She looked around the courtyard as the gray sky lightened.
Slowly the sky lightened around them, but they never saw the sun.
They remained until the sky did lighten with the first sign of dawn.
A point of gold appeared above the sea and at once all the sky lightened.
The moon was down and the sky would soon lighten.
When they finally led the animals out into the open, the sky had lightened considerably.
The sky had lightened to pink by the time they reached the dark wall of trees.
The sky was lightening quickly, as the new sun lay just below the horizon.
A few last stars flickered above me as the sky lightened.
The trees parted, the sky lightened and it was nearly day again.