A/N: As promised, I am now actually updating this. So here's the next (and penultimate) chapter. And it's not short. So strap-in and enjoy the ride :)

-Kio

Chapter 25; Collapse

Shangri-La

A former human reached for Holly and she ducked, burying her remaining knife in the underside of its chin. She'd lost the other knife in a fight with three formers a few minutes earlier. Pulling the blade free, she glanced down the stairs, watching more Fallen flood into the stairwell. She, Artemis and Butler had retreated to the temple's upper levels, and while most of the Fallen had passed them by, it felt like more and more of the creatures were figuring out where their quarry was holed up.

"Butler?" the elf called. "Going to need a hand over here."

Holly heard a crunch as the hulking bodyguard finished off his opponent and a couple of words as he told Artemis to stay where he was. But already the Fallen were coming towards her, taking three or four steps at a time, shrieking as they came. She could see at least ten, with more emerging below. The stairs functioned as a chokepoint, forcing them to run two abreast, but if they spilled out into the room above Holly doubted it would be possible to contain them. She didn't have time to wait for Butler.

Waiting for the perfect moment, Holly stepped down onto the staircase and lashed a kick into the nearest former's chest. The creature lost its footing and tumbled back down the stairs, collecting several of its comrades. Only two formers managed to avoid the cascade entirely. One leapt straight for Holly and she twisted into it, flipped it over her hip. She lunged for the second with her knife, slashing its throat before throwing it back down the stairs.

Holly spun, ready to finish the first former, but she was too slow and it was already charging at her. She leapt aside, narrowly avoiding being launched down the staircase into the rest of the Fallen and certain death. The former adjusted quickly, turning and lunging for her, but Holly was faster, ducking back and stabbing the creature's arm. She followed up with a vicious kick to its knee.

But the Fallen weren't alive, and they didn't feel pain, at least not in a conventional sense. A person would have staggered back, barely able to stand, clutching their bleeding arm. And probably screaming. As it was, the former just pulled back slightly, blade still buried in its arm, and ripped the knife from Holly's hand.

Before the elf could recover, a fist slammed into her and she staggered, covering up as the former made to strike her again. This time, her elbow absorbed the worst of the impact, giving her space to fight back. She drove a kick into the former's ribs, forcing it back, and then swept its legs out from under it. It went down and she caught the hilt of the knife in its arm as it fell, tearing it free. The former tried to stand, but Holly plunged the knife into the back of its neck, twisted, wrenched upwards. When she pulled it free, dripping with black blood, the former didn't move again.

Holly looked up. Butler had passed her and was fighting three formers at the top of the stairs, evidently deciding that holding the choke point was the priority. He was probably right. Holly sighed, rubbing her face. It stung where the former had hit her. She glanced back at Artemis, offered a half smile, and went to help Butler.

Distracted by the giant manservant, two formers found themselves dismembered before they registered Holly's presence. The third flicked its yellow eyes towards Holly and was halfway through a growl when Butler caved its head in with two monstrous punches.

Holly and Butler shared a look – a moment of appreciation for a job well done – and then there were more formers emerging from the stairs and they launched back into action. Holly slashed and hacked and kicked while Butler threw devasting punches and shrugged off pretty much every blow the Fallen rained down on him.

In moments, another five Fallen lay dead. Then ten. Then fifteen. But every time Holly looked up, there were more than last time. They had failed to hold the stairs, leaving the Fallen free to flood out and swarm them. And despite Holly and Butler's best efforts, they were slowly being swarmed. Holly's entire body was covered in cuts and bruises and all manner of low level injuries that threatened to overwhelm her. She was exhausted and battered and she still didn't have any magic. Her concentration, usually so sharp, was starting to fade.

I wish my powers regenerated like Natalya's, she thought bitterly.

A former swung at her and she dodged, killed it, moved onto the next, but her movements were growing sluggish. She couldn't keep this up forever. She wasn't even sure she could keep it up for another few minutes. A glance at Butler told her that he too was beginning to struggle. He wasn't what he once was, after all. Arno Blunt's bullet all those years ago had made sure of that. That and a hundred other things.

Too many things to count.

In that moment, Butler came into focus for what he really was. An old man. A grieving sibling. A killer. And Artemis's rock. Always.

Sadness welled up inside her, and she wanted to say something, but then something crashed into her, taking her off her feet. In the commotion she felt the hilt of the knife slip from her hand.

"Holly!"

Artemis's voice. The elf ignored it. She tried to pull herself up, but the former that had run into her was too heavy. Spitting a string of curses in various languages, she wriggled, freeing her arms. The former responded, tried to shift its weight, but now Holly had use of her arms and she shoved hard, buying herself space to move freely.

Furious, the former came back at her, but she was ready, kicking out with both feet and sending it stumbling. It shrieked and Holly pressed her advantage, slamming a shoulder into it and driving back further. Dragging her eyes away from her opponent, Holly glanced around. She locked onto the knife, lying discarded in the rubble, and lunged. The former followed suit, colliding with her and sending her to ground again.

But this time, she had managed to keep hold of the knife. The former grabbed for her, but she rolled out of reach, stumbling back onto her feet before it could follow up.

"In a fair fight, you might beat me," Holly admitted. She gripped the knife, flexing her fingers against the hilt. "But since I don't really want to die today, I'm going to have cheat. I'm sure you understand."

