Song of the sword mage
Runners were easy to find, in every city. They usually hung out by tea shops, guilds and other establishments looking for anyone that wanted someone to run an errand for them for a fee.
Majority of the runners were humans or low level mages that had no hope of ever climbing through the ranks. They formed connections with officials that worked for the city lord and through them one could get things done quickly.
While his parents opted to stay in the carriage, Dex's eyes looked around for a few seconds while he rubbed the head of the flying roc.
The flying beast had to be hungry after making that long journey.
Tea shops also provided magic beasts with food and water. Dex whistled and a young boy who was standing next to a winged panther came running.
"What do you need sir?" he asked eagerly.
"Food and water for my roc, also a runner." Dex answered.
He showed the young boy a gold coin and the probably twelve year old, he guessed took off running.
He returned in less than a minute with a middle aged man who was in the middle of dressing up. His shoes were in his mouth, he was buttoning his shirt as he walked.
"Sir, sir," the young boy referred to Dex eagerly, "I brought the best runner in the city."
Dex was highly doubtful of those words but a runner was a runner, and any would do at this moment.
The runner put down his shoes and spat on the ground.
"Mind not the boy patron, he has a bit of a sweet tongue." the man said.
He looked at the boy fondly, and Dex could easily tell that they were father and son.
"What can I do you for?" the runner asked.
He spoke strangely, in a manner and tongue that Dex had only seen in a small tribe of people in the west of the kingdom of Modera.
"I need a house." Dex told him.
"Any specifics you need?" the man asked.
The boy was feeding the roc water and fresh mountain goat meat out of a basin. His ears however were on the Dex and his father, listening in case he could get an opportunity to make more money.
"Family sized, ten to fifteen people at least, space for a garden, living quarters for ten magical beasts. A shop front could be handy, if it's not possible, that's fine. Oh, secluded too, but not too far from the city."
Runners knew every available house, empty or occupied, for sale or rent. If they didn't they could ask other runners using their spiritual tokens or through symbols made by mages in the air.
"I know some houses, but none fit what you want. Family sized but no shop front, one has a shop front but no living quarters for magical beasts. And when it comes to seclusion, you can't have a shop front and seclusion, it don't work patron."
"I know a house like that." the young boy said.
Dex looked at the boy, and so did his father.
"Shut up Jebi." the man said.
"Let the boy talk." Dex said.
Jebi smiled proudly at his father and puffed up his little chest. "The old Sorenson house."
The man cursed and muttered a few words, "Damn you Jebi, boy has no lock on his lips. Pay no mind patron, that house is cursed, nothing there but cobwebs and haunting cries."
Sorenson, where have I heard that name? Dex asked himself. Over and over, in his mind, the name was repeated. Dex was as sure as the sun in the sky during the day that he knew that name.
It came to him like a sharp bot of lightning, Sid Sorenson, the legendary sword mage whose one slice could divide the earth into two. He was once a student at Weaver magic academy until his whole family disappeared one day.
Sid Sorenson was found with blood on his hands and he mumbled something about demons attacking them. Nobody believed him and they assumed he killed his family and ate or hid the bodies.
Nobody thought that demons could dance in the middle of a city like Mitril without the knowledge of the city lord or guardians.
Many years later the truth was revealed with his return and as it turned out, Sorenson's father, a silk merchant had a feud with another merchant. His enemy hired a dark mage to kill the entire family.
The dark mage tunneled into the house from the ground and killed all thirty eight people that lived inside.
Sid had survived for a reason unknown and that was a crime to others.
He was accused, shunned, expelled from the academy and all of his family's wealth was stolen by the other greedy merchants, some clans and strong families.
He roamed the streets of Mitril for a year like a mad man. The flesh of his back was burnt, and an inscription of abomination was etched into it.
He was like a plague, one nobody wanted to look at, and then one day he disappeared.
He was the typical hero from a novel; family killed, falsely accused, wealth grabbed, abandoned by relatives and bride to be, mutilated and then he disappeared.
He returned as one of the strongest mages to ever live during their time. He avenged his family by wiping the family of the enemy mage off the surface of the earth.
He went after all those that took even one coin of his family's wealth. Even those who humiliated him when he lived on the streets were not spared.
His relatives that falsely accused him lost their heads to his blade.
He destroyed their houses and businesses, wielding his fiery sword like a vengeful storm as he brought building crushing to the ground.
The four guardians of Mitril could not stop him when he wrecked havoc through the city that never loved or protected him.
After his vengeance, he disappeared again, and only resurfaced after the veil collapsed. He was the second in command of the dark elves.
The humans saw him as a traitor during the race wars. but he never explained himself.
Sid Sorenson simply hated humans, and when the opportunity came to cause them pain, he grabbed a hold of it with all his might.
Dex never crossed paths with Sid Sorenson, but he heard this story through a song sung by a music mage he travelled with on a journey into the unknown land of Camlann, kingdom of the elves.
At the time, Dex was of one mind with the humans, Sid Sorenson was a traitor to their kind. But after being betrayed by humans, Dex suddenly understood Sid and where he came from.
There was no such thing as hero or villain; there was only dealing with the fate the universe had bestowed on an individual.
Perhaps in this life, the two of them would meet but if they did, would they be friends or foes?