Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 6: The Cavalry's Arrived

Holly screamed as a large black horse with a white mane and tail rushed towards her, barely a few feet away. "Artemis!"

The horse stopped right in front of her but then reared up onto its back legs, swinging its front hooves at Holly as though trying to shoo her away. Holly instinctively covered her face, trying to back away, but was unfortunately struck on the top of her head as the horse came back down on all fours. Blue sparks danced on the spot where the horse had landed, her magic kicking in to heal the open wound.

Artemis pushed Rachel out of harm's way before rushing towards Holly's side. She was unconscious. He pulled her away from the frantic horse and started to shake her lightly. "Holly! Holly wake up!" A crowd of people started to gather around the commotion, albeit, a safe distance away. They looked at Holly, then at the beast before they backed even further away.
Artemis gave up trying to wake Holly for the time being, gently lying her head on the grass. As he stood, he put his hands out and approached the horse slowly, "Woah... it's okay. It's okay, boy. Calm down now."

The horse pulled up his neck and neighed, then backed up a few steps. The people behind it backed up too. Artemis walked over to the horse and put his hand up. The horse took a step forward then rested his muzzle in Artemis' hand. The crowd cheered and a woman with reddish blonde hair stepped forward. "You have bested the unknown beast!"

"Unknown beast? This is a horse." Artemis was confused.

A small child stepped forward but stood behind the woman, "Why do you call this aminal... a horse?"

Artemis looked curiously at the child. "Because it is called... a horse."
Everyone looked amazed, as though they had never heard of this word before.

The woman spoke again. "The mythical beasts use these creatures, but we have never known their power. There have been stories from long ago that humans had merged with these beasts to become higher beings, at least that is how they described it. We thought this so-called horse had the power to turn humans into gods. They seem very... evil though, and so we all try to avoid them."

"They don't have the power you believe they have. The stories you have been told are just that, stories," said Artemis. "Creatures like this horse are very powerful in strength and are surprisingly easy to tame. Perhaps now that you know the truth, you can use their strength to help expand your civilization. It seems as though the city here had grown a little worse for wear."

Rachel tapped Artemis on the shoulder, leaning in and cupping her hand between her mouth and his ear as she whispered, "They think you saved their lives. Ask them for a bag of supplies. Whatever you think we might need. We don't know how long we will be out on our own."

Artemis thought for a moment, "Stay here with Holly and make sure she's stable." He leaned down and stroked her hair for a moment before approaching the crowd to converse with them. A few of the people ran to their homes while others went into a building that looked like a hospital. They came back with more than what Artemis had asked for. They gave Rachel and Artemis bags full of food and canteens of water, medical supplies, many different cloths, straps, pillows, and clothes. They all bowed their heads and thanked the trio before disappearing back inside their homes. One of the children lingered to wave good-bye to them before leaving as well.

"Okay," Artemis said. "We can use this horse to carry our supplies."
Rachel grabbed the bags, tied them together with the straps then put them on the horse. "How did you know how to calm the creature? I don't think humans have the gift of tongues like we do."

"My family used to own horses for occasional racing events. I would sometimes assist in training them, but that was... a long time ago." Artemis said as he looked away for a brief moment.

Rachel began to stroke the horse's mane, "Hm... I think he needs a name."

"It'd probably be best that we don't get too attached to it." Artemis put a cloth over the horse's back and then picked up Holly into his arms. Even though he was nearly twice her size, he was still struggling to hold her small frame against himself.

"Still, I think we should name him Ottoman... or Joe!" She said with the most innocent look on her face.

"Joe?" Artemis laughed. "If you must insist, Ottoman does seem to fit his features."

Holly groaned and stirred as she sat up instinctively, accidentally hitting Artemis under his chin. He dropped her and fell back, rubbing the bottom of his mouth. "Ahh!" She rubbed her head and then her bum where she had fallen. "What happened?"

Artemis stood and lifted her up by her waist, briefly planting a kiss on the corner of her mouth without thinking. "Thank God, you're ok!"

Holly felt a familiar feeling of becoming flustered once again. Refusing to give him the satisfaction in front of Rachel, she spoke sternly, "Artemis, I asked what happened?"

He blushed and awkwardly put her back down onto her feet. He straightened his tie and cleared his throat. "You got knocked out by that." He casually pointed towards the large beast standing next to them.

"Oh wow!" Holly face lit up with a smile as she reached up and petted its' mane. She listened closely as the horse began to neigh at her, "I see. He says a couple of kids were throwing rocks at him. He got scared and lost control of himself. Don't worry, no hard feelings."

Rachel made an inaudible gasp then turned towards Artemis, "Come on! We need to go." She hovered up onto Ottoman, preparing herself to steer.

"Of course, we need to find some sort of shelter for ourselves." Artemis stood behind Holly and placed his hands on her waist. He hoisted her up onto Ottoman before jumping on behind her, a little less than graceful.

Rachel groaned out in annoyance before getting the horse to gallop. Artemis and Holly barely had time to hold on.

"Why the sudden hurry?" yelled Holly.

"Turn around and find out!" Rachel yelled back as she focused on moving forward. Artemis and Holly turned their heads to discover Fulton and his crew slowly gaining speed towards them. It appears their head start was at an end.