The former didn't reply. It just lunged for her. The elf dodged and swung the knife. Black blood splattered and former collapsed. Holly gave herself a grim smile and raised her eyes.

Her smile evaporated. Six Fallen had her pretty much cornered.

"Oh," was all she could think of to say. She looked around for Butler, but the manservant was engaged in his own life or death struggle. She turned, about to call to Artemis, to tell him to run. But then she noticed the Fallen. They weren't attacking her. They weren't moving. They weren't even shrieking anymore. They simply stood there, looking almost confused.

Holly approached cautiously, gripping the knife, ready to dodge back and start slashing the moment there was movement. But there was none. Those glowing yellow eyes didn't track her progress. The formers showed no reaction at all. Even as Holly slipped past them, they remained still.

The elf looked over to Butler. He had finished his fight and now stood transfixed by the frozen creatures, not bothering to hide his confusion. About twenty Fallen had made it into the room – more than enough to kill Artemis, Holly and Butler. But they didn't. They just stood.

Artemis wandered over. "Extraordinary."

"What's going on?" Holly asked him.

"Perhaps Natalya defeated Opal."

Holly nodded. "Maybe." She looked down at the knife that was still clutched in her fist. "What if we… kill them? Will they wake up?"

A hint of amusement danced behind Artemis's eyes. "I don't think they are exactly asleep. Just… directionless. I wouldn't advise provoking them."

Holly nodded absently, her thoughts already elsewhere. If Natalya had defeated Opal, she might already be on her way out of Shangri-La. Or she might be injured. With her supercharged magic, Opal was a formidable adversary. Even Natalya had admitted it. Their fight must have been close. Natalya would be weak. Vulnerable.

"I'm going to go and check outside," she said, noticing for the first time how fast her heart was beating. It felt like it was in her throat. "If Opal is unconscious, someone will need to restrain her before she wakes up."

"No, Holly, wait!"

But Holly wasn't waiting. Her pace grew faster, her jog becoming a run, her run becoming a sprint. The Fallen were everywhere, lifeless and unmoving, but Holly didn't pay them any attention. One hand was still gripping her knife, but as she ran, she used the other to flick open one of pouches on her belt. Her fingers reached in and closed around the grip of the gun Butler had given her when they first arrived in Shangri-La. It was far too big and heavy and clumsy to have been useful against the Fallen, and it only had one magazine. Thirteen rounds. Not enough to make a dent in Opal's horde, but more than enough to ruin Natalya's day.

Holly burst out of the gloom of the temple and into the relative light of the cavern outside. She scanned the streets before her. There were still Fallen here and there, but they were just as frozen as those inside the temple. Holly recognised the building that Opal had stood on to taunt Artemis and headed for it.

Her grip on the gun tightened as she drew nearer, taking comfort from the cold steel. The elf had seen Natalya shrug off all sorts of fatal injuries, but the Russian girl wasn't unstoppable. Her healing – that was the problem. Stab her in the heart, and she would pull the knife out and heal the wound before her body shut down.

But what about the brain? You couldn't heal brain death. And you couldn't heal anything if you were already dead.

Kill the brain, kill the girl. That was the key.

Holly reached her destination and skidded to a halt, glancing around. She spotted Opal immediately. The pixie lay motionless at the edge of the road, only a few metres away from a drop into the fiery abyss beneath Shangri-La. There were a few dead formers lying around, some of them in bits, and…

Holly smiled. Just a short distance from Opal lay a figure she recognised. She walked over. Natalya smoked gently, but she didn't stir. It was impossible to tell if she was still alive or not.

Only one way to make sure.

Holly stood over the Russian girl and drew the gun.

Consciousness called to Natalya from far away, a lullaby drifting across a great chasm. Little by little, feeling returned to her. It was painful. Everything single part of her body hurt. Again. She supposed she should be getting used to that now.

She forced open her eyes. All the shapes before her blurred together. She blinked, willing her vision to clear. Something black and sinister came into focus. A gun. Aimed directly at her head. It took a moment for her to realise that Holly Short was the one holding it. It looked a little heavy for her, but the elf was using both hands, and the barrel was staying worryingly steady.

Natalya barked out a bitter laugh. Of course this was what she woke up to. After everything.

"I wondered when you'd make your move," she said through gritted teeth, pain lending an edge to her words. "Good timing. You know I'd crush you in a fair fight. So here you are to finish me off when I'm already half dead."

"Are you calling me a coward?"

Natalya would have shrugged if her muscles had felt like obeying her. "I spent a few years making a living as an assassin while I waited for my shot at Opal. I rarely killed my targets… honourably. It feels a lot worse now that it's happening to me."

"Is that the route you're going to take?" Holly looked unimpressed. "Are you going to tell me that you've seen the error of your ways? That you regret all the awful things you did? Are you going to promise to be good from now on?"

This time Natalya did manage a shrug. "Would it make a difference?"

"Yes."

Natalya laughed. "Really? You won't kill me if I say sorry?"

Holly was unmoved. "No, I'll probably still kill you. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't make a difference."

Natalya tried to adjust her position slightly and grimaced as the movement drove needles of pain into her brain. She concentrated on her magic. There wasn't much, but her injuries were slowly healing. The pain was still bad – seriously bad – but it was already better than it had been when she woke up. She siphoned off a few sparks and sent them to her legs. They wouldn't be missed.

