Runa crouched over their small firepit. They had to be careful when digging fire pits in the sand so as not to squander their precious little fuel.

Runa prodded a large clump of dried dune grass into the small flames she had made and watched as it began to spread along the grass and begin to catch the skinny wooden branches of shriveled trees that they had passed a few days prior.

Antyza was out “scouting” which was fine with Runa. She sank to a sitting position ...