The Mage Winds is a series of three novels called Winds of Fate

Winds of Fate

Winds of Fate is a 1991 fantasy novel by Mercedes Lackey. It is set in the fictional world of Valdemar and is the first book of the Mage Winds trilogy.-Plot introduction:...

, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury

Winds of Fury

Winds of Fury is a 1993 fantasy novel by author Mercedes Lackey and the concluding book of the Mage Winds trilogy. It resolves the story told in the first two books; additionally, it settles several plot threads which originated in the previous trilogy, Arrows of the Queen.-Plot summary:The evil...

in that order. They are by Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...

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The trilogy is about a woman named Elspeth and a man named Darkwind. In most of the first book it is alternating between the characters' lives, and Elspeth is getting ready to go on a journey to become a mage

Mage

Mage may refer to:*Magi, a tribe from ancient Media of Iran*Mage, Burma*Magician , a practitioner of paranormal magic*Magician , a practitioner of magic as portrayed in works of fiction...

, and be the first of the new Herald-Mages. Darkwind is living his routine life in the k'Sheyna vale not wanting to ever see magic again after the death of his mother when the magic was being moved from one heartstone

Heartstone

A heartstone is a fictional artifact common in dragon-related stories of high fantasy. It is a crystal of concentrated magic, and can be extracted from the heart of a slain dragon. It is believed that the heartstone is the source of a dragon's magic power, but this has never been proven definitively...

 to the other. As the tale goes on Elspeth, in search of a teacher to teach her magery, she soon ends up very near Darkwind and meets him.

Mini-Dictionary

• Bonded - to be able to share minds, and be great friends
• Heartstone - a stone that is surrounded by a net of ley-lines and is a giant node, that is placed in a rock
• Herald-Mage - a Herald who is a mage
  Mage
  Mage may refer to:*Magi, a tribe from ancient Media of Iran*Mage, Burma*Magician , a practitioner of paranormal magic*Magician , a practitioner of magic as portrayed in works of fiction...
  
  
• Herald - one who is of great power, and is bonded to a white horse called a companion
• Ley-lines - similar to a river, a place where magic energy flows
• Mage - Wizard/Witch- levels of a mage— I-journeyman, II-master, III-adept
• Node - similar to a lake, a place where magic energy pools
• Vale - a very hot place that is like a tiny tropical place that is surrounded by a magical shield, and is kept up by a heartstone
  Heartstone
  A heartstone is a fictional artifact common in dragon-related stories of high fantasy. It is a crystal of concentrated magic, and can be extracted from the heart of a slain dragon. It is believed that the heartstone is the source of a dragon's magic power, but this has never been proven definitively...