Artemis opened his eyes in horror, turning to look behind him where Pfeiffer had been.

To his ultimate surprise, Pfeiffer was still standing there, alive and kicking.

Artemis's jaw fell open briefly, "Pfeiffer? But how-"

"How indeed."

Came a distinctly female voice from behind him. "Why don't you have a second look at Cudgeon. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Following her advice, he spun on his heel to see a very dead Briar Cudgeon.

"Holly!" Artemis turned around as she disengaged her shield.

"You remember me then, I'm touched."

"Why, Holly? I thought the council was going to have me executed."

She grinned, exposing her white teeth, "Oh, they were, Artemis. They were."

His face hardened, "No games please, Captain Short. Why didn't they?"

She laughed unpleasantly, "The council is full of doddering old fools, too afraid to break with tradition. It has always been tradition to avoid assasinations."

He contemplated this for a moment, "You are lying through your teeth, Captain Short."

"Maybe, Fowl. Then again, maybe not. You'll never know."

Artemis clenched his fists, then relaxed, "Thank you, Captain Short. I suppose that I owe you one."

She frowned, "I hope that I never have to collect on that debt, Fowl. Until next time."

Holly engaged her shield, disappearing from view.

Pfeiffer tugged gently on Artemis's sleeve, "Artis?"

"Yes, Pfeiffer?"

"Was that girl a real fairy?"

"Yes, she was." Replied Artemis, thinking that Pfeiffer would forget about this day later in life.

Pfeiffer looked genuinely confused for once, "Why did she help us?"

"I don't know, Pfeiffer. I don't know."

A series of yells came from the hill that Pfeiffer's house was on as the entire household came tumbling down to find them.

Artemis looked at Cudgeon quickly, only to realize that Holly had carted him away to avoid exposure.

Danny was leading the charge, "ARTEMIS, PFEIFFER! ARE YA'LL OKAY?"

Pfeiffer rolled his eyes, "Sisters."

"We are just fine, Danielle."

She skidded to a stop right in front of them, "We heard gunshots and then silence and we thought somethin' awful had happened to ya'll!"

Pfeiffer eagerly piped up, "Danny, guess what! There was this mean guy and he waved this gun around and yelled at Artemis. Then, this girl came and shot the mean guy and she talked to Artemis too!"

Danny looked up at Artemis, then back at Pfeiffer, choosing to ignore these statements, "Don't ya'll ever do that to me again!"

The rest of the adults caught up, panting for breath.

"Are-*puff - you-puff *- okay? Puffpuff"