Fantasy - Looking for Book Series

[Tolandruth]

I read this book in the early 2000's but can only remember the story. This is a fantasy prequel series with flying cities. A child is found and adopted by the leadership of the civilization and begins to learn about magic. Turns out the magic system is very aggressive and is based on cruelty towards others. I think i remember the boy's name being Wraith? Later the boy and his adopted brother grow up and the boy turns out to be non magical. Upon discovering this he learns to fake being magical so that he isnt banished to the "earth." Bothered by the secret the brother helps him hide but turns to art for his passion and science to search for a way to "heal" his brother/best friend. During this search Wraithe (?) becomes more and more upset about the cruelty of the magic and forms a resistance. The brother discovers a defensive magic 1000x stronger than his people's magic. This is important as there is a crisis around the flying cities that requires a massive sacrifice of "earthers." Wraith finds out and uses the resistance to revolt causing a catastrophic failure of the cities. The brother is lost and his new magic lost as well.

The following books are based on the cataclysm and groups trying to recover the new magic to recreate their world.

 

[Ponyboy]

Maybe the "darksword" series?