"And don't forget to put up the torches tonight!" Master Dourin reminded the teenaged boy standing just beside the bookshelf downstairs. Hitotsu Kurome nodded and waited for the door to close. He had only just finished his first day of apprenticeship and was already worn out. The torches were in random places around the house, and Kurome hadn't gotten a lot of experience with handling the blue ghosts that flew around. That was Master Dourin's expertise, handling mage ghosts.

It was an honor to be able to work under Master Dourin. For many years, he had served as the village's protector with his ghosts. He controlled blue, red and green ghosts. Another Master controlled yellow, white and black. The blue ghosts were used in flame magic, as they did not burn, but mainly lit torches. The red ghosts were friendly guardian ghosts. They fought any stranger entering the house without Master Dourin or Kurome letting him in. The green ghosts were the keys to the house, unlocking the locks when someone they trusted was around. Master Dourin was a paranoid man, always afraid of hurting himself or someone trying to hurt him. Kurome sighed and picked up the torch by the front door, the first of many. Immediately almost, a childish laughter rang through the household, and a single blue ghost shot through the air, latching itself comfortably around the top of the torch. The glow of it was warm on Kurome's face, but to touch it was cold. This one was the only one who had taken a liking to the new boy. He called it Horito, after his little brother back at his home. The light from Horito reflected off a gold bar sitting on the top of a high dresser. The bar was Master Dourin's mark as a High Master, only one of seven in the known world. It was the repository of his powers. Should anyone else get it, Master Dourin would be powerless. Collecting the other eight blue ghosts was more of a challenge. Rounding up half of them onto their torches for the night took at least thirty minutes.

Finally, Kurome grinned and proceeded to switch the ghost in his room with Horito. It was time to sleep, and he needed it.

~~~~~~

"You! What…what is…no…NO!! You cannot!! Do not- KUROME! KUROMEEE!!!"

Kurome jerked awake at the cry of his name. Horito squeaked and detached himself from his torch, bobbing over to Kurome.

"You heard it too?" Kurome whispered, stepping into his house shoes. Horito squeaked again and made a nodding motion by rolling. Kurome removed the torch from the wall and carefully began to make his way out of his room. The hallway was dark, despite the fact a torch hung on the wall that Kurome knew he had lit with a blue ghost. Moving slightly faster, he headed into the main room. It was completely empty of ghosts of all colors, and something else was missing too. Kurome's eyes widened.

"M-Master Dourin! Master Dourin!!" Wasting no time, he dashed upstairs, Horito just behind him. The green ghosts that usually hovered around the lock to Master Dourin's room were gone, as was the lock. Throwing open the door, Kurome froze in fear. Master Dourin was dead. Horito squeaked and hid behind Kurome. His breath was shaky as he knelt next to the late Master.

"There's no wound…" he whispered. Carefully moving the corpse aside, his eyes widened to see the Power Bar of Master Dourin under it. Trembling, he looked towards the blue ghost behind him. "Horito…you've known him longer than I have…can…can you feel…a soul?"

A short pause, and Horito shook his head. So that was it. Kurome looked back towards the Master. Someone had stolen his Power Bar and totally robbed him of his soul. A body cannot exist without a soul, and thus, he has died. A collective gasp hit his ears from behind him. Even more fearful, Kurome turned to find himself facing a mob, all of the men of the city, shooting daggers at him from their eyes. All except his own father, who held a look of astonishment.

"Oh great Sparenth fodder…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a simple idea I had in a dream. If I get good reviews, I'll gladly continue. For now it IS kinda short, but of course it's just a sample chapter. So please, review if you want more? *puppy dog eyes*