Author's Note: It's official, I am now decomposing. Should I invest in a compost bin or can I just lay in the garden and let the worms do their job? I am 30… that had never been the plan. I was planning to waste away at the age of 22, or 28 at the latest. Beautiful and pale. Not quarantined and eating chocolate…! But enough of myself. You are here for more Angel Conundrum. I shall very much like to oblige. Enjoy!

Also, a huge thank you to Space-Dweeb for your comment. I did a little happy dance, reading it. Looked silly, but was necessary. In honour of you. :-)

Disclaimer: Eoin Colfer owns all the characters from Artemis Fowl, I only own my imagination and my characters.

Chapter 12

Root had given the Haven News Channel an anonymous hint. It wouldn't take long for them to broadcast the news. Simultaneously, he had sent out orders to all officers to look for Stampa on the streets, but so far nobody had been able to find him. He had disappeared. Which was impossible.

Vinyáya cleared her throat, pointing to the TV. The news anchor, a sprite with bright green skin and long black hair, backcombed to a beehive as big as her head, appeared. She was sitting behind a massive news desk, beaming at the cameras as if she had no idea what she was about to drop on the nation.

"This is Karen Burdock, always in touch with the latest trends and news. As you know, my lovely audience, I can't keep any secrets from you, which is exactly why I have to interrupt my current program for an urgent news broadcast. Our news agency has information from a confidential source warning of a risk of unprecedented proportions," she said, her smile unfaltering.

"Our source has extensive documentation of an imminent attack, carried out by, I can't believe I am saying this, Mud Men! According to the documents our race may see the biggest attack ever. Currently, the Council has not taken any actions to either stop this from happening or to make sure that the Fairy People are kept from harm. My question is, what can we do to keep safe?"

Root turned off the TV, his scowl ever increasing. He would have killed for a smoke and if it had been anyone else in the room, he would have gone ahead. Raine didn't like smoking. She never told him not to smoke around her, but she was one of the few people he genuinely respected, so he refrained from it.

She was leaning against the table, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Honestly, I didn't think the day would come that I was grateful for the bimbo's popularity," she said with a frown.

Root let out a barking laugh. "Let's hope it works."

As if on cue, the wing commander's phone began ringing. She glanced at the caller's ID before holding it up for Root to read. Lopez. So, the news had already spread to the Council. Good.

Vinyáya pushed away from the table. "Here we go."

"Good luck," Root simply said.

The wing commander crossed her fingers, giving Root an encouraging smile that didn't reach her eyes.

The Major marched through the forest, relentlessly pushing forward. He never turned to check if Sofia was still following, her stumbling attempts to keep up audible. She had pushed her hands under her armpits, grateful for every little bit of extra warmth for her numb fingertips. After tripping over yet another uprooted tree, she had put on the night goggles again, once the shadows had settled into complete darkness and couldn't make her freak out anymore. But seeing the path didn't save her from the damp underground seeping through her shoes and soaking her socks. The Major, on the other hand, hadn't even pushed his hands into his pockets. Sofia wondered how he kept the cold at bay.

"I-is it still far?" she asked, her teeth chattering. If they didn't turn around anytime soon, she was convinced she would freeze to death.

The Major didn't answer. He turned to the right after passing an unassuming tree. Everything looked the same to her. She had no idea how he knew where they were going. He wasn't even using a map. Regardless, eventually, the trees parted to an imposing castle in the distance. Sofia stopped, gaping.

"What is this?"

"Peles Castle," he finally answered.

"What is there?"

The Major didn't slow down, "Zmeu, according to Lucifer."

Sofia slipped once more, stepping into the stream that wound around the path leading to the castle. When they finally entered the courtyard, she was ready to bite someone. Nonetheless, she was awestruck by the intricate decorations of the building. She wished she could read about the origins of the castle or its history. She also wished she felt her feet again.

"Wh-who build this castle?"

The Major ignored her question. Instead, he stepped forward and pushed the wooden door open. It swung open silently. Sofia scurried inside, following the Major closely. The castle wasn't heated but it was warmer than outside.

"Why is the alarm not going off?"

"Someone is expecting us."

Sofia stopped in the entrance hall, ogling the faultless wood carvings, running along the walls. Her gaze drifted to a figure, standing at the top of the stairs. She flinched when she realized that he was not a statue. It was an imposing man, slightly greying, watching them. He opened his arms.

"You have made it. Splendid. Welcome to my castle. Make yourself at home."

The torches on the walls flickered to life, giving the hall a dull, flickering glow. The Major, unlike Sofia, wasn't impressed in the slightest. He walked up the stairs as if he was seeing such a demonstration every day.

