Witchlings: Chapter 23–Epilogue

by Claribel A. Ortega
To seal their coven, keep their magic, and avoid being turned into toads, twelve-year-old Seven Salazar of Ravenskill must work with the bully Valley Pepperhorn and the new girl Thorn Laroux to defeat the Nightbeast.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–22, Chapter 23–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. garish
    tastelessly showy
    Seven and Thorn were crouched behind a rosebush near the Dimblewits’ estate—a large, garish house with green shutters and marble statues of the couple.
  2. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    Strange smells wafted in the air around them as the Witchlings peered around the brick building and saw Mr. Dimblewit pulling something from a barrel.
  3. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
    Thorn typed fervently, not looking up from her portaphone.
  4. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    “You know better than to brandish a weapon at a fellow Ravenskillian. Especially defending those two.”
  5. interim
    serving during an intermediate interval of time
    In the absence of both the Gran and the Uncle, we decided that we should have an interim leader.
  6. considerable
    large in number, amount, extent, or degree
    “No!” the Witchlings screamed, as did much of the crowd, which had grown considerably.
  7. fend
    try to manage without help
    “We will also have to investigate you, Rulean. Considering you disappeared and left us to fend for ourselves. Why, how can we be sure you are not involved?”
  8. harrowing
    causing extreme distress
    Once inside, he recounted his harrowing encounter with the cucos and the week he’d spent bloodied and on the brink of death in the Nightbeast’s den.
  9. frail
    physically weak
    The Uncle wrapped thick knitted blankets around them and gave them hot tea, although of the three of them, he looked the frailest and in need of a rest. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, his skin an almost grayish color.
  10. compelling
    tending to persuade by forcefulness of argument
    “We found compelling evidence in his memories,” Thorn said.
  11. dastardly
    extremely wicked
    That is dastardly, even for him.
  12. disarray
    untidiness, especially of clothing and appearance
    l am in disarray, aren’t I?
  13. vexed
    troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
    “When we were sorted as Spares, I imagine, knowing how your dad feels about them now, that Mr. Pepperhorn was vexed. But you looked happy about it...”
  14. convention
    something regarded as a normative example
    At first, I was focusing on the Nightbeast because there should’ve been traces of it when it first arrived in town. But if Mr. Dimblewit got rid of any traces of the Nightbeast and cucos, and made sure it didn’t follow any of its normal conventions so nobody could find it, none of that mattered.
  15. annotation
    an added comment or instruction
    Together they looked through the book. There had to be at least a hundred annotations, about the Nightbeast’s diet, its preferred season for hibernation, even its favorite snack.
  16. copious
    large in number or quantity
    There was real excitement in her voice as she read the copious notes around the map.
  17. relevant
    having a bearing on or connection with the subject at issue
    “I was calculating the time all wrong before, but I should be able to figure this out now. Do you have all our relevant dates in your notebook? I need to know when the Nightbeast was in Boggs Ferry. The night Petal died.”
  18. disconcerting
    causing an emotional disturbance
    Instead, in the reflection of the now broken mirror, they saw the Uncle’s face spread into a wide, disconcerting smile before he grabbed her shoulder.
  19. devious
    characterized by insincerity or deceit
    “He was careful and devious, and I bet you anything he used forbidden magic.”
  20. rancid
    having an offensive smell or taste
    Valley stuffed rancid jelly bean fish from the Uncle’s basement in Seven’s pockets, in the hood of her cloak—she even put one in her shoe. Seven gagged; the smell was like a thousand Beefy farts at once, but that’s just what they were counting on.
  21. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    “Yes, yes, I will let you eat them in good time. I want to relish this moment.”
  22. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    Bravo, Seven! You were always a smart witch. Not smart enough to vanquish us, of course, but impressive for your age nonetheless.
  23. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    The air around the three older witches rippled like water, and suddenly they looked like completely different witches. Younger, more hideous, and pocked by thousands of tiny cuts and large bruises and oozing welts all over their faces and hands.
  24. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    He leaned back in fear before regaining his composure.
  25. receptive
    open to arguments, ideas, or change
    But your father was unfortunately not...receptive, so we moved on to better witches.
  26. succulent
    tasty and full of juice
    “Witchlings make for a succulent snack.” Barbatos turned to the Nightbeast and smiled. “Eat them.”
  27. indiscriminately
    in a random manner
    It recoiled, howling in pain, its enormous paws landing indiscriminately.
  28. barrage
    address continuously or persistently
    “Hit it with everything we’ve got!” Valley said.
    Seven and Thorn did as she said, surrounding the Nightbeast as best they could and barraging it with combat spells as fast as they could go.
  29. hunker down
    take shelter
    They were shaking, their teeth chattering as they found a dark part of the forest behind a large tree and a row of rosebushes and hunkered down.
  30. suppress
    put down by force or authority
    They were very much trying to suppress a vote to give Spares more rights and believed that was the extent of the fake Uncles’ agenda.
  31. treacherous
    dangerously unstable and unpredictable
    “I do not know who they got them from, or who taught them to use such treacherous items, but we will find out.”
  32. resilience
    the ability to recover readily from adversity or change
    “Ravenskillians, it has been a trying time in our fair home. I commend you all for your patience, your resilience, and your commitment to your community.”
  33. nefarious
    extremely wicked
    It was living in a protected sector of woods that was sealed and enchanted by all the Twelve Towns’ Grans to keep the creature safe and stop it from being used for nefarious reasons ever again.
  34. forge
    make something, usually for a specific function
    “To Valley Pepperhorn, I present twin crystal blades! Forged from the tears of a star and made once every five hundred years, in honor of her exceptional fighting and monstruo-tracking skills.”
  35. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    “These sew anything. Even appendages,” said Thorn in awe.
  36. intermediary
    a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
    Although Seven was technically the Town Uncle, she needed a lot of training before she could assume her duties and be the intermediary for animal affairs and complaints.
  37. prowess
    a superior skill learned by study and practice
    Seven looked at a glass display case that held several awards the town and various witch organizations had awarded to Valley for her monster-hunting prowess.
  38. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    At the very bottom of the case were a whole slew of awards bunched together and pushed to the back.
  39. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    Her hand flew inadvertently to her mouth.
  40. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    If a witch-eating plant would just suddenly materialize and make Seven its lunch, she would’ve been very much appreciative.
Created on Wed Feb 01 12:10:34 EST 2023 (updated Thu Feb 02 15:49:58 EST 2023)

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