Blood and Water: An 'Into the Badlands' Fanfiction (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2: The Attack

"I'm not under her thumb," he declared proudly. "I'm proud to serve her. If it weren't for her, I would have nothing. She gave me a purpose. Nothing that you can offer me is worth her life."

The man clicked his tongue, "Tsk. Then I guess I'll have to take your head first." He raised his sword.

Erastos drew his sword and raised it.

He wasted no time striking first.

That was his first instinct for everything. Hit first, think later. Although he had learned to be more calculated, his old ways often took over in life-or-death situations.

His sword clashed against that of the man, who was ready and rearing for a fight. The man was much taller, so Erastos found himself doing what felt like acrobatics rather than sword fighting. They moved at an almost an inhuman speed, their swords clashing and clanking relentlessly. They were barely out of breath. Erastos had impressive stamina and he had never met anyone who could match his skill besides Antigone.

However, this man was a close second.

The man slid forward and swung his sword as if he was going to throw it. It nearly slashed into Erastos's face before he blocked it, clashing his own sword against it. The man poked and turned and twisted his sword, and each time, Erastos spun and leapt and dodged. He did his best to block the man from escaping that area, trying to keep him away from Antigone.

Eventually, the man caught onto the reason why Erastos kept lingering around that area and tried to bypass him. The man backed up, catching Erastos off-guard, and sent the sword flying straight towards Erastos's face. Erastos ducked in the nick of time and the sword flew into the wall, sticking into the pristine marble. He shot up immediately, but the man was fast and had already made it out of sight.

For a brief moment, Erastos considered trying to pry the sword out of the wall. With two swords, he would have twice the defense. However, the thought was fleeting. Time was of the essence and every second that he spent trying to retrieve the sword would be endangering Antigone's life even more.

Immediately, he ran out of the ballroom at top speed, sliding against its shiny floors as he turned a corner out of the doorway. He was met with a bloodbath in the throne room. He watched, mortified, as the Clippers began picking off his fellow Firebirds one by one.

But the Firebirds were determined. They put up an equally strong fight.

In the blinding bloodbath, Erastos noticed the other Firebirds, the ones who were left, band together. They had sectioned off into groups and were ambushing smaller groups of Clippers or Clippers who were alone. Erastos felt a sense of pride rush through him.

In this case, it truly was quality over quantity.

Forcing himself to look away from the gruesome scene before him, Erastos turned and ran across the now blood-stained tiles of the once shining throne room floors. He tried desperately calling for Antigone again. "Antigone," he cried. "Antigone! Answer me! Tiggy!"

At this point, he did not care who heard except her. He wanted to know if she was alive or not. The fact that she had not responded and that it had been this long chilled him to his very core. As he ran, more Clippers appeared, and he was forced to fight them off every step of the way.

Before he knew it, he was cornered by a very large Clipper, bearded and smirking. The tall man moved slow in an almost taunting manner, his face stained with blood. He bore two swords in each hand and raised each of them to either side of Erastos's throat, causing his breath to hitch in his throat.

"Tell me where she is and perhaps we'll be able to reach an agreement," the Clipper said.

The bloodbath continued, but the man was so frightening and his voice was so menacing that it blocked everything else out.