The Luck of the Irish {Sequel to Kiss Me, I'm Irish}

Chapter 20: End of the Line

Hi guys! Sorry this took a couple extra days than I initially planned. As I've mentioned before, I'm framing this off of an older story of mine. Needless to say, I had a lot of tweaking from the original story, because well... it was horribly unbelievable. I still find it a bit so, but it's definitely better than it was. I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

Although I apologize in advance for what happens.

After this, I think there are maybe 2 more chapters to this story. I am undecided as to what I will be doing afterwards. I'm not sure if I will write another book in this series or not. It's all up in the air at this point.

I did think about doing a Q&A at the end of this book, so if you're interested in that, let me know!
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    The moment Diana stepped into the dining room was the moment she wished she hadn't. She had stepped in something wet, and when she saw the blood drenched floor surrounding her boots, her heart only sank further. Against her better judgement, she followed it back to its starting point only a few feet away, where she found Artemis lying on the ground, a gaping hole in his chest that was definitely the source of all the blood. Diana didn't know a whole lot of medical stuff, but she knew Artemis was far from okay. The girl ran to his side, gently cradling him in her arms. Although Diana hated blood, her compelling motherly instincts had kicked in and she was ignoring all sense of reason. The love of her life was mortally wounded, and there was little to nothing she could do about it. She stared at the wound on Artemis' chest for a moment before she looked to find its source.

    Diana looked up, only to see a large, shaggy haired beast towering over her a few yards away while Ortherion stood near the front of the room, looking on. The beast had massive tusk-like teeth protruding from its massive jaws, one of which was drenched with blood. It was covered in small wounds itself, likely from its skirmish with Artemis. Diana was certain this creature was what caused Artemis' injury. As the others joined her, Diana gently left Artemis in Holly's hands. The girl drew her gun with a sense of determination.

    "Are you crazy?" Holly questioned. "You can't take on a troll! It's suicide!"

    Diana shot Holly a quick glance before saying, "Watch me."

The girl leapt to her feet, and charged towards the beast. The troll lumbered towards her as Diana stood before it, death staring her in the eyes. Its big, glowing eyes peered angrily at her behind its matted locks of fur. This beast had made a mistake, and it was going to learn what happened when you harmed Artemis Fowl. Diana aimed her Neutrino at the beast, finger steady on the trigger. She was uneasy and nervous, but she knew what she had to do.

    Apparently it was still pretty upset, and wasted no time in attacking Diana. It lunged at her, claws reaching towards her. Diana let out a shot, hitting it in the chest. The troll tumbled forward, landing on top of her. Diana let out a cry of anguish as the weight crushed her, cracking, if not breaking, a few ribs. The girl dodged the teeth and claws as best as she could as she let off a few more shots into the beast's chest and sides, feeling its claws tear her shirt and cut her skin. She managed to squeeze out from underneath the troll, and shot it in the back of its skull. The shaggy beast collapsed, at least unconscious, if not dead. Honestly Diana didn't care either way at this point.

    She turned her attention to Holly, who was still holding onto Artemis. She was trying to heal him, but it didn't seem like she was having much luck. Diana took notice of Alex, Sebastian, and Trouble cornering Ortherion on the other side of the room. Instead of helping them, she went to Holly, holding her chest in pain. She sat down next to her, taking Artemis in her arms.

    "I'll hold him," she said, resting her head against his. "Just," she paused, her voice getting shaky, eyes watering up, "don't let me lose him..."

    "I'm trying, hun," Holly assured. "I'm trying."

    The elf placed her hands on the boy's wound again, trying her hardest not to look at it. "Heal," she muttered. Blue sparks scurried down her arm, dancing at the site of the damage. Artemis stirred slightly as the sparks sunk deep into his skin. The rip in his flesh began to stitch itself back together. Before long it had closed nearly completely, and the bleeding had stopped.

    Holly looked at Diana with a concerned look upon her face. "He'll be okay for now, but we'll have to stitch him up properly when we get back to Haven." She paused for a second before she spoke again. "You stay here with him. You've had enough action for today, and are now officially the craziest person I have ever met. Butler is going to be so damn proud of what you just did."

    Diana nodded, the pain in her chest too intense for her to speak. She tried her best to ignore it, adrenaline still fueling her. Artemis was unconscious, and the labor in his breathing made Diana want to cringe. But he was alive, and his outlook was much better now than it was minutes ago. Ortherion wasn't even important to her at this point; the only thing that mattered was that Artemis survived. She held her boyfriend in her arms, unable to help him like she wanted to. Diana rested her head on the top of his, watching the drama unfold in front of her.

    The rest of the group was cornering Ortherion, keeping him from escaping once again. He had the green gem in his possession, his eyes red with fury and a lust for power. Holly, Trouble, Sebastian, and Alex all had their guns drawn. Everything seemed as if it were drawing to a final close.

    "It's all over Ortherion; this is the end of the line." Holly said as she stood her ground, the gun steady in her hands. "It's over." 

    "Nothing is over until I say it is!" Ortherion shouted, holding the gem above his head. All of a sudden there was an explosion of dark green light, knocking the team back a few feet. A bright and dreadful green beam of light shot up directly through the ceiling, blowing a hole through the roof. Debris flew everywhere, and the group struggled to avoid it.

    In the midst of the chaos, Sebastian had found his way to Alex. Above them, a large wooden beam began to crack and the two of them instantly knew it was going to break. The beam began to fall and Sebastian instantly grabbed Alex and rolled out of the way with her. They looked back to find that Holly had been caught by the beam, her arm trapped under the wood and Trouble at her side, helping move the beam.

    "Stay here!" Sebastian yelled over the roar of the wind that had manifested itself in the dining hall. Before Alex could stop him, Sebastian took off, lunging at Ortherion.

As the gem continued to emit the beam, Sebastian reached towards it. The second he snatched it from Ortherion's greedy hands, he screamed, "Stop!"

Before anyone could analyze what had occurred, he collapsed onto the ground, the light ceasing as the gem shattered on the ground. Ortherion began laughing maniacally, but was suddenly cut off. A large chunk of a wooden beam fell on top of him, crushing the life right out of the sprite's body. Such a fitting end for the pest, Diana thought. But it didn't look good for Sebastian.

    Holly freed herself from the debris, and Trouble helped Alex to her feet. The three made their way over to Sebastian's stationary body. Holly bent down next to him, checking his vitals. When Holly looked up at Alex with a grim look on her elfin face, she knew the news; Alex knew he was dead.

    "I don't think there's anything we can do," Holly sighed. "I'm sorry."

    Alex felt her eyes swelling with tears. She couldn't believe she lost him, just like that. She had barely gotten enough time to know him, to love him. She didn't want this to be the end. The group watched her as she collapsed to the ground next to Sebastian's lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably. Holly placed her hand on Alex's shoulder, trying her best to console her on behalf of the rest of the group.

    Diana wished she could get up from her spot on the ground with Artemis so she could hug her friend, even if it was painful for her. She felt tears roll down her face, unchecked. The stress and sadness had finally got to her. All of this was too much to take.

    But it was finally over.