THE SAVIOUR

prologue

Kiyohime and Sigurd had hardly walked a few kilometers when suddenly they heard noises. They stopped walking and listened. It was the emperor's soldiers! Kiyohime was scared since though powerful she was yet to learn how to control her powers and she couldn't afford anymore recklessness. This time luckily for her Sigurd was an extremely well-trained Viking and asked Kiyohime to hide as she took the soldiers by himself. There were just around ten and with Sigurd's experience as a Viking he easily took them all out.

The name Sigurd means a hero in Norse mythology who slays the dragon Fan fir. As a Viking and a young man Sigurd spent his life sailing and raiding overseas. Through experience he had grown to be a great soldier. They raided over many continents like Europe and America. His courage and lack of fear is what would take him to Valhalla. It is the place where his people believed that when one died, they would go to feast with the gods. Otherwise, they believed if one lacked courage, when they died, they went to Niflheim which was a really cold place filled with fog. This had made Sigurd a more courageous and stronger warrior.

Coming out of her hiding, Kiyohime couldn't help but admire the man. In all her life she had never seen a man fight so fearlessly. And for the first time she really looked at the man. Sigurd had a square jaw with broad shoulders and a quite long beard. His hair was also long reaching his shoulders. Looking at his hands he had some really large muscles with his chest puffed out. He wore brown armor gear which went down to just below his but with a dark brown belt. He also carried with him what seemed to be a warrior sword. Just looking at him, the only word Kiyohime could find to describe him was perfect. A feeling came to her which she did not quite know what it was.

"Hey! Hey! Are you okay?" Kiyohime was brought out of her trance by Sigurd tapping on her shoulder. That is when she realized that she had been staring at him for a really long time.

"Ahem! Ahem! Sorry what? Yes, I am okay!" Kiyohime said as she looked down embarrassed. Alright let's keep walking fast before other emperor soldiers catch up with us. At this moment it was around midday. The sun was high up in the sky but the trees in the thick forest protected them from excess heat. And they both walked on in silence, each one of them wondering of their own world. Kiyohime couldn't help but wonder about Sigurd and where he was from. Yet she felt a little bit afraid to ask. But after wondering for too long in her thoughts she decided to ask anyway.

"Hey, do you want to tell me about yourself?" Kiyohime asked Sigurd.

"Listen, I have just been sent to make sure I bring you to your people safely. And so, allow me to say that we aren't friends, or anything so let's not pretend to know each other." And with that they both walked on in total silence. It was not long after this that out of nowhere the weather started changing. Dark clouds started gathering up in the sky and not long after the rain was pouring really hard. And before they could even find shelter they had already been drenched by the hard pouring rain. Luckily for them almost like a miracle a few meters from them they saw fire lit from what seemed like grass thatched house. Hoping it was just one of the locals they ran to seek shelter there.

As soon as they got there, they knocked on the door loudly. They had hardly finished knocking when the door was opened by a really short old lady. She quickly let them in and offered them a seat by the fire. She also offered them a piece of bread each with what seemed like traditional tea. Slowly Kiyohime slipped in her tea and to her surprise the tea was unexpectedly amazing. Soon all the cold was gone, and their clothes were drying up. The rain continued to pour out heavily. After they were all fed up and warm, the old lady asked them where they were coming from and where they were going. Before Kiyohime could answer Sigurd went ahead, "we are brother and sister, and we came here to hunt when we got lost in the forest. We are from Yihan Zhang, our parents must be really worried. "Kiyohime didn't understand why Sigurd had to lie. The lady looked too innocent to hurt even a fly. All the same she went on with it.

"So, what about you? What is your name and what is your story?" Kiyohime asked the old lady.

"Well listen to my children. My name is Jia. Just like you I lived among the villagers. I had two sons, and I was happily married. However, I was a witch which made me different from the rest of the people. I could heal the villagers, predict the future, and catch thieves and robbers and so many other things. The news of my powers spread all around China until eventually the emperor heard of them. So, he sent his soldiers to come take me to him so I could be his servant. He wanted me to use my power to help conquer his neighbors. And that involved hurting innocent locals like children and women. As I couldn't bring myself to hurt innocent people I refused. Trying to get me to do his dirty work my family were all killed. I was also cast out, burned from living among the people and left here to live all by myself. And this is where I have been since then." The old lady explained. Kiyohime started feeling dizzy.

"What was in the tea?" she asked, realizing that the old woman was not as innocent as she seemed she now understood why Sigurd refused to disclose their true identity to him. She looked for Sigurd who was trying to stand up, but the tea had made him weak, and he was now holding on to the wooded post that was holding the thatched roof of the house looking like he would pass out any moment. She tried to stand up to help him, but she was also too weak, and her vision was becoming blurry.

"I am sorry it has to be this way, but I have to get my freedom and my people back." the old lady said. Those were the last words they heard before they both passed out cold in the old woman's floor.