Atlas Silver reeked of cheap booze. This, combined with the considerable amount of filthy, stinking mud that clung to what seemed to be his entire being created a most unappealing figure. This was a fact that the unfortunate guardsman Atlas was leaning on was painfully aware of.

"Move on, citizen!" the guard tried, attempting to shake the drunken man off his shoulder. This was not his first attempt. "This is a restricted area."

"Look here Billy, yer name is Billy right? Well, I'm gonna call ya Billy," Atlas slurred. "I'm just here to see the thing, ya know?"

The newly dubbed Billy finally succeeded in knocking the drunk off his shoulder and stumbling away. "Sir, this temple is under the guard of the Royal Voy Military. I will ask you again, please move on."

"There's normally mo' of ya here. Why's that then? Where's ta rest?" Atlas asked, as he wobbled from side to side.

"That is none of your concern," Billy answered with a sigh. He was growing impatient with this idiot and with the chortles of the men under his command who were watching with amusement.

"Don't even know why ya guard it. Don't remember this building bein' all that 'portant," Atlas said as he leaned back and stared up at the large steeple reaching up into the sky. He snapped his fingers. "This ain't a building. S'a temple with them holy things, ya?"

"This is the temple in which the royal coronation takes place. It is very important, so I must ask you one last time to please move along. If not, I will be forced to detain you," Billy said as Atlas slid a few unsteady steps back, still staring up at the steeple with glazed over eyes."

"Mmmmm, must got some real valuables in there," Atlas said as he nodded and turned away. "G'luck with yer duty n' all that."

Billy didn't answer as he rolled his eyes and turned back to his men.

"Oh, one last thing, before I leave," Atlas said. His voice was clear and steady as he turned back around with a short saber held in either hand. He smiled. "I'm going to have to go inside. I would ask that you please move aside, if it is not too much trouble, of course."

"Wait, but you." Billy moved for his sword but Atlas was already on him, plunging both of the sabers into his stomach.

"Apologies, but I did ask nicely, you know?" Atlas tilted his head as he jerked the swords free and allowed Billy to fall to the ground.

"Stop him!" Billy cried as his men drew their weapons, many of them with an unsteady hand.

Atlas stared at them through amused eyes.

"If you wish to leave, now is the time to do so," Atlas offered as he spun the swords around. When no one moved he nodded his head. He tore through the small contingent of guardsmen without a breath of hesitation. The first two went down before they could even move. The third blocked Atlas's initial blow, but was unprepared for his second blade. The fourth tried to run, but tripped over his own feet. Atlas pounced on him, stabbed his blades deep into his back before rising to his feet.

"I am sorry about this," he said as he wiped his blades clean on the shirt of one of the guards. "But I did give you ample warning to leave. Don't worry. Most of you will live. The poison on the blade only immobilizes. If you bleed out from your injuries during that time, well… best of luck gentlemen. Now, if you would kindly excuse me."

Atlas stepped over the mess of bloodied bodies with cautious movements, careful not to tread on the injured, more out of a disdain at getting anymore filthy than he already was. He was rather put off by the disguise he had chosen for himself, but it had been quite helpful for moving through the city unnoticed. Had he dressed as he usually did it would have likely caused something akin to a riot. Port cities were rarely known for being inviting towards his kind, unless of course it was for a hanging, then the people were more than welcoming. So much so that they threw old food, and more often than not rocks.

"This is quite nice," Atlas mused to himself as he took a moment to wash his hands and face in the golden basin filled with blessed water. He shook his hands dry and continued on deeper into the temple. It was filled with all manner of precious trinkets, a few of the smaller ones that he made sure to pocket as he strolled by. These trinkets, however, were not what he was here for.

Atlas Silver was a pirate. A pirate who was very good at what he did. It was a hobby he had picked up after leaving the Royal Voy Navy. He had found the rigid structure of the military to be rather suffocating. Of course, that had been when he was nothing more than an underling. Now that he was captain, he had very little problem with ruling with an iron fist, keeping his men in line by any means necessary. True, it meant that the turnover rate of his crew tended to be rather… high, but if he was being honest as long as he had a few good men at his side, the rest simply needed to be able to swing a sword and look intimidating, and at any port, in any city, in any kingdom there was an abundance of dumb brutes ready to give their lives for a bit of coin. And that coin was exactly why Atlas was currently inside of the Temple of Voynar.

