Surprised and disoriented, Danerik could only struggle against his ropes as several muscled guards held him within a large burlap bag. He could hear the subtle differences in sound as they passed outside of the palace walls, and finally attempted intangibility as an escape method. Unfortunately, Vladimir had made a lucky guess and reinforced the bag with simple ecto-plasm, leaving the ghost boy trapped, whatever the form. Finally the troupe escaped the atmosphere of the sleeping city and mounted horses. Danerik, of course, was not so lucky. Jostled and scratched by the motion of the horse he was slung over, he could only shake his head blearily as the guards released him onto the cooling desert sand. With a sneer and a turn of the head, they were off, leaving the boy stranded.

"Well, it's not anything new. I could easily make it back to the city by sun-up, and…." The hairs at the back of his ghostly neck stood up, and he quieted, feeling the weight of the presence behind him.

"By sun-up, you will die, animal-thing!"

Turning sharply, Danerik found the hulking mass of Skulker behind him, lifting a huge axe into place. Nimbly as a cat the boy dove out of the path of the monstrous weapon, and lifting into the air, sized up his enemy. Angered, Skulker left his axe in the sand and pulled a bow from his back, notching an arrow into place. With a leery grin he set the arrow aflame with ghostly fire, and shot the missile after the hovering boy.

"Who are you? Another ghost?"

"Ha! I am your doom, vermin, and mine shall be the face you see as you die!"

"Alright! I got the bit about you trying to kill me! Do you have a name I can scream as I die?"

"Ah, that's more like it! Although if you're so resigned to your inevitable fate, I do wonder why you keep evading me. However, it keeps the chase interesting. And the chase…" Shooting forward, the huge ghost roughly grabbed Danerik by the neck. "Is what I live for."

Again the ghost boy wriggled out of the larger ghost's grip, and thought frantically as he developed more and more elaborate swoops to evade the hunter. As the armored fiend dove even closer, Danerik panicked and curled into the fetal position, leaving his hands before him and facing his opponent. A brilliant flash of green light blinded him for a moment, then cleared to show him a surprised Skulker.

"So the pup does have claws after all, eh? No matter. I shall kill you just as easily!"

Firing another shot, Skulker notched his bow again to display three arrows, shooting them into the air and all centered on Danerik. With amazing quickness, the ghost body allowed Danerik to flow around the arrows and reform unharmed.

"Okay, that was weird, but-AAAHH!" This last scream was a product of Skulker pulling a sheet of armor from his shoulder, flinging it at Danerik like a knife. The ghost boy dodged and headed for the ground, thinking frantically.

"So if ghost stuff can't go through other ghost stuff, and ghost stuff goes through human stuff just fine, then human stuff-" He landed and reverted to human form, glaring up at the hunter. "Should be just fine!"

The axe from previously had reappeared in Skulker's hands, and ignoring the appearance of his opponent, threw the weapon with blinding speed at the boy's leg.

"AAAAAOOOWWW!" Danerik screamed again. Panting, he pulled the axe from his leg and examined the wound. Although his premise had been (mostly) correct, he had failed to factor in really big ghost stuff. Like an axe. It wouldn't kill him, but it would cause him some trouble…possibly for the rest of his life. Reverting to ghost again, he flew up level with Skulker, ready to do battle in the thrall of his pain. However, before he could get out a word, a commanding feminine voice broke in.

"Skulker."

Sheepishly, Skulker turned to face the wispy form of Desiree hovering in the midnight air. He frowned. "My lady, I did not know you were…awake. Let me finish off this arrogant scum and help you acend-"

"Shut up, Skulker. This boy is under my protection. And frankly-" She grinned maliciously and flew closer until she looked him directly in the eye. "You're beginning to bore me."

Danerik could barely get out a relieved "Desiree!" before green energy began to gather around her hands, causing Skulker to look afraid. With the same malicious grin the feminine ghost built up the energy until she directed it at Skulker, shredding him to ribbons and blasting him into nothingness. Danerik, shell-shocked, only stared at the sudden absence of Skulker as Desiree wiped her hands satisfyingly.

"Did you actually…is he really dead?"

"Dead? Oh, of course not, just…well, discorporated. He'll be out of commission for a while, I can tell you. He was rather hard to get rid of. I fear he may have had a presence in this world far longer than usual."

"So where is he?"

"He's not really anywhere, specifically, just shards of matter and ectoplasm. He'll be floating around the Ghost Zone for a while, gathering the pieces of himself, but it'll be a while before he's back up to full strength. A millennium or so should do him nicely."

"Well…uh, thank you. For saving me."

"Think nothing of it, it was my pleasure. Although, that effort did drain me quite a bit. Let's call this your second wish and call it even. I don't know if I would have the energy for another full set of wishes."

"Doesn't your power grow if I wish?"

"Yes, but not enough to restore all my power, and wishes themselves leave me drained. A wish now could kill me."

"Oh! Desiree-"

"No, no, don't panic, I'll be fine. I was giving you worst case scenarios. Let's get back to the palace and that lady friend of yours. By the way, where did you escape to last night?"

"It's kinda a long story…"

"It's a long flight back to the city. Tell me."