Chapter 6- Bittersweet
And, of course, what I did then was very stupid. Holly and I ran toward the main hall. What I saw there drained my sudden courage very quickly. Not the fancy furniture, not the smashed door, or even the incredible team of Juliet and Butler fighting together.
No, what shook me to my torn, dirty sneakers was the troll.
It was bigger then anyone could have ever possibly conveyed. It was bigger, stronger, wider- everything about it was bigger, stronger, and wider. Its tusks, dripping venom, glittered cruelly in the flickering light, and they were big enough to impale a smallish, very breakable 12-year-old girl like me. It roared again, revealing its sharp yellowing teeth, speckled with blood and- ew- flesh. Its massive claws hooked to a point at the end. Heck, its matted dreadlocks alone could probably strangle me with hair to spare. Holly, of course, leaped into battle, snatching the wings off my sweater and drawing her Neutrino. I just stared, taking it all in. Butler leaped at the thing in full knight's armor, swinging his flail in one hand and pointing his Sig Sauer in the other. The troll turned toward me, paying little attention to the man on its back. Its small red eyes sparked in recognition of a weak target, and it lumbered toward me, the floor buckling with every step. I backed away slowly, too scared to retaliate or even run.
How did this happen to me? Can I get hurt inside a book? Can I- can I die?
The troll looked like it was preparing itself for a little helpless appetizer when Butler, from its back, yelled, "RUN!"
That cry snapped me away from shock. I faked going one way, then sprinted the other, suddenly glad that my mom forced me to take track. The troll spun around, confused by the fact that its ready-made meal was actually running away.
It turned around and I think it would have chased me, except Butler put three rounds from his Sig Sauer into the troll at the same time Juliet whacked its jaw with a well-aimed punch, and Holly kept it distracted by flashing tunnel lights on and off into its eyes.
I watched them, and, backed up into a corner, I felt a bit useless. It had been my idea to help Butler, and what did I do? Curl up and out at the first chance I got.
My moment to help struck when the troll, noticing that the man mountain's shots hurt, slashed Butler's chest, its huge claws cutting through the knight's armor like butter. Holly leaped off the troll gracefully, narrowly avoiding a jawful of teeth, and landed on Butler's chest, pouring her magic frantically into his wound.
Only Juliet was left fighting the monster, and she was getting tired. She hadn't completed training at Madame Ko's, and constantly weaving under the troll's claws and venom was wiping her out. I hesitated for a second, then grabbed an incredibly heavy sword from a knight bust nearby, and charged at the troll.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
Lifting the sword was much harder then they ever show in movies, where the hero draws the sword seamlessly out of its scabbard and begins to duel with speed and grace. I was pretty much dragging the thing behind me. I hefted it with all the strength I could and swung it at the troll's meaty leg. It bounced off, barely making a scratch, but it got its attention. The huge monster turned around, shaking Juliet off its massive shoulders. Behind it, I saw her fall to the ground. She looked fine, but out cold. A glance it the other direction confirmed that Butler was still healing and Holly was hunched over him, sparks skittering and her head dropping tiredly. I couldn't let the troll's attention come to them.
"Hey, ugly!" I called, a sudden wave of bravado rolling on. "Is that your face or did your neck throw up?"
The troll cocked its head. Apparently it wasn't used to victims trash-talking it.
"Yeah, you!" I shouted, swinging the sword at it. "Are you scared to come and get me, huh? You scared, little troll? You wanna run away now? Huh?"
The troll lumbered toward me angrily, beady eyes narrowing.
"You want me? Come and get me!" I exclaimed, hoisting the sword to waist level. It growled and swiped the sword out of my hands, sending it clanging away on the floor. I gulped. This was not the way I had expected things to go.
It was closing in, and I did what was possibly the stupidest thing possible for me to do.
I leaped at the troll.
It roared, but I hung on to the matted fur on its chest. Two huge fists missed me by about an inch, and venom dripping from its mouth literally burned a hole in my sweater. I'd never been so glad for wearing an t-shirt. I ducked under sweeping blows, a tusk slicing a chunk of hair from the bottom of my ponytail. I was frantically thinking of a way to knock it out while avoiding it killing me. Light! Trolls hate light. Bracing myself, I pushed off the troll's chest, hanging on by only my hands. I let go, landing with a hard thump on the ground. It wasn't a smart move. I was too winded to see the huge claw coming at me, until it was too late.
Pain. It pierced my leg and shot through my body like a bullet of flame, igniting every cell in my body on overdrive. I slammed against the wall, barely conscious.
The troll was ready for the final slice; it hadn't meant to hit the leg, but it would be easy to deliver the killing blow now. I didn't really care. The pain was unbearable, like a hot poker being jabbed furiously everywhere.
Goodbye, everyone. The pain was too real, too strong to just be a book's illusion. This was the end.
The troll's hungry claws reached in, my last sight.
