Survive the Dunes (A 'Dune' story)

chapter 3: Dark cloud of Sheyid.

My name is Zira Ashdu.

I was sat in my bedroom in the West wing of house Ashdu, thinking about what had happened to Ahmend.

Poor guy.

He was too innocent to die.

I needed to clear my head of death and sorrow.

The fight training quarters.

Expanded area to fight and duel with your "enemies", if you will.

As I retrieved Galahda, my favourite fighting sword, my senses perked up as I sensed someone else's presence.

I froze.

The low sounds of footsteps made me shiver.

I couldn't stay calm any longer.

I grabbed a small dagger, whipped around, and launched the dagger towards the back wall.

As the dagger lodged into the wall, I saw that I had landed right next to Hurden's head.

He reached a hand to the side of his head, and swiftly pulled the dagger out of the wall.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice throw." Hurden complimented.

Hurden was the chief soldier in the Ashdu army.

He was a muscular man, with long, black, flowing hair and a very good sense of humor.

"You up for a duel?" He smirked.

"Maybe. What's wrong, Hurden? Are you afraid that I'll beat your ass like I did last time?"

He chuckled.

I held Galahda in my left hand and attached a cuff to my right wrist.

I clicked a switch on the cuff with my other hand and a shimmering force-field appeared around me, then faded into invisibility.

These shields were used for dueling as it warns your opponent when they're too close to killing you by showing a red light around the area where your opponent's blade is.

"Show me what you got, old man." I smirked at Hurden as he activated his force-field.

Suddenly, Hurden lunges forward. Our blades clash for a second.

Hurden goes to strike me and I block his strike with Galahda.

I strike rapidly, our blades making splashes of light as the force-field glitches with the clash of our blades as Hurden's force-field blocks the blow of Galahda.

I lunge slowly as my blade slips into Hurden's shield, the light around that area turning a fiery red.

There is silence before Hurden smacked my blade away with his own.

We started to fence - a sparkle of energy as our shields intersect.

I attempt another slow attack.

Hurden suddenly grabbed my blade with his gloved hand, lunged through my shield and slapped my face with the flat side of his blade.

I jerked back, shocked at Hurden's skill and tactic. Rubbing my cheek, Hurden smirks at me.

"Not afraid to hit a girl, are you?" I questioned.

"Never let a man inside your guard! Let that be a lesson to you." He replied.

I go to turn my force-field off, but I attack fiercely.

However, Hurden is well prepared as his blade makes its way into my shield again.

I fall onto the floor against the table full of swords.

I act fast and blindly grab one of the swords from the table.

Two weapons now in my grasp.

I leap up from the ground, my sword, Galahda, a flickering flame.

Hurden's smirk faded as I took a deep breath and executed a surprising combat move.

I do a helicopter spin on the ground, tripping Hurden up in the process.

His back hit the ground with a loud thud.

I towered above him on the floor, holding my knife dangerously close to his throat, the fiery red surrounding his neck area.

"I have you, old man." I say breathlessly.

"Ah, but look down, m'lady." He replied in the same breathless tone.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before looking down to see Hurden was holding his blade dangerously close to my hip, the fiery red light of warning glistening in the morning sunlight by my hip area.

I chuckle, and he smiles.

I arise from my position and help Hurden up from the ground, the same red light around our hands where they had clasped.

"So who won that time, Ashdu?" Hurden asked.

"I would call it a draw."

As I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, the nightime moon casting a silver aura on my village, I thought of the ominous boy again.

I squinted my eyes slightly in thought.

I still wanted to know who he was, even if it kills my mind.

"Who are you?" I spoke softly to myself.

As I slowly slipped into a slumber, my thoughts slowly faded away from the boy.

I jolted awake.

Breathing heavily, I looked around my room.

Sunlight was peeking through my curtains, casting a golden aura onto my stone floor.

My eyes paced the area.

I was scared.

Too scared.

"The dark cloud of Sheyid..." I said to myself.