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"I have a stone," said Ben "In ave it to me But it’s only a little one"

"Neverthe serpent’s back to Firedrake

"But how are you going to throw a stone so high?" asked Ben when she returned with his backpack

Sorrel only chuckled She ru It really was a s

"Here!" Alar put his sharp nose over the top of the backpack "What are you going to do with that stone, fur-face?"

"Get rid of a raven" Sorrel spat on it a couple of tiain Ben looked at her, baffled

"Better not," whispered Twigleg from the backpack "Ravens don’t take kindly to that sort of thing"

"Don’t they indeed?" Sorrel shrugged her shoulders and tossed the stone playfully fro’s voice was so shrill that Firedrake raised his head and Ben looked at the homunculus in surprise Even the sea serpent turned her head to them

"Ravens," faltered Twigleg, "ravens bear a grudge They’re vengeful birds -- the ones I know, anyway"

Sorrel looked at hi jumped nervously

"N-n-not really," he stammered "But … I’ve heard people say that"

Sorrel just shook her head scornfully and glanced up at the sky The raven had co lower and lower Ben could see its small eyes quite clearly

"Look, Sorrel!" he said in surprise "That raven has red eyes"

"Red eyes? Well, well" Sorrel weighed up the little stone in her paw one last tio"

Like lightning, she took aiht as an arrow to the raven, struck his right wing, and rerily, the black bird fluttered about, beating his wings violently and lurching around in the sky as if he had lost all sense of direction

"There!" said Sorrel, pleased "That’ll keep him occupied for a while"

Ben watched incredulously as the raven peckedand finally flew unsteadily away Before long, he was a mere speck in the distance

Sorrel chuckled