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The passage was pitch black and the water freezing Crispin had found a couple of wetsuits but neither fitted properly Water got in and circulated around the body, robbing it of heat That was unpleasant but not nearly as unpleasant as the things that hung down froainst them
Liala mistook them for seaweed Then one latched on to her and she realised she was being attacked An ani over her body She had a knife but couldn't use it Her hands were fully occupied hanging onto Oona All she kneas that the thing had sharp teeth and powerful suckers
Her lungs began to heave The passage was either longer than she thought or the dolphins weren't swie didn't go straight Maybe other passages led off That was an awful thought The dolphins could have taken a wrong turn
Light appeared and she expected Oona to surfacebut she didn't The light came and went They had passed beneath a shaft of some sort There would have been air to breath Perhaps she'd failed to get her ht think she had her air bottles
She wondered about Bryn He was a good breath-hold diver but not as good as her If she was having difficulty then he would be in even greater strife Liala had visions of arriving at the other end without him He could already have succu on the botto at his vitals
More light appeared Liala pounded Oona's head in a frantic atte and she must surface as soon as possible That wasn't necessary The light grew brighter and she saw steps
Blood spattered the landing stage as she crawled onto it The thing with tentacles and teeth clung on tight It had a face like a vampire bat and limbs like an octopus She hacked at them with her knife The body fell away but the suckers re and he was unable to speak Liala dug her knife into the first of the va at his body, and was about to tackle a second when it dropped off and slithered into the water, followed by the rest of its kind
A light shone and she heard Dafne's shrill voice
'You thought you could sneak in the back way'
The ancient guardian was standing at the top of a flight of steps, flanked by tild-eyed woh