Hunter Hunted

One: The Cloisters

The room had three entrances. Since there was only one Butler, the bodyguard had stationed himself at the doorway that led out into the Cuxa cloister, a garden enclosed on four sides by a colonnaded arcade, one of three such gardens here at the Cloisters Museum in Manhattan. Glancing over his shoulder, Artemis could see the sunlight slanting through the arches and into the arcade, each a golden pool on the stone floor. Aurum est potestes. It had been his credo once, but he had since learned that there was more than one kind of gold.

The Cloisters museum had been created thanks to American industrialist J.D. Rockefeller in the 1930s and was a treasure trove of medieval art and artifacts. The edifice itself was a chimerical creation, assembled from the parts of five French cloisters which had been disassembled and reassembled here in Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan. The jewel of the collection, was, beyond a doubt, the Unicorn Tapestries.

Artemis glanced towards the doorway as he heard the bass rumble of Butler's voice but whomever the bodyguard was speaking to was obscured by his hulking frame so Artemis returned his attention to the tapestry before him.

Woven in the fifteen hundreds, the seven Unicorn Tapestries depicted a unicorn hunt, from the gathering of the huntsmen and their hounds, to the discovery and slaying of the unicorn, and a curious final image of the unicorn resurrected and kept in a circular pen. They were hung floor to ceiling in a single hall off the Cuxa cloister and were the feature attraction of the Cloisters.

Arms crossed, brow creased, Artemis stood before the penultimate tapestry, studying it.

In the upper left corner was the slaying of the unicorn. A pair of hunters jabbed their spears into the creature's neck and side while their hounds tore at its flanks. A third man held a sword aloft, preparing to deliver the killing blow. The unicorn's head was thrown back, mouth open, tongue lolling out in grotesque agony.

In the centre of the tapestry was the hunting party bringing the slain unicorn to the castle in the far right corner. The creature's body was slung over the back of a war steed. Blood oozed from its wounds. And around its neck hung a prickly wreath of holly and oak.

The sound of footfalls on the stone floor was muted by the tapestries. He kept his attention on the woven scene before him until the footfalls fell silent and he sensed someone standing next to him. Smiling, he turned to look. He already knew who would be there.

A slim figure, no more than a meter in height, dressed in khaki pants, a violently yellow shirt with a pokémon on it, and a Mets ball cap.

He reached down and tilted the brim of her cap up so he could see her face.

"That colour suits you."

"I feel like a canary."

"You know, Holly," he began, a slight quirk to his lips, "if you're going to go undercover, you might want to choose an outfit that's a bit more subtle."

She glowered up at him. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find human clothes that fit on short notice?"

"I'm afraid not. In any case, I'm glad to see the commander finally restored your surface privileges."

"So am I. It's good to breathe surface air again. Even the smoggy stuff around here."

After their time-travelling stunt a few months ago, Commander Kelp, head of LEPrecon, had had to discipline his wayward officer. There had, of course, also been a lengthy investigation by Internal Affairs and Holly had only narrowly avoided being sent back to Traffic. "I've been stuck investigating a missing shuttle."

"A missing shuttle?"

"In all likelihood some delinquent adolescents took it out for a joyride and it'll turn up somewhere in an old service chute." Holly sniffed. "It's Vice Squad work, not Recon."

"And yet here you are," Artemis said. "I take it you're here on business?"

She sighed. "Aren't I always?"

"I suppose so." But he didn't ask what business it was. He already knew the answer and somehow he found himself hoping to delay a little longer. They kept in touch via email and the fairy communicator she had given him, but after everything they'd been through it seemed unjust that they should so rarely be in each other's company. After everything...

Holly's face crinkled into a grimace as she studied the tapestry. He didn't need to ask to know what she must be thinking.

He turned to look at it once more. "We hunted them into extinction, didn't we?"

"Hmm?" she said, still peering at the depiction of the hunt.

"The unicorns."

"Yes. Ages ago." She crossed her arms, shaking her head. "This sort of thing is the reason the People had go live belowground. When Mud People see something magical they either kill it," she said, gesturing towards the sixth tapestry, "or cage it," she concluded, waving in the direction of the seventh tapestry where the resurrected unicorn sat in its circular paddock, a jewelled collar around its neck tethering it to a tree.

"As you know from firsthand experience," Artemis quipped.

