Children of Amarid : Book I of the LonTobyn Chronicle

A young but powerful mage, Jaryd joins the Children of Amarid, an order of powerful mages who are pledged with protecting the land of Tobyn-Ser, to find the traitor who is helping invaders with powerful technology destroy their land. A land ruled by mages, armed with birds, is hit by a crime wave whose perpetrators also carry birds. Have some mages turned evil, or is this the work of impersonators? Jaryd, an apprentice mage, is ordered to find out before the people turn against the mages