The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The moon rises fully, and Luna cannot help but drink up the moonlight. For some reason unknown to her, images of blue and silver run through her head. The moonlight’s magic clarifies the things Luna observes: She recognizes Xan’s magic and knows it is tangled up with feathers. She watches Antain and can tell he has a kind heart, which stands in sharp contrast to the knife he is holding.

The madwoman sings the colors of Luna’s magic as she runs to Luna. The moonlight increases the magic of the boots that, in turn, flows into her. The madwoman observes Antain holding a knife and a green magic glow in Antain’s pocket. She also spots a blue glow just cresting the top of the hill. The madwoman knows this is her daughter, Luna.

Antain raises his knife at Luna and accuses her of being the Witch. Luna protests that she is only a girl, but Antain shouts that she is lying and threatens to kill her. Antain, Luna, and the madwoman all jump at the same time as the flock of paper birds arrives.

A tumult ensues. The paper birds land and form an ominous circle around the group. Antain huddles on the ground, covering his face. He drops his knife, and Luna knocks it away. Antain pleads with Luna to protect him from the birds. Luna promises not to let the birds hurt him. She explains that the birds saved her earlier, and she doesn’t think they will attack him. The birds watch the madwoman. Luna notices the madwoman has a birthmark like her own. Luna’s heart says, “She is here” (344), and the madwoman speaks those same words out loud. Luna doesn’t know the madwoman, who replies that no one knows her: She forgot her name and now is simply called “prisoner.”

Antain recognizes the madwoman, who apologizes for causing his scars. Antain sorrowfully tells her that he and Ethyne, like the madwoman, must sacrifice their baby. He also sees that Luna and the madwoman have the same birthmark. Luna protests again that she isn’t the baby-taking witch. Xan emerges from Antain’s pocket. The last “gear” in Luna’s head slips into place, and all her remaining memories return. Luna focuses all her feelings for Xan and uses her magic to change Xan back to her human self. Xan appears, crying, then falls to the ground.

Luna drops beside Xan and holds her, feeling how old and frail her grandmother has become. Xan wonders about Luna’s magic, and Luna briefly shares some of her experiences. But Luna is more concerned about Xan, who says she is dying—not immediately—but soon. Luna uses her magic to gather moonlight and feed it to Xan, as Xan did for Luna when she was a baby. Xan knows the moonlight will not sustain her for long, because everything in her is flowing to Luna. Xan explains how she rescued the abandoned babies in the woods, and that Luna was one of those babies. Xan says she didn’t mean to enmagic Luna, but once done it couldn’t be reversed, and neither could her love for Luna. Xan recognizes that the madwoman is Luna’s birthmother and asks her forgiveness, but the madwoman does not respond.

A teary and confused Antain asks Xan if she is the Witch who demands the baby sacrifices. Luna angrily defends Xan’s compassionate nature. Antain argues that someone requires the sacrifice. Luna suddenly remembers that Antain was the boy present when the Elders took her from her mother. Xan announces they need hustle to rescue the next baby, and Luna invites the madwoman to come with them. The madwoman finally looks Luna directly in the eye, and Luna’s heart soars. Suddenly, Luna hears tiger-like footsteps approaching; she sees the woman who confronted her about the boots. Xan greets the Sorrow Eater.

Fyrian, still growing, is now able to fly. He describes the tableau on the ridge for Glerk and tells him that Luna is “wearing her let’s-make-trouble face” (358). Glerk explains that the Sorrow Eater caused the death of Fyrian’s mother. Glerk proposes that they stop her from creating more sadness, and Fyrian angrily flies away in pursuit.

Antain doesn’t understand why Sister Ignatia is in the woods. Xan explains that Sister Ignatia is the real Witch and has been feeding off the Protectorate’s sorrow. Antain is outraged, but Sister Ignatia doesn’t care. She mocks Xan’s old age and gleefully comments that Xan will soon be dead. She tries to goad Antain into being sorrowful, but the madwoman urges Antain to resist by being hopeful. The madwoman quietly tells Luna that part of Sister Ignatia is still human and grieving for something she lost.

