A passing log swept the boat out from under Maggie, and she dropped with a shocking splash into the river, the rope slipping agonizingly in her hands. Suddenly her body was tossing and turning with the torrent.
Then she felt Colin’s arm about her waist. “Got you!” he yelled above the river, nearly breaking his own hold on the rope with the shock of her added weight. “Grab on now!” Flinging her arm wildly in his direction, she hooked her elbow about his neck, nearly throttling him.
When at last they reached shore, and Maggie had clambered out of the water onto the bank, she looked up to see a large green-and-turquoise dragon that murmured to herself: “Aha! Dinner is served.”
“The word for Song of Sorcery is delicious!”
—Isaac Asimov’s SF Magazine