Hello all! I've got another chappie all ready for your enjoyment.

I just want to say that I'm tickled with the number of reviews I have received for this. Thank you guys so much!

Tassos, Saioko, fairysk8r, harmoni9, Calex, SilverKnight7, Felicia Neko, Tituba, Steve-O, whatupman, thank you guys for all of your reviews!

dancetdplc, thanks for pointing out my typo. Both me and my beta missed it. I'm glad you enjoyed The Elenium. I personally prefer the Sparhawk books to the others, although I do love both series. And thanks for the tip on another set of books to read, I'm always looking for more!

Polgara-Nightwings, honestly, you make me blush. Thank you so much for all of the compliments.

Pandoras Box1, I don't think Willow could beat Belgarath when it came down to it. Granted she has a lot of power, but with wicca it's kind of borrowed. Not to mention, he has several thousand years of experience under his belt. The most powerful of the group is Flute, for obvious reasons.

Whiffet, I know, the group will be a handful, but the challenge didn't say they had to get along. And problems will arise from the fact that all of them are used to being in charge. And this group is actually smaller than my main story that I work on that contains all of the Buffy characters, all of Harry Potter, and all of Lord of the Rings. What can I say, I'm ambitious at times.

NicolaAryon, the challenge specifically limited me to twelve people and these people have very specific reasons for being there. And I'm not explaining the problems with the magic just yet, cause there's a reason for that too. You'll have to wait until the characters discover it for themselves.

Bob, this happens somewhere in the middle of The Shining Ones, it's after Sparhawk has retrieved the Bhelliom and his trip to Delphaeus. This also takes place in The Mallorean, you'll see better when you read this chapter, Garion mentions several things. I have specific reasons why the orb is limited and why the Bhelliom will be limited (If you've noticed, Sparhawk hasn't revealed to the others that he has it yet). I haven't decided about the sword thing yet, I'm rereading The Mallorean for like the twentieth time to refresh my memory about a few things. And I totally agree about the levitation spell being useful in a fight, they just won't have to worry about it... too much.

Note: The first book to read for Garion and Belgarath is Pawn of Prophecy, the book will list the order of the rest. The first one to read for Sparhawk and Flute (Aphrael) is The Diamond Throne.

Chapter Three

Trouble's Brewin'

"What do you mean 'we're stuck here'?" Garion cried. "I have to get back and rescue my son! I don't have time for this!"

"Garion," Belgarath began.

"Ce'Nedra is probably tearing the camp apart as we speak! I don't think she can handle losing both me and Geran!"

"Garion," Belgarath said, only louder this time.

"Not to mention I have a kingdom to run and another prophecy. I need to get back to my wife and son!"

"Belgarion!" The old man thundered, finally gaining his grandson's attention. "Panicking is not going to help!"

"Why does this always happen to me?" Garion whined slightly.

"I thought your Aunt Pol broke you of that habit."
Garion just glared at him.

"Your son?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. My son, Geran was kidnapped several months ago. We've been trying to get him back, but there's a prophecy involved..."
"Oh that's fun," Buffy said with a grimace.

Belgarath looked at her in surprise. "You've had experience with prophecies?"
"You're talking to Miss Prophecy Girl. I've found they aren't very accurate."
Now Harry looked interested. "You know how to get around them?"

"I wouldn't say get around them, but let's say that the prophecy isn't the end all, be all of existence," Buffy said evasively.

"I hate to interrupt," Sparhawk said. "But Garion isn't the only one who has something important to do back home. I'm in the middle of preventing a god from taking over."
"We're in the middle of an important quest that will save our world," Aragorn said.

"And we were in the process of rescuing two of our friends when we were brought here," Legolas added before turning his gaze back to the ocean.

"I'm the only one who can kill Voldemort," Harry said quietly.

Buffy exploded. "All right! I've got it! We all have important things to do back home! I'm sorry, but we really didn't mean for this to happen. So can we get passed that and on to how we're going to get out of here!"

"Perhaps we should postpone that conversation," Legolas said.

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked, hearing the urgency in his voice.

"There is a storm fast approaching," the elf said, pointing to the dark clouds forming out over the water.

"We need to find shelter, fast," Sparhawk said.

Draco pulled out his wand. "I'll take care of it."

"No!" Buffy said. "No magic! There's something here affecting it and we don't know why or how. So no magic until we figure it out."
"You're not my boss!" Draco said with a sneer.

"She has a point, Malfoy," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut up, you stupid..."
"That's enough," Sparhawk roared. "We're wasting time arguing. We can discuss this magic problem later. The storm is a more immediate problem."

"I think I can find a cave," Garion said.
"How?" Willow asked.

A strange look appeared on Garion's face. "The orb is tugging. I think it can feel a place."
"It can? How?" Willow asked, crossing to him to have a closer look at the orb. She was careful not to touch it.

