Chapter Twenty-Seven
Pop Goes The Eliminator
Lizzy eyes focused on Mr. Wickham who held her brother tightly around his shoulders with a knife to his neck.
“It would be best, Mr. Wickham to put the knife down and even better if you let my brother go,” Lizzy nearly growled.
Mr. Darcy, still in the wood line, watched the loose hairs on the back of Elizabeth’s neck began to lift and move.
He could not feel a breeze, but he saw the effect of what he thought must be air blowing.
He could also recognize the anger building in her.
Does he even know what she is capable of? He silently wondered.
Wickham only laughed, and then Lizzy saw another man step out from the trees on the other side of the glade.
“Do not listen to her, Wickham. She can do nothing to either of us. She does not have the power to match me,” the man boasted.
“Alistair de Bourgh,” Darcy breathed the name softly, and then he too stepped out of the woods.
“Darcy,” the man said as soon as he saw Darcy. “I should have known you would come along. I see you both brought your brownies,” he sneered. “I will deal with them later.”
“Alistair, I cannot say I am surprised to learn about your darker side. I confess, I never did trust you,” Darcy said.
“So, Darcy, you recognize me. Well, it will do little to help you. I will kill this menace,” he declared pointing to Lizzy, “and then dispose of you and her brother. I cannot have any witnesses as you must know.”
As the man’s threat carried across the open ground, Darcy noticed a soft glow forming around Elizabeth.
He also felt the crackle of magic wafting from her.
Darcy, early on, suspected she could wield more power than she realized.
Now he was sure of it. He, however, had no intention of warning Alistair about her ability.
“No one is greater than me,” Alistair boasted as he stepped closer to Wickham. “I think I will have you kill the brother first. Let his sister watch before I reduce her to nothing, just like I will reduce all the brownies to nothing.”
Darcy heard a rustling in the undergrowth.
He had seen the brownies around Netherfield or Longbourn and always sensed their presence.
He could sense them now without looking but knew not what they could do to help.
His main focus, however, never left Elizabeth.
That invisible wind seemed to be gently moving the skirt of her gown, and her hair was moving more as well.
He then felt more crackling rise up around her, and the soft glow he saw at first was becoming stronger.
“I never understood why your family wanted to protect such pointless, inadequate, nasty beings as brownies. What good are they to anyone? They contribute nothing to society that helps promote growth of civilization. They are beastly and should be completely eliminated from the earth,” the man declared and laughed.
Darcy found the sound rather maniacal. He always suspected insanity in Alistair’s line of the family tree.
“Dear sweet cousin Anne is another such useless creature. She will never inherit Rosings. It was always meant for my family, not Sir Lewis’.”
Darcy decided to keep Alistair talking while he saw from the corner of his eye Elizabeth’s anger and power building.
“Anne will inherit, and then her first child will inherit. You will never be in line as heir,” Darcy declared hoping to distract Alistair from Lizzy and her brother. He also stole quick glances at Wickham who just stood holding the boy and the knife.
“Poor sickly cousin Anne will never have any children. I made sure of that when she was younger. It was so easy to cause a sickness that would make it impossible for her to ever survive the birth of a child. From what I have heard, you have no intention of marrying cousin Anne. We all know you are the only husband Lady Catherine will allow her daughter. Such a shame,” Alistair tutted and shook his head as if he might regret what occurred, but then he laughed showing he took pleasure in his actions.
“Anne’s suffering is all due to your misuse of power?” Darcy questioned and then briefly glanced at Elizabeth.
“I have heard enough,” Lizzy declared with a loud authoritative tone. “You,” she pointed at Wickham, “will let my brother go.”
Darcy watched as a glow shot from Elizabeth’s hands.
He had not noticed Wickham was standing near the old oak tree; however, he did observe it branches begin to wrap around Wickham causing the knife to drop while binding the man’s arms to his side.
Robbie, being released rushed toward his sister, but Darcy stepped forward and grabbed him, whispering, “Do not touch your sister until she gets her the power back under control.”
Darcy’s words caused Robbie to stare at his sister, and he too saw the glow, now intensified, around his sister.
“And you!” Lizzy now pointed at Alistair. “You will never harm anyone again.”
The crackling of the powerful energy became louder, the glow was nearly unbearable to look at, and then a stream of power and glow shot from Lizzy’s hand and enveloped Alistair.
At first, Alistair laughed, but then Darcy watched as a glowing shell formed around Alistair.
He reached out a hand, and Darcy noticed his hand touching the shell but not being able to move through it.
“You have used your power for evil. Not only against the brownies but against your own kin. Who else have you harmed? How many more people will you attempt to destroy. You should never have been allowed to corrupt your ability as you have. It is worse than when your family first began to eliminate brownies. You . . . Must . . . Be . . . Stopped.”
Alistair laughed at Lizzy words. “Your power will never stop me.”
Darcy then noticed Alistair raising his hand as if the release his own power.
The power Elizabeth released around Alistair began to glow even brighter until it became a blinding light.
It forced Darcy and Robbie to turn away, and even Wickham closed his eyes.
Darcy did not see the result of Elizabeth’s unbridled power, but when the crackling and glowing died, Darcy turned back toward Alistair, but the man was gone.
Darcy turned and looked at Elizabeth. A tear ran down her check. Darcy noticed her distressed and weakened by the release of so much power.
“I did not mean to do that,” Lizzy cried out. “I could not stop it once it started. I killed him.”
Robbie, seeing his sister’s distress, pulled out of Darcy’s hold and rushed over to his sister, throwing his arms around her legs.
Without pausing to register her brother’s hold, Lizzy continued.
“Grandmama warned me. ‘Lizzy,’ she said, ‘strong emotions can intensify your powers. Emotions with the most power are love and hate. Try to curb your feelings of anger or you might not be able to control the power you wield.’ She was correct. I felt not only love for my family and the brownies but hatred for what that man meant to do. Both strong emotions; both felt at the same time. I never felt like that before.” Lizzy felt on the verge of more tears but not for the man.
The tears were for her antagonistic ability in a moment of uncontrolled emotional upheaval.
Meaning to reassure her, Darcy softly said, “Elizabeth, you could not help what happened. He meant only harm to you and your family. If it helps, I saw him about to unleash the power for evil, and it was directed at you.” Darcy then thought of something that happened when Elizabeth was enveloping him in her power.
“You may not have caused his demise. He may have caused it when he tried to turn the power on you. Remember how my power remained within the sphere around me and caused the grass to grow up around me? The same may have been true for him. Instead of his attempt at eliminating you, it turned on him.”
Lizzy stared at him, causing a swell of protection to well up in Darcy heart. He wanted to envelop her in his arms, to hold her tight, and continue to reassure her she had not caused Alistair to disappear. In his opinion, she had done no wrong.
The roar of loud cheering quickly pulled Lizzy out of her melancholy. As she looked around, she saw hundreds of brownies in the glade celebrating. She realized they must feel a sense of freedom from being eliminated.
Darcy also observed the celebration taking place, but then he spied Wickham struggling to break free of his bonds.