Ginko's hoof connects with something solid, and the hand that was holding him lets go.

Foster, in turn, feels something crack against the side of his face--something hard. Something strong. Something painful. He feels something give under the force of impact, blooming all the way across bone to the other side.

He lets go involuntarily, and what Ginko sees first may not be Foster at all, but the thin, vaporous curl of blood in the water, red dissipating like smoke into the dark and clear and blue.