"Do you hear something?" Hunter asked, freezing in his tracks and looking around worriedly. But the shadowy wisps lingering in the sir around them made it impossible to see very far, and Hunter shifted closer to Slick, "Do we actually have weapons we can use in case of an emergency?"

      "Um...no," Slick frowned, then laughed nervously, "Probably a bad choice on our part, but I'm pretty sure we'll be fine! We haven't seen an shadowbeasts yet, have we? And we're almost to the castle! We'll be there soon, no sweat."

     There was a growl begin them, and through the shadows skulked a massive dog-like creature.

     Slick's shoulders slumped as he sighed, "Well, yes, I should've expected that. Looks like I spoke too soon."

     The shadowbeast stared at them for a long moment, and they remained frozen under its gaze like deer beneath the shine of headlights. Then it through back its head, letting out a piercing howl.

     "It's calling the others," Slick said, glancing desperately over at Hunter, and the ghost seer gave a quick nod.

      Then Hunter muttered a response, "Perhaps it's better like this. We'll get into the castle, and probably an audience with Carnirus."

      More shadowbeasts approached through the blanket of darkness, surrounding them. And with a fierce growl, the first one that had found them nudged them forward towards the castle, its black lips pulled back into a snarl.

      "Well," Slick muttered uncomfortably to Hunter, "I hope you're not as stupid as Raxus said, or we're both gonna die really painfully."

      The shadowbeasts escorted them at a fairly quick pace into the walls of the castle. There wasn't much to describe, as every hall, room, and closet was completely empty. Only walls, roof, and floor existed, and each was a hard, black slate of stone. Its walls were well lit, though how was impossible to say as there was no obvious light source anywhere near by.

      The two boys were lead up a large staircase that spiraled upwards inside a tower, before entering a large room. But in this room was a throne sitting in the center. The throne was made of a twisted, bonelike structure that was shaped into a sinister looking chair. And as Hunter peered closer at it, he realized that it was indeed made out of bone, the bones of a large creature.

    "Ah, there they are!" a man with black hair and a wicked looking staff dropped down from the rafters above, landing in front of them with ease.

     "Carnirus," Hunter said darkly, his eyes narrowing.

      "Hunter," Carnirus returned, then flicked his hand to dismiss the shadowbeasts still lingering in the corner.

     Hunter took a step back, startled, "You know my name?"

     Carnirus smiled coolly, "I make it a policy to know the names of those I encounter." he turned to Slick, surveyed him for a long moment, then glanced over at Hunter again.

     "Let Kiara go," Hunter said forcefully as Slick cowered behind him. He knew that Carnirus could kill him with ease and wouldn't think much of it, so he knew he had to be careful, "Let her go, Carnirus."

     Carnirus stared at him, then laughed as if that was the funniest thing ever, Hunter watching him with a taut expression. When he finally stopped, Carnirus smirked at Hunter, "Well, I could. I don't need her anymore."

      Hunter stared at him, confusion clouding his gaze, "I...huh? I thought you needed her to come back to life. All Hallows Eve and such. Right?"

      "Oh, good, you did your research," Carnirus looked delighted, "You see, I AM trying to come back to life. But I've already extracted the life force I needed from a spirit. So I don't need her anymore, feel free to have her. Although... I don't give things away for free. Wanna make a deal?"

     Hunter's jaw fell open, "Y-you mean I can just...take her? Just like that?"

     "If you can make the trade. Otherwise, I'll just feed her to my shadowbeasts, they love spirits. Say they taste great." Carnirus shrugged, turning away.

     "No, wait!" Hunter said hastily, taking a quick step forward, "I'll make a deal! An exchange, just tell me what you want, and consider it yours, promise. " 

     "Okay. I know what I want." Carnirus told him with a half grin, " A fair exchange. A prisoner for a prisoner, how's that sound? You for her."

     "What? No way!" Hunter exclaimed, "I'm not THAT stupid! There's no way I'd take that deal." he crossed his arms as if that settled the whole thing, "Something else." he hoped that Carnirus would change the deal, so was glad when the shadow king said:

     "Your slavery for two days," he said with a shrug, "Then I'll provide you a trip home."

     Slick smacked Hunter in the back of his head as he paused to consider it, "No, you idiot, don't be a hero! Just say no!"

     "Yes," Hunter said firmly, "It's just two days, it won't kill me. Yeah, Carnirus, I agree to your terms. Now let her go."

     Carnirus's smirk widened in satisfaction, "Ah, humans are so predictable." he rubbed the crystal at the top of his staff, and a rushing feeling swept through Hunter. He gasped, and then was sucked into the crystal. And in the young seer's place was a no longer colorless Kiara. Her hair was a rich red color, her eyes were brown, and she wore a surprised look on her face.

     "Bingo," Carnirus said smugly, "I got what I came for. I take it you heard the entire conversation, Kiara?"

     "I did, why would you do that to him?" she cried, "You said you needed me, not him!"

     "I did need you- to get him. Shadowbeasts can't touch living human beings, so how was I supposed to get him otherwise?" Carnirus peered into the crystal on the tip of his ebony wood staff.

     "He was your target?" Slick asked in surprise.

    Carnirus grinned, "Plot twist: yeah, he was. You see, I already have my spirit life force. I got it not too long ago from a spirit called Melody."

   "Melody...?" Kiara blinked, then staggered backwards as her head throbbed suddenly. She rubbed her head, "O-ow..."

Carnirus smirked, "Perhaps you know her. Remember her. Oh well. Can anyone tell me the difference between a ghost and a spirit in their previous lives? The answer is there isn't one. It's completely random. However, there is always the rare chance that a ghost seer dies and becomes a spirit. Then we get what I like to call 'Phantoms'. Little more powerful, incredible durability. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, they're a little bit harder to resurrect then plain old spirits."

     Kiara understood immediately, "YOU'RE a phantom! You need both a spirit and a seer to come back to life!"

 Carnirus grinned at her, "Right on the first guess! Now that he's in this dimension, his structure has been altered so I can capture him. And I just need him until tomorrow night, and I'm as good as alive!"

     Kiara surged forward, "Let him go!"

     Carnirus snapped his fingers and three shadowbeasts leapt through the doors. And he ordered them, "Take her and her little friend out into the farthest corner of my kingdom. I don't want to see them again, and I did promise to let her go. Actually, just take the girl. Slick wasn't included in being released."

     "No!" Kiara shouted, struggling to pull away from the shadowbeasts, "You can't do this! You can't!"

    Carnirus smirked, turning away as she was dragged out the door behind him and chuckled to himself, "Don't you see, child? I already have."