All she needed was a little time, and she would be strong enough to fight. She had to keep Short talking. If the elf pulled the trigger, it was all over. A headshot from this range would kill her instantly, and no amount of magic would be able to revive what was left of her brain.

"A difference to you, maybe," she said, careful to keep her voice weak. It wouldn't do for Short to realise that she was recovering. "But if I'm dead either way, I don't see that it makes much of a difference to me."

"No? You don't think apologising to at least one of the people you've hurt before you die is worth anything?"

Natalya smiled faintly. "Yeah. Good idea. Why don't you bring Fowl out here and I'll apologise to both of you?"

Holly didn't smile back. "Nice try," she said, no trace of humour in her voice.

"You don't think Fowl would approve of what you're going to do, do you?" Natalya shook her head, Holly's silence confirming her suspicions. "Amazing. And here I was thinking you were the moral one."

Anger flashed across Holly's face. "You do not get to speak to me about morality."

"Tell me, Holly. How does it feel to lower yourself down my level? It's awfully dark down here, I think. I can barely remember what it was like to look upon the light."

Holly gripped the gun tighter. "I am nothing like you! You murder innocent people like it's nothing! You're evil. I'm just doing the world a favour."

Another slight shrug. "I do what's necessary."

"Necessary?" spat Holly, incensed. "Torturing me, that was necessary? What about torturing Artemis? What about letting me believe he was dead? Or helping Amber try and kill billions? All of that was necessary?"

"I was never going to let Amber kill billions. She was only even close because you got in my way. In any case, I'm not going to lie here and justify myself to you."

"No, you're not." Holly raised the gun ever so slightly, her finger tightening on the trigger. "You're going to die."

Natalya laughed again, and this time there was no fatigue in it. No amusement either. It was a mocking laugh, full of cruelty and malice. It was the same laugh that Holly had heard so many times from Natalya, the laugh of a girl who had been unbeatable for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be afraid.

"You should have pulled that trigger the moment you saw me stir."

Natalya lashed out with a kick that launched Holly into the air. The elf landed in a roll and scrambled back to her feet. She grimaced; her chest was agony and she had lost the gun. She glanced around frantically, expecting Natalya to be on her at any second. Metal glinted at her from the shadows and she dived, fingers closing around the gun's handle. She twisted, bringing the gun around to point at Natalya.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The Russian girl was stood at the edge of the road, one side of her face lit up by the magma coiling deep below, one side in shadow. She held Opal out over the void in a onehanded grip, the pixie's limp body swaying ever so slightly as air currents buffeted it this way and that.

Holly pulled herself to her feet and brought up a second hand to stabilise the gun. It didn't waver. "You realise a genocidal psychopath isn't a particularly good hostage, right?"

"Holly, stop!"

The shout came from behind. Artemis. He and Butler must have come from the temple to investigate. Great.

"Stay out of this, Fowl," she shouted back, her eyes never leaving Natalya.

"Listen to me, Holly! Do not shoot her. If you shoot her, Opal will fall. Opal will die. The timeline could collapse. The world could end. I cannot stress this enough: do not shoot her."

Holly spat a curse. Artemis was right. She had wondered why Natalya had not pressed her advantage, had not come to finish her. The truth was she hadn't needed to. The most powerful bargaining chip imaginable was lying a few metres away from her the whole time. Now, Natalya literally held the fate of the world in one hand. She looked like she was enjoying it.

"Clever boy," she called to Artemis. "For a moment, I thought your girlfriend was going to pull the trigger before she figured it out. Imagine that – damning the entire world out of sheer stupidity! But then again, she never was the brightest spark, was she? It's a good thing you're around to be the brains of the relationship."

Holly's features twisted in fury. "You'll never walk out of here alive," she snarled.

Natalya laughed again, the air currents in the abyss playing with her hair. "Actually, you're going to let me do just that. Isn't she, Arty?"

Behind Holly, Artemis glowered. "Don't call me that."

Natalya pretended to pout. "You're no fun."

"You'd really risk the entire world just save yourself? Holly kills you and you let everyone else die… for what? Spite?"

"I know it sounds childish, but if I can't live, no one can. Honestly, seems fair enough to me." Her expression turned from playful to deadly serious. "Now tell your pet to put the gun down before I drop Opal. Look, the poor thing can barely even lift it. I bet her arms are so tired."

Artemis narrowed his eyes, looking for any trace of weakness in the Russian girl's face. He couldn't find one. She was serious. If they didn't do what she asked, she would drop Opal. She'd burn the whole world out of sheer spite. Amazingly, he wasn't surprised.

"Holly," he called, defeat in his voice. "Do as she says."

"Absolutely not!"

"Holly! Forget about your vendetta. I know you don't want to let her go, but we can't risk everyone else's lives for this. Think of your friends, Holly. Think of us. All of this can finally be over. All we have to is let her walk away."

Holly bit her lip until she could taste blood. "D'Arvit!" she shouted, lowering the gun.

Natalya smiled the smile of a girl who knew she'd won. "Good girl. Now put it down."

Holly did as she was told, laying the gun on the ground in front of her, glaring at Natalya the whole time.

"Kick it towards me."

"No."

Natalya cocked her head slightly. "Have you forgotten that I hold all the aces in this little negotiation?"

"If I kick to you, you'll kill all of us just to guarantee your escape. You can leave, but you can't have the gun."

Natalya considered it for a long time. "Very well. Throw it into the abyss, then go and join your friends."

