(A/n) New chapter, at last. Sorry about the delay, but I was on vacation. Blessed, well-deserved, calming vacation… well, with the exception of calming. Yup. And then my computer got revamped (HALLY-YOO-YA!!!!) so everything is a LOT smoother. And to all those people that read and reviewed (???, Drakena Spy Dragoness, Jessie the Dragon, Miss Hagrid, Zita the Celestial Houndoom, Readasaur, Draconis, and Boo-Boo) I thank you VERY VERY much. ^_^

Back in Fracture Hills…

Elora wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew, these orbs are taking forever to make!" She placed another freshly made orb on the table. Zoe fluttered over and zapped it with her wand, filling it with magic, as the Alchemist instructed her to. Then the fairy tossed it over her shoulder into a box of orbs.

"What's our count so far, Zoe?"

"So far we only have nine."

"NINE?" Elora cried. "It seemed like so many more!" The faun looked down at the clutter of plans, excess crystal, metal, and tools. "Bad news, Elora," Zoe called from the supplies closet. "We're low on crystal. You'll have to go get some more from Glimmer."

Elora sighed. "Might as well. It's stifling in here." She grabbed a bag from the shelf and exited the sweltering building. The midnight breeze of Fracture Hills flew past her, cooling her off. The faun proceeded towards the portal to Autumn Plains, looking over the list. "Let's see… crystal, wire-"

"Looking for supplies?"

Elora jumped as someone approached from behind. She turned to see a rather large figure standing in her way of the portal. It appeared to be a bear, wearing a navy colored suit, loafers, and a monocle and carrying a small burlap sack. He grinned at her with a greedy twinkle in his eye. "I see you're looking for some crystal, am I correct?"

Elora just stared at the bear. "Yes," she stammered, still in shock of his sudden appearance.

The bear's grin widened. "And I suppose you're dreading the walk all the way to Glimmer, aren't you?"

"No, not really-" Elora began, but the bear cut her off.

"Wonderful! I can offer you the supplies you need. I happen to have them right here! Would you like them, little faun? Only 2000 gems!"

"What??? 2000??? What a rip off!" Elora cried. She tried to walk past the bear, but he blocked the portal again.

"Now, now, little faun, you aren't going to find this quality crystal any where else! Not even in Glimmer!" He pulled out a piece of crystal from his pocket. "Look at the luster!" He held it up, and it crumbled to dust in his hand.

"Hey, that's only rock candy!" Elora was pretty fed up with this bear. She tried pushing her way past his bulk, but he won't budge. "Now little girl, just accept the offer!" the bear demanded. "Deals like this don't just fall out of the sky you know!"

WUMP!!! Something heavy flew out of the portal and kicked the bear in the backside, sending him straight into a beehive. The bear ran off howling in pain and covered with bees.

Elora was relieved to see the bear was gone. She turned to the creature that lay stunned on the ground. It was a cheetah. A bag lay next to him. As she leaned over to get a better look, his eyes flew open. "Auugh! Don't hurt me!" He curled up, covering his head with his arms.

Elora was confused. "Why would I hurt you?" The cheetah cautiously opened one eye. "You're not gonna hurt me?"

"No!" she cried. "Why? Is someone chasing you?"

The cheetah leaped up and grabbed her hands in his paws. "Please help! My brother is coming and he's going to throw me in the dungeon for running away!" Something sounded behind them and Elora turned to find a Scorch guard standing halfway through the portal. He grinned evilly at them and raised his sword but fortunately Elora, thinking quickly, smashed the bag the bear had dropped over his head, knocking him back into the portal. "Quick, this way!" she called, pulling the cheetah away from the portal, just as more guards pushed through. Suddenly, an idea came to her. "I have a plan!" She called to the cheetah. Turning around, she saw several more guards following them, and behind them stormed a larger cheetah riding an irate camel. "You'll pay for this, Hunter!" He raged as he urged the camel and the guards onward. Thinking frantically, Elora summoned up the only easy spell she knew: transportation.

The guards were a sword's swipe away from their victims when suddenly, at the last moment, the faun and the cheetah disappeared right in front of them. The guards stopped suddenly, and good thing too, because they would have fallen into the molten lava bubbling below the cliff they were preciously balancing on. Unfortunately, Carlos didn't see the red goo, and his camel smashed into the guards, sending them down. The camel managed to stop in time, but the guards all exploded into spirit particles. Turning his camel towards two figures in the distance, he urged it forth.

Elora and the cheetah had only transported a short way away from the guards, and were now running at breakneck speed from the raging Carlos. The jumped into the small crevice in the ground and raced towards the supercharge posts. Thanks to the guards' spirit particles, the supercharge was active, and Elora and the cheetah shot through towards the Alchemist's house, avoiding the large boulders in the way. Carlos forced his tired camel to go on, but before they could get too far, they smashed into a boulder. Carlos started cursing the huge rock, but he didn't notice that is was moving. Or that it had arms and legs. As a shadow over fell him, he looked up at the largest Earth Shaper he had ever seen. The Earth Shaper was pretty mad at being awoken, and it grabbed a small green rock from behind it, holding it over the stupefied Carlos and Sir Rodney Porpington. By the time Carlos had begun to scream, the rock had already dropped, and from then on, the "King" of Scorch was no more than a statue.

***********

Elora led the tired, scared cheetah up to the Alchemist's house. Zoe came zipping out of the window. "That was a short trip, El- oh my goodness, who is that?" She gasped. Elora grinned weakly. "Hey, your name was Hunter, wasn't it?" She asked the shaking bundle of spots. He looked up gratefully at the faun. "Y-yes," he stuttered, clasping his bag tightly. She grinned again. "My name is Elora," she told him. "And I'm Zoe," Zoe stated.

"You should probably stay here for a while and rest," Elora said quietly to the worn out Hunter. "You can stay in the spare room. I'm sure the Alchemist won't mind." She led him to a small room, completely empty except for a bed, a desk, and a lamp. Hunter responded with a weak "Thank You" before flopping onto the bed and immediately snoozing.

(A/n) Well, there's Chapter 3 at long last. Don't worry, for those who care, the story is far from over! I still have some other plans… Hopefully, if school hasn't killed me, I'll be able to get the next chapter out by my birthday (Oct. 20) so wish me luck! Thank you, and good night!