The Warriors: The Dragon Within by The Warriors (essential reading TXT) 📖

Daniel. “She even ate the turkey!”
“But she left the salad, look.” Blur pointed to the perfectly preserved salad at the bottom.
“Fatty.” mumbled Verity.
“This isn’t funny.” snapped Georgia. “We gotta help her, somehow.”
“How do you propose we do that? There’s a fucking dragon flying around London for fucks sake!” Verity spat back.
“So, what is actually happening here?” asked Holly.
Georgia paused and sat in her armchair. “When Nicki first got injected with dragon DNA, she thought she had Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder, but when she tried to get diagnosed, she came to me. I used my power to look inside her mind so I could diagnose it straight away. What I saw, thought, wasn’t Schizophrenia or Multiple Personality Disorder, it was an entire different entity in her mind; the dragon. Her symptoms were the dragon trying to get out. I used my power to seal it away in her mind, so she could only use the dragon’s form for her own use. It was like, getting the dragon under control. But now, the eating, the way bullets bounce off her with no armour, her temper; I think the dragon’s trying to come out again. Like she’s losing control. Or something.”
“Or something?” gasped Blur.
“I don’t know, I need to find out.”
“But if her temper it how it is...rather, explosive,” asked Daniel. “Then how do we get her to talk to us?”
Georgia thought for a moment. There was a knock at the door and Nicki’s voice came floating through, “Guys? You there? Let me in!”
“I have a plan!”


Blur opened the door and stepped aside to let Nicki in, saying nothing. Nicki went to the lounge.
“Hi guys.” She smiled. “Why you all looking at me like that?”
“Nicki, you know we love and it’s because we love you that we want to help you.” explained Georgia.
“Help what?” Nicki frowned.
“Where did you go, Nicki? When we met the Renegades?”
“What do you mean? I killed the Beatle and came back here.”
“Nicki, we know. We know about your dragon problem.”
“What dragon problem? Guys?” Nicki stepped back towards the door.
“Now Daniel!” shouted Georgia.
Daniel held up his hand and vines shot through the wooden floor, binding Nicki and pushing her against the wall. They tangled around her legs and arms and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t break free!
“Guys? What the fuck is this?”
“I’m going to talk to it, Nicki. We need to see what it wants, so we can help you. Otherwise, you’re a danger to everyone!” explained Georgia.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Get the fuck off me, Daniel!”
“Hush! I just need to take a sneak peek!”
“What? Why? Again? Daniel, I swear if you don’t get off me I’ll burn down your next cube myself!”
Georgia stepped up to Nicki and touched her forehead, looking into the folds of her mind and Nicki’s body suddenly went limp.
Georgia looked past Nicki’s conscious mind, into the depths of her subconscious, where she knew the dragon slumbered.
You again? Sounded a deep voice.
Yes me.
What do you want?
To ask you what are you doing to Nicki?
What, this drugged up, drunken meat suit I’ve been shoved into?
Well, yeah.
How would you like it if you were rammed into someone’s subconscious and trapped so that they could take your form whenever they wished? It gets old. And annoying. I want control back.
But you’re hurting Nicki. And you could kill someone!
You think I care? My entire race was wiped out by people like you! And now I have to live in one! You really think...
“...I care?” yelled Nicki’s voice. Nicki lifted her head to show Georgia deep red eyes. “This taking forms thing goes two ways, you know.”
“Stop it!”
“No, she’s used my body for her own means, now I will use hers!”
Daniel tightened the vines binding her.
“Let her go!” shouted Fury.
The dragon laughed. “I wish I bloody well could! I’m stuck in here! Stuck in this sorry excuse for a human!”
Georgia stepped forwards. “Look! Can’t we just come to a happy compromise?”
“Fuck compromise!”
“Look, why don’t you help us! You’ll get your freedom, but you’re stuck now! You have to work with us!”
“I can’t live like this!”
“You’re gonna have to!”
The dragon became quiet.
“You’ve had your freedom, and now you’re just taking away from another person’s freedom. You’re stuck here.”
“A happy compromise?” the dragon looked up.
“Yeah, like, you get so many hours in control and Nicki gets the rest.” Georgia suggested.
Nicki’s eyes dulled.
“Whether you like it or not, you’ve got a bigger problem. If Lorna takes over, then there will be no Nicki, then there will be no dragon, either.”
I will have my freedom, one way or another!
The dragon grew silent and withdrew into Nicki’s subconscious.
“So, it looks like you’re gonna work with us, for now.” Georgia relaxed. She knew this wasn’t over.


