'You really are seeing the last of it. As soon as we have everybody off the island, those demolition rigs are going to turn the laser cutters on it. We're going to slice it up and then remote-deflate the buoys underneath. Let 'er down slow. That way, no tidal waves. The water displacement alone was enough to send a few big rollers in towards Dublin, but we boiled 'em up from s.p.a.ce. Once the island is down, we can pack up the shield and go home.'

'Oh,' said No1, who hadn't understood much of what had been said.

Artemis looked out of the porthole at his elbow. On the island below, demons were being guided into shuttles by rescue teams. Once the crafts took off, they switched on their shields and shimmered from view.

'You gave us quite a scare, Holly,' laughed Foaly. 'Coming back twenty miles off target like that. We had to light a fire under our pilots to get over here and get the projection up. Luckily, it's early in the morning, and the tide is low. We've got about half an hour before the first fishing boats get out here.'

'I see,' said Holly slowly. 'Big budget stuff. Sool must have been spitting fire.'

Foaly snorted. 'Sool? He can spit what he wants out of whatever end he wants. He got drummed out of the force a couple of years ago. Do you realize that traitor wanted to let the entire eighth family die off? The moron actually said as much in a memo.'

Holly gripped the arms of her seat. 'A couple of years ago? How long have we been gone?'

Foaly snapped his fingers. 'Oh, uh, yeah. I wasn't supposed to just blurt it out. Sorry. I mean it's not serious, like a thousand years or anything.'

'How long, Foaly?' demanded Holly.

The centaur thought about it for a moment. 'OK. You've been gone for nearly three years.'

Qwan reached over and slapped Artemis's shoulder. 'Three years! Nice going, Mud Boy. You must have one h.e.l.l of a brain to get us that close. I wasn't expecting to see this side of the century.'

Artemis was stunned. Three years! His parents hadn't seen him for three years. What torture had he put them through? How could he ever make up for it?

Foaly was trying to fill the shocked silence with information. 'Mulch has kept the PI firm ticking over. Well, more than that, actually it's thriving. He signed up a new partner. You'll never guess who. Doodah Day. Another criminal turned do-gooder. Wait till he hears you're back. He calls me every day. I have a pain in my tail trying to explain quantum physics to that dwarf.'

Holly reached across and took Artemis's hand.

'There's only one way to look at this, Artemis. Think of all the lives you've saved. That's worth a few years, surely.'

Artemis could only stare straight ahead. Dying in the transfer would have been a grade one disaster; this was surely a grade two. What could he say? How could he explain himself?

'I need to get home,' he said, sounding for once like an actual fourteen-year-old. 'Foaly, would you tell the pilot where I live.'

The centaur chuckled. 'Like every law enforcement agent under the world doesn't know where Artemis Fowl lives. Anyway, no need to go that far. Someone is waiting for you on sh.o.r.e. He's been there for quite a while.'

Artemis placed his forehead against the porthole. He felt so tired suddenly, as though he had actually been awake for three years. How could he even begin to explain events to his parents? He knew how they must be feeling exactly how he felt when his father had gone missing. Perhaps he had already been declared dead, as his father had been? And even though his return would bring happiness, that pain would always be there underneath the surface.

Foaly was talking to the demons.

'Who's this little guy?' he asked, tickling No1 under the chin.

'That little guy is Number One,' said Qwan. 'He's the most powerful warlock on the planet. He could fry your brain by accident, say if you were tickling him under the chin, and he got irritated.'

The centaur withdrew his finger sharpish. 'I see. I like him. We're going to get along just fine. Why are you called Number One? Is that a nickname?'

No1 felt the magic inside him, comfortable like heated veins. 'It was my imp name. But now, I think I'll keep it.'

Qwan was surprised. 'What? You don't want the QW name? That's traditional. We haven't had a Qwandri in a while. What about Qwerty?'

No1 shook his head. 'I am Number One. The name used to mark me out as different; now it makes me unique. I have no idea where we are, or where we're going, but I already feel more at home than I ever have.'

Foaly rolled his eyes. 'Excuse me while I get a tissue. Honestly, I thought you demons were warlike and stoic. This little guy sounds like one of those cheap romance novels.'

