Chereads / SON OF DUNE / Chapter 14 - The Hidden City.

Chapter 14 - The Hidden City.

Duncan followed Stilgar and the whole of his sietch. They walked for miles and then entered a mountain, or should we say the seitch, as he looked around he was fascinated by the idea of millions of Fremen in one sietch and then he realized the man wearing a red stillsuit did not enter with him. 

" why did he not come with us? Asked Duncan, as he began to feel nervous. He was a sitting duck in the seitch. There was no escape for him. " You have the crysknife of the man you killed, do you not?" Stilgar asked. 

Duncan felt the Cryknife where his other steel blade used to be, "Yes, I do. " 

"Then that is your answer. The red ones are the best fighters of Arrakis. No one can deny that, as long as they breathe, they are dangerous but exiled. They do not believe as we do. They say they control their fate. Yes, they Have a cry knife, but that does not make them one of us." 

" I see then. " said Duncan, " But do your two sides hate each other?" 

" No." said Stilgar, " when we need help, they send their man, the one they call king. I saw him grow up here. At that time, he was only a boy, but two of the best warriors raised him here. But I must ask what makes you so special that the bloodworm would want to meet you." 

At the mention of the Name Bloodworm, silence hung in the air. The Fremen who were around Stinger and eating their food stopped with their spoons and looked up at the conversation. Bloodworm was a figure of power on Arrakis; Duncan Idaho had just realized how much of a hold this person had. 

" I do not know why this person wants to see me; for all I know, he wants me dead. " Duncan said.

Chuckles escaped from multiple Fremen beside him. " The Red ones are exiled but not barbarians. They are Honorable. If you were only Atreides, you would go under enemy lines, but now you are Fremen. They will not harm you." At once, nods of Approval went in the crowd. 

" You must bring me to your other master when he arrives on Arrakis; deals must be made, no," asked Stilgar, and Duncan nodded as he ate the last of his reserves. 

After the lunch break, Duncan, Idaho, stayed with the Fremen for a week, and they built a Stillsuit that was better than his last. The one he wore did not preserve water as well as the Fremen would have liked, and they were angry with him when they saw his water going to waste. You could hear the pain in their voice. 

When Duncan left the Sietch, he met with Jamis, who sat down on his Hoverbike. He seemed to be daydreaming as he looked up at the sky, but the truth was, he was rewatching the footage of Duncan fighting. 

" You came too close to dying on two occasions. You are too slow for Arrakis. You do not have shields here, Lieutenant." A silence hung in the air; it went on for a while to see who would break, but both were proud men. " But you are a good fighter, and you will Adapt; after all, what can you do on Arrakis if you do not adapt? " said Jamis. 

"Come, we must ride if we want to arrive by tonight. There is water in the back of the Bike; if you feel thirsty or hungry, there is a small pouch on the other side for Protein bars." Duncan nodded like it was the most normal thing. It was as if he was on Caladan but had never seen a Hoverbike. It made no sound, but it was on. And then he thought of the Water. 

" I thought Fremen did not have water; I thought they were desperate for it," Duncan asked. He found this situation odd, never expecting the invitation. He did not know what else was south of Arrakis other than sand storms and harsh winds, and it is well known as a worm country. 

" Yes, Many Fremen want water, but we Are the Exiled. We hold not the same belief. Now, sit on the bike. It is rather easy to control push forwards to go and increase speed. Pull back to decrease, but you must always strap your belts. These things go beyond one hundred miles per hour, and they will kill you if you are stupid and you do not listen. 

At once, Idaho did as he was told and looked at the man before him, " Follow me. " Jamis said 

And they rode at first Light. The morning of Arrakis was beautiful. They traveled the lands, crossing mountains and deserts. The screens on the front of the bikes would show them all the living things in front of them. Despite Arrakis being a desert Planet, it had an ecosystem to it, not as much as Earth, but it was still there. 

There was a storm Ahead, and Duncan wanted to stop, but in front of him, Jamis went ahead and dived into the harsh winds; at once Duncan did the same.

 He pushed forward his bike, which reached a speed of above one hundred miles per hour and climbed higher and higher. For some unknown reason, there was no disturbance. Before long, they crossed the harsh winds, and in front of them stood a desert plain, but they still kept on going. 

As night began to fall on them in the distance, Duncan Heard Jamis speak in his mask, " This is Echo 3-1 asking permission to come in? " and as they neared, they heard a response, " Echo 3-1, welcome home.

Jamis pushed forward, and an illusion gave way to them. Beyond this shield was a mountain that was filled with greenery, with trees and grass growing on the ground. A sense of bewilderment grew on Duncan. How in the hell did they do this? thought Duncan 

Jamis looked back, saw Duncan's reaction, and smiled. The Air in the hidden city was fresh, and this was the reason why no one returned. There were no rules saying you could not return to the old Sietches, but once you came here and saw the life of other Fremen, I doubt you would want to return.