The Warriors: The Dragon Within, The Warriors [best detective novels of all time .txt] 📗

don’t hear anything.” Verity held her quiver and her bow at her side.
“Look at this.” Blur was making her way to an old platform and dropped down onto the tracks.
Verity listened, standing on the platform and looking down at Blur. She could hear a small whimpering, barely a sound at all, coming from where Blur was crouched.
“What’s that noise?” Verity hopped down from the platform, gracefully.
“Hello?” Blur spoke to the darkness. “What are these?”
Between the iron track was a concrete square hole. Looking down the tunnel, Verity saw matching ones at intervals.
“Down there. The noise is coming from down there.” Verity pointed.
“I’m going down.” Blur turned to Verity briefly and then disappeared into the square hole.
Verity went to the edge and loaded her bow, covering for Blur in case of danger.
“Holly? Oh my God, Holly!” she heard Blur gasp below. Verity dropped down and landed in a plain room. Blur was knelt next to Holly, who was bound to a chair in chains.
“The others...” Holly mumbled. “They’re here...down the hall...”
Verity noticed cuts on her bare arms, neck and face. Jesus!
Blur had finished getting the chains off her and stood. “Holly, you stay here, wait for us.” She went to the door and peered out. “The coast is clear.”
Verity followed Blur out into a concrete hallway; congealed blood was spattered on the walls and there was the smell of rotting flesh in the air.
“Ew!” Verity mumbled, aiming her bow in front of Blur, warily.
Metal doorways ran the length of the hallway; Blur checked each on as they went.
“Found Daniel!” she gasped, kicking the door open.
“Guys!” he cried. “Oh, thank god!”
Verity stood by the door, covering as Blur got Daniel free.
“I think Nicki’s around here somewhere.” He said as he stood.
“Who’s behind this?” asked Verity, moving out into the hallway again.
“He calls himself The Assassin.” replied Daniel.
Blur went ahead, checking all the doors. “Found Nicki!” she called from a way down the hallway. Verity and Daniel hurried in her direction as Blur kicked the door open.
Verity stayed out in the hallway with Daniel as Blur and Nicki both fumbled around in the chains. As the two untangled themselves, Verity saw something shift in the corner of her eye. There was the sound of a door opening behind her. Verity pushed Daniel into Nicki’s cell and the four of them froze.
The only sound was footsteps echoing outside the door. There was a jangle of chains and Blur hissed, “Sshh!”
The footsteps grew louder and a shadow passed over the floor. The footsteps stopped and Verity suddenly realised the door was ajar!
She pulled on her bow, strengthening the shot and getting ready to fire. To her surprise, the footsteps retreated and whoever it was went in the opposite direction!
Nicki wiggled out of the chains once the footsteps had disappeared and Verity went to the door and peered round, just in time to see a dark shape go into a room somewhere down the hall.
“Shit, I think that’s where Holly is!” she murmured. “Me and Daniel will go to find Holly, Nicki and Blur, find Georgia!”
Nicki and Blur sped down the hall, kicking doors off the hinges and Verity followed Daniel to the room where Holly was waiting. Verity moved in first and gasped when she saw a figure cloaked in black from head to foot, using Holly as a human shield, pointing a gun at her temple.
“Put down the bow and arrow and Electriss lives.” The Assassin whispered.
“Fuck you!” Verity spat.


