Chapter 22: Missing crawler.
Damon turned around after he finished hugging his family. Jamis met his gaze, and Damon removed the glove from his hand. He approached Jamis and whispered, "Goodbye, old friend, for now; I know you did not want me to go through with this, but you must understand I need to do this.
Lead our people, Jamis. " Damon said. And at once, Jamis and the other Red Fremen that came with him left. They had returned to the Red Sietch.
Damon watched as the Ornithopter flew in the sky and shot towards the south. There was no Satellite over Arrakis; Baron Vladimir had made sure of that. Tonight was the attack. " Now I believe you guys are going somewhere. May I join?" Damon Asked. Turning around with a bright smile on his face.
" Ahh, we can do that Later, Damon; right now, I wish to speak to you. Tell me of your journeys on Arrakis." Duke Leto was elated to see his second son alive and breathing and, by the looks of it, a leader. He was proud.
The Harkonnen spies did not know of the arrival of Damon Atreides, but the news was spreading in Arrakis. Stilgar looked at the family of four as they walked into the palace, and he followed. In front of him, Gurney Halleck, a man who had a peculiar walk to his feet,
Stilgar saw the man walk, and he could tell this man was a warrior, but he was not better than a Fremen; Fremen were warriors of the Desert; they were born in it, bred in it.
The suns of Arrakis were their fathers, and the Moon was their mother. They rode the Great Father of eternity to show their manhood. They even had to kill a man to become a man. This was the Fremen's way. A harsh way to live.
Stillgar and Gurney Halleck reached the dining hall, and the Nobleborns were behind a table littered with papers. " My man, tell me that Fremen are Honorable people," Leto said.
" Honorable, yes, some of us are, but we follow the way of the desert," Stilgar said.
" The emperor has given me Arrakis as my fief, and I wish for my people and your people to become one, a people not separated by borders but by mutual understanding, a people that fight for the same ideals. You will not be hunted as long as House Atreides rules Arrakis.
Name what you want for this to happen, and I will give it if it is in my power to Give," Leto said.
" All we ask is that when you come into our lands, come during the day, and when it turns to night, you go back to your side; the night belongs to us, to Fremen," Stilagar said as he looked at Damon. He was emphasizing that Damon was A Freman, not an outworlder. He was one of their own.
" Unfortunately, I can't do that, but if there is a way, then I would love to come to a peaceful resolution," Leto said while Dr. Kynes stood beside the wall, leaning against it as he watched the whole ordeal.
The man was a good actor, making him hard to judge. No one truly knew of his secret except me.
" You are an Honorable man," Stilgarr said. And he spat on the ground before the Duke. He offered him his water. As Stilgar left, the Duke felt a heavier burden come upon his shoulders.
" No need to feel burdened. You will have your fill of Spice come tomorrow; I have millions of silos in my home, I promise." Damon said.
This attracted the attention of everyone in the room, especially Kynes. His eyes studied 'Bloodworm,' and he felt a deep turmoil inside. " If he shows them that amount of spice, it would bring unwanted attention to Arrakis, and possibly the emperor would make another house own half of Arrakis. Kynes thought.
The emperor is a jealous man; there is nothing he is not willing to do to gain more power, to have a firmer Grip on the Guild and the Landsraad. There is a saying: Spice is power over all. That was true; House Harkonnen had amassed a tremendous amount of wealth since they were given Arrakis eighty years ago, and it is with that wealth they managed to buy the equipment they would use in the coming war.
As one looked at Damon, there was a faint smile on his face. However, deep down, he felt heartbroken. This moment was the ultimate turning point, and whatever he decided tonight would determine the galaxy's fate.
" I have heard of your achievements in battle, m'lord," Gurney Halleck said, trying to converse. ' M'lord,' that word again, Damon thought. He did not like it. We are all Humans. There is no need for this idea of superiority; it must end, Damon thought.
"Ah, I do have many achievements, but I think the one you're referring to, Gurney Halleck, is my battle with the man they call Rabban," Damon said.
This surprised Gurney Halleck; he did not expect the young master to be so observant. Damon appeared even more observant than him since he had not revealed his name earlier and did not carry a badge with his name on it.
"It is a long story. What say I tell it on the way to the Ornithopter, and as we search for whatever it is, you are going to look for?" Damon said, and Gurney Halleck nodded while he looked once more to his Duke for confirmation.
The Duke gave a simple nod to his request.
Gurney Halleck did not Trust Damon. Yes, he was the Duke's son, but he would be foolish not to know that Fremen raised Damon, and he is Fremen In name and mind. He was an assassin, and his duty required him to question even the information he knew to be a fact.
The Group followed the Duke as he walked to the Yard and onto his ornithopter, which took him and Paul while Gurney was behind the seats, kneeling, ready to pounce if they were attacked.
In another Ornithopter, Lady Jessica was the passenger, Duncan was the operator, and Damon stood behind him with his mask on. He was searching the last known locations of the spice crawlers. His mask showed patterns in the sand that definitely belonged to a crawler.
"What is a sacrifice if not riddled with pain."
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