“So, I have a depressed dragon in my mind, who wants his own body. Sweet.” Nicki puffed on her fag.
“Yeah, just try not to get angry.” Georgia relaxed in her arm chair. “Best not to get high again, either. Or to drink. Or do anything that could make it angry.”
“Oh my God! I’m the incredible Hulk!” Nicki winked.
Verity sighed.
“So who are the renegades?” asked Daniel.
Georgia paused. “Erm...”
“They’re just three amateurs with super powers. Nothing to worry about.” explained Verity.
“Are you jealous?” asked Nicki.
Verity shot her a hostile look. “No!”
Nicki laughed to herself, as Daniel stood up. “I’m off to start the building of the Cube Mrk 4. Don’t wait up for me.”
“Well, while you’re all doing sciency stuff with my mind, I’m off to deliver a delivery to someone who is expecting a delivery of one of my pieces.” explained Nicki, standing up and flicking her fag in the general direction of the ash tray.
“And you’re delivering this delivery yourself?” Georgia raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. What of it?”
“Can’t you just send it through the mail?”
“Number 1: I have no idea how to do that. Number 2: it’s huge, so I’m sure that would make the process even more complicated and number 3: I have nothing else to do.” Nicki pulled on a sleeveless leather jacket over her band t-shirt and left the lounge to a door opposite. She disappeared inside while the sound of struggling came from within. She soon emerged, somehow jamming both herself and a canvas wrapped in brown paper the same height in the door.
“Need any help with that?” asked Georgia.
“No,” groaned Nicki, managing to squeeze through the door. “I’m fine!”

Nicki looked behind her, proud of herself with coming up with such an amazing and awesome plan! She clutched the end of a rope in her hand, attached to the other end of which was the canvas, which in turn was attached to a skateboard. Genius!
Nicki chuckled to herself as she made her way down the street to the address on the slip of paper in her pocket. It was now deep into the night and it briefly crossed her mind that the whole plan had backfired because the recipient wouldn’t even be up to receive his delivery and pay her, but Nicki was too taken with her amazing method of transportation!
She was about to cross the road, walking straight past the pedestrian crossing and straight into the street, when the light of the moon suddenly darkened. She looked up briefly, to see only a dark shadow coming down upon her, and before she could take any form of action, she was plunged into unconsciousness...

Part 3: Drunk and Disorderly

After Daniel had watched as Nicki disappeared down the drive, he began to draw up schematics for his Cube Mrk. 4. He signed to himself at the thought of Nicki turning up to a house and demanding money from a guy who was half asleep- when would she learn!
This time, his design would be flawless! No more would the Cube become the target of a Beatle or fire or even Nicki’s sneezing! It would have turrets! Laser rifles...no! Laser cannons! Sentinels!
He suppressed a giggle and carried on with the blue prints, mapping out the grounds in which the Cube would stand and making sure it was well guarded by trees.
It wasn’t until he’d hit a health and safety snag that Daniel felt as though he was being watched. He turned, looking about the shadows. Something moved in the darkness and just as Daniel was going to investigate, something hard hit him on the back of the head and he hit the ground, unconscious...


“So, is there anything we can do about the dragon?” asked Blur, lounging in Nicki’s spot on the sofa. Verity crossed her legs, smoothing out her mini skirt and looked to Georgia, waiting for her answer.
“I don’t think there is. I mean, the dragon isn’t an entity by itself. We can’t just stick it in another body. Nicki has dragon DNA in her blood. It’s not like we can infect someone else and make the dragon move.”
“Why can’t we? I mean, like, give someone else Nicki’s blood?” asked Blur.
“We can’t ask someone else to house a dragon who’d be likely to overtake their mind without me putting up walls like I did with Nicki. Anyway, it’s a huge burden.”
“So, we just have to, like, befriend the dragon...” Verity suggested.
“I s’pose.”
“Something’s not right.” mumbled Holly. She was stood by the window, staring out into the night, her blond hair illuminated by the moon.
Georgia, Blur and Verity all looked to her. “What?”
“Something’s happening. Something’s wrong.” Holly repeated.
“How do you mean?” asked Verity.
“You think something’s happened to Daniel and Nicki.” Georgia stated.
“I...I don’t know.”
“Let’s go look.” Verity stood and strode to the door, followed by Blur and Georgia. Holly stayed by the window, worried.
Outside, Georgia stood sentry by the door, while Verity searched the immediate area and Blur quickly sped around the perimeter. When their search yielded no sign of Daniel, they reconvened at the cabin.
“Where’d he go?” asked Verity.
“I don’t know. He was out here a minute ago.” replied Georgia. “He’s not here, I can’t hear him thinking.”
“I’ve checked everywhere. Nothing.” Blur murmured.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be back. Although, Holly seems incredibly uneasy.” Georgia turned to go back into the cabin. “Holly?” she called.
When there was no reply, the three entered the lounge to find it empty...


Wake up, fool!
Nicki stirred, her head pounding.
Wake up! Can’t you see you’re in deep shit? You have to get out! Urgh! Idiot!
Nicki mumbled and opened her heavy eyes. The memory of a huge shadow coming down upon her briefly flickered across her mind as she stared at her new, sinister surroundings. Her hands were bound tightly with chains that dug into her flesh; every time Nicki struggled, she only yielded in making the chair tilt slightly. The room around her was dark, the only light from the sky light above her and the moon in the sky beyond. Ugly shadows formed in the silver light and from what Nicki could make out, it looked like shelves with stuff stacked on them around the small room. Craning her neck, Nicki spotted the outline of a door behind her, and apart from that and the sky light, there was no way out.
“Oh crap.” She mumbled to herself. She looked at the heavy chains around her feet, gauging whether she could torch them or not.
Well of course you can’t torch them, stupid! You’ll burn your fucking feet off!
Yeah, that