[Nihoxdria]

He was in a distant mood gain and she noted it. For as long as they'd known one another, Dias had been her closest thing to a friend. He's been her father's ally--a man of great skill. But there was something about the Exile War that had warped him lately. Trailing behind in his wake, Ethyeria blew out a breath and pushed the hair from her eyes. "As long as it takes. There has to be something living beyond the rift." There had to be.... It has taken her years to get up the nerve to begin rebelling against the thing that had corrupted her world and shattered her reality. A creature that had come from across the gap dividing the Empire from the wastelands that acted as a border between the common states...Her father had mentioned such things in the shadows that existed on the borders. Those things were supposedly why the Empire had never seen war with the other countries. But her father's foolish ambition to expand their territory had demanded that such borders be demolished. And that was when...
Ether glanced up to stare at the broad shoulders of her friend's back. "We haven't eaten in days. I'm sure you're starving," she coaxed smootly, knowing food was the weakness of any man. Even one as cool and docile as her knight.