6.

Betrayal



DISCLAIMER/WARNING: Although nothing really questionable happens in this chapter, some might be disturbed by the climax. You have been warned.

The next morning, Artemis got up. Holly had already gone to work. He looked into the fridge. Nothing. Nothing edible, that is. The fridge was filled with strange delicacies, some which resembled things he didn't want to think about. He shut the door and sighed. Was venturing below with the fairies going to make up for his mother's death? He remembered another thing. As far as he was concerned, this Dark Man didn't send the goblin on the mission. Types like him were too sneaky, and sending an assassin above ground and causing a commotion was being the least sneaky. He remembered that Holly was chasing him, and the goblin probably got lost in the woods and stumbled into the house. It was all Holly's fault. He tried shaking the nasty thought away and stumbled into work. He hung his head low, so he wouldn't see all the faces staring at him.

Holly was on patrol. Root trusted several officers of the LEPrecon to stop the Goblin Insurgence. It wasn't an insurgence yet, but Root claimed they were still planning. Except for the incident with Artemis's poor mother, no casualties had been reported. Still, better safe than sorry. So, Root had sent out Holly, along with several other officers, to find the majority of the goblins. He never mentioned the Dark Man. It was as if it was impossible to catch him, or maybe Root didn't believe in such hogwash. She didn't know.

Juliet had recently learned of Angeline Fowl's death. They were both in a period of mourning, but Butler insisted not to have the funeral, until Artemis returned. He could imagine the look on Artemis's face when he found out that both his parents were gone. Then again, he might've already known. Juliet saw Butler put on a massive coat, and put several survival type items in a large bag. "Where are you going?" She asked. "I need to do some errands." He said gravely.

The agents inspected every mining cave. Several dwarves shouted as they interrupted their work. Holly paid no heed as she pushed aside one particularly overweight goblin aside and looked inside the hole for any clues or suspicious holes. It was about a half-hour later when she ran into the goblin.

No one really noticed Artemis as he sat down onto a seat about three sizes too small and began doing his work. "That must be easy work, being a human and all." Artemis jumped. He turned around. Sitting near the computer was a small male fairy, with a curly little goatee. He had glasses on and was balding. He wore a white labcoat. "Don't worry. I heard about your story in the papers. Redemption thing going on, right?" Artemis sniffed. "I'm just filling in a debt." "Yeah, okay. Name's Daniel. Pleased to meet you, Artemis." He held out his hand. Artemis shook it.

The goblin that Holly encountered wasn't particularly threatening. It was actually a little pathetic. While the other goblins had body piercing, tattoos, and scars, this one was rather, well, plain. Its belly slouched a bit, and he had a pale look on him. He didn't look

(appearances can be deceiving)

that bad, thought Holly. "A-a-are you those officers?" It asked timidly. Several LEPrecon officers saw what was going on and walked over. "Yes, we are." Said Holly, trying not to sound intimidating, but not too soft. "I c- c-came to help you." "Really." Said a LEPrecon officer behind Holly. Holly mouthed 'shut up' and turned back to the goblin. "Y-y-you see, I had no choice but to work for Him." He stuttered. "H-h-he threatened most of the stragglers. One was driven insane-" Holly winced. "-and another tried stopping him. It wasn't pretty." Of course, thought Holly. The Dark Man was a sadist. He ruled with fear. Big-whoopin-surprise. "So, I decided to help. I know where most of their plannings go. He had it hidden from the naked eye, basically." Several officers muttered under their breaths. The LEPrecon officers followed the goblin down a mine range and a corner. On the sides of the walls, there were several rocks. The goblin gestured to a small rock sticking out. "P-p-pull it." Holly did. As if this was some mansion, the wall slid open revealing a crudely designed room. Several flat rocks formed a half circle around a large rock. This wasn't the hideout, but it was where the goblins had their meetings. "They meet here in 2 hours." Said the goblin. "When they find out what I've done, I'll be lucky to last another half hour." "IF they find out." Said an officer. "No word of this will come out. Not even to Root." "Y-y-you d-d-don't u-u- understand." Holly noticed he was stuttering worse than ever. "H-h-he k-k- knows if you go against him." Holly felt a pang of guilt. "Arrest them." Said the goblin in a clear voice. "I'll probably end up dead soon, at least I can take some of those freaks with me." Holly opened her mouth, but the goblin was gone.

2 hours, 10 minutes, later.

Holly and several other LEPrecon agents stood by the door. They pressed their ears against the wall. Holly could hear the goblins faintly muttering. She mouthed 'One. Two. Three!' She twisted the rock/knob and kicked the door open. The LEPrecon officers swarmed the place. "Put your hands up!" Said one burly officer. "Try producing a fireball and we will be forced to shoot!" The goblins' mouths were round 'o's of horror. "We weren't doin' nothin!" Protested a goblin, but he held his hands up like the rest. As the goblins were rounded up, Holly noticed a small packet of paper lying on the floor. She picked it up and looked at it. It was written in a very puzzling language.

Holly showed it to Foaly. "Do you recognize the language?" She asked. "Nope. I'll run it through the translator. Where'd you get it?" "We busted a couple of goblins today," She said with a touch of pride. "Some traitor to their side told us where to find them." "Lucky."

The goblin slowly creaked open the door. Once again, he was late. The room was almost empty. Most of the seats were empty, as few goblins did not attend the meeting in which the majority of the goblins were arrested. The Dark Man sat at the edge of the room. The Dark Man saw the goblin. "Ah, Kelister, it seems you are late again. Luckily, it seems you won't have to stand up, as most of our members are locked up." "Is t-t-t-that so, sir?" "Yes. And I have been puzzled. How would those LEPrecon agents know to twist one of millions of rocks on the wall?" "Lucky guess?" "I think not. Someone told them." "Really? Who?" "Oh, I think you know the answer to that one, Kelister." He turned to two of the remaining goblins. "Hold him." The goblins gripped Kelister and scrunched their eyes shut. They knew what would happen, as it had had happened before. Kelister, try as he might, could not close his eyes.



The Dark Man pulled down his hood.



Kelister screamed in horror. He could feel the darkness, the evil, consuming him. The goblins had no doubt heard the scream and scrunched their eyes tighter. One peeked an eye and fell to the floor, convulsing.

The Dark Man pulled back his hood. The two goblins dropped the screaming goblin on the floor. "Now that we're done with that matter, let's get back on to more personal matters."