Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 9: Aftermath

It was bright out when Holly awoke. She sat up and stretched, unaware that Artemis was crouching beside her. "Good mor- mmm!" Holly paused as Artemis had covered her mouth with his hand.

He placed a finger on his lips in a 'hush' kind of way then pointed at the top of a cliff. There was a large mountain lion near the top, ready to pounce, "It appears that wretched beast came back to finish the job. How unfortunate that we picked a campsite that would attract an animal that could hurt us," he whispered.

Holly briefly felt a twinge of fear but forcefully shook off this feeling. She stood up and stepped out into the open.

"Holly! whispered Artemis.

"What are you doing?" Rachel called out quietly.

Holly puffed out her chest in profound confidence. "I've dealt with fire-breathing goblins, trolls, and even you Artemis. This lion is a push over."

"Please don't," yelled Artemis. "It's too dangerous for us to handle without the proper tools!

"I am a proper tool, mud man," she said as she smirked. "It needs to go." She slowly stepped forward, challenging the beast.

Artemis turned to Rachel, "Where is that big gun of yours?"

"It was just a toy and I... forgot it back in the catacomb," She whispered as she looked down.

Artemis stood up, trying to find a reliable solution.

"Hey!" yelled Holly as she waved her arms. The mountain lion looked down at her. It stood and gracefully jumped down, slowly circling around her.
Holly started to get nervous but didn't show it. She got into a defensive stance and kept her body turned towards the lion, keeping eye contact with it.
As the lion pounced at her, Holly sprang out of the way, rolling on the ground back onto her feet. With one more pounce, it missed her by a few inches. "You couldn't even hit the backside of a dwarf's bumflap!"

The lion swished its tail in annoyance. It seemed to be... thinking.
Feeling a little overconfident, she turned to look at Artemis and Rachel. "See? Nothing to worry about!"

"Holly! Watch out!" Rachel yelled.

Holly turned around just in time to watch the lion jump at her, pinning her down with its huge paws against her shoulders. It growled and hissed, daring anyone to come near it. She attempted to growl back, but with fear overcoming her senses, she more or less whimpered. Without so much of a second thought, Artemis charged at the threat with the only weapon he had available at his disposal, his body. He yelled as he tumbled into it, sending them both rolling down in the sand.

"Artemis!" Holly yelled as she got up, running down towards Artemis and the lion only to pause several feet away. She watched as Artemis was protecting his head with his hands and arms, the lion swatting its large paws at him. Holly could see blood seeping out from the side of his head along with blood stains on his clothes across his chest and one of his sleeves had been torn off, revealing even more blood coating the side of his arm.

"Holly, get out of here!" He yelled out.

Without knowing what else he could possibly do right now, Artemis curled his fingers and threw the first successful punch he had ever achieved in his life, connecting with the lion's nose. As impressed as he was with himself in that single moment, he only succeeded in further angering the lion. As it roared fiercely in Artemis' face, he fought the immediate urge to cry out in fear. He decided that if this is the end, he would go out with some dignity at least. Accepting that there was no feasible way for him to escape this situation, Artemis gave his bravest face. At least Holly is safe, he thought.

The lion leaned down to bite down on Artemis' head. Surprisingly, Artemis had enough natural instinct to move out of the way, but unfortunately, his reflexes were as slow as an intoxicated kitten's. Its' sharp fangs managed to graze themselves across Artemis' temple, causing him to bleed even more. His body fell limp beneath the beast.

"Artemis! D'arvit!" yelled Holly, tears forcing themselves out of her eyes. Wait, I can speak in tongues. I can speak to the lion.
She wiped her face and slowly approached it. She let out a convincing roar at the animal. The lion turned its gaze at Holly and seemed actually intimidated. Holly got down on all fours, arched her back, raised her shoulders slightly, and sustained eye contact. She began to let out a series of growls and roars. The lion roared out in response but appeared to start backing away from Artemis. Holly then hissed and growled from the back of her throat as she barred her teeth.

The lion growled at Artemis then snorted in annoyance, stepping away from him before sprinting off into the distance. After the lion was no longer in sight, the girls ran over to Artemis. Holly stumbled and collapsed onto her knees at his side.

"Holly..." Rachel looked at her and saw that she was in a state of great pain and sadness. She placed a hand on her shoulder, "Sprite magic isn't as strong as yours. I'll go back to the campsite and see if there are any medical supplies we can use."

Holly wiped her face with the back of her arm and nodded. Once Rachel left her alone, she put her fingers to Artemis' chest. "Heal," she whispered.
Tiny blue sparks danced from her fingertips to Artemis. She watched as they bounced around the top of his skin, but it didn't seem as though they were attracted to the wounded areas. After barely a few seconds, the sparks simply winked out. She gasped as she remembered that she had already healed herself twice prior to this moment, "Please gods... I can't be out of magic!" She gritted her teeth and placed both of her hands onto Artemis' chest, "Heal... Heal!" Holly shut her eyes tightly as she tried to force out what little magic she had left but was unable to feel the natural flow within her body.

Now sobbing, she slowly slid her hands up to his head with tears trailing down her cheeks and landing on Artemis' blood-stained shirt. "I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry, Arty." Holly checked Artemis' pulse in the crook of his neck. There wasn't one. He was dead. "No. Not you too. You can't leave me! Open your eyes Artemis! Come back to me... Please..."

Giving a painful look of acceptance, she bent down and kissed Artemis lightly, his lifeless lips. This served as a small comfort to her. As Holly pulled away, she placed her hand to the spot where Artemis' heart was, feeling the warm blood from his head. She rested her head down on his chest, breaking down completely, allowing raw emotions to overtake her being. Unaccustomed to showing a sign of weakness such as this, her mind began to force her body into fatigue and caused her to pass out from the emotional exhaustion.