Guys! I’m in here!
“She’s in there!” Nicki repeated Georgia’s thought as her and Blur raced down the hallway searching for Georgia.
Blur stood outside the door Nicki was pointing too and pointed one of her pistols at the lock. The lock exploded into tiny shards as Blur shot the lock and the door swung open. Georgia was standing at the door, the chains lying in a heap around the chair.
“How’d you...?” asked Blur.
“Telekinesis, remember. And my psychic senses are telling me Holly is in danger!” Georgia leapt from the cell, followed by Nicki and Blur. They were racing down the hallway when three dark figures leapt out from a nearby cell, blocking their path.
“Oh, shit!” yelled Georgia. “Not you again!”
Colver turned and smiled a toothy grin. “Hi!”
“Who are these guys?” asked Blur, raising an eyebrow.
“Amateurs! Now, get out of our way!” Nicki shouted.
“Never! This is our line of work! To mess with our work, you’ll have to go through us!” Colver spat.
“Us!” repeated Webster.
JKL stood silent and stationary.
“Get out of our way or I swear I’ll rip your heads off!” growled Nicki, angrily.
“Oh, still convinced you’re a dragon? Well then, let’s do this!” Colver screamed, and then took a combat rifle from her back and disappeared entirely!
Webster paused for an instant and then threw his arms forwards at Georgia, his arms literally stretching and wrapping themselves around Georgia. JKL stood absolutely still, raising his huge-ass machine gun at Blur, who darted to the left, the shot missing.
A salvo of bullets cascaded towards Nicki from nowhere and Georgia managed to get one hand free to stop them in mid air, an invisible shield surrounding Nicki.
When Webster’s arms tightened, Georgia yelled in pain and Blur was racing around JKL, creating a whirlwind of black around him. With one movement of his hand to the right, the black blur around him disappeared and Blur appeared in his hand, which was clamped around her neck.
Nicki stood alone in the middle.
“And then there was one!” laughed Colver, appearing behind her. “And you said we were the amateurs! Now, let’s get this over with se we can get on with our lives!” Colver raised the combat rifle.
“Lives!” shouted Webster, squeezing Georgia a little more.
Just as Colver’s finger was on the trigger, Nicki turned, her body growing and a demonic growl escaping her lips! The dragon filled the hallway completely, the serrated edges from it’s wings and it’s claws creating deep grooves in the concrete.
Colver paused, her mouth falling open. “Holy shit.” She gasped, turning invisible.
“Retreat!” she cried, her voice echoing around the hallway.
JKL dropped Blur and followed her voice, his footsteps loud and intimidating from his armour. Webster uncurled his arms and skipped after JKL, the two of them disappearing through a door.
Nicki shrank back to her human form, once they were gone and hurried in the direction of Holly’s room.
Georgia and Blur raced after her, however, once at the door, the three of them were mowed down by Verity and Daniel, who leapt from the room, the door closing behind them. There was the sound of electricity and blue light shone from the gap around the door.
“Ow!” mumbled Nicki, pushing Verity off her.
“What was that for?” Blur stood up, pulling Georgia up with her.
The door slowly swing open to reveal Holly stood in the room in a pile of ash. “Fry up, anyone?”
The five of them paused. “Dude, bad line!” Nicki giggled.


Back at Daniel’s cabin...

“So, my dragon thing, you told him he’d have nights?”
“I did indeed, which means you’d better be off.” replied Georgia, snuggled in her arm chair, cradling a cup of coffee.
“Oh, but it’s 4:00 in the morning, I wanna sleep!” Nicki moaned, putting out her fag.
“Tell that to the dragon when he’s burning everything to shreds.” Georgia went back to her coffee.
As Nicki left the room, Verity took her place on the sofa.
“So, you think the Fire Mistress is behind this?” she asked.
“Yep. She’s sending Assassins after us now.”
“What does she actually want after all this?” asked Daniel from his desk.
“Power.” replied Holly from the window. “She wants Earth. One realm isn’t enough, she wants two.”


Epilogue:

“How did he fail? Where do you get these guys from?” shouted Lorna, angrily.
“Sorry, Fire Mistress. It seems by doubts were true.”
“Well, the next one better be worth my time. After all, as long as I have the time I need to complete my evil plans, I don’t s’pose it matters that every one of our minions are dying.”
“Yes, Fire Mistress.”
“So, is she on her way?”
“Of course. And she’s bringing her pets...”


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Publication Date: 09-09-2012

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