Black Shadows Gather — Kenneth McDonald

Hauflin farmer Jaron Feldergrass has had enough of the world outside his village, a world dominated by the violent humans and populated with monsters. But when his brother Jayse is murdered by bandits, Jaron must take up his bow and knife and leave Fairhollow again for that wider world. Accompanied by his unstable cousin Beetle, a human swordswoman, and an old man with a minor magical talent, Jaron travels to the human town of Whiteridge to learn that his brother's death was only part of a broader conspiracy that may end up threatening all of the residents of the Cinder Valley. The first book in the series "The Colors of Fate."