Daughters Of Hera

Chapter 42-Hadimba

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The woman talked or tried to exactly, before with a passing wind Rhenos appeared. "You do not belong here, Ganymade!" snapped she.

"I go by Hadimba of the unshriven now, your eminent one. I came here because—" said Hadimba of the unshriven.

"I do not care what you came for," interjected Rhenos. "All I want is for you to leave. You do not belong here. You've been forbidden to step foot in this settlement,"

Joanne had to be the intermediary, she needed to know more, if Sylva was in danger, she had to know all the details. "Don't chase her out, your eminent one. She brought news about Sylva is in danger. We have to send some troupes out and save her,"

"To be clear, I'll repeat. I do not care!" thundered Rhenos angrily. "She's forbidden to step her foot here. And to be precise Sylva's life is the least or my concern, it is of no priority to me. You fail to understand that the only reason I allowed you, Joanne, to stay here in the first place was because of a favour I owed Sylva. Now that the favour has been repaid . . ."

Joanne blurted out furiously, "You're as wicked as they come, aren't you. I always thought so," she blasted, before turning to Hadimba. "I shall go with you. But first you'll have to tell me what happened to her,"

Rhenos scoffed loudly, a look of disappointment resonated her face. "Then you leave me no choice, Joanne of the legacy of Hebe. If you cross the boundaries of this settlement you'll be banned from ever entering again. You'll be unprotected in the hands of the evil Regent without my clan, but since you wish to die, who am I to stop you?"

"At last! There is no other choice is there? Sylva wouldn't dare hesitate in rescuing me. I must do the same for her now." said Joanne, with determination in her voice.

Rhenos tried to discourage her as best as she could, "So you would go with a stranger you do not know, who brought information that may or may not be accurate?" asked she.

"She is as much of a stranger as you are," said Joanne. "Plus you seem to loathe her enough, which gives me the understanding that she'll be a better person to trust. Because you hate anything that goes against you, your eminent one." she concluded, with a sarcastic tone and jestful bow.

"Foolish child!" hissed Rhenos, before disappearing on her hooves.

Joanne pondered for a while, trying to let go of her feelings of dread and worry, 'I will never be embarrassed of you', she remembered Sylva saying those words before. Now she felt a burden of worry for letting her leave without saying her goodbyes. "Where do we go from here?" she asked the stranger.

But it seemed the woman had changed mentally again, to that of a gruffness easily pissed off attitude. "How would I know?" scoffed Hadimba, with a shrug and frown. "Do I look like a tracking do of some kind?" said she, before switching again, to that of a timid and shy attitude, the madness in her eyes roamed still, "Too dangerous—too dangerous! Don't go, it's too dangerous!" she spilled cowardly.

Joanne felt a sudden burst of anger, "Tell me immediately or I'll rip your skull out with my bare hands!" she blurted.

Then Hadimba of the unshriven again regained her composure. "Those nasty beasts of Cimmeria took her. It's a long journey, for danger awaits us." said she calmly.

Joanne only shrugged, "I'm going to need more wine." she said.

That she took, or borrowed, or stole, all according to anyone's opinion, she took a some bottles of wine packed, and a small lump of luggage and soon they were walking out of the settlement in silence.

As Joanne tried to organize her thoughts better, what scenarios could lay ahead? She pondered, why was the night so cold? She thought, why didn't she pack more than a dozen bottles of wine? She mused, what exactly is Cemmeria, she asked loudly this time, to Hadimba. But Hadimba only grunted, her attitude had changed once more and now she looked grumpy and easily annoyed, reminding Joanne of the Count Lamott Benex, or rather Regent Lamott Benex now.

So they were trotting in the night, out of the groves and voices of the talking trees, who greeted with a deep "Hullo" as Joanne passed, out of the wonders of the enchanted forest, through the magic portal, they had gone from somewhere to here, the place of reality, deviant of magic. Through the plains of Writ'bloc, where the quarry masks it hard for flowers to bloom, through the muddy grounds of the villages of Vermasy, for it seemed it had rained day before, at a junction before the river Strynnx, as dawn was approaching, Joanne asked again. "What are the Cimmerians? And why did they forcefully nab Sylva?" said she, traveling with her present companion was more lonely than being alone.

"She didn't really teach you much, did she?" replied Hadimba of the unshriven. "Sylva said you were special. But I honestly don't see it. You're as ignorant as they come,"

"You still haven't answered me." said Joanne.

Hadimba scoffed, "And she also told me were a spoilt royal brat—"

"—I would like to speak to any of you, that isn't a complete asshole please."

"It doesn't work that way. You don't get to choose, even we don't get to choose who speaks or not either. It just happens . . . Like rain."

"Okay, let's pretend I understood all those nonsense that came out of your mouth." said Joanne sarcastically. "Now why don't you explain what a Cimmerian is, slowly. This time let it be more kindly and warm, and less grumpy and insane. I would've given you wine for your trouble, but I'm saving it for a bigger event, you'll see."

Hadimba rolled her eyes, "The Cimmerians are heathens that feed on mortal flesh. They saw Sylva and thought, oh! Here's a mortal, let's use her for lunch. It's as simple as that," said Hadimba, amusedly.

"If that's the case, why don't they just eat her whole, instead of nabbing her?"  asked Joanne.

"I think they're shy people, they don't just eat anywhere. They take their food to a dark and misty place called Cimmerian. Where they'll sacrifice a little of their victims to the evil forces then, then chew away after. Which seems rather impractical if you ask me,"  replied Hadimba, with an indignation.

"How did you meet, Sylva? How long have you both know each other?"

"Since forever should be a suitable answer. I've been Sylva before she became converted to the light by your sleazy parents. Like her past path of destruction can just be easily forgotten by some mere goodwill. . ."

"What path of destruction do you talk about, you crazy fellow? Sylva would never hurt a fly, well, only if the said fly attacked her first, then the fly would really be in trouble," said Joanne. "Have you seen Sylva fight? She's like a beast—"

Hadimba burst into a jolt of sardonical laughter. "You really think that she's harmless? Then you do not know her as well as you think do. But I cannot speak on this topic anymore, Sylva would kill me of I yap about too much about things that she doesn't want her precious one to know of."

"Am I her precious one?" Joanne asked, with a curious tone, although she knew the answer to answer.

"You wouldn't believe the sacrifices she has made for you, just to keep your spoilt arse safe," said Hadimba of the unshriven.

Joanne's heart melted, it came to her with a wave, how she truly wanted yo save Sylva now. "I want to know about her past, I'll give you a bottle of wine for every information you give me,"

"Ha!" laughed Hadimba. "That won't work on me."

"Good." Joanne replied. "I didn't want to give you one anyway,"

"It'll do you good to shut up. We're approaching cursed lands now." hushed Hadimba.

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New chapter tomorrow!