Sunlight brushed against the early morning glow with the tenderest of touches; dust particles resembled glitter as they lazed throughout the air. Day had broken, creeping over the distant mountains, breaching through the army of trees that had created a four-sided border to Battleridge. In the stillness of dawn, the silent beauty of nature exposed itself, a mirage of effortless preservation.

It had been a long time since I'd listened to the gentle song that lived within the world's silence. Been a long time since I'd slowed down enough to see what was right in front of me. And as warmth infiltrated through the window, pale slithers of yellow crawling...