They passed into a ravine, worn smooth by the whistling wind. Butler
didn’t like it. His soldier’s sense was beating a tattoo on the inside of his
skull. He raised a clenched fist.
Root double his pace to catch up.
“Trouble?”
Butler squinted into the snow field, searching for footprints. “Maybe.
Nice spot for a surprise attack.”
“Maybe. If anyone knew we were coming.”
“Is that possible? Could someone know?”
Root snorted, breath forming clouds in the air before him.
“Impossible. The chute is totally isolated, and LEP security is the
tightest on the planet.”
And that was when the goblin hit squad soared over the ridge.
Butler grabbed Artemis by the collar, unceremoniously flinging him
into a drift. His other hand was already drawing his weapon.
“Keep your head down, Artemis. Time for me to earn my salary.”
Artemis would have responded testily, had his head not been under
three feet of snow.
…

“We need cover. Fast!”
Butler nodded. “Look. An overhang. Under the ridge.”
The manservant grabbed his charge by the collar, hoisting him aloft
as easily as a child would lift a kitten. They struggled through the snow to
the shelter of the overhang.
…

Holly tapped her helmet to make sure the lenses were working.
“Maybe I’m getting some Optix distortion, sir, but it looks like
they’re missing on purpose, shooting way over our heads.”
Butler felt the blood pounding in his brain.
“It’s a trap!” he roared, reaching behind him to grab Artemis.
“Everybody out! Everybody out!”
And that was when the goblin charges sent fifty tons of rock, ice, and
snow tumbling to earth.
They nearly made it. Of course nearly never won a bucket of squid at
gnommish roulette. If it hadn’t been for Butler, not one of the group would
have survived. Something happened to him. An inexplicable surge of
strength, not unlike the energy bursts that allow mothers to lift fallen trees
off their children. The manservant grabbed Artemis and Holly, spinning
them forward like stones across a pond. It wasn’t a very dignified way to
travel, but it certainly beat having your bones pulverized by falling ice.
For the second time in so many minutes, Artemis landed nose first in
a snowdrift.

-The Arctic Incident, Chapter 8