She peered up at him, a wry smile on her lips. "You really are developing a sense of humour – a twisted one, mind you."

"The time I've spent with Mulch over the years must be having an effect."

Holly's smile did not quite touch her eyes. "Let's get down to business."

He nodded. Her speech was more clipped than usual and he could not but feel that it was due to more than her distaste for canary yellow. But after the lie he'd told her, the way he'd manipulated her, he could not expect Holly to forgive him. At least not just yet...

"Are we being recorded?" he asked.

Holly shook her head. "I had to leave my helmet so it's just us. So, Artemis, why are you here?"

"For the same reason you are, I should imagine," he replied. "The alleged monster sightings have been all over the news. When I heard that several fairies had gone missing in this area as well it seemed worth investigating."

"Wait, how did you hear about the missing fairies?"

A smug smile. "You don't expect me to reveal my sources, do you?"

"More hacking, Artemis?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "That's hardly the point." From what he'd gleaned from the centaur's files, the pair of fairies had been stationed at a fairy fort in Fort Tryon Park, a monitoring facility of some sort. Both had vanished at just the same time as the "monster" reports had begun circulating through the Manhattan newspapers. "At first I thought perhaps there was a rogue troll, but the LEPrecon would have already captured the beast if it were."

"We're not sure what it is," Holly said. "But it got one of us."

He cocked his head. This was news. "What happened?"

"The Recon officer who was sent to investigate the disappearances didn't make it back. Whatever it was, it got him from behind... while he was shielded."

That earned a raised eyebrow. There weren't many creatures that could detect a fairy when he was shielded, at least not without technological assistance. "Was there a recording?"

She shook her head. "No visual, just a lot of screaming. And it was fast. He flatlined before he could even fire his weapon."

Artemis scowled. "And they sent you up alone?"

"I'm not here on Recon. Trouble ordered me here as soon as your jet touched down."

"I take it Foaly's still monitoring my activities."

A smiled quirked Holly's lips. "I don't think he can help himself. Especially when you keep giving him good reason to. When he found out you were headed to New York..." She shrugged. "There's no such thing as coincidence when it comes to Artemis Fowl."

"So they sent you."

"I'm considered the foremost expert on you, Artemis."

Smiling, he caught her mismatched gaze. "And so you are."

She opened her mouth to make some reply but then snapped it shut and looked away. He could not see her face beneath the brim of her cap.

A young couple wandered in and began making the rounds of the gallery. "We should walk," Artemis suggested. Holly nodded curtly and they meandered over to the opposite side of the hall.

"So you hacked Foaly's files, found out about some missing fairies and a monster, and decided to stick your nose in it for no other reason?" Holly said, incredulous, as they came to a halt before the fourth tapestry in which the unicorn, encircled by the hunters and their hounds, struggled to defend itself. "There's more to it than that."

Stiffening, he kept his eyes fixed on the tapestry and took a deep breath before speaking two words, "Opal Koboi." He could feel Holly's gaze boring into him so finally he pressed on. "I find it peculiar that there could be so many sighting of the creature yet the only attacks have been on fairies. Opal isn't one to remain idle."

"And I suppose you want me to go back to Haven and tell the commander you're doing this for love of the fairy people?"

There was steel in his voice when he replied. "My mother, Holly. Opal possessed and manipulated her to get to me. And she was conscious the entire time. All the while, my mother was aware, a prisoner inside her own body. I think that's reason enough, wouldn't you say?"

"Artemis..."

She squeezed his arm and it was with a peculiar mix of pride and sorrow that he realized he'd grown too tall for her to comfortably reach for his shoulder.

For a long moment the only sound was the hum of chatter from the young couple and then the clatter of their footsteps as they drew nearer. Wordlessly, Holly and Artemis moved on to another of the tapestries.

"Artemis," she began finally, "whatever this creature is, it's dangerous. The sort of thing a full retrieval team should be taking care of."

He quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't bring Butler along because he was interested in touring the museum. Besides that, I'm here to gather information. Nothing more." At least at present.

Holly rolled her eyes. "After all these years do you really expect me to fall for a line like that?"

"No. Not particularly."

A security guard shuffled into the gallery and Artemis checked his watch. Five o'clock. Visiting hours were nearly at an end. As he glanced over his shoulder, the sunlight slanting into the arcade had the mellow tinge of dusk already. The sun set so much earlier at this latitude. "The museum closes its doors in fifteen minutes. We can talk outside."

