Chapter 21
PAUL ATREIDES
Paul Atreides watched a storm of Fremen flying over the city, which was now basked in absolute darkness. He could hear men screaming and fighting, and he hoped that his last message to the Atreides men had gotten through to them before the city had been plunged into absolute darkness.
"Why have you destroyed the city's electrical grid?" Paul questioned as the Fremen woman led them out of the city.
"Because unlike the Harkonen and the Saradukar, we do not need the light to see," and her cryptic words when they suddenly landed on the ground, and he was surprised as he saw a whole squadron of Fremen standing there, fighting what seemed to be Harkonen men.
She led them towards the back of the group before halting in front of a group of five holding a flag.
"We have the Duke and his family with us. The Duke and Lady Jessica are injured and need medical attention. Take them out to the bunker and have them treated, and begin our own evacuations," she said, and with a nod, a group of Fremen rushed towards Duncan, who had refused to leave his father's side.
And with his nod, he followed the Fremen into what seemed like Desert jeeps as fighting ensued all around them.
"You come with me," and he was surprised by that voice for how familiar it had seemed.
And then he was pushed inside a jeep-like thing as the Fremen soldier entered the seat beside him, and his guess had been right. She was indeed a girl, a very familiar girl, for when she pulled down her mask and showed him her face.
A face that he had seen many times in his dreams.
"Sihaya," he gasped out, words slipping out of his mouth, the name he had used for her in his dreams, and the words felt so familiar to him. She perked up at that, her blue eyes darting towards him with a frown before she turned away once more.
"Go," she ordered, and the driver began to drive off. As they pulled out of the city, beside him, he could see Atreides men and women, along with the other city dwellers, being evacuated.
"I thought all the electronics had stopped working," he asked.
"Not all," she confirmed before she turned to face him.
"And this is not electronic. It's a combustion engine vehicle," and they rode through the sand dunes.
"And what of the Sandworms?" he asked worriedly and saw the girl raise a brow.
"You are quite knowledgeable about the sandworms," she said, and he shrugged, the tension fading away from him as he felt him and his family escape the attack and rush towards safety.
"The sandworms usually say away from the city, and the distance we are to cover with this is not that much. But we still have taken precautions against them," she replied. He watched as she pointed towards the sky, and he watched two ships take to the skies.
And suddenly, they came to a halt infront of what seemed to be a rocky mountain, and she nodded as she jumped out, prompting him to do the same.
"Get out," she said, and as he did, his eyes landed on the other car, the one with his mother and father.
"Mother," he rushed towards her as he saw her awake and conscious, trying to stand up as a Fremen soldier wanted to support her.
"Paul!" she gasped out as he wrapped his arms around her and felt relief run through him.
"Thank god, thank god," she gasped as they separated, and she gently caressed his face.
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CHANI KYNES
Chani watched as one of the two cities of Arrakis was basked in a thick black cloud, as mass evacuation for the city dwellers and the Atreides men was carried out.
Besides, a dozen or so jeeps and other small aircraft continued to evacuate men, women, and children. A slew of soldiers continued to fly through the skies, using the ships as anchors to carry whomever they could.
The ducal heir was hugging his mother, and suddenly, she saw the blonde woman's eyes land on the body of her husband. The duke was heavily injured, yet from what she could make out, he would make it.
"Leto! Leto!" the woman gasped as she tried to rush towards him. However, she was not steady enough and was about to stumble to the ground when Chani held her by the shoulder and stopped her from hitting the ground.
"Calm down," she said as she helped her to her feet.
"The Duke will be fine. He is being taken to our best healers," she told her, looking towards the men who were carrying him away.
"Take him to the healers. Tell them to heal him no matter the cost. Inzal has authorized the use of his own water for him and all the Atreides injured," she informed him and saw the man nod.
"It will be done," and the Duke's concubine, Lady Jessica, seemed to understand the significance behind that, of just what Inzal was sacrificing for House Atreides and its men.
"Take her with you. She is injured as well," she said as another Fremen woman rushed towards and supported the woman, who gave her a nod as she followed behind the Duke's body.
The Ducal heir, on the other hand, was watching the city with a curious gaze.
"What is going on there?" he asked as he pointed towards the city.
"Death," she told him, knowing that he would learn of it sooner or later, and he looked towards her with a frown.
"When the Sun rises tomorrow, that city will be nothing more than a Harkonen and Saradukar grave," she told him, knowing that Inzal.
"How?" he gasped out.
Then she watched as a blue bubble erupted in the sky and began to envelop the sky, and immediately, she felt a wave of elation pass through the Fremen as a loud cheer erupted and spread across the clearing.
"YEAHHHHHH!" "VICTORRRRRY!
"FREEEDOM!" "KAZAAAAAAAAAB!"
"What was that?" the ducal heir asked with a frown. She looked towards him and replied honestly.
"The sign of our victory, she told him. A planet-wide shield that will stop any movement inside and outside from Arrakis without our explicit permission," she told him. She saw him frown as he looked at the shield.
"But I thought it was impossible..." he gasped out, and that was the massive belief.
"...because of the frequent storms."
"Inzal Kazab has a habit of doing the impossible.
And suddenly, she recalled something from earlier and turned to face him.
"Earlier in the jeep," she began as she tapped him on the shoulder.
"...you called me something. What did you say?" she asked, again to confirm whether she had heard right or not.
And the ducal heir turned red and shook his head.
"It was nothing..."
"Really?" she questioned again, and he nodded.
"Yeah, I was just surprised," he said, and though she did not believe him, she let it go as she saw the jeeps coming to a halt.
And then a familiar face landed infront of her, along with a dozen or so other soldiers.
"Shishakli," she rushed towards her old friend and hugged her. Their dream from their childhood was so near.
"Chani," she greeted her, wrapping her arms around her and burying her head in the crook of her neck.
"We did it. We did it," she celebrated, and Shishakli nodded as she glanced back at the city.
"Yes, we did," yet she did not miss the worry on her face.
"The evacuations are complete, Commander Shishakli. What are our next orders," Jamis, another ex-member of Sietch Tabr, questioned.
Her friend separated from her, the worry gone from her face as she looked at the gathered soldiers.
"We provide the city dwellers and the Atreides shelter for today. Provisions have already been prepared, and we will use the water we extracted from the city earlier and establish a perimeter around the city," she said.
"All those who try to flee, kill them," she ordered.
"Yes, commander," and with that, they left, leaving her alone with her friend again, whose neutral expression broke once again as she looked at the smoke-covered city with worry once again.
"You are worried about him," she asked and nodded.
"I begged him to let me accompany him on this, yet he did not let me. He is surrounded by the best of our men, yet still, anything can happen," Shishakli said worriedly.
"The 'Ajniha' will die before they let anything happen to him," she assured her, knowing just how vigorously the elite of Inzal's men followed him. They would all kill themselves at his word; that was the level of their devotion and loyalty.
She knew that to be true for her friend as well.
"You must believe in him," she said.
"I do, yet that does not mean I cannot worry about him," Shishakli added.
"I know," and with that, they stood there as hours passed, away from the city.
Hours passed, and the sky turned dark. Then, the darkness broke as the Sun erupted from the East, breaking the cloud of darkness. As soon as her friend saw that, she could wait no longer as she pulled up her mask.
"I am going in."
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