The warmth of dawn

It was early in the day, the sun hadn’t even started to rise in the horizon, but it didn’t matter. The farmer had a job to do, so he went out of his room and into his kitchen where he got himself some stale bread and some milk from a pitcher that he had gathered the day before. After he had finished his food he went out the door of his meager home to head towards his shed. When he got there he gathered his usual tools and put them in his belt. He had grabbed all he needed, then went out and into his barn to feed and care for his cows and sheep.

As his cows fed on the hay he had given them, he left to go get his horse from the other pen outside. Walking up and brushing his horse, he gives it some hay and fastens the plow to the horse preparing it for the hard day of work ahead. Work has been hard on the farmer ever since his family moved to the city to get out of the contested areas. However, he had to stay behind so he could fund their life in the much more populated city. His eldest son should be about finished in the military academy, he thinks, as he nudges his horse forward towards his endless fields of grain.

His mind wandered as he walked alongside his horse. He had seen the war between the Esneyan’s and Ascillian’s, hell, he had even experienced it himself many years ago, yet he was old enough to know that they were once the same. As he started his work the sun slowly crept up from the horizon. It was nearly dawn, the man thought, as he prepared for the first break of his very long and tiring day. He grabbed a carrot from his saddle bag and fed it to his horse. Just as he did so, he could hear a low rumbling in the distance. He walked through his fields until he reached the end and on the other side he saw the top of the sun finally showing itself. The man started to turn around but stopped as he heard shouts from the sun’s direction. Looking back, the man saw countless silhouettes with lit torches under a banner of a yellow and blue sun.

The man had seen many towns and villages after Esneyan raids, and so he pulled out a picture of his family. With a single tear rolling down his cheek, he embraced the warmth of the dawn for one last time.