Chapter 41
GAIUS HELEN MOHAIM
The Order of the Bene Gesserit was amongst the two institutions that could trace back their existence to the Butlerian Jihad. As a Revered Mother, she was the custodian of all that knowledge and information. The whole order looked to her for guidance, so it was up to her to save the order from the existential threat they faced.
Initially when their plan to eradicate the Atredies line had gone haywire, she had thought it to be the work of Jessica or her brood. But as things progressed, she began to suspect the involvement of a third party, and then later on, they became aware of the Emperor's long-lost son, Inzal.
An Abomination in more ways than one, the boy was a sign of defiance and indulgence, a mistake that she would never have her order repeat. But she had to give it the boy, he had truly outsmarted everyone in the Galaxy, bringing the whole galaxy to heel.
And she was more than aware of his thoughts about her specific order and knew that there was no chance of reconciliation here. If it was Paul then perhaps they could use and depend on Jessica's influence on her son, to make the child more receptive to their order's directions.
Irulan was one person they could have used, but her usability was hampered by the betrayal she faced. The naive girl had never really understood the big picture and had allied herself against them and joined her brother, a brother who detested their order.
But no, Inzal Kazab Corrino bore them no reverence. He would slaughter them all, and if he were to settle down on the throne, he would destroy thousands and thousands of years of work and tradition.
And then, using herself and her position as the Emperor's truth sayer, she had made a gamble, one last gamble to completely change the game. It was a long shot, one that was more a prayer than a proper move.
And yet, it had worked. And now, they had a chance at survival. Even though such a chance had come at the steep cost of her own life.
"So, you are his little lover," she began as she saw the girl sitting opposite to her. She had heard of her, a Fremen warrior who was revered by all, her position second only to Inzal.
Shishakli had been her name, and now that very girl sat opposite to her. Her brown face and dark curls gave her an exotic look, and her eyes, as she looked at her, seemed dead as if looking at a corpse.
"I knew you would come for me," she began, and the girl began.
"Does Inzal know you are here?" she asked, and yet the girl remained quiet.
"It doesn't matter whether he is here or not. You have done enough damage. It is time for you to go," she replied, and Gaius Helen Mohaim nodded.
"Do you think you and your people could face the wrath of the Lisan-Al-Gaib after you kill me? He will seek answers, the Lisan-Al-Gaib we made, I made," she began warning her of the consequences of her actions.
And for some reason, the girl's lips turned up at her words.
"You have no idea about what you have done?" the girl asked her with a chuckle, and she did not know, but she was surprised.
"You have no idea what you have unleashed upon this world, especially your order," she began, and her words sent a chill down her spine, yet she did not show it.
"Inzal maybe cruel, but he is reasonable. Despite what it may seem he has a heart of gold. You may think that because of the grudge between you and him, he would have destroyed the order, but you couldn't be more wrong. You think that this Kwisatz Haderach is your salvation," and the girl began to chuckle at that as each of her laughs made her heartbeat frantically.
"But you couldn't be more wrong. The beast that you have summoned is unlike anything you have ever seen. And he bears a grudge against your order that goes beyond anything you can comprehend. He wouldn't care if I killed you or even your whole order for that matter," the girl named Shishakli began warning her, and her brows arched as she reached down and spoke up again.
"Tell me everything," she commanded using the Voice, and the girl perked up at that. Yet her eyes remained sharp and glinted in the light as she wet her lips.
"That doesn't work on me," the girl answered, showing her resistance to the Voice.
And then suddenly, she felt it. The whole world shifted. She did not know what, but something had changed, and she felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw the raven-haired girl's eyes glisten.
"It's begun," she said, standing up from her seat and reaching for a dagger from her belt. Gaius Helen Mohaim looked at it impassively, her heart racing as she looked the girl in the eyes.
"Tell me what you meant. What has begun?" she asked again, and the girl raised a brow.
"After all, what would it matter? I am a dying woman," she said softly as the girl walked towards her, and in an instant, the girl vanished from her sight only to appear right behind her. As she felt pain in her chest and looked down and found a dagger lodged in her heart, and as her vision darkened she heard a whisper.
"Why tell a dying man the future?"
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Ever since Inzal had awakened his powers, he had been watching all of the galaxy or at least monitoring it in some capacity. Hence, his senses had been put into overdrive, allowing him to see beyond the boundaries of their planet and far into the galaxy as he plotted and planned.
And then recently he was forced to set up the shield around Arrakis, and it was a constant effort to keep it up, to protect the planet from the enemies waiting for them outside.
And so, in years, the least expensive his sight had ever gotten was observing the whole of Arrakis, and usually, he saw much more than that.
And yet now all that burden was gone, the burden of being the all-seer lifted off of his shoulders as he focused his prowess into the clearing ahead of him, and he had never felt so exhilarating.
He could feel it, see it, all of it. From the simplest movement of a particle of sand to the sound of heartbeats and blood pumping, he could see everything.
