"Danica Shardae, an avian shapeshifter, will do anything in her power to stop the war that has raged between her people and the serpiente - even pretend to be in love with Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind's greatest enemy, and accept him as her pair bond.
Heir to the avian throne, she wants to live in a world where she can raise children without fear of them dying, like her brother and sister had.
He sends a message to the avians, asking to meet and discuss peace in a neutral territory - that of the tiger shapeshifters, Mistari.
After pushing through the troubles of bringing the two groups together and surviving assassination attempts by their own trusted guards, Danica and Zane grow closer, until the one who they each used to despise was now the one they could never live without.
The last thing the two peoples need is trouble, which is what appears both in the form of a royal falcon, Syfka, searching for a criminal hiding among the two kinds, and who views the peace as abnormal, claiming it won't last, and the unborn child of Danica Shardae and Zane Cobriana, half hawk, half cobra.
When his falcon magic awakens, he travels to the white city of Ahnmik, nestled days out to sea on an island, to learn to control his power.
The roads can take you somewhere you didn't expect to go, the towers sing an unearthly song, and the dancers can call rain or see the future.
While in Ahnmik, Nicias meets Darien, his mother's former partner in the Empress's Mercy, supposedly lost to Ecl, the realm of nothingness where any falcon can escape the pain of reality, sometimes of their own volition, but sometimes not.
Nicias returns to Ahnmik to convince Aracelli to let him go for good and is caught in a plot by Syfka to kill Empress Cjarsa.
Returning to Wyvern's Court, Nicias finds that the once comatose Hai has awoken, thanks to the bond he formed with her while in Ecl.
[5] The only other named deity on the light side of the pantheon is Anhamirak's son Namid, god of life and patron of the priest Brassal.
They made sure that all opinions were acknowledged, served as healers and judges, and taught the people about Ahnleh ("fate" in the Dasi language[8]).
[11] Dancers wearing coins marked with the ha'Shmla symbol Ahnleh (now known colloquially among serpiente as the Snakecharm) are not to be attacked,[12] even by members of the falcon royal family.
[23] All this was put in place so that the magic of the two people could not be united, and again bring about unimaginable destruction akin to that of Kiesha in the days of the Dasi.
These traits breed true over any other type of avian, so any child of a royal family member will have them despite their non-royal parent's lineage.
The Tuuli Thea's consort does not receive a title; all avian husbands are referred to as an alistair (meaning "protector"), though a spouse of either gender is called a pair bond.
Couples grow to be close, but refrain from sexual activity until formally wed. Avians cherish music, art, and storytelling despite its decline due to the war with the serpiente.
At the start of the series in Hawksong, the royal families of both sides have been nearly decimated while their respective societies and cultures slip further and further into decay.
Rape is considered the highest crime, the punishment being death without a trial, the rationalization being that it is better to kill an innocent man than to let a guilty one go.
[39] Though the white vipers are also serpiente, they are descendants of Maeve, the high priestess who originally stood above Kiesha, and they refuse to acknowledge a cobra as their ruler.
Serpiente children are born able to take their serpent form, though they don't have much control over it for the first several months and their poison does not develop for four or five years.
The Mercy is also the name of the local police force, which does anything the royal family orders them to, be it helping a child in need or torturing someone to death.
A very common form of falcon magic is casting powerful illusions,[64] but more advanced techniques cover a broad range of abilities.
It can be used to heal wounds and cure poisons, but because it is essentially the manipulation of a person's essence, it is considered incredibly invasive and is not allowed to be used by anyone except in an emergency.
If used deeply enough (usually in an unsuccessful attempt to save someone), the falcon can fully take all forms of their target (human, Demi, and animal).
They can be used for entertainment to evoke true emotion or physical feelings like rain[71] or for more serious magics like creating visions of the past or future.
[82] Shm'Ecl can sometimes sense those of royal blood despite their state, and since some have purposely fled into Ecl to be numbed to the pain of the world, they are not always pleased to be awakened.
[84] Falcons with great skill in mindwalking could technically help the shm'Ecl, but the few with that kind of power are needed for more important tasks.
The falcons (namely Araceli[85]) developed a poison called am'haj that is deadly to the serpiente and traded large amounts of it to the avians.
There are four types of falcons, each of them is led by the member of the royal family they are descendants of: Gyrfalcon (Cjarsa), Peregrine (Araceli), Aplomado (Syfka), and Merlin (Servos).