There was a strange joy to be found in the simple act of walking. Every man could do it, and yet only a few had the time to truly walk just for the sake of walking. Seth of Valeria had left Rudin without a goal. At first he thought he’d try and find the elf, but soon abandoned the notion. If the stories were only half true the exotic man could be hiding unnoticed in his shadow, breathing down his neck. He could have stayed with the woman, it would’ve been the right thing to do, many gentlemen would’ve stopped him from leaving. On the other hand, if he had stayed until she woke up he wouldn’t be able to contain his curiosity. He would’ve asked her all sorts of questions about her strange healing powers, and that would not have been very gentlemanly of him at all. 

So he walked, that was part of his trade. As a mercenary you couldn’t afford to stay in one place without work for too long. You had to keep moving and with a bit of luck you’d always stumble into some trouble. 
Seth of Valeria counted himself amongst the most lucky of mercenaries. Not only had he been trained well in the art of the sword, but he had a peculiar ability to always end up waist deep in the brown. Today, sadly, was not one of those lucky days. 
After he’d left Rudin he’d walked down to the lake. he’d stood there, looking out across the water, thinking about his life and the lives of those around him. He was only a man, just like most people. And yet there existed men of such extraordinary strength and skill that they could laugh in the face of demons and claim that they were not worth their time. This troubled Seth of Valeria very much. He’d heard the rumors of the Warriors, he’d fought shoulder to shoulder with some of them at Veiron. Back then the Warriors were little more than ordinary knights, given better equipment and training. Seth had thought once or twice about applying, he certainly had the skill. But on the battlefield those Warriors had died just as easily as regular men. Even men that was extraordinary back then, Seth’s master, fell to the beasts. Seth himself had only gotten away because he’d run away with Elena. With a deep sigh he picked up a small stone and threw it as hard as he could out into the lake. He watched it break the surface and saw the rings spread out and slowly fade away. That was pretty much how he felt. The world, with all its dangers was lie the lake, he was nothing but a small stone, picked up and thrown as hard as destiny could, all he could accomplish was a few ripples. When they died out the lake would still be there, and the great swordsman Seth of Valeria had sunk to its bottom, never to see the light of day again. 

He turned south and started to walk along the beach. It didn’t take long until he arrived at the old harbor. Veiron was the capitol, but it didn’t have direct access to the lake. A harbor had been built and no less than four wide, stone paved roads led from the harbor to Veiron or vice versa. No matter what you did there would always be a road for you to travel on. After the attack Veiron had been emptied of all life and there was no longer any point to keep the harbor going. Ships had been dragged up on land, sometimes placed in boathouses or covered to protect them from the elements. Others had been left to rot and as if they’d known their masters’ wished, had done just that. The air smelled of salty water, and a new thought poked through Seth’s otherwise adamant mind. He hadn’t been on a boat in years, and it was so much better than walking.