Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)

by Rebecca Roanhorse

“Usually,” Xiala said carefully, “when someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain.”

And among the clans, the brightness of Golden Eagle must be balanced by the shadow of Carrion Crow? The fire of Winged Serpent against Water Strider?” “True,” he admitted with a resigned sigh.

He had purpose. “A man with a destiny is a man who fears nothing,” he whispered to himself.

Star pollen

“That I’m one of them. That just like their great ancestor, I have swallowed the shadow of the sun. They call me Grandfather Crow sometimes, although I am not so old.”

“When my skin is too cold, Nightbringer. Or Suneater, sometimes, when I’m angry. They say that my body is cold, but my anger is hot.”

I’ll only hit you when you need it. I am reasonable, after all.”

If protecting his crows made him a villain, then a villain he would be.

When she had first turned to face Serapio, she would have sworn a great black bird hovered above him, its head blocking the moon and its wings flaring out as wide as the ship behind it.

“Did you not hear, Xiala, that I am grandfather crow? You may study the stars, but I am made of the shadow between stars. Tell

“I think you’ve been trusting the wrong people, Sister. But, you see, you’re not entirely wrong about Tova being in danger. There’s a storm coming, true enough, but not from where you think.”

Aishe.”

The knife?

I prefer a clean slate in life, a woman’s fate up to herself, not the sayings of old men and dusty scrolls.

She had wondered if he was hero or villain on the ship after the crows had come, and she wondered it again, now.

And it made sense to her all at once. Serapio, for the first time, was coming home. To a people who didn’t know him, to a house he could never truly live in, even if all he could do was die for them. He would suffer what he must suffer because for one brief moment he would be more than himself.

I will sleep on the Rock tonight, Benundah. I am the only storm that matters now, and there is no shelter from what I bring.