Preying on merchant ships, no matter how fun or exciting, was not the most reliable of work. Even less so if the navy took an interest in his activities. Sometimes, it could be months before a decent score could be found. To remedy this problem, Atlas often had his crew take on other jobs that fell outside the realm of normal piracy. To him, the more dangerous the job was, the better. Those were the ones that paid the most, and the payment was everything in this world of pirates.

The job he was currently working was particularly hazardous. Though not for him, of course, but rather his men. As he moved into the depths of the temple he idly wondered how many of them were still alive. He had estimated at least twenty of them would perish or be caught before their job was over, but that was likely too low of a number. Many of the men were green, and would break quickly against a well armed, and well-prepared, military regiment. That didn't matter much, though, so long as they showed up and caused a ruckus everything would work out just fine no matter the cost.

"It simply couldn't be helped," Atlas sighed as he reached his destination. The basement of the temple was rather spacious and filled with row after row of barrels filled to the brim with holy anointing oil. Smiling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sphere. He twisted it twice and placed it down on top of one of the barrels before making his way back upstairs. As he walked, he whistled a jaunty tune to himself. He liked the echo of his notes playing out across the empty building and made a mental note to visit more of these buildings, and to perhaps rob some of them as well.

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"Atlas Silver!"

A figure dressed entirely in black, with only their eyes showing fiercely from beneath a hood, stood between Atlas and the way out. Atlas finished up his tune and dropped his hands down to the hilts of his sabers.

"Good afternoon!" Atlas called out merrily. "You seem to have me at something of a disadvantage. You know my name, but I can only guess at yours. Would you care to hear my guess?"

Lexi pulled a pair of shackles from her belt and tossed them towards Atlas. They landed with a loud clunk and skidded across the tile floor and stopped at his feet. He nudged them with a dirty boot and a grin.

"Ah, then I suppose I am right. You're not with the Royal Guard otherwise you wouldn't have come alone. And you haven't raised the alarm yet, so you want to capture me yourself. You're a bounty hunter, and probably a famous one," Atlas said. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. I see my reputation precedes me. Judging by your clothes, you must be the one they call Midnight. Odd, I pictured you rather differently. Taller. Wider. And with a deeper voice. A man, you see, I was picturing a man. You however, are not a man. I don't think. If so, you are a rather… rather… delicate one. Though please take no offense, I have no doubt of your skill. It is simply surprising."

"Your weapons. Drop them," Lexi ordered.

"Oh, yes, of course, this is no time to be talking. Though you wouldn't believe how few opportunities I get to speak to lovely women such as yourself, despite my charming appearance." Atlas drummed his fingers on his swords. "You see, I don't think I'm going to be able to do that. My men are waiting for me. Well, those of them that are alive. Cowards, the lot of them. I'm sure they failed in the mission I gave them and have long since retreated to the ship."

Lexi drew Nightmare and angled the large sword towards Atlas. "Final chance."

"My, that is a beautiful weapon," Atlas said with an appreciatory nod. "I'm sure it could cut through mine without a moments hesitation. These are rather cheap. I had to leave my good swords on the ship so again, it seems you have the upper hand on me."

Lexi took a step towards Atlas and he threw his hands up. "Wait, wait, I admit defeat. I'll put these on."

"Your swords," Lexi said.

"Ah, yes. Of course." Atlas pulled both of his sabers free and Lexi tightened her grip on Nightmare. There was a moment of uncertainty before Atlas simply let them fall to the floor with a loud clang. He smiled at Lexi as he reached down and picked up the shackles. "You're probably thinking this is going far too smoothly."

Lexi said nothing, but Atlas was correct. This was going much smoother than she had anticipated. The fact that he had so willingly relinquished his weapons was off-putting, to say the least. From his file, Lexi had been sure he was going to fight. He had already badly wounded or killed a handful of other bounty hunters who had gone after him. There was a reason the price on his head was so high.

