Chapter 7

The first bullet slammed into Holly's chest and sent her stumbling. Her armour held firm, but the impact still sent pain ricocheting around her chest. Before she could react, another shot found its mark and she cried out. With her free hand clutching a now aching torso, she fired off a few blind Neutrino bursts in the vague direction of the shooter and scrambled for cover. A ditch swam into view and she dived, finding shelter just as another hail of bullets exploded into the air where she had been a split second before.

"Holly! Holly!" Butler's voice was loud in her helmet. "Talk to me, are you alright? Shit, they're dug in, there's not much I can do from up here. I'm moving in to assist."

Holly let out a ragged breath and tried to take stock. Magic was already dulling the pain in her abdomen, healing what felt like a couple of broken ribs, and she was otherwise intact. But every second saw another bullet slam into the ground next to her little haven, each impact kicking up a telltale plume of dust and earth.

"Still in one piece," she managed to say. "But pinned down." She clenched her teeth, using the discomfort to focus herself in the moment. It was far from her first firefight, but being shot at wasn't something you ever really got used to. "Alright, let's see what those bastards are working with."

Holly reactivated her shield and stood up, Neutrino clutched in a two handed grip, primed to fire. The scene that greeted her wasn't a hopeful one: at least three shooters were holed up in separate buildings, all poking modified human weaponry out of windows or doorways. She focused her attention on the nearest target - an elf leaning out of a first floor window not twenty metres from her - and prayed for a clear shot through her shield's vibrations.

She never got to pull the trigger. A round from one of the other shooters connected with her head, and she went down hard, through luck alone landing in something resembling cover. Head spinning, she crawled further into what she hoped was safety. Something warm and wet and predictably metallic trickled down her forehead and into the edge of her mouth, and she realised that the impact had sent her head ragdolling back and forth in her helmet with enough force to compress the protective padding and draw blood on the armour plating.

When her eyes finally refocused, she saw the chip in her visor, right in the middle where she couldn't quite look at it without her vision doubling.

"D'Arvit," she breathed. "Thank you, Foaly."

It occurred to her that her hands were shaking, but she ignored them. Not dead, she told herself. Not yet. Somehow. She reached deep and found her steel, forcing herself back into the moment.

The roar of automatic gunfire was coming from both sides of her now. Butler must have swapped from the Neutrino back to his rifle as the firefight intensified.

"Alive," Holly mumbled, her voice fragile. "We need him alive, Butler."

"I know," replied Butler in a tone that suggested that knowing and caring were very different propositions.

Holly didn't have it in her to argue. Maybe he was right. Unshielded fairies firing unsuppressed weapons within earshot of a human settlement was a catastrophe of spectacular proportions. They needed to finish this, and they needed to do it fast.

Artemis froze. The knocking echoed around the cabin, quiet but undeniable.

"OK," he said aloud. "I'm not ecstatic about this development."

Curiosity bested his better judgement and Artemis reached out a shaky hand and rapped on the shuttle wall three more times.

The reply came louder this time, the unmistakable sound of a fist hitting metal.

One.

Two.

Three.

Artemis scrambled to his feet, Neutrino in hand, and mentally ran through possible explanations. The list wasn't long. It couldn't be Holly - even if she had lost all her LEP tech, the shuttle would still have responded to her voice or handprint. Butler would have knocked with the emergency rhythm he and Artemis had agreed all those years ago. A strange human? It was technically possible one had managed to quite literally bump into the invisible shuttle, but also astronomically unlikely.

Which only left the one real possibility: that a fairy - probably a hostile one - had detected the shuttle and come to say hello. Fantastic.

Artemis made his way back to the cockpit and scanned the Gnommish characters for anything that might help him, but white-hot pain flashed before he got far. He staggered, reaching out a blind hand to stabilise himself, and just barely managed to stay on his feet.

"Not now. Please, not now."

Artemis's other hand found one of the pilot's chairs and he wrapped fingers around the arm, nails digging deep into the soft padding. He sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly, waiting for the pain to pass.

It was over a few seconds later, as he had known it would be. This wasn't the first episode since departing the Argon Clinic, but none had been more than fleeting. His eyes refocused, settling on a little green button way out at the edge of the dashboard, standing alone like a design afterthought.

The caption read: External Sensors.

Artemis grinned. He punched the button and immediately a screen lit up with a litany of information about the shuttle's surroundings. It only took a little tinkering to bring up the external camera feeds, and less again to zoom in on the one showing his visitor.

