Chapter 1

Holly felt excitement rise in her throat. After all the research, after all the hard work that the faerie scientists had put in, they had finally done it. They had finally found it. The fang of a golden dragon, the last artifact left from the extinct species.

Holly, along with Trouble and three archaeologists were suspended in the air with hummingbirds over the Weddell Sea. The scientists had found the dragon fossils in the bottom of the ocean during one of their scans, but had almost passed it over. All the millions of years that the bones have been underwater, what good could they be now? But then the computer picked up the tooth. Still full of the same shining, natural luster as if it was new. They couldn't believe it.

It had taken much time to get the fossil up from the ocean bottom, due to the fact that the water was so freezing that the faeries couldn't just dive into it and retrieve the tooth. Therefore, they sent a machine down. At first Foaly was skeptical about it even being possible. And if Foaly is willing to admit that he might not be able to do it, then you know that it had to be rough. Foaly's little marvel had done it though, and now Holly was watching the bone structure slowly rise up to the surface. In the moonlight the white bones glittered through the ice. It was almost beautiful.

"Nice and easy," Holly heard Foaly's voice in her earpiece. "Wouldn't want to bump it and lose that tooth, not after all that work that we put into this. It would be such a waste, that little fang has more magic in it then the strongest faerie."

"And I'll add that to the list of things that I know but never cared about knowing in the first place," Now Holly heard Root's annoyed voice coming in over the mike. "Would you just pay attention to what you're doing you stupid pony?"

"Oh don't worry beetroot," said Foaly. "I'll keep a hold of your precious tooth, lord knows you'll start losing yours any day now."

Holly had to bit her lip to keep from laughing.

But then she heard the thud.

Her eyes quickly darted down to the fossil, and to her horror, she saw it breaking apart. Foaly had hit a small piece of floating ice.

"No!" She heard one of the scientist scream.

"FOALY!" came Root's voice.

Foaly said nothing, he was to shocked at his own mistake to even form words.

"I'll get it," said Holly, but a voice stopped her before she had a chance to dive.

"Negative captain," said Root. "That water is colder then the artic circle, I think."

"But commander...."

"No Holly."

Holly wasn't about to listen this time though. She remembered stories that her father used to tell her about dragons like this one. She remembered their magic, their wonder. Holly was no scientist, but she knew what a find like this could do for those who were. This was not going to slip through her fingers.

"I'm going," she declared, and dived into the water.

"Holly!" She heard Root's voice on the com. "Pull up right now! HOLLY!"

She still didn't reply, ignoring Root and trying to ignore the cold that was seeping through her suit and into her skin. Her eyes shot around the dark water for a sign of the fang. Nothing.

Then she saw it.

A glint of white and gold among the black. She shot in that direction, Root still roaring in her earpiece.

"CAPTAIN SHORT," he yelled. "DO YOU WANT ME TO COME DOWN THERE AND KICK YOUR ASS?! CAUSE I'LL DO IT!"

But she was already breaking above the water, the fang in her hand. She couldn't only imagine how proud the first Captain Short would have been.

Artemis Fowl stared at the letter, completely baffled. Something that did not usually happen to him.

It was a riddle, a rather simple one in his opinion, but it was sent to him in the mail by someone under the name of "Salina Rodina". An odd name. Artemis would remember someone with such a name if he had ever encountered him or her. He knew that he hadn't, so why was this person sending him strange riddles? He looked down at the paper again.

"The man who invented it, doesn't want it.

The man who bought it, doesn't need it.

The man who needs it, doesn't know it."

The answer was obviously coffin, but why? That was the question that bothered Artemis. What is so important about a coffin? And who is Salina Rodina? Artemis had already done several scans on the name, and nothing came up. He even looked on a history database to see if it was just a copycat of an old criminal. Nothing.

Something was starting, Artemis knew it.