Two: Crash Course

"Get down, Artemis!"

But Artemis hardly had time to do more than blink before something leaped from the overhanging branch of an elm, taking Holly to the ground. He staggered back, trying to focus on the shape, eyes wide in the dusky light. Four legs and fur was all he could make out before Butler put three rounds in its flanks; he dared not aim higher for risk of hitting Holly. Artemis's breath caught. Blue sparks fizzled over the bullet wounds.

The creature bellowed, swaying on an injured leg and then bounded back into the underbrush. Butler kept his gun trained on the spot where the creature had disappeared while Artemis knelt to check on Holly. There were four rents in the back of her shirt that extended to the Shimmer Suit she still wore beneath her disguise, but no blood, he was relieved to find.

"Holly, are you all right?"

"We need to get out of here," Butler announced. "Now." And without hesitation he plucked Holly from the ground and slung the stunned-looking elf over his shoulder.

As they pelted back down the path beneath the stone bridge, a yowl echoed off the stonework, distorted into a banshee's wail. Artemis's pulse thrummed in his temples and his lungs burned for oxygen. He'd been meaning to get in better shape for these sorts of occasions, he really had...

By the time they reached the rental car, Artemis's chest was heaving and his brow was covered by a sheen of sweat even in the cool, autumn air. Yet he could not help but notice that Butler too was struggling for breath as his lungs strained against the kevlar embedded in his chest.

Butler wasted no time. He placed Holly in the back of the car while Artemis dragged himself in and then they were peeling out of the parking lot like a dwarf out of the noonday sun.

Holly groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position. "Are you okay, back there?" Butler asked, his eyes focussed on the road.

"I just had the wind knocked out of me," Holly assured. "Good thing for the suit, though. It absorbed most of the impact, otherwise I'd have a lot of broken ribs now." She rolled up the sleeve of her pokemon shirt and began tapping at a panel on her Shimmer Suit. "I may have to walk home, though. It hit me right in the suit's wing mechanisms. They're shorted out. What happened?"

"Our monster came calling," Artemis said. It had had healing magic; though he'd not been able to make out much more of the creature, he had seen that quite clearly. This creature was not some hapless beast escaped from the Bronx Zoo. It was magical.

"Artemis." He turned the entirety of his rather considerable attention to Holly. Nothing good came of that tone. "Was this your plan all along?"

His lips thinned to a line. "No. Certainly not."

"You figured that the creature only attacks fairies so you would use me as bait."

"Holly," he said, taking her by the shoulders. "I would not knowingly endanger your life. Not again." She glowered at him. "I realize after what happened last time I'm hardly in a position to ask for your trust–"

"Trust?" Holly snorted. "After–"

She was interrupted by the sound of Butler barking an oath that could have curdled milk. Artemis looked up in time to see a dark shape in the road as Butler spun the steering wheel, trying to veer out of its path. But it was too late, they were too close.

Both Artemis and Holly had been too preoccupied to bother worrying about trivialities such as seatbelts and were hurtled against the seats in front of them, fortunate to not be propelled through the windshield.

The scream of metal and flesh assaulted Artemis's ears. And then nothing.

He lay in a daze, his mind only superficially aware, noting the grating pain somewhere to his right, and the horrid pounding of his pulse in his temples. It was the sound of his name that, after some moments, pierced the haze.

"Artemis... Artemis."

He opened his eyes to find Holly peering at him, blue sparks dancing over a gash in her cheek. She lay her hands on him whispering, "Heal." It was with relief that he felt the now familiar rush of magic shock through him. The sharp pain in his arm was washed away by the electric feel of Holly's magic. His teeth chattered as it rocked through him, bone melding and making itself whole once more.

As the magic washed out of him, he drew in a deep breath and released it. "Thank you, Holly." A deep, rolling groan, almost a growl, sent his heart into his throat. "Butler!"

The front of the car was demolished, the steering wheel forced into the cabin, and it was immediately obvious to Artemis that Butler– for whom run of the mill cars were not ideally sized anyway – was pinned in his seat. It was a small mercy in this case that the air bag hadn't released.

Artemis scrambled to right himself and take a good look at Butler. "I'm all right," Butler assured him. "More or less. Broken leg I think. Maybe a rib."

There was a sound from outside, somewhere in the dark, and not that of a passing car.

Holly's hand was already digging out her weapon. "What did we hit?"

"It was that creature again." He gripped the broken steering wheel and tried to pry himself loose. It creaked and groaned but didn't budge more than a centimetre and Butler was left panting raggedly for breath.

"There might be more than one," Artemis suggested. "For now we need to get you out of here."

"No."

"Butler–"

But Butler was hearing none of it. "You're not safe in here."

Holly shook her head. "It's me it's after. I'll lure it away."

