Main Characters
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Raz i'Syul Arro
The protagonist of the series, along with Syrah. Raz is part of a race known as the atherian, who are essentially humanoid Lizard Folk. Having once been a slave at a young age, he was adopted by a nomadic family in the deserts, and grew up learning how to read and speak their language. Unlike most of his kind, Raz is winged. Even so, he cannot fly.
- Anti-Hero: Raz does not fit the traditional hero model by any means: He is cynical, snarky, and perfectly fine with murder and torture if it means fulfilling his goals. That being said, he does fight for the good of those who are being exploited or oppressed.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: With Syrah in book 4.
- Berserk Button: Two:
- Never, ever, ever even insinuate that slavery is by any means right or necessary, and heaven help you if you actually own slaves. This stems from his time spent as a slave early in his childhood. He may not exactly remember it (he was that young), but the scars on his wrists will certainly never let him truly forget.
- Never, ever, ever dare to harm even one hair on Syrah's head. When he found out what Kareth Grahst and his tribe did to her in book 3, he practically turned feral and went on a wild, murderous rampage. Not a single mountain man who crossed his path that night had been spared. Raz himself states that this was one of the only rampages in his life that he feels absolutely no remorse over.
- Broken Ace: Raz is one of the most, if not the most skilled mercenary anyone has ever known. He is big, strong, fast, and incredibly smart, and whatever job he leaves unfinished is always by his own will, rather than simply being unable to do it. However, the reason behind his skill is very saddening, as he had honed them in the aftermath of his family's slaughter.
- The Chosen One: He is at the center of at least two major prophecies.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Raz had a rough childhood as he was a slave during his infancy, having been horribly mistreated. It seemed to get a lot better when he was adopted into the Arro clan, that is until most of them were slaughtered in a massacre that severely traumatized him
- Disappeared Dad: Raz`s biological father was never seen or mentioned until book five. It was revealed that his father was only involved in a love less union with the Athenian queen and was killed shortly before Raz was born
- The Dreaded: In southern deserts, he is the Scourge of the South. In the mountains, he is the Dragon of the North. Either way, the sound of his name is enough to send tremors of fear into otherwise cold and haughty authority figures.
- Friend to All Children: As cold and rough around the edges as he is, Raz still harbors a soft spot for children, and always treats them well. They seem to adore him too, despite him being a seven foot tall mercenary.
- Interspecies Romance: Syrah is perhaps the only person who can manage get him flustered, and the two of them casually flirt with each other in book 4. She's completely human while he's an atherian. Even The Prophecy has something to say about it:Grandmother Arro:The only of his kind, he will fall for a face of snow, and follow and be followed to dark depths and icy summits...
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Raz is not the nicest person around given his former occupation and personality. That is understandable given how he lost almost everything he cared about in the massacre of the Arro clan. Still, he has a kind heart as he is committed to helping out his loved ones and any slave he comes across.
- Lightning Bruiser: His being over seven feet tall does nothing to hinder his speed. Often his enemies are left dead without ever knowing what hit them.
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Syrah. He's the only thing keeping her from being consumed by her growing self-hate and and borderline depression in the fifth book. She gets especially angry with him when he puts his life in danger without a second thought partly because his death would have a serious negative affect on her.
- Official Couple: With Syrah in the fifth book, though it's been heavily implied much sooner. Many people from both species have expressed both curiosity and disapproval in equal amounts, so it is only when the two are questioned by Raz's mother, the atherian Queen herself that Raz confirms it.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: He is not a big believer of turning the other cheek. If someone has wronged him, he is sure to track them down and pay them back with interest.
- Red Baron: The Monster of Karth, Scourge of the South, and Dragon of the North.
