The day was slowly breaking.

The still air shimmered with the light of dawn, gently rippling as if it held the brightness of the new day.

Valentin stood quietly, watching as the eastern horizon, where the sky met the earth, began to lighten with the blue shadows of night being pushed back by the dawn. 

As the pale yellow rays of sunlight pierced through the horizon, illuminating everything in their path, to others, it might have seemed like just another ordinary sunrise, a common sight anyone could witness. But for Valentin, it was different. The steadfast, routine progression of nature …