Artemis Fowl: The Wolfish Incident

A/N: I know it took me a long time, but here it is!

Chapter 3

Unknown Location

The wolf had appeared out of nowhere, but it was good enough for Artemis. It was bigger and blacker than any wolf Artemis had ever seen. Its eyes shone a dark brown in the night light, and as it crept closer to him Artemis didn't seem to care. All he cared about right then was the fact that there was no one left.

They were all dead. Except him.

None of them deserved to die. Not Butler, not Juliet, not his parents.

He was completely

and utterly

alone.

I wished it didn't have to be like this, I really did, but my master couldn't have any ties to this place when we left.

After that girl, whoever she was, had died, my master had snuck out of that terrible human building and towards the field he was in now. I was hiding in the forest not far away. I hadn't even caught my master's name, but I would find out soon.

Quietly, I crept forward. I stopped next to my master, and looked into his face, studying so I would know it. He had black hair that I could barely see the outline of in the dark. His eyes were like sapphires shining in the night, and his skin was paler than anything I had ever seen.

"It's not fair," said a voice, and it tool me a moment to register the fact that it came from my master.

"It's just not fair." His voice came out choked, and I realized that he was on the edge of tears. "They didn't deserve to die. It should have been me who died not them. They didn't do anything wrong. But I did." He sat silently for a second, then continued talking.

"I'm crazy. I'm talking to a wolf, and you probably don't even know what I'm saying."

I spoke up then. "I understand, master."

He looked down at me, eyes wide. "You can speak?" he asked, with a tone of uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes, Master."

"Why are you calling me master?" he asked.

"Because that's what I'm supposed to call you," I replied. "If I knew your name, though..."

"Artemis," he said.

"Artemis." I tried the name. Yes. It fit.

"I don't think I caught your name. What is it?"

"Wolf," I said dryly.

Master Artemis just nodded. "Very well, then."

The night sky was dark, only the stars and moon providing light. It wasn't long before Holly had to switch to night vision if she wanted to continue her search.

Finally, she caught sight of something in the darkness. Two figures in the middle of a field, surrounded by a large forest. Holly flew low so that she could see them.

One of them was obviously Artemis. The other one was definitely not human. Not even close. Holly flew even lower, and then landed smoothly.

"Artemis," she called gently. He didn't turn around.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," he said.

"Artemis, you're not in trouble." As she got closer she could hear a low growl, coming from the other figure next to Artemis. As she got even closer she could vaguely make out the form of a wolf, but it was definitely bigger than any wolf she had ever seen.

The growling got louder as she got closer, and when she reached out to put a hand on Artemis' shoulder, the wolf jumped and bit her.

"Frond!" she exclaimed. Now Artemis' had turned around, but he wasn't looking at Holly, he was looking at the wolf.

"Don't hurt her," he said. "She's a friend."

The wolf gave a strange sort of growl, tossing its head in her direction. Artemis replied with another growl, this one with much more authority. The wolf hung it's head, and gave a growl that sounded almost apologetic.

Holly was astounded. Her gift of tongues was supposed to allow her to understand any language, but she couldn't make heads or tails of this one. It made no sense at all.

"Um, Artemis," Holly said. "I'm supposed to take you underground."

The Mud Boy turned his gaze on her. "I thought I already told you, I didn't do anything," he said.

"And I thought I already told you. You're not in trouble. Foaly and I thought you might want to have some friends around, seeing as..." She trailed off, unsure what else to say.

Artemis sighed. "Very well. It doesn't look like I have any choice. There's nothing left for me here. Let's go." He stood up. The wolf followed suit, a strange devotion in his eyes.

Something was definitely up, and Holly was going to find out what it was.

A/N: GO ME! I FINALLY UPDATED! Don't blame me for the long wait, blame my stupid conscience. I told it I had to update, but no, it said I had to go outside and make sure I didn't get fat staring at the computer screen all day. And of course, it just had to take over my mind, and you're probably not even reading this far so what the heck am I doing? Oh, well R & R!

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl

Revised as of 2/15/09