As he saw Paul's eyes widen, he smiled, knowing that Leto could feel his gaze. Feel his all-seeing presence, which had taken over the entire clearing.
"I am coming," and with that, he blurred as he appeared right infront of Paul and swung his blade at his neck, and yet Paul was not going to make it easy. He parried his strike, making it go right past his face while he tried to push the other blade into his chest, an effort which Inzal thwarted easily as he pushed his blade to the side, his eyes not from Paul's face as he kicked his leg making the boy wince in pain.
And again, he tried to end it, yet Paul avoided the attack and retaliated with a kick of his own, pushing Inzal back.
He watched as Paul got back to his feet.
"Those powers of yours. They truly are interesting," he remarked, and Inzal smirked.
"A Kwisatz Haderach can look through time and space, which divides one's focus. Even if you are a Mentat or trained in the ways of the sisterhood, there is truly a limit to what one can process. And yet mine own let me see through only space, making me half a true Haderach," he added as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
"And yet you have mastered them to a level unimaginable for normal mortals," he commented, and Inzal raised a brow.
"But you aren't really a normal mortal now, are you," and with that, he appeared infront of him as their blades clashed against one another, sending sparks flying, and he saw Paul's own eyes glistening, and many a time it was only through the sheer perfection of his powers he was able to parry Paul's strikes, which shifted and changed midst a swing as if reacting to his movements even before he made them.
Right now, Inzal's full power was focused on the boy infront of him. His all-seeing ability compressed into this small body, processing every muscle twitch, every heartbeat, every breath as he parried each of his strikes.
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
Their blades were a blur, each strike threatening to end the battle as they exhausted each other of their stamina, as Inzal felt a prick on his cheek as a blade cut his skin, and so he grit his teeth as he tried to retaliate, raising his focus as he felt his blade slash across Paul's arm, and then so forth, they cut each other, growing more and more wild with every passing second, when suddenly he felt it.
Paul could overwhelm him. He was losing; it was a minute difference, and yet, in that moment, he knew that if he persisted in this, he would fail. So, taking a gamble, Inzal parried a strike hard and pushed himself back, creating distance between them.
"So you felt it too," Paul spoke as he rubbed off the blood from one of the cuts on his cheeks.
"You abandoned space," Inzal reasoned out, and he nodded.
"I followed your example. I could never hope to defeat you when it came to seeing through space. So, I gave that up, and though I cannot see far into the future as a virtue of you being a Haderach, I need a few seconds," he said as he raised his hands once more.
"And I can see it now. Your defeat," he finished, and Inzal's heart raced as he felt it, the fear of defeat in his bones, and yet more than that his heart brimmed with excitement. He had not been pushed like this since he first entered the city of Arrakis to free Jamis and the others.
He wet his lips and tasted the mixture of blood and sweat dripping down his face as he smiled.
"Oh, you truly are a monster, Leto," he began as he stood up and saw Paul raise a brow.
"So, give up, and I shall make your end as painless as possible," he offered, and Inzal smirked.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," and then he clapped, and Paul must have felt it too as he looked up at the sky at the robots that had gathered there as shields began to descend down, and form an octagon around them.
"When it comes to hand to hand combat we are both equal. But everyone knows where my true strength lies," Inzal began as walls surrounded. In the two weeks, it had taken him some tweaks to modify the shields used and calibrate them to form this structure.
And now, as he clicked a switch on his belt he felt the pull of the planet weaken on him as he jumped rather easily.
"Its time to end this," and so using all his strength he jumped forward and blurred past Paul Atreides, who barely ducked in time to avoid his strike, and yet Inzal raced past him as his feet landed on the shield wall opposite to him, as he used it as a platform to jump back at Paul, and as Paul tried to defend himself, he threw a pocket knife at him distracting him and so forth.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Inzal jumped back and forth, using the shields to increase his speed as he blurred past Paul faster than his senses could process his presence.
And as he cut his tendons, his ligaments, he saw him lose an arm, and then a leg, and then his other leg, and so forth until he could use nothing but one arm as blood dripped from his whole body.
Inzal then landed infront of him, his own body a mess as he stared Paul in the eye as he raised his blade.
"I win," and swung it only for it to be blocked by something else.
CLANK!
"What do you think you are doing, Chani," he questioned as he saw her standing infront of him.
She pushed him back as she turned towards Paul and raised the dagger once more.
"What I should have done in the first place," and he watched as she swung it, and yet it was not aimed at Paul.
No. It was aimed at her own neck.
"NOOOOOO!" Inzal screamed as he saw it race towards her neck, and then all he could do was watch as a shower of blood covered the whole area.
0000
Read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Help me write this and other such stories, by becoming a Patr 0n. It would be pretty awesome of you and would mean a lot to me.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
PS: Just read about the death of Maggie Smith! RIP! You will be missed Professor McGonagall!
"Piertotum Locomotor!"