Xan informs Sister Ignatia that none of the babies died and the cloud over the Protectorate has dissipated. Luna magically looks inside Sister Ignatia and sees a pearl where her heart should be, partitioning off the Sister’s feelings and memories. Luna cracks the pearl and releases Sister Ignatia’s memories just as Fyrian descends with a roar. Now enormous, Fyrian snatches up Sister Ignatia and threatens to burn her up to avenge his mother. Glerk lovingly tells Fyrian to look for a better solution.

Magic and sorrow drain out of Sister Ignatia as she remembers her past. She begins to age. Crying, Fyrian drops her, and Xan comforts him. Fyrian announces that the volcano is ready to erupt, and they must flee. Fyrian carries Sister Ignatia and Glerk. The madwoman, who Luna now knows and thinks of as her mother, uses her magic boots to take Luna, Antain, Xan, and the crow to warn to the Protectorate.

In the Protectorate, Xan thinks that she, Luna, and the madwoman together can protect the town. Xan reminds Luna of a time when she was little and blew bubbles around flowers. Xan tells Luna to make bubbles around the Protectorate, the Free Cities, and everything. Luna worries she can’t do it, but with Xan and her mother holding her hands, Luna’s love and magic pour out. The volcano erupts. Luna saves the town.

Three weeks pass, and there are big changes in the Protectorate. Even though it is smoky and things are covered in ash, people are hopeful. They have elected a new Council and put the old Council members in jail. Gherland refuses to apologize for his acts and spends the rest of his life, forgotten, in prison. Xan and Sister Ignatia, both ailing, stay in the Sisters’ hospital in the Tower. Luna and her mother move into Ethyne and Antain’s home, where Ethyne tries to help Luna’s mother heal her mind. Luna discovers that her mother’s name is Adara. They realize they have both been trying to find each other.

Luna, riding Fyrian, visits the Free Cities and tells the true story about the bad Witch who demanded sacrifices and the good Witch who took the Star Children to safety. Luna explains that she was also taken from her mother, but she can love both her adoptive family and her mother, as her love is “boundless.” Xan’s health deteriorates, and Glerk and Luna stay with her in the hospital. Glerk lovingly tells Xan that when she is ready, she can come to the Bog. On the day the Star Children return to the Protectorate to visit their birth families, Xan passes away to the happy sounds of their reunions.

After Xan’s death, Glerk returns to visit her body. He gathers starlight into a shining quilt and wraps Xan’s body in it. She awakens. She sees that she is in the dark, cold hospital room, but also hears frogs, and sees the “sun shining on the reeds” of the Bog (381). Xan is old and young at the same time. She asks Glerk where they are, and Glerk responds with the story of the Bog. He relates how the Bog created the Beast, how the Beast created the world, and how everything was “bound by infinite love” (382). Together, Xan and Glerk walk toward the Bog.

When Luna returns to the Tower to prepare Xan for burial, tearful Sisters tell her that Xan is gone. Luna learns that “there is no love without loss” (382-83). She finds a poem left by Glerk that talks about the heart, which is built of “starlight.” The poem depicts the passing of time and the “mystery” (383) of love and the individual. Glerk promises to return. Luna folds the poem into a paper bird, which becomes a swallow. Luna is simultaneously happy and sad. She tells the swallow to go and experience the wonderful world, and it flies into the sky.

A parent describes the new Witch in the woods to their child. The parent relates how the new Witch got her magic when an old witch “claimed her as her own” (385) and gave away her own magic. The parent is proud of the new Witch and her relationship with the Protectorate. The Witch’s magic blesses everything and helps people have healthy, happy families and productive land. The parent describes a poem that the Beast of the Bog gave to the Witch. The parent tells the child that someday the Witch’s magic will trickle away, and all the people will have left of her will be stories. The Witch will go away, maybe turning into the Beast, or the Bog, or a Poem, or even the world, since “they are all the same thing, you know” (386).