Holly reached down and picked the gun back up, resisted the urge the shoot Natalya just for the hell of it, and walked over to the edge. Her hand opened and the gun fell, spinning in the air as it rushed into the inferno. Holly watched it until it became nothing more than a speck, then turned and walked over to Artemis and Butler.

"Are you OK?" asked Artemis quietly once she was near.

Holly nodded. "What's the plan?"

"There isn't one. We let her walk away. Everybody wins."

Holly felt hatred thrash deep inside her. She forced it down. "I don't."

"We get to live. Both of us. Together. Is your vengeance really worth more than that?"

Holly looked back at Natalya. It took her a moment to answer truthfully. "No."

Artemis smiled. "Good." He turned his attention back to Natalya. "Satisfied?"

Natalya nodded and hefted Opal onto her shoulders into a fireman's lift. Holly heard Artemis breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let me explain what's going to happen now," Natalya called over to them. "I'm going to leave, and once I'm gone, you can destroy the hivemind. Then you can leave too. Oh, and I'll be taking dear Opal here with me. Think of her as insurance. I'll deposit her at an LEP installation somewhere and you guys can figure out how to send her back in time. Then we all live happily ever after. Well, not Opal. I kill her in about eight years. But the rest of us. Understand?"

Artemis nodded and Natalya blew them all a kiss before turning and walking away. Holly felt anger bubbling up inside all over again as she watched the Russian girl's figure grow smaller until she couldn't contain it any more. After everything she had done, Natalya could not just walk away. She wasn't allowed to live happily ever after. She deserved a spot in Hell for the things she had done, the least Holly could do was punch her ticket.

Me and Artemis gave everything to save the world, first from Amber, then from Opal. We've earned our shot at happiness. Natalya wouldn't even know where to start.

"This isn't over!" Holly shouted at the retreating figure. Artemis looked at her but didn't say anything. "I will find you."

Even at this distance, Natalya's smirk was clear for all to see. "Actually, it is over. When I said we all live happily ever after, I'm afraid I lied. Check your pockets, Fowl. Don't they feel a little light?" Her smile evaporated and her voice gained a hard edge. "You shouldn't have tried to kill me, Short. Their deaths are on your head."

And then she was gone, disappearing into the ruins. It wouldn't take her long and she would be at the exit.

Holly spun. Artemis was already patting his pockets. "What is she talking about?"

Artemis already knew, of course. He was just confirming. "The detonator," he breathed. Sure enough, the detonator for the explosives they had laid all over Shangri-La was nowhere to be found. "She brushed against me after we finished laying the explosives. She must have taken it then." Artemis raised his eyes, letting Holly see the fear in them. "We have to go. Now."

The three of them ran, ran hard, buying themselves whatever time they could. Artemis sucked in lungfuls of air as his feet thudded into the cobbles, his heart in his throat. They crossed streets, ducked under fairy-sized arches, dodged through ruins.

Artemis ignored it all. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, nothing apart from the exit. It wasn't far now. Maybe they could make it after all. Maybe they wouldn't collapse into the void along with the rest of Shangri-La.

And then the series of deafening cracks began and Artemis knew that he was wrong. There was no time. No hope. The explosions thundered through the cavern, a wall of noise that forced Artemis to his knees. He didn't even hear himself cry out.

Shockwaves tore through the dead city and Holly and Butler stumbled and fell. Streets came apart. Buildings erupted in flames. The colossal support columns around which Shangri-La was built cracked and started to give way. Everything shook. Ahead of them, one of the giant pillars began to collapse, the top section falling away and crashing down towards the city. The thousand-tonne chunk of stone smashed through entire neighbourhoods like a hammer through glass.

Holly was the first back on her feet. Artemis watched her through blurry eyes. She was shouting something at him. Or maybe just mouthing. He wasn't sure. The only thing he could hear over the ringing in his ears was the dull rumble of destruction echoing around the city.

The elf muttered something that was probably a curse and came over to him. She dragged him to his feet and he swayed slightly, his footing unsure. She tried to shout something else, but her words were snatched away by the cacophony around them. Artemis looked confused and she repeated it, more slowly this time, and Artemis watched her lips.

When the boy still didn't show any signs of comprehension, Holly gave up, instead just grabbing him and pulling him forward. Up ahead, Butler still seemed to be recovering from the initial explosions. Holly gestured to him and he nodded, understanding, and starting heading for the exit.

Artemis staggered and stumbled behind Holly, every bit of rubble threatening to trip him up. Wreckage and fire were everywhere. Debris rained down around them, some just slivers of stone, others great hunks of rock that tore through buildings like they were made of paper. Artemis guessed the cavern roof was starting to cave in. The entire city shuddered and convulsed as it came apart like a great dying animal, every tremor robbing Artemis of his balance and risking sending him tumbling back to the ground.

Three Fallen emerged from the ruins ahead of them, apparently reawakened by the annihilation of their home. Artemis's hearing had cleared just enough to catch Holly swearing as she moved forward to engage them. In the end, she didn't have to. A chunk of stone tore itself free from the cavern roof and punched a hole in the street, obliterating two of the formers in the process.

The remaining former screeched, its yellow eyes glued to the crater that had just replaced its two comrades, and Holly crashed into it from behind. It tumbled through the hole towards the magma below, shrieking all the way down.

