Artemis Fowl: The Wolfish Incident

A/N: Okay, what's the deal? Thirty-six hits for the last chapter, and only ONE review! And the chapter before that: thirty-eight hits and NO reviews! Come on people, if you like it, tell me so! Don't make me discontinue the series!

Chapter 20

A dungeon, the palace, Caerish, Dargium

The heartbeat of every human, wolf, and fairy in that room raced. Seari's heartbeat was racing too, but he doesn't really count as any of those.

Artemis in particular seemed prone to these "racing heartbeats." It could have been the fact that he was alone in this, or it could have been the sword pointed directly at him.

It was probably a little of both.

His eyes darted around the room. Holly sat a few feet away, her eyes wide. Zae was watching him with determined eyes. He gave a faint nod, as if they were now introduced formally. The rest of the wolf patrol was growling, or snarling, or watching Seari with utter distaste. The man that Artemis didn't know was standing next to Black, no expression on his face. Black himself kept his lean face expressionless, but his eyes showed the despair at the fact that he too remembered how little training Artemis had had.

Artemis saved Wolf for last. The huge black wolf stood a few feet from Seari, his hackles raised, his black eyes furious. He was staring fixedly at Seari, looking determined not to let him out of his sight. But for a moment, Artemis met his eyes, and fear, horror, placed themselves in Wolf's eyes.

Suddenly, a voice spoke in his head. 'Do it, Master!'

Artemis blinked in surprise. Wolf stared back. 'Do it!'

Artemis gave a faint nod, and then he looked over at Seari. Still approaching, the figure couldn't ever have been more menacing than he was now.

Artemis held his sword at the ready, waiting.

With a sudden cry, Seari sprang at him, his sword aimed for Artemis's neck. Artemis brought his sword up, blocking it, but only just barely.

Seari's eyes flared. Artemis didn't dare get smug. The battle had only just begun.

Seari swung again, and Artemis did his best to block it, but it still managed to clip him on the arm. A low growl came from Wolf's direction. Hoping it worked, Artemis thought as hard as he could. 'Stay where you are!'

Wolf hesitated, but he didn't move.

Artemis's attention was suddenly turned back to Seari as there was another swing.

And so it continued like this. Thrust after thrust, swing after swing, block after block, the two battled back and forth. The tide of the battle turned several times. As Artemis's arms began to ache, and his sword seemed to grow heavier in his hands, he had a feeling that something was going to happen, and he wasn't going to like.

That's when it happened. The tray from Artemis's earlier meal still lay empty on the floor. Seari took a step back to dodge Artemis's sword… and tripped. His foot hit the empty glass and he fell heavily to his knees.

Artemis was in front of him in an instant, his sword pointed at Seari, his blood boiling. Seari's eyes widened as he took in the sword, and where it was pointed.

"Finish him!" That was Black, calling from the doorway. "Kill him now!"

"Do it!" Zae, practically pleading.

"Please, Master, do it!" And now Wolf. Artemis could feel Wolf's eyes on him.

His eyes met Holly's.

Her eyes were sad, watching him carefully. Artemis stared back for a moment, unable to even move. He looked back at Seari.

For the first time, he got a good look at the man he was supposed to kill.

Seari's hair was jet-black and oily. He was wearing a bright green cloak that had previously billowed around him, making him look mysterious and dark. Now it somehow clung to him, making him look weak and pathetic. His boots had lost their shine, and his eyes were full of fear.

Fear of him. Fear of Artemis.

Artemis took a step back, stumbling. "No," he breathed. "I… I can't do it."

"Stupid boy!" Seari leapt to his feet, grabbing his sword. He swung it…

And the blade slipped out of his fingers.

It clattered to the floor. The entire room watched in amazement as the silver blade began to smoke, first lightly, then profusely. The smoke filled the whole room, but no one coughed. When it finally cleared, the blade was gone, leaving only the handle.

Silence reigned for a moment.

Zae broke it. "Well, Wolf," he said. "What do you think this means?"

"What do you think it means Zae?" Wolf said back, looking over at Zae and grinning.

Zae grinned back. Seari's eyes widened.

"Get him boys!" Zae barked. Seari turned and ran out the door, the wolves hard on his heels.

Artemis swayed on his feet.

"Are you okay?" Holly's voice was suddenly right next to him.

"Yeah, I… I just…" Then he fainted.

I heard him fall before I saw it. I whipped around, seeing my master collapse to the floor. Holly caught him, luckily, but I ran over anyways.

"Master!" I nosed him. Nothing. "Master wake up!" I ran my tongue across his entire face. Still nothing. I frowned.

Black came over, kneeling down next to me. "He looks exhausted," he said. "He needs to rest."

"He can't rest now!" I argued. "He just defeated Seari!"

"A feat that not many could handle," Black pointed out. "He needs to rest."

I looked back as I heard Holly whisper, "Heal."

Blue sparks rushed from her fingers. But instead of targeting the wounds my master showed, they evaporated into the hair.

"What the…" Holly muttered, and tried again, with the same results.

"Let me try," I said. Black got up and stumbled back. I smiled to myself. Black had suffered from the black sparks of wolf magic one to many times.

Before I began, I glanced up at Holly. "You might want to move."

Holly frowned. "Wh-" She was cut off when Black grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her back.

I turned back to my master, placed my paw on his arm and whispered the words of the spell in Old Wolfish.

Black sparks erupted from my paw, but instead of disappearing into his arm or evaporating like Holly's, they exploded in mid-air.

"Cark's teeth!" I swore as one exploded right next to my ear, and another gave off a loud pop as I attempted to blow it away. Several of them singed my fur, and I gave a yelp as one of them exploded on my flank.

Black waited for the rest of the sparks to explode before he came forward.

"What in the name of Cark is going on?" he murmured. He frowned.

"How am I supposed to know?" I demanded, twisting to get a look at the damage. I winced. It would take forever to grow the fur on that flank back.

"This is your fault!" Holly spat, coming forward and kneeling down next to Artemis. She placed a protective hand on his arm.

"My fault?" I demanded. "How is this my fault?!"

"Because you're the one who brought him-"

"Well if you had waited-"

"We couldn't! You were the one who-"

"So? You had to lis-"

"Yes! If not you would-"

"I would not!"

Holly glared at me and reached out with one hand to push me away. But the second her hand touched my face, something strange happened.

Orange sparks erupted out of the triangle we formed, my paw on my master's arm, Holly's hand on my master's other arm, and her other hand on my face. I tried to tug my paw away, but it was useless. It was as if it was glued on.

Black stumbled back, probably not wanting to know what kind of wounds he could get from those sparks.

My eyes widened and I tried to pull away, but I couldn't. We were locked in a triangle, and I couldn't get away.

Suddenly the sparks plunged into my master's body.

"No!" I yelled, trying to twist away, hoping to break the connection, but it was useless.

And then the color returned to my master's face. He began to pant for breath, and his eyes flew open.

The sparks stopped flowing, and Holly took her hand away from my face. I looked up and met her gaze. Her face was just as incredulous as I was sure mine was.

"What in the name of Cark just happened?" Zae whispered.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but it certainly worked."

A/N: The next chapter will be… -sob- the last one! Of course, there's always the epilogue, but you have to look at how long I've been working on this! It seems like forever! Anyway, PLEASE review!

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl