Endling: The First: Chapters 12–25

by Katherine Applegate
In this second book of the trilogy, the dairne Byx, with the help of humans Khara and Renzo, the wobbyk Tobble, and the felivet Gambler, journeys through warring lands to search for a hidden colony that would prove that she is not the last of her species.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–11, Chapters 12–25, Chapters 26–42, Chapters 43–56

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. coveted
    greatly desired
    Another thing that separated dairnes from dogs was our coveted silky fur: incredibly warm when the weather was cold, remarkably cool when the heat was intense.
  2. ruddy
    of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum
    That very afternoon, we’d passed a young girl, her face ruddy in the cold.
  3. profound
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    Dairnes cry, but only in profound moments of grief.
  4. disdain
    reject with contempt
    We drank cider and even shared a suet pudding that Gambler disdained as “too sweet” for any self-respecting felivet to eat.
  5. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    This last question elicited a more complete answer: “Once my mother died, I was alone.”
  6. glib
    artfully persuasive in speech
    I saw a glint in Renzo’s eyes, a look at odds with his usual glib, easygoing ways.
  7. intermittently
    in a manner of stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    I lay awake for some time, as Tobble wheezed softly and Renzo snored intermittently.
  8. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    Like morning mist, like tendrils of smoke, like echoes of a song: it was all there, and yet not.
  9. scion
    a descendent or heir
    He was also a scion of the traitorous Corpli family, ancient foe of Khara’s clan.
  10. thrall
    someone held in bondage
    “They could be thralls,” Gambler said. “In which case we should free them all.”
  11. derisive
    expressing contempt or ridicule
    Luca managed a derisive laugh.
  12. fauna
    all the animal life in a particular region or period
    “That was before I decided to study dessag fauna—near-extinct species like your own, Byx.”
  13. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    He’d circled me, transfixed, noting my glissaires, my opposable thumbs, every detail that made me me.
  14. revelry
    unrestrained merrymaking
    “They’ll have lots of extinct species to learn about. Think of all the eumonies! Oh, the revelry!”
  15. cloying
    overly sweet
    But this forest reeked of a different decay, at once cloyingly sweet and mixed with a sharp edge of ammonia.
  16. sinuous
    curved or curving in and out
    I looked up and saw a tracery of branches that was less angular than usual, more sinuous. The effect should have been graceful, a twining of arcs and bows and spirals.
  17. shoddy
    of inferior workmanship and materials
    It was like looking at shoddy weaving, as if all the trees were part of some vast, neglected carpet.
  18. purloin
    make off with belongings of others
    It flew directly at us, and Renzo reacted with incredible speed, slinging our purloined shield from his back and holding it up seconds before the creature would have struck him.
  19. deluge
    an overwhelming number or amount
    Suddenly, like a torrent released from a burst dam, there came a deluge of writhing worms.
  20. quaint
    strange in an interesting or pleasing way
    An insect so massive, so alien, that the carpet of worms seemed quaint by comparison.
  21. indifferent
    marked by a lack of interest
    But the terramant seemed indifferent to Tobble and me. It walked past us on its six jointed legs, ignoring the squirming mass beneath, and headed to the lump Tobble wished me not to see.
  22. delicacy
    something considered choice to eat
    Hawks, rock ospreys, and kestriddi considered dairne pups a delicacy. (It was harder to carry us off for dinner once we weighed a stone or two.)
  23. immutable
    not subject or susceptible to change or variation
    And Dalyntor, the wise packelder who’d been our instructor, had spent many hours lecturing us on the immutable law of “pacequilibrio”: the need for balance and variety in the natural world.
  24. inflection
    the modification of pitch, tone, or volume when speaking
    This time I was sure I heard something in his inflection.
  25. resonant
    characterized by a loud deep sound
    From our left came a deep bass sound, a single, resonant gong.
  26. fervor
    feelings of great warmth and intensity
    Tobble grabbed my elbow with sudden fervor.
  27. grovel
    show submission or fear
    “This is King Tobble of the Wobbyk Kingdom, a close ally of the Kazar Sg’drit. He grovels for no one!”
  28. troupe
    an organization of performers and associated personnel
    “Tobble,” I said as the Foreman’s lair receded in the distance, “I am quite certain you could join any traveling troupe of actors and be granted a starring role.”
  29. doff
    remove
    As a thief who has spent far too much time trying to con his way out of trouble, I would doff my hat, if I had a hat.
  30. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    I slept fitfully. At one point I woke and saw Khara standing by herself, looking away.
  31. erratic
    having no fixed course
    “Sentient islands move erratically,” Renzo said.
  32. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    I strained with all my senses, trying to discern a hint of something that could confirm the presence of dairnes.
  33. lilting
    characterized by a buoyant rhythm
    The sound of our lilting language, the scent of our silky fur, the sight of a dairne-made tree nest.
  34. cant
    lean or slope to one side
    We had some difficulty getting aboard, as the boat was still canted over in the mud, its single mast pointing at a forty-five-degree angle.
  35. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    It would be stealing to take the food, but then again, we were planning to steal the entire boat. My conscience was bothered, though.
  36. livelihood
    the financial means whereby one supports oneself
    The boat, which was called Gramis Rose, according to the faded lettering on its bow, was someone’s livelihood.
  37. tiller
    lever used to turn the rudder on a boat
    I had to admire Tobble’s brisk efficiency as he leapt to the stern, grabbed the tiller, and ordered Renzo to pull the rope that would raise the sail.
  38. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    Hopefully, the gem we’d left behind would placate the owner.
  39. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    Khara stared at the lush curtain of green and yellow vines and interlaced trees before us, hoping to find a promising gap. When nothing appeared, she took her sword and began hacking through the foliage, gently at first, and then with more energy.
  40. parse
    analyze in detail in order to discover essential features
    I breathed in, trying to parse out the complicated smells.
Created on Sun Oct 09 12:02:40 EDT 2022 (updated Wed Jul 12 15:36:06 EDT 2023)

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