Holly glanced back at Artemis. "Come on," she shouted, gesturing towards the exit once again.

Artemis didn't need telling twice. He and Holly crossed what was left of the street, keeping Butler's hulking silhouette in sight. It wasn't much farther to the exit. Wary of falling debris, Holly kept glancing up. She was quick enough to avoid being crushed on her own, but more than once she had to stop and drag Artemis out of the way of a particularly gruesome death.

Just as they reached the second to last street before the exit, another shockwave tore through the city and the road before them began to fall away. Artemis and Holly watched in horror as their escape route disintegrated, revealing a patchwork quilt that was equal parts lava and the ruined city below. But even as they looked on, the tier of buildings below them was collapsing into the void.

"Back!" Holly shouted, and the two retreated until they had nowhere else to go, the growing hole in the city creeping after them. The elf cursed and looked around frantically for a way out.

Artemis nudged her. "In here," he said, gesturing to a ruin to their left with what looked like an intact staircase inside.

Holly nodded and together they ducked inside, heading straight for the stairs. A former came at them but Holly shoved it back into a pocket of flames. They reached the second floor as the house began to come apart around them and leapt through a destroyed wall to the building adjacent. Holly pointed to a low structure squatting next to them and jumped onto its roof. Artemis tried to follow, missed, and had to be helped up.

While Artemis caught his breath, Holly glanced back to see the ground swallow up part of the building they had just jumped from. She scanned the scene before them and spotted Butler, who had been separated from them by the collapse, hunting for a way back across the void that had suddenly opened up. She shook her head at him.

"Don't!" she called. "There's nothing you can do. We'll find another way around."

Butler opened his mouth to argue, but Artemis cut in before he had a chance.

"Old friend, please. Go. We'll catch up."

Butler's face was grim. "And if you don't?"

Artemis's offered a smile that was a lot lighter than he felt. "I'd rather one of us made it out here than none of us. You can't help us. Now go."

Butler was silent for a time. Then he gave a single nod. Artemis watched him go.

"Godspeed, old friend," he whispered.

Holly looked around them. They were already living on borrowed time, she didn't bother wasting any of it being sentimental. That's what tomorrow was for. If there was a tomorrow.

Artemis turned to her. He swallowed. "Listen, Holly-" he began, but the elf held a finger to his lips.

"Later, Artemis."

"But if we don't make it-"

"We'll make it." She grabbed him. "Up here," she said, helping him clamber up to a higher section of roof so they could see better. Around them, everything was falling apart. There was no rhyme or reason to it. It was impossible to tell which section was going to fall away next. All they could do was run and hope.

"No good options," the elf murmured. "And we're out of time. We have to move."

Artemis nodded his agreement. They didn't have the luxury of time to plan a route – Shangri-La was losing its structural integrity too fast. In moments, there wouldn't be enough city left to support itself, and then everything that was left would simply fall. And with every passing second more of the cavern roof was coming down. It wouldn't be long before the half the mountain came down on top of them.

Holly took his hand and together they ran for the edge of the rooftop. The edge rushed forward to meet them, promising a nasty fall, and Artemis bent his legs, jumped, and then they were airborne, the next rooftop materialising under his legs just before gravity could snatch him from the air. His feet hit the stone hard and he stumbled but managed not to fall.

"Again," Holly shouted from beside him, and they did, again and again, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, going wherever there was solid ground to stand on, dodging between falling boulders. Twice, the building they were about to jump to collapsed and Holly had to switch their direction at the last second, but they recovered. It didn't take long to make it back to the street in front of the exit.

There it was, the archway leading up to the caves. Butler was stood just inside, waiting for them. He waved. They were going to make it.

And then an almighty tearing flooded the city. Artemis and Holly spun. Behind them, another of the giant support pillars – the one closest to the temple – was coming down, buckled and cracked by the explosives they had planted on it and no longer able to take the strain of supporting a city.

It started slowly but quickly picked up speed, careering into the abyss and taking a vast swathe of the city with it. Its supports gone, the temple followed, steadily disintegrating as it slid down the cavern wall until it was nothing more than a great avalanche of rubble. The cascade met the magma and an inhuman scream rent the air like billions of voices shrieking all at once, a scream of such pain and hatred and fury that Artemis had to clamp his hands over his ears. But still it penetrated, forcing him to his knees, burrowing its way deep into his very soul. He cried out, every painful memory he had flooding his mind. Images flashed before his eyes, images of suffering, images of death, images of destruction. Heaps of dead bodies and a ruined city. This ruined city, he realised. Shangri-La when it had first Fallen into disrepair, all those thousands of years ago.

And then it was gone. Artemis opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground. Buildings jutted out of the ground on each side of him. He was on street level. He must have fallen while that… that thing was attacking his mind. Artemis blinked. Something was approaching him from above. Something big and grey and suspiciously rocklike. He rolled at last minute and the chunk of stone crashed into the cobbles he had just been lying on and bounced away. He exhaled slowly.

Holly dropped down from the rooftop, landing next to him. She looked unsteady. "What the hell was that? Was that it dying?"

Artemis gave a shaky nod. "I think so."

"Good." Holly reached down and helped Artemis right himself. "Now let's get the hell out of here before there is no here left."

They both turned to the exit. Butler was pulling himself up, shaking his head. Apparently the effects of the hivemind's dying scream hadn't been contained by the city's boundaries.

