Labyrinth Lost: Chapters 23–33

by Zoraida Córdova
Alex hates being a bruja, a witch — but when her family disappears, she must embrace her powers in order to save them.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–12, Chapters 13–22, Chapters 23–33, Chapter 34–Epilogue
35 words 24 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ornate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    He motions to the empty toadstool with his ornately decorated hand.
  2. covet
    wish, long, or crave for
    Rishi has impossibly long, black lashes and perfect eyebrows I’ve not so secretly coveted.
  3. magpie
    someone who collects things discarded by others
    She’s like a magpie, searching for shiny, pretty things.
  4. vie
    compete for something
    When I turn around, Rodriga is leaning over Agosto’s arm, vying for his attention.
  5. gullet
    the passage between the pharynx and the stomach
    Feverish fingers scoop the sloppy meat down their gullets.
  6. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    The acrid smell of rot and bodily waste makes my head spin.
  7. manacle
    shackle that can be locked around the wrist
    Her bracelets are replaced by rusty manacles.
  8. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    I can see the adas for what they truly are—gaunt, thin, wrinkled.
  9. maggot
    fly larva commonly found in decaying organic matter
    The table is nothing but rotting wood, the plates of rank food covered in slick, fat maggots.
  10. facade
    a showy misrepresentation to conceal something unpleasant
    I break away his facade, revealing the shackles around his own wrists.
  11. splay
    widen or spread apart
    He’s on his knees, hands splayed forward in submission as the great black cloud takes shape.
  12. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    The Devourer walks past him, her movement like the rattle of a snake, each footstep reverberating in the deepest parts of my heart.
  13. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    I reach for the mace handle in my backpack. It’s too cumbersome and heavy to be comfortable, but it’s all I’ve got now that my powers have recoiled from me.
  14. insignificant
    of little importance or influence or power; of minor status
    “It’s my turn to shape the galaxies. And you’re so focused on mourning your lot that you don’t see how insignificant you are in the end. Don’t worry. You will beg me to end your pain soon enough.”
  15. replenish
    fill something that had previously been emptied
    “She claimed the heart of the land as her fortress and raised the labyrinth around the Tree of Souls. You see, the tree feeds the land. Without the life of the tree, the land cannot be replenished.”
  16. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    Today, I’m one step closer to making amends for my betrayal.
  17. visage
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    “You are the visage of La Tormenta, wife of El Cielo,” another tells me.
  18. jut
    extend out or project in space
    Polished stones jut out of the ground, like the crooked teeth of the earth.
  19. fray
    wear away by rubbing
    I grab the map from Nova’s back pocket. It’s been folded and unfolded so many times, the edges are starting to fray.
  20. incline
    an elevated geological formation
    I keep going until my muscles ache and my tongue is parched. Until the incline is too steep and we struggle to breathe.
  21. toll
    value measured by what must be done to obtain something
    I look up at the dark-purple sky, torn between the need to keep going and the toll the journey is taking on us.
  22. tepid
    moderately warm
    I let myself float on the surface, and the tepid water washes away the dirt on my skin and more. It fills me with a pleasant warmth that pulls me beneath the surface.
  23. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    She died before my sisters and I could grow up. Before my father left. Before my mother started going crazy from missing him. Before the greatest Circle of brujas and brujos dwindled to handfuls.
  24. fortify
    make strong or stronger
    “Without your family blessing...” She lets it linger. “That’s what the Deathday is for: to fortify you, so you can use your gift and not burn your body or mind so quickly..."
  25. hypochondria
    abnormal anxiety about imaginary symptoms and ailments
    It didn’t take long for my witchy hypochondria to start now that I know what happens to brujas who don’t have their Deathdays.
  26. bounty
    the property of being richly abundant or plentiful
    “Thank you, La Mama, for this meal and for lighting our path. El Terroz for the bounty of your rich, strong earth.”
  27. rift
    a narrow fissure in rock
    The prism of light that beams from my necklace illuminates a rift in the mountain that would be easy to miss in the dark. It looks as if El Terroz took his golden ax and created the gash himself.
  28. gouge
    force with the thumb
    She uses the last of her power to punish her traitors. She gouges out their eyes and then curses them—for their outsides to reflect their monstrous hearts….
  29. sear
    become superficially burned (also figurative)
    I grind my teeth against the searing pain in my hands. I hold balls of white-and-red flames in my palm. I blast them at two giants that attack me.
  30. blistering
    harsh or corrosive in tone
    Their blistering screams become echoes as my fire burns them to a crisp.
  31. fleck
    a small fragment of something broken off from the whole
    She conjures a glass vial on the palm of her hand. It glows red like lava and has tiny gold flecks inside.
  32. corral
    collect or gather
    The Devourer walks around us like she’s corralling her prey.
  33. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “You really should study your cantos, dear,” the Devourer chides me.
  34. draught
    a dose of liquid medicine
    Nova’s grandmother wrote this particular canto and created the draught.
  35. bleak
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    The land here is gray and bleak, cast in the shadow of the labyrinth.
Created on Wed Sep 04 15:53:43 EDT 2019 (updated Fri Sep 13 13:23:01 EDT 2019)

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