The Girl Who Drank the Moon: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Luna leaves Xan a note, saying that she’s going to collect berries and sketch. Xan will likely be asleep when Luna returns. Luna knows this isn’t normal, but Xan insists it is. Luna knows that both she and Xan are lying to each other. She slips outside and begins to climb the hill. Luna notices that she stinks and thinks that her body is changing. She’s also experienced other things she can’t explain, like ending up in the top of a tree and hearing a squirrel respond to something she said. Luna hasn’t told Glerk or Xan about this, as she forgets some of these events or is embarrassed by what she does remember. She hears a voice in her head saying that this has happened before.

A crow looks Luna in the eye. Luna greets it and though the crow caws in reply, Luna knows it’s greeting her. Suddenly, she remembers: yesterday, she gathered an egg from the chickens and in her hand, it became sharp and then bit her. It had become a crow. Now, the crow follows her, cawing. Luna knows it’s saying her name and sees that if she looks at it sideways, it’s blue and silver. She asks the crow what it is. It says that it’s an excellent crow and agrees with Luna that Xan and Glerk won’t be happy to see it. Luna knows that there’s a word to explain the crow’s existence, but she can’t remember what it is.

Luna trips on a rock and falls on her sack. It tells her to get off of it, and then Fyrian’s head appears. Luna rolls her eyes and glares at him, but he says that he just wants to hang out with her. The crow caws, and Luna can feel him thinking her name. Luna climbs to the top of the volcano and asks Fyrian to be quiet. She snuggles him and looks at the forest in the opposite direction of the Free Cities. Luna reasons that the forest must end somewhere, and thinks that Xan has never explained why she can’t go in that direction. She pulls out her drawing supplies, hushes Fyrian again, and tries to make her mind blank. Sometimes, she can feel her fingers crackle when she does this.

In her mind, Luna sees the horizon and the world turning toward her. She draws until she hears Fyrian and the crow yelling at her. She wakes with a start and sees that it’s noon. She assures Fyrian that she’s not sick, but Fyrian says that something odd happened to her eyes—they were pale like moons. Luna stumbles forward and grabs boulders, which become light like feathers. Then, she jumps over a small ravine with a huge leap. Fyrian insists that none of these things are normal. The crow caws to stop Fyrian from talking, and Fyrian angrily flies home. Luna hurries down the mountain and pauses at a stream to freshen up. The volcano hiccups, which worries Luna.

Luna hears Glerk calling for her. She races down to him and sees that he’s anxious and alone. Back at the house, Xan is still asleep and sleeps for another hour. Xan assures Luna that this is normal and Luna agrees. They won’t look each other in the eye. Later, when Xan goes to the workshop, Luna pulls out her drawings. While she was dreaming, she drew a tower with a paper bird coming out of the window. She drew a baby surrounded by trees in the moonlight and then two maps. One leads to the Free Cities and the other leads in the opposite direction. They mark dangerous spots and good water. At the end of the second map, there are trees, the word “baby,” a town, a Tower, and the words “she is here.”