"Well, well, well," Artemis said to himself as he watched the person on the screen. "Aren't you full of surprises?"

Xayah smiled right on cue, as though hearing Artemis's words. She was clad in full LEP combat gear but with no helmet, a Neutrino ready in one hand. She waved at the camera with her free hand and mouthed something about letting her in.

Artemis's finger hesitated over the door release button, but only for a split second. After all, it was Xayah who had supplied the intel on Clarke. Without her, they would still be stuck in Haven chasing shadows rather than here on the surface, closing in on their first real lead. She was on their side.

The shuttle doors slid apart and Xayah hopped aboard. She held a hand out to Artemis. Taken aback, Artemis made to shake it, but Xayah grabbed his hand and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"It is good to see you again, my friend!" she said, gripping Artemis tight. "When I heard that Clarke's contact had escaped, I was afraid the wretched incompetence of the LEP had let us all down once more. But here you are to salvage things!"

Artemis was surprised to find himself less uncomfortable in the hug than usual, though he still wasn't sure what to do with his hands. Xayah was tall for an elf, so much that she could embrace him properly without her feet leaving the ground. Her breath was warm on his neck.

"I… thanks. I think. I'm not doing much salvaging myself right now, though."

Xayah looked him up and down. "They did not trust you to fight by their side, eh?"

Artemis shrugged. "I'm not much of a fighter. More of a planner."

Xayah laughed. "This I know. But at least-" she pointed at the Neutrino Artemis was holding awkwardly by his side "-they trusted you with a weapon. This is good! I was worried the LEP would still treat you like their enemy."

At least they trusted you with a weapon. Artemis looked down at the Neutrino and couldn't help but remember how reluctant Holly had been to let him take it. He dismissed the thought. Holly trusted him, of course she did.

Didn't she?

Xayah slapped Artemis's shoulder before he could think anything more of it.

"My friend," she said. "Fighter, planner, whatever you are, you must come. Your friends are in trouble. They need our help."

Artemis felt his heart skip a beat. "Holly and Butler? What's happening?"

"They are fighting with Miller's people. It's messy. The human police are on their way."

Xayah hopped out of the shuttle and Artemis followed. His was the less graceful landing, but soft mossy undergrowth absorbed much of the impact and he kept his balance. He inclined an ear in the direction of the village and could just make out the distant rattle of gunfire.

It occurred to him that he was scared. Terrified, really. He'd never gone running into a gunfight before, and the one on the horizon didn't sound small. But Holly was in trouble, and there was no way he was cowering back in the shuttle if there was something he could do to help.

Plus, he had Xayah with him. True, he didn't know her well, but she'd proven herself an ally, and she was LEP, like Holly. She was a soldier. That meant firepower.

He locked the shuttle once more and the pair of them set off for the village. Artemis was far from in shape, but he grew taller every year, and the two made surprisingly good pace jogging through the scattered woodland. Artemis tripped at one point, but Xayah caught him before he face-planted into a bramble bush.

"Thanks," he said awkwardly.

Xayah was already jogging ahead. "It is nothing," she called back. "Come, we are almost there."

Artemis could hear that it was true. The sounds of battle had grown from a distant crackle to a din so loud that he and Xayah could scarcely hear each other. Thirty seconds later they emerged over the hill and the full extent of the carnage came into view.

Holly and Butler were dead ahead, engaged in a pitched firefight with at least two fairies holed up in separate buildings. Holly was crouched in a ditch, firing off Neutrino bursts whenever she got the chance, while Butler was nearby with his rifle in hand, using the edge of a cottage for cover. An unconscious sprite lay impossibly serene at the heart of it all, and what looked like a dead jumbo pixie was slumped in one of the doorways. One of the thatched cottages was ablaze, and there were bullet holes just about everywhere.

"Oh, my," said Artemis. Then the smell of smoke and spent gunpowder hit him like a truck and he started choking.

Xayah chuckled. "Quite."

Artemis stood frozen, watching the battle rage on. Both sides were cautious, peeking out of cover to put a few shots downrage and slipping back before they could be punished. A pair of particularly brave humans arrived from the village to investigate, and Artemis grimaced as Holly shot them both unconscious without a second thought.