- Took a Level in Badass: He takes one in every book, due to the increasingly dangerous foes he faces, with his most prominent being becoming a mercenary after losing his family.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When Raz still lived in the deserts, he was fun-loving and mischievous, and did whatever he could to help out his adoptive parents and clan members with everyday living. Fast forward to his current self after the deaths of his entire family, where he is a cold, merciless bounty hunter.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender-flipped. Keeping Syrah safe is one of his top priorities, and anyone who threatens her might as well have signed their death warrant. What separates him from having a Big Brother Instinct are his inner monologues in books 3 and 4, which heavily suggest that he sees Syrah as more than a friend.
- Warrior Prince: It is revealed early in book one that Raz is the son of his race's queen, and was left to the Arros in order to fulfill the prophecy.
- Winged Humanoid: He is a rare, winged atherian, and this coupled with his race's natural reptilian appearance gives him the look of a Draconic Humanoid.
Syrah Brahnt
The protagonist of the series, along with Raz. When she was six years old, Syrah was given by her parents to Talo Brahnt, a Laorin priest, because a raid on their village meant there wasn't enough food for her and her siblings. That and the fact that she's an albino meant that she'd have trouble fitting in if they sent her to an orphanage. Since then, she had grown up in the northern mountains, among the priests and priestesses of Laor and is now a devoted follower of the faith.
- Action Girl: She can more than hold her own in a fight, with both magic and martial arts at her disposal.
- Anger Born of Worry: In book 4, Raz jumps off a ship during a huge storm to save its drowning captain, despite being a poor swimmer. When he comes to, Syrah is utterly furious with him, though not for risking his life to save the captain. She was angry because he did it without thinking, without even considering how she would feel if he died in the attempt.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: With Raz in book 4.
- Easily Forgiven: Though she herself was very torn up about it, Raz does not blame her for being the cause of his family's destruction. He tried multiple times to hold it against her, but ultimately found that Syrah was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Eye Scream: Kareth Grahst blinds her in one eye in book three.
- Hates Being Touched: After her torture and rape at the hands of Grahst's men, Syrah can no longer stand even being grazed by the hand of a man. If any man were to touch her, even one who means her no harm, she would be sent into a panic. Raz is the sole exception to this.
- Hellfire: What ultimately gave her and Raz's group their victory over the Tash and his soldiers in book 4. Her fire magic flew out of control because of her grief at Lyssa and the captain's deaths, and exploded out of her in a raging inferno that ended up killing both enemies and allies, would have killed Raz had he not found cover in time, and left the Tash a burnt and bloody but still-living mess.
- Interspecies Romance: Near the end of book 3 and throughout book 4, she's seen playfully flirting with Raz. He doesn't seem to mind.
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Raz. She is the only one who can calm his bestial rage and anchor him to his sanity when he is about to lose it.
- Morality Pet: Syrah is Raz's closest friend and confidant. On the very rare occasions that he succumbs to his bestial anger, she is the only one who can make him see sense again. He's also a lot calmer and more relaxed when she is around.
- Official Couple: With Raz in Of Sand and Snow. Not that it wasn't a long time in the making.
- Playing with Fire: She seems to have an affinity for fire magic, and uses it however she likes short of killing someone with it. Until book 4 that is.
- Really Gets Around: The first and second books specifically point out that there is no law in the Laorin faith that forbids promiscuity, a fact which Syrah happily and shamelessly abuses until she meets Raz. From then on, she is completely and utterly devoted to him and vice versa.
- Red Baron: The White Witch.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: As a follower of Laor, she is forbidden from taking another human life for any reason. Raz points out the impracticality of this, for even killing in self-defense or in the defense of others is prohibited. Even knowingly allowing someone else to kill counts. This rule sends her into a Heroic BSoD in book 4 when, in a fit of rage and grief at the deaths of two close friends, Syrah's magic spirals out of control and kills dozens.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She's both the direct and indirect reason Raz's family was killed. When traveling south to help the poor and needy, she gets kidnapped by slave traders and Raz decides to step in and free her. In the process however, he kills nearly every one of the slave traders, an act that is strictly forbidden in the Laorin faith. Right before he can kill the last one, Syrah pleads for Raz to let the man go, and he does. The man then runs to tell his boss, who decides to target the Arro family instead.