No. No. It wasn't. Not yet, not for me. There was a life to live and an adventure to finish. With all the strength in my body, I heaved my arm against the hilt of the sword and it spun across the shiny waxed floor. I couldn't risk this going wrong, yet I had no reason to think that it would work. Just an bit further, just an bit further… The troll's attention was fixed on the sword for now. Come on… come on!
The weapon slid to a rest, right on target. Afternoon light streaming through the windows hit it perfectly. Maybe it was pain, maybe it was shock, but I swore I saw beautiful golden beams rippling across the silver surface of the blade. Anyway, the troll bellowed in distress, for the gleam of the sun on the sword was brighter than it could bear. It staggered back, blinded. I smiled, but a sinking feeling reminded me that the light show wouldn't hold off the beast for long. The pain in my leg was still throbbing angrily, and I saw that on the other side of the hall, Holly was passed out, magic completely run out from the healing. Meanwhile, for all my efforts, the troll was shaking its matted dreadlocks, almost recovered. It spotted me against the wall and roared, as if saying, That hurt! How dare you! Well, at least I can kill you now.
"Well, so what, you big brute!" I called to it, anger building up like a stack of blocks. "You can kill me off now. Fine. Great for you. But someday, someone will kill you, too, you know! Did you know that?"
And then came the totally unexpected, the lifesaving action that stopped me from dying young. That hidden voice from behind the troll that saved my life.
"And I believe that someone would be me."
The troll looked down at the bullet piercing its chest disbelievingly. It was surprised, furious, and a bit relieved all at the same time. Three more joined the single bullet, and the troll, with a slow, prolonged growl, sunk to the floor, dead. And the person standing behind it, holding out a smoking Neutrino, was the last person who I'd ever expect to save my life.
"Artemis Fowl," I breathed, then passed out.
I woke to a slap, which was courtesy of Holly. She yelled at me, "What were you doing, taking on a troll? You're just a human! That was probably the most idiotic thing that has ever been done! How did you- how could you- how are you still alive right now?"
"That would be me," came a smug voice. I blinked, noticing Artemis standing over us. Holly gave him a glare that could have killed ten trolls. "And you, Mud Boy, the minute this blows over, you'll be sitting in a cell! So you just shut your mouth, before I shut it for you!"
I tried to remember what had happened a couple of hours ago, which wasn't too hard. I looked up at Artemis. "You saved my life. Why?"
He brushed off his hands as if sweeping away a particularly annoying moment. "That was merely in my own interests. I would have been next on the death list for that troll."
"But how? You can't shoot!"
Holly answered that one for me. "Target-locked gun. He took it from one of the LEPretrieval boys. Modified it with human/fairy mixed shots. So powerful, a couple of them killed that troll."
I nodded, all the information spinning in my head. "I just want to go home," I whispered miserably. Holly bit her lip. "That might happen sooner then you think. The techies want to send you to your time with your machine."
"Time. Right. My own time," I agree distractedly, feeling half-bad about lying to Holly. But what should I tell her? That she, and everyone she knows is a fictional character sprung from the mind of Eoin Colfer?
Artemis cocks an eyebrow. "Time travel? Fascinating. How fascinating."
They all came to see me go. Artemis to see/take notes on 'time travel', Butler and Juliet because Artemis was going, Holly, Commander Root, and Foaly because they said they would, and Mulch because he was handcuffed to Holly.
The Transporter and the book had reappeared in my jacket somewhere along the line. I drew them out. careful to hide the book cover from prying eyes. Foaly joined a couple of wires and pressed a few buttons, and suddenly the Transporter was shaking and emitting green sparks.
"You have five minutes," he pronounced, tapping on a screen.
I nodded and turned to the LEP crew. I smiled at Holly. "'Bye, Captain. Nice seeing you in action," I said, and moved to Commander Root. "You're a fantastic commander. Oh, and watch out for Opal Koboi."
I looked at Mulch. "Just- lay low, okay? Oh, and getting involved with the Chicago Mob is never a great idea."
To Butler and Juliet, I shook hands. "I saved your lives," I informed them. They nodded, looking a bit confused. Finally, I moved on to the last person there. He nodded to me, almost politely. And that's when I kissed Artemis Fowl.
It was, to say the least, magical. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the timer counting down from a minute, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that I was kissing the boy I had dreamed about for years, and he was kissing back. I finally pulled back and grinned. "See you in my dreams, Fowl," I told him, and then everything around me evaporated into dust.
It was strange. There was no swirling vortex or white cosmos, I just landed on my bed. Memories coursed through me like fire. I was in the book. Artemis Fowl. I kissed him. I really kissed him.
I looked out the window. It was still hot outside, the midday sun shimmering in the air. I was back in North Dakota, far away from Dublin and Fowl Manor. It was minutes before I because aware of the hard metal of the Transporter pressing into my side. I took it out and my book fell out of the open clasps, resting on my bed. Somehow the sight of it made me panic. I needed to tell someone about this adventure. I needed to share it with the world out there, and there was only one place where people would actually believe that a normal girl traveled into the pages of a book and back. One place where I could tell everyone.
I logged into my FanFiction account and started writing.