Matthias was a big boy now, he had to be, even though he was a bit short and scrawny with his brown unkept hair and the big nose that was always runny. Having lost his mother last winter he had to beg, borrow and steal just to survive even though he was only nine summers old. Matthias wanted to be a kid but reality had hit him hard when he was thrown out of their shack and onto the street when he couldn’t pay the rent. No pity could be found and it was only by luck that a caravan guard had taken him in as an errand boy after having failed to steal a loaf of bread from Jack.

Being a man now he had to work. Which involved doing whatever work came his way and on the side while the caravan was moving through the woods he would look for mushrooms, berries or whatever of value he could find just to get a full belly or maybe even earn a few coppers on the side. Today he had been all out of luck as he had found nothing and was just about to return when he saw a small cave that had almost been overgrown by the plant life.

Usually places like this could hold a medical plant or two that the alchemists used. The one he found before had made the caravan master very excited and he had gotten a whole silver coin and meat in his soup for a whole week. Maybe, just maybe if he found one of them glowing plants he could even get two silvers!

It was awfully damp in the cave and the ground was covered in some strange white coloured moss that made his feet wet and cold through his leather boots. All of a sudden, he stepped on something hard and uneven which made him trip and fall. He hurt his knees as they hit the ground, blood slowly trickling down his left leg with pain burning across his kneecap. It hurt so bad! But he had promised himself not to cry anymore after becoming a big boy, because big boys don’t cry.

“Sniff, I won’t cry…uhuu…I WONT! Mommy…I…”

With watery eye’s Matthias bit his tongue and forced away the tears that threatened to trickle down his face. Instead anger filled his heart on what had made him trip. A large round bump could be seen in the moss-covered ground when he focused on where he had tripped. Luckily the sun was still up and some of it entered the cave as this all happened close to the entrance.

Matthias in his anger ran up and tore the moss away only to find a strange object. What was this? It looked strange, with a round ball like top, two round sockets and a smaller triangle shaped hole. Strange why did it have what looked like teeth at the very bottom, but it only had seemed to have the top row of its teeth. Was this how teeth were made? You found them stuck to round ball like things in the ground and then put those teeth in your mouth? Hmm I wonder if I…

“Hey kid, it’s not nice to stare at people like that.” Said a voice all of a sudden.

With a frightened yelp, he dropped the teeth thingy and looked around, only to find no one around. Confused Matthias picked what he had just dropped and the voice spoke again.

“Kid there is no need to be frightened, I am simply a friendly ghost, stuck in a skull in a cave that is not creepy at all. There is no need to worry, I promise!”

“My mommy always told me not to trust strange voices in my head, she said they always want you to do bad things!” Matthias responded “Also I am no kid anymore! I am a grown man!” His mother had told him a lot about the voices, especially before she died, she had said many things about them but the one thing in particular was that he should never ever trust a thing they said. He was also no kid anymore and even if it was a strange voice it should respect that!

“Erm…Well I, I don’t really know what to say. Ehm I mean, I am not really a strange voice in your head, I am…Well you see I am a heroic spirit that was slain by an evil wizard long ago and sealed in this magical skull. You must help me or a great danger will befall this land within a very near future! Please help me kii- my manly friend who has stumbled upon this stroke of destiny.”

A blush spread across Matthias face, this was the first time anyone had ever called him manly. It felt good and to show his manliness he pushed out his chest and tried his best to look like a grown up. It failed horribly and if anyone had been around to see all that would be seen was a scrawny kid pushing his chest out so much that it looked like he would fall backwards.

Still the voice even if it wasn’t a strange voice was a stranger, and Matthias being someone who knew a thing or two, knew that strangers would sometimes grab kids like him to sell or do unspeakable things with, though he had no idea why anyone would wanna sell him for or what the unspeakable things Elsa had talked about was.

“Why isn’t the kid talking? Damn, this is the first person to ever find me in who knows how long, how long have I been sleeping for anyway?” The voice muttered on and on and seemed oblivious that Matthias could hear everything.

“I told you I am not a kid! My name is Matthias, and I am a grown man!”

“Oh, he talks! Wait are you for real? Your actually a real grown man? Are you perhaps what they call a dwarf?”

