She looked for Bryn and saw him standing at the edge of the crowd. He had been shocked by Allain's death and looked depressed. Crispin arrived by his side and his face lit up. Liala ran down the steps to join them.
Crispin was the first to speak.
'I've found Bryn's sister.'
'You mean Breada?'
'Yes. Dafne has locked her in the furies' den with the other sirens.'
'Who is Dafne?' Bryn asked.
'An ancient guardian who is in charge of the furies. They are a bunch of crazy women who like to tear men apart. Their den is at the back of the cave where they keep the vampire bats.'
'We'll make short work of the bats,' Bryn said.
'No.' Crispin shook his head. 'They will make a tremendous din the moment you go anywhere near them. Dafne has threatened to kill the girls if anyone tries to rescue them. You'll have to go in the back way. Liala knows where it is.'
***
The air was cold and dank in the underground harbour. Liala kept a lookout for orcas but didn't see any. She guessed they had gone out to sea and were swimming freely with the other marine animals. Big Brain had shut down and the only active guardians were those still able to walk around on their own two legs. Dafne was one and she was high on their list for elimination.
Oona and another young dolphin were waiting beside the landing stage. It was where the Lord High Executioner received prisoners and assigned them to one of the passages leading off at the back. They wouldn't be using them. The passage that led to the furies' den was underwater.
Liala followed Bryn down the steps. They had ray guns but didn't have their dolphin suits and the air bottles that went with them. The dolphins would have to carry them on their backs. Liala leant down and did her best to explain what was required. She hoped her rendering of the dolphin language was good enough to get her message across.
They would be holding their breath and the dolphins would have to swim fast because human's breath holding ability was poor compared with theirs. The dolphins seemed to understand. Liala could never be sure. They liked to please and sometimes made "yes" noises when they should be saying "no".
She climbed onto Oona's back and flattened herself against the young dolphin's body to streamline their motion through the water. Bryn did the same with the second dolphin. They took deep breaths to charge their bodies with oxygen. Liala tapped Oona's head and they set off.