Phantom Hollow You can't just snap your fingers and expect me to be there.

What could he give in exchange? It depended on what they would ask for. More blood, maybe; a pound of flesh, perhaps. Kiliutak did not know what would be requested until finally the woman stated her great desire - and it was something that the boy could hardly spare.

Loyalty.

It sounds so simple. Loyalty came with trust and trust was not something Kiliutak was capable of generating for anyone; but if it meant he would survive his maiming and potentially grow stronger for it, there wasn't really a choice.

My name is Nyra. Spoke the ghost woman. She seemed to be expecting something - more than just his acceptance of the terms, which he continued to mull over in silence.

When the boy finally spoke up again, he was rising from his sprawled position and letting his head hang, eyes squinting from the pain that radiated up and down his neck, throbbing where his ear once sat. He didn't meet the woman's gaze but he did clear his throat and say, I'm nobody.