'The little guy who could fry your brain,' Qwan reminded him.

'One of those cheap romance novels that I happen to adore,' said Foaly, backing away slowly.

No1 smiled contentedly. He was alive and he had helped to save the island. Finally, he knew his place in the universe. Now that Abbot was taken care of, he could live his life the way he wanted to. And the first thing he would do,when things had settled down, would be to track down the demoness with the red markings very much like his own, and see if maybe she would share a meal with him. A cooked meal. It could be that they had a lot to talk about.

The shuttle slipped through the shield into the morning sky. The jagged rocks of the Irish coast jutted out from waves, sun-speckled by the early light. It was going to be a fine day. There were trace clouds to the north, but nothing that could keep people inside for long.

There was a group of houses cl.u.s.tered around an inlet, and in the horseshoe harbour, fishermen were already on the sand, setting up their nets.

'This is your stop, Artemis,' said Foaly. 'We'll drop you behind the quay wall. I'll give you a call in a few days, for debriefing.' The centaur reached out a hand, laying it on Artemis's shoulder. 'The People thank you for your efforts, but you know that everything you have learned is confidential. Not even your parents, Artemis. You'll have to think of something besides the truth to tell them.'

'Of course,' said Artemis.

'Good. I didn't have to say it, I know. Anyway, the man you want is in the little cottage with the window boxes. Say h.e.l.lo from me.'

Artemis nodded numbly. 'I will.'

The pilot swung in low, tucking the shuttle out of sight behind a deserted, ramshackle stone building. When he was certain that there was n.o.body in the sight lines, the pilot hit a green light over the rear door.

Holly helped Artemis out of his chair.

'We never get to hang out,' she said.

Artemis half chuckled. 'I know. There's always a crisis.'

'If it's not goblin gangs, it's time-travelling demons.'

Holly kissed him on the cheek. 'That was probably dangerous. You being a p.u.b.escent volcano.'

'I've got it under control, just about.'

Holly pointed to her new blue eye. 'We'll always be a part of each other now.'

Artemis tapped the cheek below his fairy hazel eye. 'I'll keep an eye out for you.'

'Was that a joke? My goodness, you are changing.'

Artemis was a little dazed. 'Well, apparently I'm almost eighteen.'

'G.o.d help us all. Artemis Fowl, eligible to vote.'

Artemis chuckled. 'I've been voting for years.' He tapped his ring-phone. 'Call you later.'

'I have a feeling we'll have a lot to talk about.'

They hugged briefly, but tightly, then Artemis walked down the ramp. He took three steps and looked back, but there was nothing there but sea and sky.

Artemis Fowl made for strange early morning viewing in the village of Duncade. A lone teenager in a tattered suit, leaving a trail of ash behind him as he climbed through a stone stile, and half stumbled along the quay front.

There was a small group ahead of him, leaning on a concrete bollard. One s.h.a.ggily bearded fisherman was telling a wild story about a six-metre wave he had seen during the night which had simply evaporated before it reached the sh.o.r.e. He told the story well, complete with big arm gestures and whooshing noises. The other men nodded to his face, while behind his back winking and making drinky drinky drinky drinky motions with their hands. motions with their hands.

Artemis ignored them, walking further down the quay front to the cottage with window boxes.

Window boxes? Who would have thought.

There was a keypad on the door it looked out of place in such a rustic setting, but Artemis would have expected no less. He keyed in his own birthday, zero one zero nine, deactivating the lock and interior alarm.

It was dark inside, curtains drawn, lights off. Artemis stepped inside to a spartan living area, with functional kitchen, one chair and a st.u.r.dy wooden table. There was no television, but rudimentary shelves had been erected to store hundreds of books on various subjects. As Artemis's eyes adjusted to the gloom, he could make out some of the t.i.tles. Gormenghast, The Art of War Gormenghast, The Art of War and and Gone With the Wind Gone With the Wind being among them. being among them.

'You are full of surprises, old friend,' murmured Artemis, reaching out to touch the spine of Moby d.i.c.k Moby d.i.c.k.

As he traced the embossed t.i.tle, a small red dot of light appeared on his fingertip.