An enemy elf tried to take advantage of the distraction to get a clear shot off, but Butler was ready, rifle trained on his position. Two shots rang out. Artemis saw at least one of them punch a hole in the elf's neck and he slumped back, dead or dying, it didn't matter which. No fairy had magic to stitch up a wound like that, let alone a criminal.

Artemis forced himself to let go of the breath he had been holding onto. He was gripping his Neutrino so tight that it dug painfully into his hands, but he hadn't the faintest idea what to do with it. This wasn't his world.

And then, to his horror, he saw the figure flanking his friends. A goblin had somehow slipped away from the action and found his way around the improvised battlefield to a steep ridge on the right hand side. Holly and Butler were oblivious, still trading shots with the final fairy dug into the abandoned cottages.

The goblin hefted a metal tube onto his shoulder that could only mean very bad things, and aimed it squarely at Holly and Butler's exposed backs.

Artemis was rooted to the spot, his whole body suddenly made of stone. The most important people in his world were going to die, and his body wasn't listening to him. His arms wouldn't move. The Neutrino Holly had given him pointed uselessly at the ground.

"Xayah," he croaked, forcing the word through uncooperative lips. It was all he could think to do.

Xayah looked at him, followed his horrified gaze to the goblin on the bluff. She reacted instantly, dropping into a firing stance and letting loose a controlled burst from her own Neutrino. It hit the goblin square in the chest and he fell, already unconscious, his body rolling comically down the hill towards the battlefield. The final enemy shooter noticed and fired a wild burst in Xayah's direction, and she dived for cover, disappearing from view.

Holly noticed, too. She pieced it together in her head and turned, eyes finding only Artemis bringing up her rear. They widened in initial surprise, but then she smiled at him.

"Nice shot!" she shouted, and gave him a one-handed thumbs up.

Artemis opened his mouth to correct her, to say that he hadn't taken the shot, that he'd been too weak, too scared, but already Holly's focus was back on the gunfight. He knew there was no point distracting her.

While Holly and Butler advanced on the final fairy holdout in the cottage, Artemis did some mental arithmetic. Before landing, Holly's scan of the area had shown six identified heat signatures. Between the unconscious sprite, the dead jumbo pixie and the dead elf, Holly and Butler had neutralised three hostiles. Xayah had taken out the goblin, and there was one fairy still fighting.

Which totaled five fairies. And as far as Artemis could tell, it didn't include the one they had come specially to interrogate.

"Xayah," he called quickly. "There were six of them, but I only count five here. Our target might be escaping."

Xayah's answer was simple. "Then we must not let him." She gestured towards the bluff where the goblin had tried to flank Holly and Butler. "This way, my friend."

Artemis didn't bother asking questions. They scrambled up the hill together, Artemis sucking in shallow breaths as he tried to keep up with Xayah, silently wishing he had enough oxygen to spare for a complaint or three. Xayah was first to the top, immediately using the vantage point to scan the surrounding gullies and hillsides for any sign of movement. By the time Artemis joined her, she was already pointing.

"There!" she snarled. "See how he flees?" She spat on the ground. "He lets his comrades bleed while he tries to save his own skin."

Artemis followed her pointing finger. Sure enough, the suspected Talon was slinking away through the undergrowth, throwing an occasional furtive glance over his shoulder. His movement was laboured and erratic, and he clutched his hip as he went. Artemis guessed he had been injured in the firefight and had no more magic to heal or shield himself.

Now he had finally caught his breath, Artemis prepared to speak, but Xayah moved once more, dashing back down the hill towards their fleeing target. He sighed.

"Fabulous," he said aloud, and steeled himself for yet more running.

The injured Talon wasn't difficult to catch up to. He heard them coming too late, and by the time he was turning to defend himself, Xayah crashed into him full force with a sickening crunch. The pair rolled through the brush, eventually coming to an awkward stop with Xayah on top. She shifted her weight onto his injured hip and he cried out.

"Hurts, does it?" Xayah applied more force. "Good."

Then she jammed her Neutrino into the small of his back and pulled the trigger, and it was over.

A thoroughly exhausted Artemis dragged the unconscious Talon in the direction of the village, to where he knew he would find Holly and Butler working overtime to clean up what they could of the enormous mess they had made. He could already hear the sirens, they had minutes before a whole lot of probably well-armed police arrived on the scene. If there was any evidence of the People left for them to find, they were all sunk.

