Overtaken

Garmand stepped down from the plank onto the soft sands of Aluntra and inhaled the familiar scent of roseberry pine mingling with the salt water. The sun beat down on him, warming the green season air and Garmand’s muscles, which had grown stiff after many days at sea. He frowned and grunted out loud before being forced to shield his face from a spray of sand being kicked up by the hooves of his horse, Hup, who was happily trotting around the beach after the week spent at sea. Despite his sour mood, a laugh escaped Garmand’s throat as he jumped onto Hup’s back and galloped across the beach, just as he had countless times before. He turned Hup to face the castle rising from the top of the cliff in the distance. After three long years away, he was home.