Karda: Adalta Vol I by Sherrill Nilson

From Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal Award and B.R.A.G Medallion winning author Sherrill Nilson:

On the beautiful world Adalta, an ancient alien emerges.
Young Marta is dropped to the planet for her first secret mission alone. How will she succeed when she must open up to magic she doesn’t believe in?
As cover for her mission, Marta joins the Mi’hiru, the all-female elite guard who patrol the skies on Karda and is claimed by a Karda, a majestic hawk-headed flying horse.
Arrows and swords are the only weapons allowed on Adalta. But she discovers illegal high-tech weapons smuggled from her ship.
The ancient alien, long thought defeated, uses a power-hungry nobleman to escape, and with the smuggled weapons they threaten all life on the planet.
To stop this threat, Marta reluctantly joins forces with handsome, arrogant Altan. As their connection grows, she struggles to keep her secrets.

Category: Fantasy – Sword & Sorcery