" This is his will, Jamis said. A sharp pain went through his chest when he said those words. He looked at the floating body in the blue water. " I trust you, old friend. "
Back In Arrakeen, The ornithopters had just landed. From surveying the borders and checking in, the spice crawlers,
Flashback---------------
The ornithopters landed on the ground, and nearby, a spice crawler was spitting out sand as Damon and the Duke walked out. Paul also came out, but the lady, Jessica, stayed behind.
Paul and Damon walked side by side, speaking to one another, while Gurney Halleck stood by the Duke; he wanted to bring the issue of Damon being raised as Fremen to his Duke, but he refrained. He knew when to speak and when not to.
Nonetheless, his frustration was seen by the duke; he thinks I completely trust him. Duke Leto thought. He came beside his lieutenant. " I know your worries, Gurney, and they have merit. Remember, I am Atreides; I was taught to know better. " Duke Leto said.
Lady Jessica looked outside the ornithopter and saw Paul and Damon speaking; she had dreamed of this on many occasions; this was no prescient dream. It was a casual one, one that did not have meaning.
The Duke spoke with the Spice Crawler operators on the radio. He wanted to ask about a missing crawler that was not responding to his call.
Walking behind the crawler and analyzing it, Damon felt a shift in the air. As a Fremen, you learn to feel the difference of moisture in the air, but this was a big shift, but one he felt nonetheless.
The sand beneath his feet begun to have movement, signs of a worm, he thought. Then the movements became harsher, Paul lost his balance, and he fell to the ground., inhaling small amounts of spice being extracted.
He looked forward and saw a Fremen woman coming to him, calling his name. This was the same girl he dreamed of. He did not know her name, but she had an elfin face, and her eyes, blue within blue,
before he could delve any deeper, a hand smacked him on his shoulder, bringing him out of the stupor,
Damon grabbed Paul and hauled them onto the Ornithopter. His father was saying something to Paul, but everything was blurred; his hearing was incoherent. Duke Leto took off on an ornithopter, and so did Damon's group, which was with Lady Jessica.
As the Ornitopets rose in the air, the spice crawler, now abandoned, remained down below. From under it came an opening mound; a Gigantic sand worm came from under the crawlers and ate it whole.
" I heard that they had Sandworms, but I did not think they were this big." said the duke over the radio. " Welcome to Arrakis, my Duke; as for the SHAI- HULUD. that is an old one, but not the oldest; you should know they get bigger; they never stop growing; deep in the south, there are bigger ones that can swallow mountains in one gulp," Damon said, trying to lighten the mood but it would seem he made it worse.
Lady Jessica sat on the Passenger's side and heard Damon say SHAI-HULUD. " Her Bene Gesserit training told her the meaning of it: the old man of the desert.
From the corner of her eyes, she looked at Damon, who looked down to the floor of the Ornithopter. It seemed as if he was meditating. As Lady Jessica Analyzed him, she could see signs of a Bene Gesserit all over him.
She wanted to ask, but she felt that she would be intruding where she was not welcome; leaving it alone, Lady Jessica once again looked outside and saw her Duke flying the ornithopter in front of them. She remembered the first day in Arrakeen and saw the influence of Harkonnen. They were cruel.
Damon, kneeling behind his mother, closed his eyes and saw what would happen tonight." You must walk through me if you wish to become the one who sees all," a whispering voice came to him. Time had passed, and he did not know.
When he opened his eyes again, the Birds had landed again in the yard. The duke was unhappy; he had lost a lot of spice and needed to start giving results to the other great houses immediately. The only reason why the Atreides were considered one of the great houses is because of air wealth.
He looked towards Damon for an answer, and his son walked towards him, saying, "Do not worry. My Duke, I have all the spice you need. Come tomorrow, you will have it." Damon said. He truly wished there would be a tomorrow, one more day to spend with his family.
The Harkonnes attack was tonight, and his prescient vision had shown him fragments of what was to happen if he stopped it.
The padishah emperor needed to believe the Red Fremen were dead; at least their Leader was dead. This was the purpose of Damons coming to Arrakeen to die, but in death, he would become like his sister Alia; he would see everything.
This would, in turn, make the emperor confident enough to bring his Sarduakar here with him to Arrakis. Setting the perfect trap, while the Universe relied On Spice melange for fuel, Damon had created something else to rival it long ago.
The ornithopters he rode did not rely on spice but on an Arc reactor, clean energy. This was his offer and a way to control the Landsraad, but it would be a long time coming, meaning a war like none other was coming. A war for spice, a war for fuel.
"It must be done; it is the only way. I have seen all the roads to salvation; my way is the only way." The voice came in the same voice, like a whisper in the wind. It was very convincing, like water to a person who had been in the heat all day. Hearing those words cooled him, reassuring him.
Duke Leto, feeling more reassured after those words, walked inside the palace. As they entered, dinner was already prepared, and a Fremen housekeeper, Mapes, looked at Damon and greeted him in chakobsa,
He also greeted her, " I greet the bloodworm, " Mapes said. "I greet the woman Mapes. " Damon said, which brought a smile to Mapes. Lady Jessica saw their interaction and asked. " Do you know Mapes?" Damon smiled at his mother.
" She was to bring a gift to you. My mother here in Arrakis gave me something to protect myself, but the gift was for a woman to use, and I am not a woman."
Then Jessica remembered her Interaction with housekeeper Mapes; she used Bene Gesserit training to analyze everything from the first day on Arrakis. " You sent Mapes to test me, no?" Lady Jessica asked.
She rubbed her belly, feeling the small bump on her stomach, which was Alia; it could not be physically seen yet; it was only a few weeks old. Then she remembered the Cyrsknife she was given, the one she called 'Maker.'
She realized the blade had a rich history and was more than just a blade. It had worth in Fremen Society.
" Mapes was to deliver a gift to the mother. How she delivered it was none of my business." Damon said. He walked away with Mapes in front of him to show him to his room.