These chapters were added at the insistence of reviewers. See what power you guys have?

R E C R U I T

"Tell me everything," Artemis said briskly.

"There isn't much to tell. The LEP are going insane trying to figure out what happened, and we have limited information as it is," explained Holly.

"Were there any marks on the bodies?" asked Butler unexpectedly.

"No. That's the weird thing. It looks like they just…collapsed."

"Looks like the fairy world has its first serial killer," said Mulch, sounding grim.

Holly looked troubled, as if hearing the words aloud made it more real.

"Why did you contact me?" asked Artemis.

"Commander Sool needed someone to blame for the public's sake, and-"

"I was the convenient choice," he finished, nodding.

"Yes," agreed Holly, "But like I said, we never suspected you. Even on your worst days you wouldn't do something like this."

Artemis's mouth quirked. "Nice to know someone has faith in me."

"Never doubted you for a second," called out Mulch.

Becoming grave again, Artemis asked, "What about other suspects? Who would do this?"

Answering the question Artemis had left unspoken, Holly said, "Opal has nothing to do with it. She's been in a high-security prison all these years, and is now so insane, she has to be helped feeding herself. Sad, really." She didn't look sad at all about Opal's condition.

"And anyone else, like the goblin tribes, are either too ill-equipped or too stupid to do this," added Mulch.

"So it's a brand new enemy," said Butler.

"Looks like it. We thought you guys could look it over and maybe help clarify a few things, point us in the right direction," explained Holly.

"You need the Great Artemis Fowl to help you where the LEP can't, right?" said Artemis, the old arrogance showing through. He'd meant to try to lighten the somber mood.

"Some things never change," muttered Holly, all too serious.

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Three hours later, they were no closer to a lead than they had been before. When Alfred had asked about dinner, Butler had told him to order out for five. Alfred only saw three people in the kitchen, his employer's son, the former bodyguard, and the short, smelly man, but did what was asked of him without question.

"Five? But there's only four of us," asked Holly, unshielding when Alfred left.

Butler managed to look embarrassed before clarifying. "I called Juliet before I came out. She should be here soon."

"I thought she was staying in Brazil for another two weeks," questioned Artemis.

Butler raised an eyebrow. "If she found out you were dealing with fairies without her, she'd kill you."

Artemis thought it over. "True."

Half an hour later, Juliet herself entered carrying the take-out Butler had ordered. Although in her thirties, she still had the energy of a teenager. She dumped the food on the table and promptly greeted everyone as if she had never been away.

"Hello everybody, did you miss me? Holly, how're you doing? Hey, little fairy-dude, what have you been up to? Staying out of trouble I hope. Arty, how's the business? Dom, man, what have you been doing? You look a little rough." She immediately opened the containers, revealing steaming dishes of Chinese food. "I met that stuffy guy at the door. He didn't seem to like the fact you guys had ordered out instead of having something like flambéed lamb with clam sauce and sparkling water. Hope you like springs rolls," she said with a wink.

She talked so fast it took a second for anyone to get a word in. Finally Artemis interrupted her stream of chatter.

"While we appreciate the food, Juliet, we are gathered here for a rather serious matter. Holly, can you fill her in?" He let Holly talk as he helped himself to some noodles. His inclination towards the more expensive fare had lessened over the years. Working late nights at the office didn't allow you to be picky.

Artemis leaned back in his chair, watching the people around him. Even with a dire situation on their hands, he felt content. Here they were, together again, plotting against a common enemy. He sobered for a moment as he remembered that one of their number was missing. Commander Julius Root. Holly had told him that not many people were happy with the new commander. They said while Root would have done anything necessary to get the job done, Sool was too much of a bureaucrat to be effective.

Juliet's angry cry disrupted his thoughts. "How can this happen? How can no one have seen anything? Surely there were crowds at these ports."

"There were never any witnesses," supplied Mulch.

The group sank into silence.

"How did they die?" asked Juliet suddenly.

Holly pulled another file out of her bag. "Foaly gave me a copy of the medical report before I left. There's nothing useful in it." She handed it to Juliet, who after a brief glance gave it to Butler.

Butler read it out aloud. "It says they died of unknown causes. Their brains just stopped functioning. Death was instantaneous."

Artemis would be lying if he said he hadn't felt a chill as Butler read those words.

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Deep under the earth, there lived older things than fairies. They had been there long before fairies moved underground, long before they even had a written history. These things had never seen the sun, nor did they want to. The hot liquid earth was their home, and at first they were restless. Their constant movement would cause devastating earthquakes and volcanoes. Yet they knew nothing of their effect. Slowly they calmed, and grew still. They lie in a death-like sleep now, but sometimes their slight movements could still cause chaos on the surface. The fairies once knew they existed, but they had passed into myth and legend, and were eventually forgotten. No record of them survived.

They would live as long as they earth, for they only needed the heat of the core to sustain them. They were creatures of fire and energy. Humans on the surface had a much changed and watered-down legend of these creatures, which they called dragons. These creatures under the earth had no name, for there was no one to name them, and they never named themselves. They remained undetected by human or fairy for millennia, living miles under the surface.

One of them had woken up.

Oooo, shall I continue? Review if you say"yes." Or even if you say "maybe." Or "don't quit your day job." Whatever.