Xayah had already bid him farewell, insisting she had something else to take care of, leaving him solely responsible for bringing the Talon back for questioning. The unconscious fairy was far from light but his size made him just about manageable, and Artemis supposed he couldn't be too upset with Xayah. She had saved Holly and Butler's lives, and she had made sure their lead didn't escape in the chaos - not to mention the fact she had supplied the initial intel on Clarke to start the ball rolling.

It is as if we have a guardian angel, Artemis thought to himself, and smiled at the idea.

Holly spotted him as he approached the edge of the original mission area. She looked dismayed.

"Artemis! We lost our guy and there's no time to look for him. Did you see anything?"

Artemis looked up. Every building he could see was burning now, each one a soaring inferno belching black smoke into the sky - Holly's work no doubt, making sure nothing incriminating was left behind. Butler came into view wearing an expression that suggested today's events were excessive even by his standards, three unconscious fairies slung over his shoulder and a big, lumpy bag under his arm.

Trying not to think about what that bag probably contained, Artemis hefted the fairy he was dragging into view with what little strength he had left. He gave Holly a proud smile.

"Already got him."

Relief washed over Holly's face like Artemis had never seen. "Oh thank Frond," she breathed. "I thought it was all for nothing."

Artemis shook his head. "Not today."

There was no more time for discussion. Butler added the Talon to his fairy collection and the three made a break for the shuttle, Holly leading the way into the relative shelter of the woodland just before human authorities began to swarm the village. Artemis did his best to keep pace, but the day had already taken no small toll on him, and it wasn't long before his legs gave up the fight. There was no Xayah to catch him this time, and he collapsed painfully in the undergrowth.

"Ow."

An unamused Holly looked at Butler, who replied with a shrug that said very clearly just how many people do you think I can carry at once?

"Fine," Holly grumbled, and rushed to Artemis's side. She helped him up, hooked his arm around her neck so he could use her to support himself, and resumed her jog to the shuttle. "Don't get any ideas, Mud Boy, this is a one-time thing. And only because you helped earlier."

Artemis murmured something that might have been thank you or might have been a sarcastic comment, and let Holly half carry, half drag him through the woodland.

"You are a lot heavier than you were at twelve, by the way. Next time, please consider collapsing at a moment when time is not of the essence. Then I can enjoy laughing at you instead of having to carry you."

Artemis managed a chuckle. "I'll do my best."

A moment later, they were all safely shrouded from prying eyes in the shielded shuttle. Butler didn't wait for Artemis to recover before launching into his lecture.

"You cannot keep doing this to me, Artemis. We told you to stay with the shuttle. Not only do you instead decide to wander onto a battlefield, you apparently get bored and go off on your own looking for adventure."

Artemis opened his mouth to point out that he hadn't been alone, but Xayah's words still echoed in his head. Captain Short is a soldier. She believes in orders. Anything you tell her, she may be compelled to pass onto her superiors – and what then for me? After everything she had done for them, Artemis had no desire to put Xayah at risk. If she had remained unseen, did he really need to correct the record?

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was trying to help."

To his surprise, Holly came to his defence before Butler could follow up.

"Come on, big man. I'm as stunned as anyone, but he did kind of save our ass back there. And he stopped the entire mission being wasted. I know it was risky, but you can't argue with the results."

In the end, Butler let it go. Artemis imagined that he knew it was futile anyway.

"So what happens now?" Butler asked, and nodded towards the four unconscious fairies slumped at the back of the shuttle's cabin.

"The boring three will end up in a maximum security prison for the next half millennium," Holly replied. "And that's if they're lucky. Our target goes back to Haven ASAP for interrogation."

Artemis and Butler shared a look. It was clear they were both thinking the same thing.

"Is that really best?" Artemis asked. "Time is of the essence, and that's a long journey to a place with at least one high ranking traitor loyal to the Talons. All so you can do what, exactly? Mesmerising another fairy isn't legal, and I don't see you making much progress with this guy in a police interview room."

Holly frowned. "What other choice do we have?"

Butler smiled with his teeth. "I'm a lot scarier than anyone on the LEP payroll. Let me ask the questions."

A/N: Hard to make it this far and not wonder... just who *is* Xayah? What's her deal? How come she keeps conveniently showing up when she is needed? Maybe Artemis is right and she really is a guardian angel.

Jokes aside, I would be very curious to see if anyone can correctly solve the mystery before it is revealed - the one person I had beta read this story came pretty close :p

-Kio