“No! I am not a dwarf, does it look like I have a beard?! I am actually still growing since I am, I am only nine summers this year...” The last part being whispered in a very low voice, since even Matthias knew that to actually be considered a grown man he had to be at least fifteen summers.

“Oh well you see, I can’t actually see, with me being a bit lacking in the eye department and only being a skull. I can still feel your energy to some degree and it felt awfully fresh which was why I thought you were very young. Anyhow! You see Matthias I really need your help, really badly. If you help me out I’ll grant you a wish! How does that sound?”

“That…uhh sounds too good to be true! You sound like them fortune tellers the caravan has, they only ever tell people what they want to hear and then take their money. Jack say’s their no good and the world would be a better place if all the fortune tellers were gone.”

“How, how could you even compare me to a common fortune teller. Do you even know who I am!?”

“No, I don’t cause you haven’t told me nothing yet, I don’t even know what your name is.”

“I am, I…I…okey look I don’t even have a name at the moment and who I am you don’t really need to know. All you do need to know is that for your help I can grant any, and I mean any kind of wish you could ever wish for. So, what do you want? Money? Girls? Power? Immortality? Whatever you desire I can make it happen!

This thing called a skull, was it telling the truth? It really did sound like one of them fortune tellers, boasting about stuff without actually saying anything of value, still he seemed to have some magic powers able to stay alive in that small skull thingy.

“Kukuku, this is gonna be so easy, I’ll just get the kid killed whatever he wishes for, let’s say he goes for immortality then I’ll just absorb his soul and make it a part of me after he helps me, hihiihihi I am so clever.”

Matthias eyeballs seemed to want to pop out at what he was hearing. Sadly for the thing stuck in the skull it had been stuck in that sword for an eternity and then a skull for who knows how long that it had long ago forgotten that it should think it’s thoughts not speak them out loud.

“You, you, you really are a bad voice that wants to do me harm!”

“Wait what are you talking about? I only want to make you a friendly deal that benefits us both!”

“Then what was that about getting me killed or absorbing my what was it? My soul? I don’t even know what a soul is but it sounded really bad when you talked about it!”

“Wait, wait you could hear that!? Are you some kind of a super psychic!? You could even read my mind? That should be impossible…How did he do it, I mean I am almost on the level of a godly entity there should be no way for a mortal to read my mind”

If anyone was around they would probably want to smack this skull, twice! And tell it that it was you who told him everything!

“How about…How about we form a contract? We’ll seal it in magical bindings then there is no way for me to set you up, I will have to follow the contract to the letter, I promise.”

“Your promise doesn’t exactly sound very trustworthy anymore. I think I am just gonna put you down now and go back to the caravan, I’m not supposed to stay out too late.” After talking for so long the sun was about to set, which meant that dinner was just around the corner and he still hadn’t found anything edible to flesh out the menu.

“No no no no no! Wait you see…I…I just bring me with you and I’ll work some magic for you first thing when we reach the camp.” Ignoring the evil skull that seemed full of wicked plans he began to put it back where he found it earlier.

“I’ll make you stronger than all the other men in the caravan!” This seemed to fall on deaf ears as it continued to spew promise after promise. It was best to get rid of this…wait what did it just say?

“What did you just say?”

“Eh, uh, I uh, I said, I could get you tasty meat if you take me with you”

Meat this was the answer to all of Matthias prayer, meat tasted the best! It could allow him to grow up and stop being scrawny. All the other men would look with envy in their eyes when anyone brought in some extra meat to the caravan, if he could get some meat all eyes would be on him. Maybe he could even get some coppers from selling the extra meat…

“Deal I’ll bring you with me but I won’t do anything else, as long as you bring me meat every day I’ll let you tag along with me in the caravan. Just don’t get any funny idea’s or I’ll bury you in the ground you hear me!”

“Yes, yes loud and clear I will behave. Ugh, how low I have fallen being bullied by some peasant boy who doesn’t even know right from wrong.”

“You know I can still hear you…”

“Whaa you and your mind reading tricks, leave my thoughts alone!”

Was this really a good choice…Matthias could feel that no good would come of this…