The Girl Who Drank the Moon

There’s a noxious, sulfurous swamp in the middle of the forest. A few days before the Day of Sacrifice, which is known as Star Child Day elsewhere, an old witch named Xan leans on a staff and bellows at the swamp monster, Glerk, to resurface and apologize. Xan is the Witch, and that she’s too young to have any real power over Glerk. Glerk surfaces, rolls his eyes, and points out that he’s millennia older than she is, and that the Poet always said he doesn’t care about what she thinks. Glerk apologizes to Xan and drags himself out of the muck as Xan accuses Glerk of being mean to Fyrian, a sensitive dragonling who is “just a baby.”

Glerk points out that Fyrian is also older than Xan and starts to say that it’s time for something, but Xan cuts him off. Glerk says that Fyrian has incorrectly believed for centuries that he’s a Simply Enormous Dragon when in reality, he’s a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan says that she promised Fyrian’s mother, but Glerk says that it’s time for Fyrian to know the truth. Curling his tail around him, Glerk insists that things are changing, but Xan pleads with him to apologize so she can leave. Glerk allows Xan to put a hand on his huge cheek, asks her to be careful, and promises to continue to lie to Fyrian.

Xan sprints into the forest. While the forest is dangerous due to the sleeping volcano under it, it’s not magical or cursed. For most people, the Road is the only safe passage, but Xan hasn’t taken the Road in centuries since “thugs and bullies” from the Protectorate charge too much. For several centuries, Xan has gone to the Protectorate yearly to rescue a baby that mothers inexplicably leave in the forest. Xan doesn’t judge and just accepts the responsibility of keeping the babies out of the mouths of wild beasts. She takes them to the Free Cities, where children are treasured.

As Xan approaches the Protectorate and feels the sadness settling on her, she reminds herself to grab the baby and go quickly. She’s prepared with diapers, blankets, and a few bottles of goat’s milk. When the milk runs out, she feeds the babies starlight. When Xan arrives in the Free Cities with the babies, the people there see the babies as a blessing. Xan finds the babies perfect adoptive families, and the so-called Star Children grow up to be generous and loved.

At the grove, Xan turns herself into a tree to sleep. She sleeps through the Elders leaving the baby and Antain’s questions and only wakes when the baby starts to wail. Xan carefully turns herself back into a human and scoops up the baby, who has an unsettling gaze that pulls at Xan’s heart. Xan pulls out a bottle and sits down to feed the baby, who continues to stare at Xan. Xan tells the baby that her new family will love her very much, but it makes Xan’s heart hurt. As she continues to talk, Xan feels less sure about taking her to the Free Cities. Xan makes a number of detours and takes the baby to see all sorts of beautiful sights.

After 10 days, Xan is about a quarter of the way to the Free Cities. She reaches up that night to gather starlight, but she doesn’t pay attention to the moon. The narrator explains that the magic in starlight is diffused, so it’s just enough to awaken the best in a baby’s heart and soul. Moonlight, however, is pure magic and can enmagic a baby. Xan stares into the baby’s eyes as she puts her hand up. She doesn’t notice how heavy and sticky the moonlight is and feeds it to the baby. Xan doesn’t realize her mistake until the baby shudders, cries, and falls asleep.

Xan knows the baby has been enmagicked and sits down. She can feel the baby’s magic and knows that in time, the baby will become unstable. She remembers her teacher Zosimos telling her about the dangers of enmagicking a baby and likening it to giving a toddler a sword. Xan knows she can’t leave the baby with anyone now. She names the baby Luna, declares that she’ll be Luna’s grandmother, and says they’ll be a family. The words are stronger than magic.