Garion smiled slightly. "It has an investment in my family line and it has some power of its own."
"Sounds good to me, let's go," Buffy said, deciding that anything could be better than standing there waiting for the rain.

The motley group followed Garion as he led them into the forest. He went confidently in his chosen direction and soon led them to a fairly large cave that had a small freshwater stream running through it.

"Ok. I don't do a lot of camping, but this seems to be an awful lot like a coincidence," Dawn said, looking suspiciously around the cave.

"It does, doesn't it?" Harry agreed.

"I don't think it's dangerous, otherwise the orb wouldn't have led me here," Garion said defensively.

"It'll do for now. But first we need to make some provisions before the storm arrives," Sparhawk said, taking charge. He looked at the group and took stock of their possessions. "We need to gather wood and food in case we get stuck here."
"Legolas and I can gather food," Aragorn said before the two of them silently left the cave.

"I can find firewood," Hermione said as she started out.

"I'll help," Garion offered as he left with her.

"The rest of us can explore how deep the cave goes," Sparhawk said. He turned to Flute. "Will you stay here with Faran?"

She rolled her eyes. "I can, but don't you think someone should stay here with me since I'm not suppose to use magic?"

He turned back to the others. "She has a point. At the moment she's just a little girl."
"I'm standing right here, Sparhawk," she said crossly. "Just for that, I want Draco to stay here with me."
"Me?!"

"Yes, you," the girl said sweetly. She turned back to Sparhawk. "You can go explore now that I have a bodyguard."

"Thanks, divine one," Sparhawk said dryly.

The rest headed into the cave. Draco and Flute could hear Dawn's voice float back, "She's kind of bossy, isn't she?"
Draco let out a frustrated sigh and moved to stand just inside the opening of the cave. He stared out and watched the clouds approach. As usual, he was stuck with a crap job - babysitting. It just wasn't fair. He was barely aware that he had picked the girl up and was holding her in his arms.

***********

"You didn't have to help, your majesty," Hermione said as she and Garion searched for firewood.

"Please, just call me Garion," he said with a smile. "I don't mind helping. It's usually my job when we travel anyways."

"But you're the king," she said as she picked up several sticks and placed them in his arms.

"I wasn't always one. I grew up as a scullery boy on a farm until we started on the quest for the orb." He chuckled lightly at her startled expression. "It wasn't that bad. I had my Aunt Pol and Durnik. I sort of miss it, actually. Life was much easier then. But if I had stayed there I would have never met Ce'Nedra. So gathering firewood is rather comforting in a strange way."
Hermione nodded in understanding. "My life was pretty simple until I made friends with Harry and Ron. Trouble follows Harry everywhere." She jumped at a crack of thunder.

"Are you ok?" He worriedly asked.

"Yes. I'm just afraid of storms."
"Then why did you volunteer to go into one to gather firewood?"
She smiled sheepishly. "Because someone needed to do it and I wanted to make sure I pulled my weight with the work. The fact that I'm a Gryffindor might also have something to do with it."
"A Gryffindor? Is that a family name?"
"No. The students at Hogwarts are divided into houses by their personality traits. Gryffindors are known for their bravery and courage," she explained.

Garion laughed. "And Aunt Pol complains about my illogical reasons for doing things. If I went to your school, I probably would have been in Gryffindor."

***********

Draco barely noticed that Legolas and Aragorn had returned with food. He continued holding Flute and staring into the forest as the man and the elf skinned the animal they had killed. The only reason why the return of the cave explorers caught his attention was because Sparhawk was carrying an unconscious Harry.

"What happened?" Aragorn asked as he moved to examine the boy.

"There was a weak spot in the floor and it crumbled beneath him," Belgarath explained. "Luckily Buffy caught him before he fell to the bottom, but he did hit his head."
"Will he be all right?" Dawn asked, hovering over him.

Draco rolled his eyes. Trust boy wonder to impress girls who didn't really know about his exalted status. He sighed as he rested his cheek on top of the girl's head. Just once he wished girls would look at him like a hero.

A flash of lightening followed by a loud crack of thunder pulled his gaze back to the forest. Rain began pouring down from the sky. For some reason, worry began gnawing at his gut. A worry that only intensified when Garion returned with an armload of firewood, alone.

"Where's Granger?"
"Who?" Garion asked in confusion as he set the wood down.

Draco ground his teeth as he said her name. "Hermione."
"She was right behind me. We started to run when the rain began to fall," Garion said as he tried to wring out his tunic.

The wizard turned to look out into the rain. It was getting dark fast and there was no sign of Granger. He turned back and saw that the others were still hovering over Potter. That meant it was up to him. It was his turn to be the hero.

"I need to find Granger," Draco said as he set Flute down. "I'll be back."
She just smiled knowingly as he vanished into the forest.