The Fireborn Chronicles: The Lost Maiden

Chapter 22: The City of Trade and Thieves

The port city, Sawiton, shined bright beyond the rocky crags of the Orscińa Mountains and gave way to the abundant green life around the area. However, it didn't last for long, as the city itself seemed very non-environmentally friendly. There were numerous residues of smoke that arose from multiple spacious stone buildings. Dozens of massive ships were at a standstill by the city docks. Townspeople hustled and bustled around the streets, managing to keep the city busy from day till night.

Of course, Mary had never been to a city as big as this, as the town that she lived in was nothing compared to the elaborate appeal of Sawiton. Sawiton was one of the major cities of trade, considering that it was fairly close to all the neighboring islands surrounding the Hunspr Sea. Beyond the Hunspr Sea, ships would reach the land of Skálva and the King's nation, Alagonia.

Kaika, who had just started traveling with them, described Sawiton earlier to a certain extent. This was since she had more experience with traveling around the country than the rest of the group did.

Kaika spoke about how Sawiton was always vibrant, but it was also a birthplace for shady business that crept beneath the eyes of the public. This city, one of prosperous wealth, was also home to all types of criminals alike. These crooks would sometimes rob merchant and noble ships that were arriving on the city docks, and they did this to take advantage of the wealthy who knew nothing of Sawiton and its devious residents.

Kaika also explained how the city had its own Starosta, just like the one they had met in Kipcsken. The Starosta of Sawiton was also a very well-known and rotten man who took advantage of the trade, and he did so by offering high prices for buyers of various goods. 

"It's going to be very difficult to catch a ship," Kaika had said. "It will be almost impossible to find a sailor who will take you to Rhunon. You have to know that as the Hunspr Sea opens up farther east, the more likely it is that you'll be raided by Vikings. That's why no one ever crosses the sea past Alagonia and Skálva. It's very dangerous."

"Vikings, huh," Isaac mumbled, and they were finally exiting the mountains and were a little way away from the city gates. 

The group had left the horses behind during the thunderstorm, and they had to deal with walking the rest of the way on foot from here on. It had been a couple of days since they started walking on foot, and only a few more until Silva's birthday, the day which Mary didn't want to remember was approaching. 

Mary always thought to herself why the person she believed to be her big sister would just vanish from her way of life. She knew that one day their childhoods wouldn't last forever, but she didn't want those good memories to end like they did a couple of weeks ago. Nevertheless, Mary had always told herself to never stop trying, no matter how painful it would be. Mary would keep searching for Silva until she reached the edge of the world.

"I'm curious," Kaika said as they were walking. "This girl you're looking for, her name is Silva, right? She must be a High elf since you said you were going to Rhunon. I can see now why someone like her that has been living in this country would be targeted by others."

Isaac lowered his head as she said this, and so did Mary, knowing that what Kaika was assuming was true. The thing was, Mary had no idea if Silva was a High elf or not. She had only heard stories about elves from the church, but they didn't go into full description on what the two's different appearances were. This puzzled Mary for some time, and it never led her into knowing more about Silva and her biological family as well.

The look on Kaika's face, after Mary had seen it, must have shown that Kaika had some idea of what their predicament was. "I didn't mean to be solemn," Kaika reassured them. "I was just wondering what she looked like, seeing as no one around here ever sees elves. They aren't a race known to be very common around the country."