I Could Smell The Roses

The Excecution

"Ready?" Whispers Trouble to me from opposite me as we lean on the prison's double doors. I give him a thumbs up.
"Foaly?" I hum into my microphone on my throat.
"Here and ready to rumble." He affirms.
"Everyone in place, all systems running, green lights et cetera." And with those words, Trouble and I barge though the prison doors and startle two half asleep wolves down the corridor. I hear Trouble's breath catch. They are huge, looming creatures, packed with muscles and are a lithe as a monkey as they lope towards us quickly, snarling and saliva dripping from their mouths.
"No! Don't kill us!" I plead in my best desperate officer impression. But the wolves keep coming, and one runs into me, pinning me to the wall. I feel the breath being knocked out of me, replacing it instead with a numb throbbing pain.
"Don't hurt her!" Exclaims Trouble's voice, sounding all the world like an officer worried and in pain.
"We have come to negotiate." The wolves, as reluctant as they are, slowly released me. Trouble's with me in a flash.
"Are you okay?" He asked, an anxious expression on his face.
"Fine." I grit my teeth as I stand up. My fairy magic is already numbing the pain and my body is healing itself.
"Come with us." Instruct the wolves and they push us to the front. As we walk I whisper in Trouble's ear.
"Nice acting." He nods, but says something I can't make out under his breath.
"Pardon?" I ask, thinking he was trying to tell me something.
"Nothing." He says hurriedly. But I could have sworn he said something along the lines of "I wasn't acting." I set my mind back to our task though, as we are led through some more double doors and into a large room with a high ceiling. The ceilings in prisons were often high because if we wanted to take in a troll for example, we'd need a lot of space. Wolves lurk around various areas of the room, talking in quiet, harsh voices or eating hunks of meat. I feel like vomiting. Elves are strictly vegetarian, and a lot are vegans, so the sight or smell or taste of meat can put us off. Trouble is slightly off tune too, there's something missing from his usually brisk walk. In the centre of the room there is a large table and behind it on a bench, there are three wolves. Two dark, almost black wolves with purple eyes and pointed ears. They look young and powerful. The other wolf, sitting in the middle of the bench is completely different. He has silver fur that has been grown long on his mane and he has distinctly green eyes. His ears still stand upright, but one has a bit missing, like something's bitten in off. He has a different aurora around him, I can sense that he is older, and wiser. It will be difficult to fool him. He regards us with an icy stare, his eyes never leaving us. We bow low.
"Your honour." Begins Trouble,
"The LEP have come to arrange a peace treaty with the wolves. We want Fowl, and you will have a equal share of Haven." The werewolf snorts.

"Peace treaty's, Captain Short, only work on the weakest minded criminals. We are werewolves." He jumps off his throne and towers over me, his face close to mine. I force myself not to looks away.

"And we will not stand down." And around the room, all the werewolves raise their heads and howl. I breathe deeply. This will be harder than we thought. Even if we regain Artemis, the werewolves will still come after us. But I decide to worry about that later.

"Foaly? You in?" I mutter into my microphone. 

"We're ready when you are Holly, just give the signal." I wonder briefly if this is the wolves' plan all along. But we'll figure it out. We have to.

"Send it in." Suddenly the room is filled with the sound of wailing sirens. The wolves clap their paws to their ears and howl dementedly. The leader staggers around confusedly. Trouble and I don't waste any time, and we run out the room. A corridor stretches off both sides.

"I take right, you go left." Instructs Trouble, his leadership instinct kicking in. We split up, I run down a few corridors, before finding the sign that says 'Cells'. I find Artemis pretty easily after that. It's impossible not to hear the sound of explosion, even through the sound of sirens. Artemis calmly steps through the rubble which was once his cell door and his eyes light up when he sees me. I know immediately that he's completely regained his memories. For a moment, time stops and we just stare at each other from either ends of the corridor. Artemis is the first to break the barrier.

"Holly, I'm so sorry, it's just a teenage me-" He doesn't speak anymore because I run the whole length of the corridor and throw my arms around him and kiss him. He's got the same surprised expression as when I punched him during the Fowl siege. When I finally let go of him, he staggers back a few paces, and runs a hand through his hair.

"Well...uhhh...thanks. That was unexpected." I half chuckle at the ancient reference. 

"Come on, Artemis. Good to have you back. But let's get out of here." Artemis grins like an idiot.

"That's a better plan than all of mine put together."