Allain's flashlight lit the scene. The powerful beam shone on their faces then flicked out over the water. Liala saw a ripple on the far side of the chamber followed by a head. It showed itself briefly then slipped back under the water. Moments later, the head reappeared at her feet. She recognised Oona. The young dolphin had become leader when Elsa was killed.
She greeted Liala with an explosion of clicking sounds and Liala replied with the high-pitched squeaks that imitated the dolphin language. She pointed to Bryn and told Oona that he was her special friend. Then she pointed to Allain and said he was a good friend too.
They talked for a while. Liala told Oona about bad trolls and good people. Oona told Liala about bad trolls and how they had killed some dolphins that had taken refuge in the sanctuary pool in one of the villages. Liala guessed that Oona was talking about the sanctuary pool in Bryn's village and the dolphins had died when it was hit by the air bomb. She couldn't be sure. Only the simplest ideas could be got across with sounds. Anything complicated had to be done with images.
The two men watched in amazement as she squeaked at Oona and the dolphin replied with clicks and hoots. If they thought a lot was being said they were wrong. Liala leant over and told Oona that she wanted her to transmit an image of her with the men.
The young dolphin placed her head under the water and responded with a burst of clicks. These would be heard by other dolphins and they would pass them on as part of dolphin chatter. Crispin would receive the images on his tablet and know she was safe.
The difficult bit came next. Some messages required words and that meant they had to be written down. Allain had brought along writing materials and it was time to use them.
Liala selected a piece of white chalk and a black card. Her first message to Crispin was about the Lord of Light and the next was about Bryn's sister. She wrote in big letters. Allain and Bryn watched. When she had finished, Allain sent some messages of his own. He wanted Crispin to send simple Yes/No replies using a radio. Liala watched as he wrote instruction on the board in big bold letters.
The palace and everyone in it seemed far away. She had spent her entire life as a prisoner of the guardians. Now she was free and fighting back. A day had passed since Bryn rescued her from the island. Liala could scarcely believe that so much had happened in such a short a time.