'You know what that is?' said a low, rumbling voice behind him. If thunder could speak, then this would be its voice.

Artemis nodded. This was no time for outbursts or sudden moves.

'Good. Then you know what happens if you do anything to upset me.'

Another nod.

'Excellent, you're doing very well. Now lace your fingers behind your head and turn round.'

Artemis did as he was told, and found himself facing a huge man with a full beard and long hair drawn back in a ponytail. Both were flecked with grey. The man's face was familiar, but different. There were more lines round the eyes, and a deep frown slash between them.

'Butler?' said Artemis. 'Are you behind all that hair?'

Butler stepped back as though struck. His eyes widened and he swallowed rapidly, suddenly parched.

'Artemis? Is it... You're the wrong age! I always thought ?'

'The time tunnel, old friend,' explained Artemis. 'I saw you only yesterday.'

Butler was not yet convinced. He moved quickly to the curtains, and in his haste pulled them, rail and all, away from the wall. The red light of sunrise flooded the small room. Butler turned to his young guest and took the boy's face in his hands. With ma.s.sive thumbs, he wiped the grime from round Artemis's eyes.

What he saw in those eyes almost buckled his knees.

'Artemis, it is you. I had begun to think... No, no. I knew you would come back.' And then again with more belief. 'I knew knew it. I always knew it.' it. I always knew it.'

The bodyguard wrapped Artemis in arms strong enough to break a bear's back. Artemis could have sworn he heard sobs, but when Butler released him, he was his usual stoic self.

'Sorry about the beard, and the hair, Artemis. I was blending in with the natives. How was your ...eh ... trip?'

Artemis felt the sting of tears in his own eyes. 'Um, eventful. If it hadn't been for Holly, we never would have made it.'

Butler studied Artemis's face. 'Something is different. My G.o.d, your eyes!'

'Oh, yes. I have one of Holly's now. It's complicated.'

Butler nodded. 'We can swap stories later. There are calls to be made.'

'Calls?' said Artemis. 'More than one?'

Butler plucked a cordless phone from its cradle. 'There are your parents, of course, but I should call Minerva too.'

Artemis was surprised. Pleasantly so. 'Minerva?'

'Yes. She's been over here several times. Almost every school holiday, in fact. We've become good friends. She's the one who started me reading fiction.'

'I see.'

Butler pointed the phone aerial at Artemis. 'It's Artemis this and Artemis that. She has really built you up to be something special. You're going to have to work hard not to disappoint her.'

Artemis swallowed. He had been hoping for a break, not more challenges.

'Of course, she's grown up a bit, even if you haven't,' continued Butler. 'And quite the beauty. Sharp as a samurai sword too. There's a young lady who could give you a run for your money at chess.'

Then again, thought Artemis. Nothing like a challenge to keep the brain active. But that could come later Nothing like a challenge to keep the brain active. But that could come later.

'My parents?'

'You just missed them. They were here yesterday, for the weekend. They stay in the local guest house whenever they can.' Butler laid a hand on Artemis's shoulder. 'These last few years. It's been terrible for them. I told them everything, Artemis. I had to.'

'Do they believe you?'

Butler shrugged. 'Some days they do. Mostly my fairy stories just add to their pain. They think I've been driven mad with guilt. And even though you're back, things will never be the same again. It would take a miracle to erase my stories and their suffering.'

Artemis nodded slowly. A miracle A miracle. He lifted his hand. On the palm there was a slight graze from his climb over the quayside stile. Artemis concentrated and five blue sparks of magic leaped from his fingertips and zeroed in on the graze, wiping it out like a cloth wiping dirt. He had more magic left than he had pretended.

'Maybe we can arrange a miracle.'

Butler was beyond further amazement. 'That's a new trick,' he said laconically.

'I picked up a little more than an eye in the time tunnel.'

'I see,' said Butler. 'Just don't do it around the twins.'

'Don't worry,' said Artemis. 'I won't.' Then his brain computed what Butler had actually said.

'What twins?'

Butler punched in the Fowl Manor phone number, smiling. 'Maybe time stood still for you, big brother, but it didn't for the rest of us.'

Artemis stumbled to the room's only chair and sank into it.