Now that the climax had actually arrived, Opal paused for a thrilling moment to savor it.
“This time it is impossible for me to lose,” she said to Oro. “Mommy’s gonna press the big button.”
Oro would have pressed the button himself just to stop Opal referring to herself as Mommy, but alas, only the fairy who opened the gate could activate the second lock.
Opal wiggled her fingers. “Here we go. Mommy’s ready.”
Then a voice called from the lip of the crater.
“The human is surrendering himself. And he’s brought the elf.”
Until that second, Opal had not realized that this moment was not quite perfect. But now it would be.
“Bring them to me,” she commanded. “I want them to see it coming.”
Artemis Fowl dragged a hooded figure along the ground, heels digging grooves in the earth. When they arrived at the crater that had been blasted by Opal’s arrival, one of the pirates nudged Artemis, and he went tumbling down the incline, his face slapping the dirt with each revolution. The second figure skidded beside him, and it seemed almost coordinated when they rolled to the foot of the Berserker Gate. They made a bedraggled, beaten pair. The second figure landed face up. It was Holly Short. Obviously the elf had not come willingly.
“Oh, my,” said Opal, giggling behind her fist. “Poor dears. How pathetic.”
Opal felt proud of herself that she still had some sympathy in her for others.
I actually feel bad for these people, she realized. Good for me.
Then Opal remembered how Artemis Fowl and Holly Short had been responsible for her years in maximum security confinement, and what she had been forced to do to secure her own release, and her feeling bad for those people evaporated like morning dew.
“Help them up,” Oro ordered Juliet, who was squatting to one side, eating a bloody rabbit.
“No!” said Opal shrilly. “Search the Mud Boy for weapons, then let them crawl to my feet. Let the boy beg for mankind. I want this one with blood on his knees and tears of despair on his face.”
The fairy spirits sensed that the end was near and soon their souls would finally be released from duty and granted peace. So they gathered at the base of the Berserker Gate in their borrowed bodies, forming the sealed magic circle. They watched as Artemis hefted Holly painfully up the stairs, his back bent with the effort.
I wish I could see his face, thought Opal. See what this is costing him.
Holly’s frame was limp as she bumped along the steps, and one leg dangled off the tower’s edge. She seemed small and frail, and her breathing was ragged. Opal allowed herself to imagine what Fowl had been forced to inflict on the elf in order to subdue her.
I turned them on themselves, she thought. The ultimate victory. And they did it for nothing, the fools.
Artemis reached the plateau and dropped Holly like a butcher’s sack. He turned to Opal, hatred written large on his normally impassive features.
“Here we are, Your Majesty,” he said, spitting the title. “I am surrendering myself, as ordered, and I have forced Holly to do the same.”
“And I am so glad to see you, Artemis. So very glad. This makes everything simply perfect.”
Artemis leaned, elbows on knees, panting for breath, blood dripping from his nose. “Holly said that you would never keep your word, but I tried to assure her that there was a chance at least, and so long as there was a chance we had no choice. She disagreed, and so I was forced to sedate my dearest friend.” Artemis made eye contact with the pixie. “Is there a chance, Opal?”
Opal laughed shrilly. “A chance? Oh gods, no. There was never a chance. I love you, Artemis. You are too funny.” She wiggled her fingers and sparks danced.
The color drained from Artemis’s face, and his hands shook from effort and anger.
“Don’t you care about the lives you take?”
“I don’t want to kill everybody. But either humans or fairies have to go, so that I can lead the others. I decided on your group because I already have quite a lot of support belowground. There’s a secret Web site, and you’d be amazed at some of the registered names.”
The remaining Berserkers gazed up from the crater, swaying slightly, muttering prayers to the goddess Danu. Two pirates suddenly dropped, clattering to the ground in a rattle of bones.
“My children are failing,” said Opal. “Time for Mommy to send them to heaven. Bellico, move the pesky boy genius back a little. It’s not likely that Artemis Fowl will actually launch a physical attack, but he does have a knack for destroying my beautiful plans.”
Juliet tossed Artemis backward into the dirt. No emotion showed on her face; she was simply unable to take any other course of action.
“Should I kill the Mud Boy?” she asked dispassionately.
“Absolutely not,” said Opal. “I want him to see. I want him to feel the ultimate despair.”