A Thousand Steps into Night: Part II: Chapters 1–15

by Traci Chee
After receiving a curse that causes her to slowly transform into a demon with a deadly touch, Miuko embarks on a quest to find a cure so that she can return to her normal life.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part I: Chapters 1–7, Part I: Chapters 8–15, Part I: Chapters 16–33, Part II: Chapters 1–15, Part II: Chapters 16–31
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gauntlet
    a glove of armored leather that protects the hand
    He wore leather-coated plates of armor that dangled from his rotting form, and disintegrating gauntlets that revealed finger bones and sinew beneath.
  2. spectral
    resembling or characteristic of a phantom
    Being a demon now (or mostly a demon, anyway), she shrugged the weapon off, causing a cloud of spectral flies to buzz indignantly about the halberd's frayed tassel.
  3. whimsy
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    A sudden, deadly whimsy unfurled inside her.
  4. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    The overgrown fields, which she'd once thought sprawling and wild, were like patches of moss compared to the mountains she'd seen from Geiki's back.
  5. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    With nearly comedic force, he flapped the tiny scroll at her, brandishing it as if it were a blessed blade, not a yellowed scrap of paper.
  6. malaise
    a vague sense of unease or dissatisfaction
    She could not tell whether such unsteadiness was an effect of the priests' spells or part of the general malaise that had plagued her since she was transported to the Old Road, but the time on her back did give her the opportunity to admit that she still had a lot to learn about being a demon.
  7. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
    Smoke, noxious and brown, lay thick upon the breeze.
  8. revile
    spread negative information about
    "Go! You are not welcome here!"
    She'd wanted to be human again...for this? To be reviled by the one person she loved most in the world? To be betrayed? To be cast out?
  9. wayward
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    A lifetime of trying and failing to fit in? To be quiet, obedient, feminine? Her father may have indulged her occasional waywardness (while the villagers had barely tolerated it), but none of them had truly embraced it.
  10. sibilant
    of speech sounds forcing air through a constricted passage
    As she wept, a voice, small and sibilant, drifted up to her from somewhere on the forest floor: "What tearsss? Why crying?"
  11. bereft
    lacking or deprived of something
    Miuko had less than forty-eight hours to reach the House of November before both it and the mountain upon which it stood became an oyu—a blight bereft of all life, both mortal and spirit.
  12. expunge
    remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
    "So what happens to the shadow, if it doesn't belong?" she asked.
    "It's...er... expunged."
    "What?"
    "Expunged!" He waved his arms as if dispersing a cloud of smoke.
  13. opacity
    the degree to which something reduces the passage of light
    Judging by the opacity of her limbs, she estimated she was already a quarter transparent.
  14. prostrate
    lie face downward, as in submission
    Abruptly, she flung herself to the ground, prostrating herself before the daigana, who recoiled.
  15. ordain
    invest with ministerial or priestly authority
    You see that I wear the clothes of a priest? That is because I have been ordained by the disciples of Amyunasa to carry out a mission of utmost importance.
  16. paragon
    model of excellence or perfection of a kind
    Only I can prevent this from happening, and only you can help me, for, without you, O Paragon of Swiftness, I cannot make it to the temple in time.
  17. adulation
    exaggerated flattery or praise
    The daigana might get the adulation he so desired, and Miuko might not be a liar after all.
  18. incite
    provoke or stir up
    Who had the power to incite the kind of massacre that had occurred here—that would occur, now, if Miuko didn't stop it?
  19. salver
    a tray for serving food or drinks
    Through the trees, Miuko caught glimpses of the priests attacking one another in front of the pagoda, seizing whatever weapons they could lay their hands on: ceremonial urns, ropes, salvers of burning oil, which flew through the air, catching on trees and wooden cloisters.
  20. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    "You have better things to do now than reprimand me, priest," she growled.
  21. unrepentant
    not feeling or expressing remorse
    Once, at Ogawa Castle, Miuko had thought him lonely; but now, seeing him encircled by such unrepentant destruction, she understood that he could never be lonely, because he did not desire company.
  22. liniment
    a topical liquid that relieves muscle stiffness and pain
    They had been replaced by cramped chambers and the stifling odors of medicine and incense—herbs swaying from the rafters, pots of liniments crammed onto the shelves.
  23. sentient
    endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness
    The horse nodded, although she was not a sentient horse, so she was likely nodding for other reasons, perhaps pertaining to the fly buzzing at her left ear or a persistent crick in her neck.
  24. dissipate
    go away, scatter, or disappear
    Once the energy Miuko had drained from Nogadishao had dissipated, she was left feeling fainter than ever.
  25. buffet
    strike against forcefully
    The fog buffeted about her, as if in annoyance, before ascending into the sky, taking Beikai with it.
  26. cavort
    play boisterously
    Peering around the statue, she watched, openmouthed, as a troupe of monkeys cavorted out of the trees.
  27. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    Squinting, she eyed Miuko appraisingly. "But maybe you help us, Demon Lady? And then we help you?"
  28. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    Miuko felt the other baiganasu frolicking around her, brushing against her with their small furry bodies and filling her senses with their pungent furry smells, and she could not help but smile at their antics.
  29. misgiving
    painful expectation
    Her misgivings resurfaced, however, at the sight of the trapped sled.
  30. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    It reverberated through the woods in an ugly, guttural roar, causing dry pine needles to drop from the canopy in a sudden, mildly painful shower.
  31. yoke
    link with or as with stable gear joining two draft animals
    She gestured to the rest of her troupe, who quickly yoked the animals to the sleigh.
  32. helter-skelter
    haphazardly
    And they were off—helter-skelter through the trees, with Neinei and Yoibaba yanking at the reins while the rest of the baiganasu careened from one end of the sled to the other at every twist and turn.
  33. phantasmagoric
    characterized by fantastic and incongruous imagery
    She could not help but think of her mother and how much she would have loved it, how she would have devoured every sight, every sound, every phantasmagoric scent wafting up from the volcanic fissures and meadows of drunken, chittering flowers.
  34. scalloped
    decorated with a margin or border of semicircles
    Built on top of the glacier, the January God's court was a castle of scalloped ice so clear and blue, it appeared like crystal.
  35. inconspicuous
    not prominent or readily noticeable
    "How am I supposed to get past them? I'm not exactly inconspicuous here."
  36. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    Panting, Miuko dashed past the spirits to the third floor, followed by an intrepid snow spirit and the tachanagri she had frightened in the garden.
  37. congeal
    solidify, thicken, or come together
    With a start, Miuko realized he was crying, large dribbles of sap flowing down his craggy features and congealing in his beard.
  38. contingent
    a gathering of persons representative of some larger group
    But a contingent of crab guardians had already blocked the stairs, and more were marching toward her through the crowd.
  39. grovel
    show submission or fear
    Those are gods! Oh, gods. We should be bowing! Groveling? No, bowing.
  40. moue
    a disdainful grimace
    "Dispose of them," Naisholao said, puckering her small, red lips in a moue of distaste.
Created on Wed Oct 26 17:49:35 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Nov 18 17:48:35 EST 2022)

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