Their host followed their every move from slanted eyes that lay sunken in a thin, long face. His lazy smile never faltered, although there was something else, something wild, flitting over it. As if he was on the lookout, waiting for them to make a mistake. One misstep.

"I received word that you might be interested in some of my memories," he turned to the Major, undressing him with his eyes. The Major eyed him cooly.

"And? Will you share them with us?"

Zmeu's smile widened. "But of course. Please, follow me."

He turned around and led them down a long corridor, stretching on for miles, then around corners, down staircases, deeper and deeper into the belly of the castle. The wall hangings didn't offer many different sceneries, either. As far as Sofia could tell, they all showed hunting parties with more and more explicit acts of violence. Foxes, fleeing from their hunters. A bear thrashing wildly in its imminent death. Stags on their hind legs, spears in their sides. Wild dogs ripping game apart in their jaws. A bear thrashing wildly in its imminent death. Sofia frowned. Another bear? The tapestry seemed strangely familiar. Hadn't they already passed it? Impossible, they hadn't walked in a circle, had they?

Sofia pulled her watch closer to her face, trying to read the time in the dim light. A knot forming in her stomach, when she registered the position of the watch hands. Four o'clock in the morning. There wasn't much time left.

The Major thought the same. He stopped when a familiar tug made him realize the trap.

"Is this panoramic trail leading some–," he started but didn't finish the sentence as his body faded away. Sofia gulped, blindly reaching for her pistol the moment that Zmeu turned around with a glint in his eyes.

"At last, alone," he smiled with a little bow of his head before he stepped towards her.

Tap-tap-tap-tap. Artemis was tapping his foot in sync with the dripping tap. He'd have Butler repair it once he returned. Tap-tap-tap-tap. He had finished his reading as well as the journal article, he was planning on sending to the Journal of Contemporary History on white supremacy in female-led indigenous communities. It would cause quite a stir. Naturally. He never delivered trifle content. Tap-tap-tap-tap.

He got up and paced the corridor up and down. 35 times. After the 36th time, he stopped in front of the professor's room. Artemis Fowl II wasn't one to snoop around. He didn't have to; his intellect was all he needed to make the right deductions. The reason, he pushed the door open was only to have a look at the documents she had brought with her from New York. Surely, she was working on another hilariously simple paper he could read to pass the time.

The professor was as chaotic in a foreign environment as she was at home. That included her writing. She had dumped her clothes on the chair in front of the desk, leaving the space on top of it free for the papers and translations of her project. Artemis picked some of them up, but soon realized he would have to put them in order himself if he wanted to read them. He wasn't that interested in her writing. He dropped the papers and turned to leave when a glint blinded him. He turned to a golden ring next to the bedside lamp. The ring, Lucifer had put on the professor's finger and which had instantly recovered her health. Its powers had worked even faster than magic. He sauntered over to the bed and picked up the ring to examine it properly. The black stone shone brightly in the dim light.

"Extraordinary," he murmured, turning the shiny metal around in his hands. He was convinced that he would be able to extract its powers and use them for his purposes. It would have been helpful if he had access to his equipment at home to do the necessary tests. Maybe the professor would lend him the ring once this was over. And when he said lend, he meant, mentally bully her into making her believe the idea had been her own. Satisfied, he was about to put the ring back where he had found it when he paused. It was a lovely ring. The golden metal had been expertly crafted. He wondered how it would look on his hand. Not because of pride. Because of the gold.

He slipped the signet ring on his thumb, enthralled by the golden shine. He saw his reflection in the black stone and it was as if the power of centuries was flowing through his veins. He knew everything. A maelstrom pulled him deeper and deeper into the secrets of the universe without him moving a muscle as he was frozen in place. A mad laugh started building in his chest as his mind explored every inch of Lucifer's ring.

Butler had been crawling through the thicket, pursuing the two until they disappeared in the castle. The older man hadn't been planning to let them come along, then. Butler could feel his blood boiling in anger by the repeated betrayal. Without giving up his cover, the bodyguard stopped at a hedge from which he could observe any movement around the castle. But everything kept quiet.

The last time in New York, he had been hacking into the camera system of the library. This time he was on his own. Walking into an unknown building was a nightmare. It was asking for an ambush. He had considered this possibility and had checked the heat camera in his goggles. The castle walls were thick and he couldn't see far inside, but no immediate hordes of gunmen were waiting for him. He took his chances and moved closer to the walls, looking through the windows and searching for an easy entry. The lights of the torches inside made it harder to keep hidden.

This was the worst place to continue shadowing the pair. Maybe that was exactly what his uncle had planned. Butler checked his watch. Five minutes to four in the morning. This mission had been taking the whole night. Grinding his teeth, he tentatively pushed one of the windows open. It gave way. Suspicious. He didn't like this one bit.