Holly nodded, but then Artemis lingered for a moment, his eyes on the tapestry, the second one in the cycle. Oblivious to the hunters, the unicorn knelt to dip its horn into a murky river and purify it.

"Artemis?"

"The river which the unicorn restores in this scene," he began, gesturing towards the lower portion of the tapestry, "is the same one that flows beneath the castle to which they'll carry the creature's corpse in the sixth tapestry." He caught her eye so that she could not miss his meaning, "The tragic irony is that they have betrayed the very being that saved them."

She met his gaze and he saw his own regret reflected there.

ooo

As they walked the paths of Fort Tryon Park, beneath the shadow of the Cloisters, Holly could not help but regret that only a few trees had begun to change their leaves. The splendour of autumn colours was not something she got to see often, especially in daylight, and it would have been a pleasant treat, perhaps even enough to make up for this bittersweet reunion with her friend. Or maybe she'd just have felt she could blend in more if the leaves were as violently yellow as her purloined shirt.

She glanced over at Artemis. She was glad to see him again of course, but things were different. She needed to keep her guard up for both their sakes.

Something rustled in the greenery to their left and Butler cast a darting glance in that direction. He kept a few paces behind them as they walked, Holly noted, and she could not miss the way his eyes were scanning the path around them. He was like a jaguar on the prowl. She suspected that he did not care for parks; it was hard to provide security in an open area. Holly's hand wandered into her pocket where she'd stuffed her Neutrino 4500 – the latest model, fresh from Foaly's new patents. It was one thing to stow her helmet, but she was not about to leave behind her weapon, undercover or no.

In silence, they passed beneath a stone bridge, half covered in leafy vines. Holly drank in the cool, evening air and the scent of heather on the breeze, but she had to bite back a snide comment about Mud Men when she noted the black squiggles of graffiti that marred the bridge's exposed stonework.

Tired of Artemis's prolonged silence, she finally went ahead and started. "What about Gene-Trix?"

Artemis nodded. "I see Foaly did his research. It does seem oddly coincidental that a genetics laboratory should be situated only a few kilometres away."

"According to you media, the facility has had some sketchy dealings in the past."

"Some questionable procedures involving stem-cells, but nothing on the level of what you're suggesting. Human technology is not far enough advanced to create a monster. Fairy technology is another matter."

"That sort of meddling has been banned for centuries."

"I doubt that's of any concern to Opal."

Holly heaved a sigh. In the months since Opal escaped the LEP at Hook Head, there had been no trace of her. It was bad enough having one mad pixie around. To have another, one that could levitate, shoot bolts, and possess people was tenfold worse. "If we were talking about the Opal who's locked up in Atlantis, I'd say this was out of her field. She wasn't known for tampering in biology, but what you saw in the past..."

Along the path, old-fashion iron cast lampposts flickered to life as twilight settled over the park. "We should head back," Butler announced. It was more than a suggestion.

"Yes, of course," Artemis said and turned back in the direction of the parking lot. They'd already lingered longer than most. The tourists had not dared chance the park in the evening – this was New York after all.

"I'll walk you there, but unless you have something more to tell me I'll need to report back."

Artemis's brow furrowed. "So soon?"

She kept her eyes on the path ahead. "I was only sent here to find out what you know." She sniffed. Sometimes she thought it would kill Artemis to be straightforward and truthful. Now and then, when trying to distract herself from the e-forms piled on her desk waiting to be filled out, she tried to imagine it. The vision always ended with his head imploding.

"I assure you I'd have spoken not a word had it been anyone else."

"And I'm sure the commander knows that."

"I thought you'd be grateful for a visit aboveground."

"Artemis," she said, sighing. She shook her head and then turned to look up at him. He was getting so tall all of a sudden. Sometimes she missed the boy who'd been barely taller than her... But then she remember what a devious little monster he'd been at that age and thought better of it. "I am glad to see you," she said, offering a smile.

For a moment she stared into his blue and hazel eyes... and then turned away. "Holly," he began and for a moment she almost believe she caught a tinge of regret in his voice.

And then Butler shouted and before she could do more than grip her weapon, something struck her between the shoulder blades and knocked her clean off her feet.