Artemis and Holly ran. But with so much of city already destroyed, the rest was held together with little more than hope and stubbornness. Everything lurched, and the ground they running on tilted backwards so they were running at an angle. The incline steepened and their progress slowed. Artemis poured his dwindling strength into his legs, willing the exit to approach faster.

Buildings on both sides of them fell away into nothingness. The road itself began to crack, sections giving way. Artemis tripped, stumbled. He didn't even have time to scream as he realised what was about to happen. And then Holly was there, grabbing him, holding him upright, dragging him along with her.

The archway swam into his vision, only a few more paces away. Butler stood sentinel, arms wide, face tight. Artemis bent his legs and leapt the last few metres as the ground beneath him fell away into the void, and then there was nothing between him and the great sea of magma and he was going to fall and-

-and then Butler's arm wrapped around him and snatched him out of the air. He caught a glimpse of Holly latching onto the cave wall beside him, and then Butler was helping her to safety as well. Sucking in lungfuls of air, the three of them looked back at where Shangri-La had once stood. There was barely a trace left. In a few seconds, the lava would swallow up the last falling remnants, and then the Dead City would be no more. Even the archway marking the entrance had fallen away, leaving Artemis, Holly and Butler collapsed in nothing more than a cavity in the giant cavern's vast wall.

Their respite, however, was short-lived. The distant sound of rumbling was only getting louder, and the trickle of rock coming from above was quickly becoming a cascade. Shangri-La and the hivemind may have been destroyed, but the danger was not over.

"Need," Artemis managed between breaths, too exhausted for proper sentences. "To move. Not safe here. Mountain coming down."

As if to prove his point, the walls around them began to fracture, breaking apart with almighty cracks. Butler didn't need telling twice. He scooped up Artemis and started barrelling up the stairs, Holly only a few steps behind. Already they could hear the passage roof straining to stay in one piece. Soon, the entire tunnel would collapse on top of them.

The original journey down the passage had been slow, unobstructed by time constraints. Everyone had been moving cautiously. Altogether, it had taken them more than an hour to reach the bottom. Butler made the return journey in less than ten minutes. Holly arrived in the cave about a minute later, silently cursing the fact that her ultra-high level of physical fitness wasn't enough to compensate for her short legs. Being an elf wasn't without its drawbacks, she supposed.

"The way out," Butler was saying to Artemis, who was perched on the locking pedestal, still catching his breath in spite of the fact that he had just been carried for the last leg of their escape. "How do we find it?"

Still disoriented, Artemis shrugged. "We look."

"What about the magic?" Holly asked. "You said these caves were enchanted so only someone who knew the exact way could pass through without getting lost. Natalya knew the way. We don't."

Artemis shrugged again. "The warlocks wanted the labyrinth to keep people out, not in. Hopefully it won't affect us this time."

Holly's expression made it clear she wasn't impressed. "That's it? We hope?"

The rumbling continued to grow louder, and there were a series of thuds and cracks as the tunnel to Shangri-La buckled and broke. The caves above rattled and shook, reminding their occupants that they still weren't safe.

"Yes, Holly," said Artemis. "We hope. Mainly because we don't have another option."

Butler nodded, picking up his charge once again and jogged into the labyrinth. Holly followed, grabbing a burning torch from one of the brackets in the pedestal room.

The bodyguard allowed his internal compass to guide him generally away from the cave with the pedestal and the entrance to Shangri-La. Whenever he felt they had been following the same tunnel for too long, he switched directions, remembering Natalya leading them on a path that constantly meandered this way and that. A part of him wished he had paid more attention then, but he knew it wouldn't have made a difference. Even with a map, the caves would have been difficult to navigate, let alone a fuzzy mental model. Every once in a while, he fancied he recognised something – a turn here, or a jutting rock there – but he was pretty sure it was just his imagination. Everything looked the same here, especially with only the flickering half-light from Holly's torch to illuminate the way.

But somehow, miraculously, Artemis's hunch held. The thick gloom began to dissipate, darkness eventually giving way to the faintest glimmer of daylight. For the first time in too many hours to count, they breathed fresh air. They smiled, all three of them. They couldn't help themselves. Safety beckoned to them from up ahead, adding a spring to their steps that hadn't been there before. Then they turned a corner and the outside world hit them like a solid wall of light.

Holly raised a hand to shield her eyes, blinking furiously. Had daylight always been this bright? Despite everything, she laughed, relief flooding through her. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered apart from the fact that this was it, the end of their nightmare in Shangri-La. She could practically feel the stress leaving her body. She felt physically lighter than thirty seconds ago.

Except…

Artemis wasn't laughing. In fact, he didn't look relieved at all. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Holly walked towards the light, her sense of uneasiness growing. They were supposed to have left the collapsing ceilings and falling rocks behind in the cavern below, but the rumble of collapsing rock hadn't gone away.

It had got louder.

Holly poked her head out of the side of the mountain and almost had it taken off by a bouncing chunk of stone. It wasn't just the cavern and the caves that were collapsing. It was the whole mountain. The jutting cave entrance seemed to be something of a safe haven, but avalanches were everywhere else. The chances of her stepping out of the safety of the cave and surviving were low. The chances of them making it down the mountain alive were zero.

The elf felt more than heard Artemis join her. She shook her head. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. This wasn't right at all. They had braved the dead city. They had fought an army of the dead. They had defeated Opal Koboi, even in her supercharged state. They had destroyed the hivemind. They had escaped as everything disintegrated around them. They had even worked with Natalya for God's sake. And they had survived all of it.