Hoisting himself up the ledge, Butler swung into the castle. He crouched, shifting his weight to easily jump up in case of an attack. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he listened intently for any noises. He tried the heat camera once more to check for anyone close by. There was a faint voice coming from a distance. Butler moved along the corridor and down a level, following it. He hid behind the statue of an enormous armour at the foot of the staircase. The voice of his uncle drifted closer and he dared a glance down the corridor at the broad-shouldered form of the older man.

"Is this panoramic trail leading some–," he began before his body started to fade away.

Butler gaped at the space where his uncle had been standing a few seconds before. He had vanished into thin air. Literally. Had this been a trick? He looked over his shoulder, expecting the Major to appear behind him, ready to chastise him for the clumsy execution of a job. But he didn't show up.

"Stay where you are," he heard the professor say. The slight shake in her voice gave her away, though.

The job of a bodyguard meant that some decisions had to be made in a matter of seconds, sometimes on a whim. This was such a moment. Butler stepped out from the shadows and revealed himself, making the professor flinch by the unexpected movement to her right. She hunched her shoulders, while Zmeu knit his eyebrows in annoyance.

"He was about to ask if it is still far," Butler finished his uncle's sentence, overplaying his confusion over the disappearing act.

"Who are you? And why were you sneaking around in the shadows?" Zmeu asked, suspicion dancing in his eyes at the sight of the newcomer. The professor hadn't lowered her hands, the pistol still pointed at him, while she stared at Butler.

"Backup. I couldn't find a parking space," Butler said with a straight face. Zmeu snorted unconvinced, but recovered from his shock and stepped back.

"Fine, come then."

The bodyguard joined the professor, who kept staring at him.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

Butler locked eyes with her, his anger barely masked. "Saving your sorry ass."

She gaped at him, unable to shoot back a clever response. Butler didn't wait for an answer but turned towards the man in his velvet suit, who pushed the bear wall hanging aside and disappeared behind it.

Wrapped in a cocoon of darkness, Butler descended several stone steps. He held on to the walls, the stone cold and wet under his fingers until the brightness increased once more. First, he thought it would be another wall lined with torches. But it wasn't the torches which lit up the space. It was gold. Butler swallowed, momentarily blinded by the shine. Wherever he looked, wherever he stepped. Gold. Coins. Jewellery. Statues. He was walking on a mountain of wealth, the riches clinking with his every step. Holly's ransom had been a lot of gold. This, however, was otherworldly.

He heard his own steps on the gold and he heard the professor behind him, but he couldn't make out Zmeu's step anywhere. Zmeu had disappeared.

"Where is the guy?" Sofia asked behind him. Butler gritted his teeth and whipped his head around, but the man was nowhere to be seen. A cold breeze tickled his neck and he lifted his head.

A whoosh above their heads announced a reptile body, wreathing through the air. The reptile looped itself around a golden throne on top of another mountain of coins, jewellery and riches. It rolled its tail out, flipping it from side to side. It was the first time, either of them had come face to face with a dragon. Both had enough experience with other fantastical creatures, but introduce another species into the mix and you can blow minds.

Butler stared at the massive smirking head that lowered itself to their eye level. It was him, wasn't it? The eyes were the same, albeit three times as big, sitting wickedly within the creature's rounded, scaled skull, while a row of small horns ran down the sides of its jawlines. Several huge teeth poked out from the side of its mouth, an unmistakable promise of the terror hiding inside.

"I can help you find what you seek, children," he said with a booming voice.

Butler and Sofia waited in anticipation, but Zmeu didn't continue.

"But?" Sofia pressed on.

"How will you pay me?"

Sofia scoffed. "Lucifer didn't mention any kind of payment."

"Oh, but shouldn't you know by now that nothing in this life comes for free?"

She crossed her arms in defence, regaining some of her bravado. "And what could you want that you don't already have? More gold?"

Zmeu chuckled. "More gold is always nice. But no, no amount will satisfy me, I am afraid. You can give me something else, though."

Butler raised an eyebrow. The name Zmeu had rung a bell ever since it was mentioned in the hotel. A very tiny bell in the back of his mind. He had heard the name before, but he couldn't remember where.

"A night," the dragon's voice boomed from the walls.

"A night?" Sofia frowned in confusion. A night of what?

The dragon's smirk became wider, showing a row of sharp teeth. "A night with me."

A/N: Dun-dun-duuuun! Zmeu is a hoot, I love him dearly. I wouldn't necessarily want him as my flatmate, but I love writing him.

Do you want to know how Butler and Sofia are going to react to that deal? You can find out… this Thursday (!). So, tune in and as always, comments, kudos, pigeon post, electronic morse codes, everything is welcome and will result in a very happy writer.

Have a great day and see you next time.