Rys Rising Series by Tracy Falbe

An outlaw rises to become a dreaded warlord, the terror of kings. He takes the name Amar and seeks to join the Kez, the fiercest mercenary society in the tribal kingdoms of Gyhwen. His fearless ambition is inspired by Onja, a mysterious rys female whose magic has shaped Amar into a loyal friend. He zealously pursues her every command and hopes to join her in her mythic homeland of Jingten. But he knows little about the challenges confronting Onja... moreAn outlaw rises to become a dreaded warlord, the terror of kings. He takes the name Amar and seeks to join the Kez, the fiercest mercenary society in the tribal kingdoms of Gyhwen. His fearless ambition is inspired by Onja, a mysterious rys female whose magic has shaped Amar into a loyal friend. He zealously pursues her every command and hopes to join her in her mythic homeland of Jingten. But he knows little about the challenges confronting Onja. She and all rys are the reviled creations of the tabre of Nufal, and Onja longs to expel her hated masters. To liberate the rys, she knows that she will need more than Amar's help. Onja sees her best hope for an ally in Dacian, a prodigy among rys, but he is loyal to the ruling tabre order and dreams of winning equality for the rys nonviolently. He holds tenaciously to his ideals even as the tabre brutally subjugate him. Will he endure more dark abuses for the sake of peace or reach out to Onja? And what fate is Amar blindly embracing as he kills for her? Like a tree crashing in a storm, all civilizations will crack when hit by the force of the rys rising. less

Filled with righteous rage, Dacian and Onja spread violent chaos across two realms. In the tribal kingdoms of the west Onja sees a whole civilization that she must harness if the rys are ever to destroy the hated tabre of Nufal. No longer hobbled by dreams of rys and tabre unity, Dacian crafts enchanted weapons and trains the rys to fight. Onja commands Amar to raise an army. She ambitiously decides to abolish the religions of the western tribes and to install herself as their new Goddess... moreFilled with righteous rage, Dacian and Onja spread violent chaos across two realms. In the tribal kingdoms of the west Onja sees a whole civilization that she must harness if the rys are ever to destroy the hated tabre of Nufal. No longer hobbled by dreams of rys and tabre unity, Dacian crafts enchanted weapons and trains the rys to fight. Onja commands Amar to raise an army. She ambitiously decides to abolish the religions of the western tribes and to install herself as their new Goddess. Aided by her magic, Amar daringly overthrows monarchies and celebrates with his outlaws in the palaces of the vanquished. The servants of the rys revel in Onja’s grandiose vision, but the Nufalese humans and their tabre masters have barely begun to realize their danger. When Onja enthralls the savage Chatapaka people of the remote north and unleashes their brutal hordes upon vulnerable Nufalese settlements, the militia is overwhelmed. Cruce Chenomet and his comrades struggle to save the fleeing settlers. Cruce quickly loses hope but keeps his courage as he confronts the savage storm. less