To fail now was simply unfair. Holly could almost hear the world's cruel laughter as she stared longingly towards the cloaked LEP shuttle they had left nestled deep in the Himalayan valley. She reached out a hand, saw her fingers trembling. Freedom was so close, all she had to do was close her hand and grab it. She was sure of it. Tears welled up in her eyes, unbidden, and she angrily blinked them away.

"Artemis," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Plan?"

Artemis looked at her blankly. "We can't stay here. It won't take long for these caves to collapse. By the sounds of things, they've already begun. And we can't go out there. We'll be crushed instantly."

"Plan," Holly insisted, anger rising in her voice. "You can't be out of ideas. You always have a plan; you always do. You've never let me down. Not once. Don't you dare start today."

Artemis smiled sadly. He didn't say anything. He just stood with her while she watched the mountain come down around them, his eyes skyward. Holly didn't know what he was looking for. She didn't bother asking. She knew he was going to think of something. She just knew it. She was barely aware of Butler stood silently behind, observing.

And then, after almost a minute of silence, hope flickered across Artemis's face. He smiled, and this time it was genuine, full of warmth and comfort and optimism. It was the kind of smile his younger self would never have been capable of.

"What do you think, old friend?" he asked Butler. "Do you think I need to come up with a plan? Is all hope lost if I don't?"

Butler stepped forward, laid a hand on his charge's shoulder. He was struck then by how tall Artemis had grown. He studied the boy's face. Artemis's eyes were fixed on a single point. Butler followed his gaze. It took a moment. Then the manservant smiled too.

"I don't think so."

Holly frowned. "What do you mean?" She looked closer at the two humans, saw their fixated gaze. Their eyes were locked onto… nothing. It was just a patch of sky. "What are you looking at?"

Artemis's hand found Holly's and he laced his fingers with hers. "Remember, I'm not your only friend in this world," he said quietly. He gave her a hand a squeeze. "Look carefully."

Holly did. She saw the patch of sky, weak blue streaked with white, and it was like every other patch of sky that spanned the horizon. Except that it wasn't. She narrowed her eyes. It was almost… distorted. Like a slight heat haze.

It looked an awful lot like hope. And it was getting bigger.

And then the LEP shuttle deactivated its shield, a hulking metal teardrop materialising out of nothing, all gleaming steel and weaponry. Artemis gave a jaunty wave, as though the collapsing mountain he was stood on was nothing more than interesting scenery, and Holly grinned. The shuttle had already seen them and begun its descent.

"I'd almost forgotten," said Holly, "that it was possible for me to be rescued by someone other than you, or for you to be rescued by someone other than me."

It didn't take long for the shuttle to be hovering outside the cave entrance, the roar of its engines adding to the constant thunder of falling rocks. Even from inside the cave, the noise was immense. A panel in the fuselage slid open to reveal Captain Galadhon.

"Holly!" he shouted, fighting to be heard over all the noise. "You need to get onboard. We can't get any closer without risking one of those rocks taking us out of the air."

Holly shook her head. The shuttle was still a good ten metres away from them. "What do you want from us?" she yelled back, the noise threatening to snatch away her words. "It's not like we can jump on board from here."

"Negative, Holly. Use your piton. Clip the others onto your moonbelt. We'll reel you in."

Holly didn't need telling twice. She grabbed the piton dart from her belt and slid it into the barrel of her neutrino. Galadhon disappeared back into the shuttle, returning a moment later holding some piece of equipment or other. Holly didn't know what it was, but it looked sturdy enough, and that was all that mattered.

Galadhon held it up for her to use as a target and Holly narrowed her eyes down the sights of her neutrino. It wasn't a hard shot, but Holly didn't know how long they had before their cave collapsed, and she doubted she would get more than one chance at this. It would be stupid to risk wasting the one she had by rushing it.

Holly squeezed the trigger and the dart sped forward, slamming into the equipment in Galadhon's hands. The other elf checked that it was secure before passing it to another fairy who took it deeper into the shuttle, presumably to fix it in place. At least, Holly hoped that's what he was doing. She didn't fancy being dropped into a landslide out of sheer LEP incompetence.

Once Artemis and Butler were both clipped onto her moonbelt, Holly gave Galadhon a thumbs up. The other elf nodded and said something to another crew member. A moment later, the shuttle lurched away from the mountain and the rope went taut. Holly felt herself being suddenly tugged forward, and then she was being lifted, dragging Artemis and Butler's weight-reduced forms with her.

Stray chunks of rock bounced up towards them and threatened to pluck them from the air, but they slipped past. And then they were clear, swinging madly beneath the shuttle, the deadly avalanches and the imminent collapse of their safe haven suddenly nothing more than a memory, growing more distant with every thud of the shuttle's engines. The wind whipped at Holly's hair and she grinned. The whole thing was spectacularly liberating.

The shuttle stopped rising, and Holly could feel the crew begin to pull them up. A few moments later there were hands reaching down to help them clamber on board. Holly unclipped Butler and Artemis from her moonbelt and glanced at their new surroundings. The shuttle's interior was exactly as spartan as you would expect from a military craft, but she didn't mind. She went to find a seat, giving Galadhon a light punch on the arm.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" she said, smiling.