"Holly, wait," Artemis said, snagging her arm. "It may be after me as well."

"What?"

"There's a chance it can sense the residual magic in me. That was my plan. To use myself – not you – as bait."

Before Holly could snap at him about the consequences his schemes tended to have on those close to him, a gurgling roar rose out of the darkness. "D'Arvit! How did it survive something like that? Even a troll wouldn't have gotten up so fast."

"It has healing magic," Artemis replied. Holly stared.

"Holly," Butler said, "take Artemis and get out of here."

"What about you?"

"It's not interested in humans, remember? My phone's still working," he added, pulling the undamaged cell phone from his pocket. "A rescue crew will have me out of here before long. Go on."

She bit her lip, but finally nodded. First, though, she leaned forward and placed her hands on Butler's arm. "Heal," she breathed. Blue sparks sank into Butler's pores, jetting through him to mend broken bone and tissue. He shuddered once and then sighed with relief. "Thank you, Holly. Now go on. And take care of Artemis."

"Of course."

She paused to up the setting on her blaster to "well done" and then turned her attention to Artemis. "We need to get out from your side. I'll go first. Don't follow me until I tell you to."

She crawled past him and gripped the door handle. One deep breath and then she swung it open and leaped into the darkness.

Artemis strained to listen, waiting for her signal. What he heard instead was "D'Arvit!"

ooo

Captain Holly Short had seen many things during her time as a LEPrecon officer – murderous goblins and trolls (not that there was any other sort of troll), mad pixies, demon hoards – most of them generally hostile and generally trying to kill her, but what she was seeing tonight, managed to surprise even her.

"D'Arvit!" A graft. Her mind reeled. What she was seeing should not be. It had been outlawed for centuries and normally required the labour of an entire team of warlocks.

About seven metres away, a hulking form in a dark pool. Blood, she realized numbly. Its own blood. An aura of blue magic fizzed and crackled around the creature, lighting up its features in the darkness. Its body was that of an African lion, but protruding from the roof of its open mouth was a pair of delicate-looking curved fangs, pulsing blue in the light of the magic. A long, scaled tail jerked spasmodically behind it, slapping the bloodied pavement with a spatter. Its eyes shone a pinkish red.

One hand holding her blaster out in the direction of the wounded creature, she used her other to dig out her communicator. She might not have had her helmet and its communications equipment, but she was not fool enough to leave everything behind.

"Foaly, do you read? We have an emergency situation here."

"Holly, is that you? I'm not getting any readings from your helmet."

"It's still in lockup. We–"

"We're about to lose you, Holly. We've got flares in fifteen seconds."

"We need a fully armed retrieval team up here. There's– D'Arvit!" It was on its feet now and staggering towards her. How much damage could one creature take?

She heard her the crackle of static as the flare drowned out communications. It was time to move. She fired once, hitting the creature squarely in the chest and bringing it down to the pavement again. Blue magic flared like a burst of fireworks. "Artemis!" she called over her shoulder. "Move!"

He stumbled out of the car behind her, faltering as his eyes fell on the prone beast. "I said, move," she snapped, snagging his jacket sleeve and dragging him along.

There were woods on either side of the road. She picked the side furthest from the creature and dived into the gloom. Traditionally nocturnal creatures, fairies had keener night vision than humans, enough to navigate tolerably well in dark places, though nothing like that of night predators such as owls... or lions.

Tugging Artemis along all the way, Holly dashed through the woods. It was clearly a park for there was none of the wild undergrowth you'd have found in a natural forest. The debris of the seasons had been largely cleared and she was able to run freely, twining her way between the tree trunks without much fear of catching her foot. They raced until Artemis was gasping for breath and she was confident they'd put some distance between themselves and the creature.

They came to a halt by a stately oak. Back pressed against its wide trunk, Holly took some reassurance from its stolid frame. She had lived as long as it had stood in this place and she would live longer still.

While Artemis struggled for breath, she checked her locator, trying to get a fix on their position and then tried Police Plaza again on her communicator. "Foaly, do you read?"

"I read you, Holly. You all right? Your vitals were all over the place a minute ago."

"Never mind that. We need retrieval here. Yesterday. There's a graft up here. At least one. Maybe more."

Foaly whinnied indignantly. "A graft? You can't be serious. That's been outlawed since before the Mud People figured out the world was round."

"Would someone... care to... explain?" Artemis managed between breaths.

"Is that Mud Boy?" Foaly said over the line.

"Yes. I've got Artemis with me. The creature tracks magic. It may be after him too."

"Sit tight, Holly. I'm getting the commander on the line now."

Holly winced as the sound of alarms blared through her com line into her ear. "Foaly what's happening?"

"What in Frond's name is tha–"

And then the line went dead.