Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 4: Future Endeavors

Fulton tossed Artemis forward a few feet. It looked as if he were outside again. Artemis reasoned it was the other end of the catacomb. He grunted as he rolled across the ground and swiped the rope from his ankles.

"Not the best idea I've had, but effective nonetheless. Either way, I don't think I'll have to worry about you anymore." Fulton laughed, "And you won't have to worry about the elf either. It all works out. Good luck to you Mister Fowl." He closed the door behind him. Artemis swallowed as he heard the echoing, metallic clang of the door being locked. Artemis surveyed his surroundings. I have to find a way back to Holly. She's safe for now, but for how long? He thought to himself.

Back in the catacombs, Holly cradled her head in her hands as she began to fume with rage. Artemis might die because she decided to go to the obscure battle fort instead of France like he wanted. "Why do I have to be so stubborn sometimes?" she mumbled.

The door opened and a little sprite girl came in. "There you are. You're that elf, aren't you. Are you ok?" She whispered as she fluttered over to the bound elf.

"Stay away from me or so help me Gods." Holly said as she scooted back a little, glaring up at this green skinned sprite in front of her. She looked as if she would be slightly taller than Holly if her feet were on the ground and possibly around the same age as well if not younger. She definitely didn't look as though she belonged with a group of thugs. Her long, black hair went down to the middle of her back and in the dim, candle-lit room, her eyes seemed to shimmer a yellowish, gold color.

"Please don't worry. I'm Rachel. I overheard the horrible things they wanted to do with you, so I've come to help. I'm not here by choice. My father forced me to join the K'lor Bellos Gang. That's who kidnapped you and your pet."

Holly glared as she searched her for any sort of weapon. "He is not my pet!"

The sprite tilted her head, "Boyfriend then?"

Holly gritted her teeth as she looked at this girl with intense anger. Something in the sprite's eyes convinced her to calm down. It seemed that she wasn't actually poking fun at her as the others did, but was trying to understand, "He's just... my friend."

Rachel giggled. "Not from where I was standing," she said, amused. "Let's leave the chat for later. We have to get you and your friend out of here." Rachel untied Holly's feet and helped her up. "Follow me, I know where he is. We need to get him before Victor gets him first."

Artemis pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to assess his current situation. He was briefly distracted by the fact that his wardrobe would barely survive anymore torture today. Right now, he regretted telling Butler to stay home. He slowly looked up when something roared. A particularly large lion came out stalking, seemingly out of the shadows. As the lion slowly approached Artemis, it let out a quiet, intimidating growl from the back of its throat. Artemis stood up and looked around for some form of shelter. In the brief moment he took to survey his surroundings once again, he had concluded at least fourteen possible safety routes. He was disappointed to mentally note that only one method had a higher chance of survival. Only a few trees and some bushes and a foot chase would be a death sentence. He locked eyes with the beast as he slowly circled around towards the nearest tree. The lion let out a low growl as lions do when they approach their prey.

Artemis noticed the lion getting low to the ground. If he decides to go in for the kill, I'll have less than three seconds to react and less than one second to do something about it. I hope the fear response won't hinder my performance. Better yet, try not to think about how scared you are right now. The moment that the lion took a step, Artemis unbuttoned his suit jacket. As predicted, the lion initiated his attack towards him. As it pounced, Artemis swiftly removed his jacket and threw it towards its' face as a distraction. To his surprise, it had worked. He sprinted over to the tree and began to move his legs frantically as he struggled to get off of the ground and up the tree trunk. The lion roared and clawed at the tree, trying to get to his prey.