Children of Amarid®, 1997 by David B. Coe and published by TOR® Fantasy is the first book in the Lon Tobyn Chronicle trilogy.
Young Jaryd, who has been haunted by visions all his life, recieves a visit on his birthday. His Owl-Master uncle Baden has come to escort him to Amarid to train as a Hawk-Mage. On their journey, Jaryd binds with Ishalla. She is an Amarid's Hawk, the most special of hawks. Because of this, the fact that Jaryd's powers began to manifest before the binding, and the fact that his binding is the first to coincide with a Gathering it is believed that Jaryd will do great extradordinary things for the Order.
During their journey, Jaryd and Baden learn of attacks on villages. People are being murdered and villages destroyed by groups of what appear to be mages. Rumors run rampant that there are rogue mages set on destroying the land, and the people. At each village destroyed, black feathers are found. Normally a mage will leave a feather from his hawk when he has performed a task for a village. This only adds to the fear that is growing from village to village.
The peace of Tobyn-Ser is being destroyed. Many believe that Theron, a founder of the Order and an Unsettled one, has found a way to exert powers from beyond. Jessamyn (Owl-Sage and leader of the Order), Baden, Jaryd, Alayna, Sartol, Trahn, Orris, and several other mages are forced to seek out the Unsettled to discover how this could be.
But once the group reaches Theron's Grove, strange events begin to take place. Suddenly, one in their ranks is trying to kill the others. In an attempt to escape the traitor, Jaryd and Alayna enter Theron's Grove, where they end up in the most amazing discussion with the Unsettled Theron. It is he, surprisingly, that helps the Order to discover who is really behind the attacks.
Unfortunately, only a handful of mages know what has ocurred. And they must find a way to prove it to the Order, or they themselves become suspect. The traitor is, himself, a well respected Mage and many believe him over the often rebellious Baden, Trahn, and Orris. It falls to the newly bound, barely trained Jaryd and Alayna to provide the proof of duplicity.
Jaryd and Alayna learn much that the Order has forgotten over the years, as they struggle to find the truth and the proof to exonerate the three mages. And they grow and learn together, helping to fulfill the dreams that Jaryd had as a yound boy in his home village Accalia.