Chapter Three: An Utterly Strange Assumption

The male elder shook his fist at Holly, and several warriors pointed spears at her nose.

“Eh heh heh heh…….Pointy………spears…….”

Artemis just nodded.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you about this.” said Foaly. “I figured you’d send someone else because of it.”

“No I wouldn’t!” she spat back, and Artemis winced. Now she was pissed off.

“Hey, no need to get worked up now Captain.”

Holly narrowed her eyes.

“I’m not getting worked up.”

“Actually you are.” said Artemis. Holly hadn’t known he had a radio with him. He didn’t really need it, though.

“Oh, shut up Fowl.” She only used Artemis’s last name when she was extremely angry.

“Okay. Your funeral.” Butler covered a chuckle with a cough.

Holly exhaled sharply.

The elders moved towards Holly, making her back up against the boulder. They looked into her eyes, and then they grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

“Let go of me!” she cried, trying to wrench her hand free. She succeded in kicking one of her assailants in the shin, causing him to let go and her to break free.

The elders let go of her, and Foaly’s voice came through the radio.

“Sorry about that. Holly, would you mind turning around to look at the boulder thing?”

“Sure, that’s alright by me, the person who looks like the girl on that big slab of rock.” she answered sarcastically.

Holly stared at the rock for several seconds while Foaly took a picture. When the picture was taken, the camera sparked in Holly’s eye.

“D’Arvit! That hurt, Foaly!” she swore, holding her hand over the injured eye.

“You really need to stop swearing, Short. It’s not good for your physique.”

Holly’s mood didn’t lift by that remark.

“All right, I’m going to translate this. Give me a couple minutes and it’ll be on your phone Arty.”

Artemis frowned.

“Don’t call me that.”

Holly had to suppress a laughing fit. Within minutes Foaly had sent a translation of the hieroglyphs from the boulder. Holly and Juliet read from over his shoulder.

“Sorry. Had to send you the abridged version.”

In ancient times, the god of the sun Ra created the Earth and all its creatures. Two dominant races became known, and they began fighting. Ra was so grieved that he fled to the center of the Earth. One day he will return to the surface as a woman with hair like fire.

Holly wrinkled her nose.

“So they think I’m Ra in disguise? That’s strange.”

Artemis just nodded.

“What will happen now?” asked Butler, slightly concerned.

Foaly shuffled his hooves uneasily.

“Well…….”

“Foaly, if you don’t say what’s going to happen, I’ll kill you when I get back.”

“Fine, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“We’re waiting.”

Foaly sighed.

“Haven’t you ever seen those cliff-hanger shows that leave off right as the damsel in distress is about to be sacrificed to some fake Aztec god?”

Artemis didn’t like where this was headed.

“So you’re saying they’re gonna kill me to…….”

“To ‘release the spirit of Ra’ or some other crap like that.”

Holly gulped.

“I knew that this wasn’t good.”

Juliet hugged Holly.

“We won’t let them hurt you, Holls. Nothing’s gonna harm you.”

Holly nodded uneasily and Juliet let go.

“Sure. Whatever you say.”

By this time a crowd had gathered. Several women made their way through the throng to the front, bowing low in front of Holly. Holly smiled sheepishly in return. The female elder waved a hand, and two more women appeared, both carrying gifts of gold. Holly’s eyes widened slightly, and Artemis knew it was because of the fairies’ gold fever. He’d learned about it in their first adventure.

“Holly.” he said, snapping his fingers in her face. The motion and the sound of her name broke the spell.

“Huh? What?”

Artemis looked into her eyes as he clamped his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of hazel; a perfect mix of brown and jade green.

“Juliet’s right. Nothing’s going to hurt you. I promise.”

Holly just nodded. The apparent leader of the village began shouting.

Foaly coughed in her ear.

“Sorry to break up this love fest, but the leader of this little village is demanding you come with them. Sorry, Short, but there’s no way out of this.”

Holly nodded again, and began trying to brush Artemis’s hands off her shoulders, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Please, Artemis, let go.”

There was no reply.

“Artemis Fowl, let go of me.”

His death grip loosened slightly.

“If you don’t let go of me I’ll shoot you.”

Artemis narrowed his eyes, but eventually let on hand drop. The elders took a step forward.

Foaly coughed.

“They’re getting antsy. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started hurting people.”

“Foaly, shut up.” said Holly.

“We’ll come get you before they hurt you.” promised Artemis, and Holly nodded.

The women danced up, and before she was dragged away, Holly kissed Artemis on the cheek. She looked back as she was led down the street, with all the women chittering like song birds.

Some other stories by thecutevillan:

• Update for A.F. and the Red-Haired Egyptian!

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