Summerblood (55 page)

“Now or never,” Rann whispered in his ear. And before Avall could stop himself, he set heels to Boot's sides and rode into the river. The middle channel was deepest, but still not deep enough to reach higher than Boot's breast, which was a problem they had not considered.

“Fate help us now,” Avall muttered. “I can't.”

And with that, he slammed his sword hand into his forehead, tripping the blood trigger there, then clamped down with both hands as hard as he could on sword and shield alike, letting go the reins, and—relying on balance alone—thrusting both hands into the water, one to either side.

Willpower did the rest.

Wanting this done and over was enough, and “done and over” meant returning to Tir-Eron.

Avall tried to drag his hands back above the water, but the water knew him, sang to him, seized him and pulled him apart like waves eating up a sand sculpture at the seashore.

The last thing he saw was mountains above woodland above river. The last thing he heard was Vorinn splashing through the water behind them yelling, “Not without me! Not yet! No!”

This edition contains the complete text of
the original trade paperback edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.

SUMMERBLOOD
A Bantam Spectra Book

SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of
Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2001 by Tom Deitz.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-045475
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.

eISBN: 978-0-307-56620-1

v3.0