The empty weight in her bed was always jarring. It had been nearly a decade since the weight had disappeared, and her nephew and niece sparingly stepped in, but the weight was still gone. A void where she had lost her companion. There had been bedmates and friends, but honestly, those never really lasted. Not in the way she missed Sunny. In a few brief minutes of the morning, she allowed herself to miss her faithful friend, before she packed up her grief to focus on the day and the next.

  Soraya pushed off the threaded blanket and her grief to swing her feet off the bed. The cool floor was a balm, just enough to pull from the mists to the waking world. She sat on the edge of her bed for a long moment, concentrating only on her breathing.

  Deep breath in, slow breath out.

  She repeated the exercise several times, each breath drawing more into her center. She felt the weight of the power core on her chest grow fuller, but not heavier. The core was embedded in her, fused down to her sternum and molded around her lungs. It connected to her nervous system in ways that had she not magic, would have killed her. Each breath pulsed the energy she stored in that core. It revitalized her for the day, drawing deep from the metaphysical well within. Sleep was not always necessary with the core, but it offered a respite and a recharge.

  “Auntie Aya!” A high-pitched, young voice broke her mediation. Cracking open her eyes, she spotted Fiona sticking her head through the doorframe.

  “Fiona,” Soraya greeted her with a nod. She closed her eyes and let out one long breath. Her power core sparked, and the pale blue pulse faded slowly through her body. It was the final push to get her day started.

  Standing from her bed, she grabbed her small linen basket and headed toward the family fresher. “I thought your father told you to leave me alone when I am sleeping.” Soraya ruffled the young girl’s black hair, cut short into a bob that just passed her chin to mirror her own. Fiona tried to dodge, complaining but smiling at the touch.

  “You were awake though,” she said, falling in step behind her. It was only a few short strides to the fresher, thankfully open. She stepped inside, smirking at her niece before sliding the door behind her.

  As she began preparing for the day, Soraya continued with her active meditation, though instead of her breathing, she focused on her tasks for the day. It was a routine she fell into since earning her cards, and one that helped maintain the balance needed to use them effectively.

  Their whole world was about balance now. Feast or famine; light or dark; drowning or drought; magic or technology. Everything stood on a knife’s edge. The safety of their compound was not enough to stop that, which was why she had joined the rangers, and why she was needed back in the city of Tyre.

  What had once been the crown of an economic empire, Tyre now sat as a monument to a dying universe. There were other cities in the world, but whether they still stood or not was not something shared with her or any of the other rangers. Even her brother Elias who was staffed on the science operations, would not tell her if there were more survivors than them and the roving bandits.

  Not that it would have helped. All any of them had to do was look up at the darkening sky at night and someone would realize how alone they truly were. Maybe a hundred years ago, someone could spend a lifetime counting the stars, and astronomers did – but those counts also let them know that stars were fading. Little by little, as if drained down a hole.

  Soraya paused mid-scrub, her sponge jostled by her power core. The pale blue glow centered in her chest was enough that she did not need to turn on the lights, a small favor when every resource was accounted for by the end of the day. She sighed, the energy pulsing in time with her efforts. The pulses were never disturbing, or at least they weren’t when things were quiet. Her body always had a soft hum to it, a gentle reminder of the power safely housed in her.

  A power that twenty years ago would have been unheard or simply relegated to the fictions of the masses. Yet she had the energy of a star coursing through her body on a regular basis for the same reason why the stars turned dark.

  Soraya turned her thoughts from the past to the present. It helped to actively guide the energy through her, instead of letting it simmer or bubble beneath the surface. Only one misfire and a lost transpo were the costs of inattention to her thoughts. She knew others who had not been so lucky, but basic training drilled in her that attention kept them alive and present.

  Leave the past to the dead historians.

  Instead, the day had numerous things to do. The final task while at the compound was to leave with the escort for her two weeks on patrol. She worked backward from there: check her supplies and gather any she could afford to barter for (which likely would be none), check on the agricultural centers and infirmary, check on her neighbors, and check on hers. The checks were more involved, with minute tasks related to all of them, but it created a busy morning on a good day. With it being a patrol post day, the compound would be frantic with energy as they prepared for the arrivals back from the forward posts and said goodbyes to those going.

