, and could not shake a sense of melancholy that had settled over her.
Elizabeth shook her head and turned away as she heard the younger men singing and laughing as they romanticised the idea of going to war. War - it was such an ugly business that only those who did not own the gift of foresight would find pleasure in such an endeavour. Elizabeth briefly wondered if they would still be singing when the true ugliness showed itself, however, she knew that she could not worry too much about it now, but rather she had to maintain her connection with Darcy while organising the nurses and healers that had gathered to help the wounded.
Darcy was in the front rank between his uncle and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. He had learnt as much as he could during the last few weeks. He had not wished to be out fighting but rather wished to be back at Netherfield aiding Elizabeth and the Nurses. His dominant traits of strategy and knowing when danger was around the corner meant that he was more suited to the battlefield than with the nurses and the sick. Therefore here he was linking arms with the rest of the blessed that were going out to meet the Empty on a far field. He and Elizabeth had been warned that they would need to keep up their telepathic communication throughout the whole of the ordeal, especially if one or other of them became injured. Darcy felt a shiver run down his back at the thought of Elizabeth being injured and felt that he could not bear to lose her now. To lose Georgiana would be difficult; to lose Elizabeth would be the same as losing his own life. Darcy could not contemplate even the idea.
As they neared the battlefield the group seemed to move slower and slower. The closer they came the denser the energy was until it was so thick they felt more like they were wading through thick mud rather than walking. The light seemed to fade as if the whole of nature knew what was about to take place and wanted no part of it. The mood of the young men that had been singing as they moved out from Netherfield changed. Mumblings and complaints started; many just wished to go home to their respective estates. One such young man was vaguely known to Darcy through his elder brother, Henry MacGuire, “Why is the atmosphere here so thick?" Matthew MacGuire started, "I want to go home, this feels like death. I didn’t ask for this.” His statement merely vocalised the thoughts of the whole of the Blessed. None of them had appreciated their easy lives until this point.
Georgiana moved through the crowd, and the moment their eyes met Georgiana's light merged with Matthew's. The whole of the blessed witnessed the event, they had not anticipated this happening right there on the battlefield; Georgiana was able to calm Matthew down and the two of them stood side by side ready to battle The Empty. This event with Georgiana and Matthew was not to be an isolated event. It seemed very much as if the whole of the Blessed were to find their soul mates there on the field that day. Anne DeBourg, who was considered a frail weak little thing, was to show more courage than all the able bodied men around her, she would find her soulmate before the day was out. Colonel Fitzwilliam had found his soulmate two days previous. With so many of the Blessed in one place, it was no surprise that many were finding their soulmates. Sadly, many of the older generation who had never met their soul mates would not find theirs due to illness and death had taken the soulmate off the planet before their paths would ever cross. After the war was over many weddings old take place, but the focus now was on the war and what would be needed to maintain some kind of energetic equilibrium. Now they were face to face with the Empty.
Looking across at The Empty was almost a surreal experience for Darcy and others of the Blessed. On a superficial level, The Empty had many of the same facial features as The Blessed. As Darcy looked over it struck him how much time and animosity was spent between people that essentially there were no differences between; an arbitrary act of nature had given them opposing abilities, that was all. The Empty had formed a few ranks but had arranged themselves on what appeared to be more haphazard lines. The existing generations of the blessed had lived their lives almost fearing the Empty and what they would do. The threat of war in Christopher’s prophecy had been enough to make the Blessed afraid. Now although not ridiculous, it was plain to see that the fear that had been woven into the fabric of their lives was highly over stated. Yet a natural cautiousness remained. Looks could be deceptive and the eyes of The Empty were certainly sending a far different message to their pleasant looks; for many of the Blessed already felt as if their energy was being sapped.
Lord Matlock was about to speak and to open the war in a pleasant engaging manner. However, the Empty had been becoming more and more restless as they waited for the blessed. This was an opportunity they had waited years for war, now they would take the opportunity presented to finally wipe out their enemies once and for all. They wanted this war. The blessed were a living and peaceful people. War was incongruent to their ways of thinking as they saw the unity and uniqueness of humanity. The Empty hungered for the chaos and destruction that they could wield in war. Before anybody knew what had happened, Blessed or Empty, an energy bolt was sent from the Empty aimed at Anne De Bourgh. She gave a shriek and collapsed to the floor. Before anyone could do anything, especially Kitty who had been waiting in the field to provide healing, Anne stood up and marched directly over to the leader of the Empty and did something very extraordinary.
Darcy watched with a mixture of admiration and horror at Anne’s actions. The rest of the blessed were equally shocked. Anne had a gift that had passed into legend more than 500 years previously. Nobody thought that it was possible for her to do this. Anne had not shown, during preparation, any particular skills and had certainly not shared her skills with anyone else. Before their eyes, Anne appeared to almost disappear, her energy field was magnified so high and pure that she became almost transparent. She used her energy field to surround the energy field of the leader of the Empty. The blessed looked on dumbfounded as the energy field of the Empty leader started to take on colour, and soon his energy field looked the same as that of a member of the blessed.
Anne returned to her normal form and returned to the ranks of the blessed. Her smile was radiant as she moved towards the back of the blessed ranks. She would watch for a while as the rest of the day played out. The Empty didn’t know what had happened, their leader confused and stunned moved to the side of the field as he processed the happenings. The second in command took over and the war now started in earnest.
NOTHING would be the same ever again…
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
War rages on
Early the next morning the blessed moved out to the field where they would once more meet the Empty. The elders were concerned as the energy around the field seemed to retain a memory of the actions of the day before. This was bad news and added to the distress of those who would once more engage the Empty on the field. The trees seemed to shiver at their approach and the stream seemed to be moving at a slower pace to what it had previously, almost as if it was trying to change its course to avoid the ugliness. The energy balance of the area was unbalanced. Once this war is over the Blessed would have to heal the area, a task that would drain them more than anything that they had done so far, and there were precious few who still retained the knowledge of how to heal nature. This morning Darcy felt a distinct shiver run down his spine as he approached, he turned and looked at Jane, who nodded. Jane had that very morning seen Darcy in her vision of the way the day would play out. If nothing altered, Darcy would be injured this day. Jane and Bingley moved into position around Darcy and today, he was placed further back in the ranks to try to protect him.
The Empty were sluggish first thing in the morning. They enjoyed their nice comfortable beds and preferred to sleep whenever the
opportunity arose. However, thirty minutes after nine found them facing the ranks of the Blessed. Mrs Younge and her brother, Mr Smith, were Empty lineage. Mr Smith despised Darcy for having dismissed Mrs Younge after the debacle with George Wickham and Georgiana. That was the last perceived insult the Smith family was willing to put up with. So it was that unknown to Darcy he was a target for revenge and they would use the war as a cover. After Mrs Younge had left Darcy’s employ she had stayed a regrettably long period of time with her brother, draining his stretched resources and complaining at the cruel treatment that she had received from Darcy, adding in for good measure George Wickham’s story of half truths and lies. All was calculated to make her brother hate Darcy all the more. With the war now on, Mrs Younge and her brother wanted revenge.
For half the day the energy bolts were sent back and forth across the field. Many from both sides were sent back to Netherfield to be healed in either body or mind as the war raged in earnest. If the Blessed had been able to look they would have seen how the trees and grass shivered before dying. Nature either fled or died; some were stray energy bolts but most was simply the energy becoming unbalanced. Death was everywhere, for some the strain of the energy fight was too much, and they expired there on the field.
The Meryton War Page 13