Artemis Fowl

The perspective shifts to that of Holly Short, an elf who “was a leprechaun too, but that was just a job” (31). She is just under three feet tall with auburn hair. She lies in bed, thinking angrily about her boss, Commander Root. The commander consistently makes Holly’s life difficult since she is the first female officer in LEPrecon’s history. (LEP stands for Lower Elements Police, a task force for magical creatures that live underground that keeps their existence secret). Holly is also stressed because she needs to perform the Ritual, and having gone so long without doing so has made her low on magic. She doesn’t tell this to Root since she knows he would be furious.

Like all fairies, Holly lives underground. She gets dressed, putting on the green jumpsuit that is the uniform for all LEPrecon officers. She thinks about the old uniforms, which inspired the green-suited version humans imagine.

Holly leaves for her shift and finds a pickpocketing dwarf named Mulch robbing everyone in the booking line. A regular, Holly greets him, and he drops what he’s stolen, embarrassing the officer arresting him.

Commander Root calls for Holly, and she enters his office. He is always angry. He berates her for being late and blaming the crowds. She knows that Haven city—where she lives—is only going to become more crowded with fairies as humans continue their mineral drilling on the surface and begin drilling deeper and deeper. Root adds that he does pick on her because she’s a girl since that means she has to perform better than every other officer. Already, someone she’d arrested had escaped and attempted to bargain away fairy secrets to “Mud People” (what the fairies call humans), which had forced the commander to stop time and wipe four individuals’ memories.

Root goes on to say that he’s putting Holly in the traffic department and bringing in another woman to serve as the “test case” (36) instead of her. Holly tries to convince him to change his mind and succeeds when an escaped troll is reported. Root asks if her magic is at its peak, and she indicates it is, which is a lie. He also tells her to complete reconnaissance only on the troll since they can be dangerous.

The narrator adds that history will be made tonight, and it won’t be good.

First, Holly meets with Foaly, a centaur who always wears a tinfoil hat and who is convinced that his activities are somehow being monitored by humans. He explains where the troll is. He gives her a camera for her helmet, a watch with a locator beacon, and a Neutrino 2000, which is a handgun.

Holly rides in an old-model pod up the chutes to the surface and is thrilled to breathe the air there. Holly thinks occasionally that fairies might have fought Mud People instead of retreating to their subterranean home, but fairies could not have children as often as humans, and so the sheer number of the latter had caused the former to flee underground.

Putting on a pair of mechanical wings, she begins her search for the troll. She uses her magic to shield herself, one of the three main powers fairies have. The other two are healing and the mesmer. She reminds herself that she really needs to do the Ritual, as even shielding tires her out.

Holly spots the troll just as it is running toward a town. She calls down to Commander Root, who is in a shuttle with Retrieval officers en route to her location. She decides to pursue the troll since it will be at least five minutes before they arrive. Hearing a child yell for help, she decides that will serve as the invitation required by fairy law to enter a building, and she goes in. Root starts to yell reprimands via the comlink.

Thinking she is still shielded, she sets her weapon to stun and fires. The troll grows angrier, and she realizes it can see her, which means that her magic has run out. The troll grabs her, and she turns her helmet’s light to its brightest setting, shocking the troll, who passes out.

The humans can see her, so she uses a device to make them unconscious without injuring them. She knows that Root may fire her but allows herself to rest.

When he arrives, Root wakes Holly and reminds her that she can’t enter a human dwelling without an invitation. She explains she heard a call for help. He tells her she was lucky. Then, another officer warns them that one human wasn’t affected by Holly’s device, and when Holly tries and fails to shield, Root realizes that she lied to him about her magic. She confesses that it has been four years since she completed the Ritual. He orders her to go immediately; they’ll discuss what happened when she returns. He also admits that she did well. She departs.