Chert wanted to put more distance between themselves and the catastrophe, but the monster, who’d managed to convey that her name was Veela, assured them it was safe. “No no-die,” she kept repeating. “No no-die, for far.” Well, Chert supposed, maybe she really did have some way of knowing. She kept picking up objects and saying something, then holding the rock or stick or whatever it was expectantly toward Chert and the Jaw. It didn’t take long to figure out she wanted them to teach her the words for things, and they switched from Overhill to the People’s tongue. If they were going to teach her a language, it might as well be their own. Veela seemed confused at first, then exasperated when she realized they were teaching her a whole new tongue, instead of building on the one she’d already started. But there wasn’t much she could do about it. It got even more confusing for her when they switched back to Overhill, wanting to question her without having to teach her a whole language first.