Galadhon almost returned the smile. "I take it your mission was accomplished? Opal and her army are no more?"

Holly nodded, forcing herself back into soldier mode. Galadhon was as single minded as always. It was partly what made him so good at what he did. Holly wondered briefly if he had many friends, or maybe a significant other back in Haven, and of their own accord her eyes strayed to Artemis. The boy was finding a seat of his own, as far from the LEP fairies as possible. Butler had to sit on the floor.

She made herself concentrate on the matter at hand. "The Fallen are gone for good. It's over."

"And Opal? I couldn't help noticing that she isn't with you. And since the world hasn't ended, I'm going to assume she isn't dead. So she escaped?"

Holly almost tried to explain. Almost. But she just didn't have the energy to tell that story right now. The fact that she had had Natalya in her grasp and the Russian girl had outmanoeuvred her was still a raw wound.

"She didn't escape. She… she'll turn up. Don't ask how. She just will. Trust me."

Galadhon took a seat opposite her. He didn't press the issue. "Good job today, Holly. I'm sorry we left you on your own on this one."

Holly shrugged. "Don't sweat it. You had your own problems. Speaking of which, what's the situation like below ground?"

Galadhon's expression was grim. "Fragile, but better than it was. And Haven no longer looks quite so much like a warzone, which is a bonus."

Outside the shuttle Holly, could see what was left of the mountain give up the fight to stay in one piece. Entire sheets of rock, each hundreds of metres wide, started sliding down into the valleys. Devastation spread like wildfire. As she watched, a cavity opened up at the peak; it spread hungrily, consuming the mountain from within as millions of tonnes of rock began sinking to fill the massive hollow beneath. In a few minutes, there wouldn't be a mountain anymore, just a very, very big pile of rocks. It was a truly spectacular sight.

"What actually happened down in Haven?" she asked eventually, tearing her eyes away from the collapsing mountain. "My conversation with Foaly was pretty light on details."

"Things escalated," Galadhon said simply. "More riots. More violence. Every time I got into a contact the people I was shooting at looked less like civilians and more like rebels. We had to resort to increasingly drastic measures to keep the peace."

"Frond," muttered Holly.

Galadhon nodded. "Quite. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, a group of LEP fairies went rogue and tried to stage a coup. Three council members were killed, including Cahartez, and K'Azir is still in critical condition. At first, we thought they sympathised with the rioters, but it turned out that they thought we were being led by cowards and weak politicians who weren't hard enough on the growing numbers of "enemies of the state." Their solution was to institute marshal law and crush the unrest with overwhelming force."

Holly shook her head, sickened. Cahartez had been a somewhat ridiculous figure and she had never had much respect for him, but his death was still a punch to her gut. And K'Azir was critical, too. If he didn't make it, he would be the third LEP commander to die in only a few years. And all of this not because of the Mud Men, but because of other fairies. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Fairies were meant to be a peace-loving people.

"I don't understand," she said. "The People aren't like this. We're peaceful."

Galadhon gave an almost imperceptible shrug. "So we say."

Holly narrowed her eyes slightly. She didn't like what Galadhon was implying, and she certainly didn't agree, but she was too tired to argue. There was really only one thing she wanted to ask Galadhon.

"So you stopped them? The rogue LEP fairies, and the rioters, and everything. They're dealt with?"

"Dealt with? God no. The unrest is contained at best, reduced at worst. And most of the LEP rebels are dead or in prison, but some escaped to cause trouble elsewhere. There are pockets of resistance all over Haven. But the worst is passed. I'm confident we'll have the situation fully under control in a few days."

Holly thought about it. She still remembered Opal Koboi's goblin rebellion, all those years ago. Haven had looked like hell for a while. But the People had pulled through in the end. They always did.

Another crew member approached Galadhon. "Major. We're prepped to fly home. Awaiting your go."

Holly glanced up, noticing for the first time the Major's acorns on Galadhon's lapel. "Congratulations on the promotion."

Galadhon was indifferent. "We've lost some people over the last few days. Apparently the upper echelons of the LEP needed fresh blood." He gestured over at Artemis and Butler. "So what's it going to be? You want me to drop these two at Fowl Manor before we head back to Haven?"

Holly caught Artemis's eye and failed to suppress a smile. "Actually," she said. "You can drop all three of us at Fowl Manor. I'm taking some well-earned holiday."

A/N: Phew. Nine-thousand words later, and that's it, conflict resolved. Well, for the most part at least. There are still a few things to clear up, but they made it. They really made it. Even I wasn't sure for a while there. But Holly and Artemis finally have their shot at a life together. Sorry that it was a bit of a roller-coaster – I know this was a long chapter with seemingly never-ending threat for the protagonists. I'm hoping that made it an appropriately epic conclusion to a long and arduous two-part story rather than simply a chore to read, but I suppose that's for you to decide.

Speaking of which… leave me a review? :) A few people left reviews on yesterday's update, letting me know they were still around and had been looking forward to a new chapter, which honestly just made my day. So thank you to those people who did, you guys are awesome.

Oh, and just quickly since I imagine some people are wondering: I do realiseHolly's vengefulness is at odds with her canon characterisation. This is intentional as opposed to simple bad writing. It's intended to signify that she has changed (and not for the better) as a consequence of the hell I have subjected her to over the course of this story and Winter of Decay. If you like you can let me know if you think it does or doesn't work.

-Kio