Riding the Worm

[Paul Atreides]

As a child and largely until his time with the Fremen of Arrakis, Paul had not been a hard man. He had been a noble, thought the Dukes of House Atreides were famous for their worldliness, willingness to toil with their people, and realist practices. Still, it had not been until the near destruction of his House and abandonment in the deep desert of Arrakis that he found that inner steel that most men lack. This was tempered and reinforced by the Fremen who adopted them, the harsh and utilitarian way of life they had to adopt. He knew them to be warriors forged by the desert- something matched only by the Padishah Emperor’s own Sardaukar. Those warriors had been trained on the radioactive death world Salusa Secundus and were feared amongst the stars as the finest soldiers ever. The Fremen were harder though and even a child knew more of guerrilla warfare than a Sardaukar Bashar. Still, the sight of Matrix doing what must be done touched Paul in the pit of his gut. But he did nothing.

Gurney and Duncan swept the area, years of training taking over as they checked the dead an put an extra shot into each of them. They had witnessed far too many attempts at assassination to not be this careful. Paul let the body drop as he approached Matrix, stoic as ever. His two retrainers surged past him like hounds, one short and muscular and the other tall and lean, on a hunt for anyone still living.

“This is the way of the desert Matrix. It is a harsh way but you have not done wrong here. We will lay these men out in their tower, their heads atop the battlements, and leave them as a symbol so that others know people like us still exist. That there will be retribution for wicked acts- cruelty meet with cruelty.” He said, knowing it would not reach Matrix in this state.

“The Endless Dunes CAN be reclaimed. They CAN be made green again. Of this I am sure. Maybe not in my lifetime, but they can be made green again- that much I promise.”

These were words he had spoken to Stilgar and the other Fremen back on his lost Arrakis... but he believed them now perhaps more than he did back then. This was just the beginning. He knew the journey would only get tougher down the road.