I batted my eyelashes and did my best to appear dumb as a board

Nice plan. Take the gullible outsiders, walk them around for a bit, then feed them to the giant tortoise.

The human body is an amazing organism. It can go from dead tired to completely alert in a terrified blink.

She eats grass. Don’t ask.

I wondered if kicking him in the head would make the whole explanation pop out of his mouth in one chunk.

It's a reflex. Hear a bell, get food. See an undead, throw a knife. Same thing, really.

In there?' She nodded. 'You want us to go into the tortoise?' Another nod. 'It's alive.' Another nod.