  Done with her washing, Soraya dried off in smooth, careful movements. Those same movements carried her over to the familial tank. Every housing unit had a tank which supplied curated water from a controlled reservoir. Every drop of water was accounted for, as was everything else, so everything was rationed. Soraya remembered their first weeks under the role, back when water did truly seem plentiful as did everything else. In hindsight, those rules probably saved the compound from much worse, but she bristled under the restrictions at the time.

  Now, all she had to do was call up her Wellspring, and focus.

  Holding her hand at the small opening, she activated Wellspring, a rune-card she opened a year ago as payment for a successfully operation. Since then, every chance she had to use the card, she did:

  For as simple of a power, she used the Wellspring on a daily basis to always have clean water. Whether it was in the field or at home, using it meant less of an impact on others. She knew others who did similar things with their own cards, which only spurred her to share what she could do with her neighbors.

  As she focused, water sprayed from her hand. It was created from her own energy reserves, brought into being by the impossibility of magic that invaded their world. Crystal blue shades ricocheted against the tank, rattling against the near empty metal walls before it slowly began to fill. She stood there, barely dressed in the darkened fresher, and felt lighter for simply releasing the energy in this form. The energy in her body settled as she cut off the wellspring of water just as it crested the top of the tank. A little spilled from the opening, but they were back to where it had been the last time she left.

  Stolen story; please report.

  This was the first task of her morning, and every morning before she returned to Tyre. It unfortunately was not the last task she needed to complete before leaving.

  “Auntie!” Fiona’s gentle pounding echoed in the refresher. “Dad says no breakfast until you come in.”

  “I will be done shortly,” she said as she dried her hand on her towel. She moved her towel and sponge off the linen basket and grabbed the freshly laundered clothing. She lifted the shirt to her nose and breathed deeply of the jasmine-scented wash. The faded grey shirt had been laundered to the point of being soft, but it survived every trip out to Tyre so far. Not as armor, but a reminder of home.

  Getting dressed was another set of active mediation. Familiar movements provided her focus and balance. She did not dally though, when she could have, and it would be her right to drag out the final moments of peace before morning truly began. Fiona loved breakfast and would not be as patient as gently pounding out a song on the door for long.

  “Done,” Soraya said, opening the door even as she turned back to fold her night clothes into something her linen basket could hold easily. They would be washed and waiting for her upon her return but keeping it tidy was a little helpful.

  Every drop kept them off that knife’s edge.

  “Come on,” Fiona said. She reached out and took the linen basket from Soraya’s hands and ran back to her room. Soraya stepped out at a sedate pace and smiled as her niece raced back to her side. “Dad’s making oatmeal.” She stumbled as Fiona grabbed her hand and tugged her toward their small eating area. “He’s using the apples we bought yesterday.”

  “Then we should not keep him waiting.” Not that Soraya changed her speed. She let Fiona pull her along. The smile warmed her in ways the fresh shower did not, nor the power core could. Her breathing and energy may be centered. Everything may be kept in check, but Fiona’s smile offered its own magic that the cards couldn’t capture.

  As soon as Fiona stepped into the recessed nook, her brother stepped around the door frame and grabbed his youngest by the waist. He easily lifted her up onto his broad shoulders, earning a squeal from her. “Sorry about that. I tried to catch her before she could wake you up.”

  “It is fine,” Soraya said, offering a genuine smile. “I was already up, and it is better than how I get woken up out in the field.”

  “Still, I know you sleep in while here,” he said.

  Elias stood nearly half a foot taller than her. He towered over most everyone in the compound, but he was not a fighter (and not from the lack of security’s efforts). From what Elias told her, he was amongst the key set of scientists plugging away at what was only one of the many problems they faced. Not that he would tell her what those problems were, but he was important.

  More so than her.

  “I am fine,” she repeated, patting him on the shoulder. She walked around him and the squirming Fiona to see the rest of her family already up to greet the day.

  Francis sat at the table next to her mother, Maya, as the young boy explained something in his workbook to his grandmother. She nodded along an arm around his shoulder to hold the jittering boy still. He looked so much like her father, or at least the pictures her mother kept from before, it was hard not to miss him. Elias caught her staring and knocked her hip to keep her moving.

  Soraya shared a smile at the memory before she slid into the seat beside her mother. Fiona immediately claimed the seat beside her, leaving the last one for Elias. Her brother said nothing, just brought over the pot with oatmeal and a bowl filled with diced and spiced apples. HE placed both on the table.

