Itwas as if he had been electrocuted, but he felt ever single nerve endingin his body scream at the same time, and a moment later it was over."Oh no!"...Hermione squeaked as she fell to her knees and reached over tohelp pick him up off the cold floor."What the Hell..." Kyle said softly, his voice was like a whisper as hestruggled to get back to his feet."Oh noooo," Hermione moaned as she helped Kyle stand up. He could hearthe worry and fear in her voice."Why..." His voice sounded wrong, too. ”He signalled for another drink and put a big, black hand on mine. ”I'm all ears.”I smiled at him. He looked so earnest, so interested. ”Okay, here goes… I was reared in an orphanage; never knew my parents. The staff were great. Unlike a lot of the kids, I actually loved it there. When I was thirteen, I got a job delivering newspapers in the evenings. A year later, I did a morning round as well. The shop owner was a divorced man, around fifty, quite a nice guy really. He never tried anything. "There's some type of marker stone," he began, his tone of voice deliberate and clipped. "Looks like a strangler fig grew around it."Manning was suddenly interested. "Could you make out any markings on it?"Mark led the way toward the tree. "There's some, but I couldn't make them out."Professor Manning was already studying the stone. She pulled a small brush from her pocket and began to work at the markings. She worked for a few moments, then, without looking up, spoke, her voice betraying. "Nothing can get me if I'm in this cage! I'm begging you, please have mercy on me! If I get any smaller, something is sure to see me as food!" You misunderstand me." Raven said softly. "I plan on eating only one of you, and that all depends on the outcome of a little contest I have in mind." What kind of contest?" Cleo demanded. "What sick thing do you have in mind?"Raven smiled. "I'd like to see how size fares over agility." I will win with no problems!" the Ebon shouted. "Since I've grown my.