Beasts of Prey: "The Sky Garden"–Chapter 34

by Ayana Gray
Koffi, a sixteen-year-old indentured worker at the Night Zoo, joins forces with Ekon, the son of a decorated hero, to hunt down a dangerous creature that is threatening their home.

This list covers "The Sky Garden"–Chapter 34.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 7 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ethereal
    of heaven or the spirit
    The stars are bright tonight, a thousand sparkling jewels sewn into a dress only fit for a goddess. Their silver light is ethereal, impossibly beautiful as it spills over every rose and blooming gardenia in the temple’s sky garden.
  2. inhibition
    the quality of being held back
    I summon the splendor instantly. It crackles in the night, and I feel it moving through me in waves. This time, I let go of the inhibitions, the safeguards I’ve taught myself to always hold up.
  3. dissipate
    go away, scatter, or disappear
    I feel the power dissipate all around me, and then the earth settles.
  4. reverie
    absentminded dreaming while awake
    For a moment, I’m pulled from the reverie of him, genuinely curious.
  5. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    It’s a fleeting gesture, so quick that it ends before I even realize what’s happened.
  6. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    Sweat slicked his palm as he unfurled his fist and handed that scrap to Father Olufemi without looking at it.
  7. righteousness
    the quality of adhering to moral principles
    “You have demonstrated a true act of valor, and in doing so exhibited a righteousness, dedication, and loyalty far exceeding your years,” he murmured.
  8. tenet
    a basic principle or belief that is accepted as true
    “Do you swear to uphold the tenets so bestowed upon the warriors of our people?”
  9. decorum
    propriety in manners and conduct
    Sons of the Six were supposed to exhibit a constant decorum in the Temple of Lkossa, but they abandoned it as they swarmed him. The warriors roared their approval, stomping their feet and pounding the shafts of their longspears hard against the hallowed stone in triumph.
  10. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    A warmth emanated from him that Ekon swore he could almost feel, even feet away.
  11. epiphany
    a usually sudden insight, perception, or understanding of something
    He’s proud of you, he slowly realized. You’ve finally made him truly proud. That epiphany should have flooded Ekon with happiness.
  12. onslaught
    a rapid and continuous outpouring
    There’d been a sudden onslaught of light, and then a roar had torn through the air. It had taken Ekon a moment to register that the sound was no animal, but people, hundreds of them, standing in the borderlands and cheering their approval.
  13. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    The sickness inside him grew, and at once, a whole slew of thoughts he’d been repressing sprang free.
  14. festoon
    decorate or adorn
    The usually conservative room was festooned with sashes and streamers of blue, green, and gold, and several tables were filled to the brim with food.
  15. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    Tell them, a voice in his mind implored. Tell them the truth.
  16. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    Ekon stared, transfixed, as a violent shudder passed through his brother's muscled frame, and then he relaxed.
  17. roil
    be agitated
    Her stomach roiled as she envisioned what the warrior had said.
  18. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    There was an unspoken foreboding in the warrior’s eyes as he leaned in as far as the bars would let him.
  19. derisive
    expressing contempt or ridicule
    As quickly as they’d come, they shot her final derisive looks before leaving her in darkness again.
  20. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    She tried to send them away with a hard swallow, but they stayed lodged obstinately in her throat.
  21. clemency
    leniency and compassion shown toward offenders
    She could beg the Kuhani for mercy, appeal for the clemency of the Six.
  22. cleave
    make by cutting into
    The deal they’d struck felt like something from another life, from a Before. That was how things felt now, two parts of a whole, cleaved into the time Before Ekon had betrayed her, and the terrible After.
  23. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    “Father Olufemi wants to see the daraja tonight. I have orders to escort her to his office, and to be discreet about it. He doesn’t want anyone else to see her.”
  24. incredulity
    doubt about the truth of something
    The incredulity in Koffi's whisper bordered on hysterical. “Ekon, are you out of your mind? We’ve just found out the Kuhani has been using the Sons of the Six to commit murders. For all we know, the whole temple is corrupted. Why would you be looking for someone within it now?”
  25. mirth
    great merriment
    He didn’t want to see the images filling his head, but it was impossible not to recall his brother’s slackened face, not to hear Father Olufemi’s mirthless laugh.
  26. saccharine
    overly sweet
    At once the hasira leaf’s saccharine scent filled the space between them.
  27. haphazardly
    without care; in a slapdash manner
    It looked like an old storage closet, brooms and buckets pushed haphazardly to the side.
  28. emphatically
    in a forceful manner; with emphasis
    Brother Ugo had shifted away from him on the bench, shaking his head emphatically.
  29. astute
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
    “Attentive, astute, an active listener. It’s what has made you such a good servant, Ekon, and it’s what made Asafa weak.”
  30. meticulous
    marked by extreme care in treatment of details
    You were the perfect combination—young and athletic, smart and meticulous.
  31. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    He shook his head ruefully. “You overestimate him, Ekon.”
  32. inherently
    in an essential manner
    “The others choose to look away from the brutal parts of what we have created, they choose to believe that what we have created is without flaw, is inherently good, because that was what they wished.’’
  33. procure
    get by special effort
    “I believe thanks are owed to you too. My understanding is that you helped Ekon procure my daraja. You brought her to me.”
  34. testy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    “If you will not give me what I want,” he said testily, “then I will take it.”
  35. fetter
    restrain with shackles
    Her mouth went dry as Fedu’s fingers fettered her wrists, no different from the ropes that had once bound her hands, but she resisted the urge to wince.
  36. iota
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    The entire sky garden was beyond recognition, burned and charred as though an unseen force had ravaged every iota of life there.
  37. revel
    celebrate noisily or engage in uproarious festivities
    Distantly, he heard the sounds of party revelers still in the temple’s worship hall, but they felt like inhabitants of an entirely different world now, like something separate.
  38. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
    But in that fraction of a second, past the hard glassiness of his brother’s eyes, he saw something else—a flicker. It was infinitesimal, barely visible, but there all the same.
  39. modicum
    a small or moderate or token amount
    That flicker, that tiny modicum in Kamau’s eyes, was the part of him the hasira leaf’s poison couldn’t reach.
  40. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    “You’ll feel better in the morning. Now let’s get you some sustenance.”
Created on Wed Apr 20 08:42:16 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 25 13:15:36 EDT 2022)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.