  “Alright, put it away,” Elias said. He picked up Francis’ bowl while she grabbed Fiona’s. It was always the same dance. They may not have much, but the children were fed first, then their mother (despite her protests), then them. It had been that way since they arrived at the compound and found out the restrictions, and it would stay that way.

  Of course, Elias often made sure she had a little more, especially when she scheduled to head to Tyre. “The transport is leaving this afternoon?”

  She shook her head, passing on the apples for the morning. “No, they moved it up. I think there were reports to the north that they wanted us to investigate before reaching the forward post.”

  “Are you still planning on making your rounds?” her mother asked. She nodded around a mouthful of oats.

  “I may need to cut it short, but not by much,” Soraya said after she swallowed.

  “We want to come,” Fiona asked. She glanced at Francis, who despite being volunteered, nodded eagerly at the suggestion.

  Soraya placed her spoon into her bowl. She watched it sink, wondering if she should. The power thrummed in her chest, waiting to be used. It was safe in the compound, usually, but she needed to be economical with her time. Time spent with her family was just as important for her though, so it may be a trade off. It wasn’t her decision though. “Elias?”

  “I can go with you, watch them as you work,” Maya said before he could respond. Soraya glanced at her mother and then her brother.

  “Problem solved,” he said.

  “Seems like I’ll have some helpers today,” Soraya said with a fake sigh of exasperation. The children cheered, bringing a lightness to their darkened room. They kept a single light on, conditioned to only use them when absolutely necessary to save the energy stores. This early in the morning, the sun was only beginning to peek into their small window.

  After the bowls were scrapped clean and the remaining apples devoured by her niece and nephew, Soraya took charge of cleaning. It may have been easier to use their familial tank, but having just filled it, she focus-fired her wellspring into the dishes. The cleansing properties of the water surprised her, nearly sterilizing the dishes in a matter of seconds just from contact alone. After placing them on the drying rack, she turned to see Fiona hefting her supply pack over from where she had left it in her room.

  Nodding her thanks, Soraya took it, and the proffered jacket Francis had grabbed her. She took both and headed toward the door where she left her boots. She sat down, laying the jacket on top of her pack. Her worn boots had been patched up, only noticeable by the new lining inside. While should could have probably bartered for a new set at the compound, the new pair would not have been much better than these. Besides, Chloe did good work with some MCQ scrap. “Rather eager, no?”

  “I think they like seeing their Auntie at work,” Maya said as she helped Fiona into her own heavy coat. Francis had already slipped his own on. “I know I do.”

  Soraya blushed lightly at her mother’s words. Despite volunteering to share her rune-card with her neighbors, she was unused to the praise. It would not be the first time she blushed today, and she had a few stops to make before the mid-morning bells passed.

  “Alright,” she said, slipping on her own jacket. Her mother had managed to get on before she was done, and was now helping Fiona with a pair of mismatched mittens they bartered for the previous week. A winter frost settled on them the previous night, and despite magic converters shunting heat to the compound, the mittens would be needed for the coming days then months. “The first few are going to pass quickly. Let me slip in and I’ll be done.”

  “We’ll just wait in the hall,” Maya said.

  Soraya swung her supply pack onto her back. She snapped the straps across her chest tight and let the comfortable weight settle after a moment. Packed full of a few changes of clothes and other carefully secured perishables she planned to trade at the forward post, her supply pack served as the constant from home - if only because Fiona fixed a woven , faded pink rabbit to one of the straps. The lucky thing survived more encounters intact than she did.

  Once outside their room, Soraya turned away from the main entrance and headed straight for their immediate neighbors, the Darwishs. Mateo Darwish was already up, preparing for his own day out in the fields and let her in without a word. She nodded at his wife, a severe looking woman who said nothing to her as she walked a mirrored path to their own room to the fresher.

  Much like theirs, their familial tank was almost empty. She tapped into her power-core and released a small torrent of water to fill it up. The tank filled faster than their own, partly because it was slightly smaller, and partly because she over-charged the Wellspring. She left without another word and headed across the hall.

  She repeated it with the Zholans and then across to the Farouks. With one hallway done, she gave her niece and nephew a smile. A weight pressed down on her chest from the repeated, immediate casting of her card. The weight was as familiar as the routine. Nothing to worry about really.

  Just a normal start of a day at the end of the world.