"You are correct!" Atlas said as he spun the shackles around on one finger before tossing them into the air. He caught them deftly behind his back and continued to flick them from hand to hand. "You see, as we have been talking, a bomb I planted in the basement has slowly been ticking down. Now, don't worry, the explosion will be quite small. Barely enough to damage anything beyond repair. The many, many, many barrels of oil they have in the basement, however. Well, they will ignite and this entire building will be engulfed in hellfire before anyone can do a damn thing about it. Unfortunately, the fire will likely spread to the buildings nearby. I don’t particularly want that to happen, but that’s how these things are sometimes."

Lexi's eyes widened. "Why would you do that?"

"Why? Because I was paid to do so," Atlas said lightly. "Someone doesn't like Voy and would like to send a message. Who? I don't know, and I don't much care to be completely honest with you. They simply paid me to do so and I did. My plan was actually quite genius, if I do say so myself. You see, normally this building is quite well guarded, by virtue of being an important asset of the state. So my men are currently attacking the High Priest's home. However, they are not aware that I informed the Voy military of that plan. The majority of guards were moved there, leaving this area woefully unprepared for an attack. Of course, to make sure they believed it I actually had to have my men attack the priest. A threat that isn't followed through with is pointless, wouldn't you agree? I couldn't have my credibility challenged after all."

Atlas reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver watch. "Now, as it is currently, you have just over a minute left before the bomb I placed goes off. You could catch me right now, maybe. But not before that bomb goes off. You could wait and see if I'm bluffing, and kill me if it does, but then the bomb still goes off. Or, you can let me walk free and go remove the bomb. The choice is yours but I suggest you decide quite quickly. Time is running out, Miss Midnight."

Lexi made the decision without hesitation. She didn't have the luxury of trying to guess if he was lying or not. She charged towards Atlas, sword held back and ready to strike. She would have preferred to take him alive, but if he truly had placed a bomb then dead would have to do. Atlas was still unarmed. She would feint for a thrust. When he reacted and tried to move away off balance, she would pull back and finish him with a single slice across his throat. It wouldn't be pretty, and the Voy government would be upset about spilling blood on holy ground, but it was better than letting the entire building go up in flame.

As she reached striking distance, Lexi put her plan into place and thrust Nightmare towards Atlas's chest. With no weapon, Atlas was forced to throw himself backwards, just as Lexi had planned. With Atlas off balance, Lexi swung her sword around and on a direct course for his neck.

"Clever!" Atlas called out as he swung  up the shackles and slammed them against Nightmare, veering the blade just barely off course as he ducked past Lexi. Snarling, Lexi spun around and swung for Atlas's exposed back. The Blade just barely caught his back as he dropped down and slid across the tile floor. He laughed as he rolled to his feet and charged towards the door, leaving a trail of flesh blood behind him. He called over his shoulder to Lexi. "Better luck next time, my dear!"

Every muscle in Lexi's body strained to run after Atlas. She could feel the bloodlust running through her veins, enhanced by the thin line of blood that hung on Nightmare's blade, but she couldn't. Gritting her teeth, she pushed her anger down and sprinted down to the basement. The door was still ajar from Atlas's earlier entry and Lexi burst into the room. The bomb was easy enough to locate, lazily placed on top of the barrel nearest to the door. Lexi stared at it. She wouldn't have time to run back upstairs before it set off, and she had little doubt she wanted to be holding it if it went off prematurely. She looked down at her hand and watched the shadows begin to dance along her fingertips.

"Okay," Lexi breathed as she picked up the bomb and moved it to the stone floor. She held her hand over the bomb and took a deep breath. "Okay."

The shadows on her fingers filtered down to the floor and began to weave into a solidified mass, surrounding the small bomb. After a moment she could not longer see the bomb, but still it wouldn't be enough.

She needed more.

She placed Nightmare down on the floor and placed her other hand against the mass of shadows, thickening the barrier. Sweat began to form on her brow as she pulled her hands slightly back, adding another layer of shadow, building the barriers strength even as her arms began to shake.

Was it going to be enough?

She didn't have to stop it completely. Just enough to keep the oil from igniting.

She could do that.

She had to.

Lexi had been preparing herself for the eventual and inevitable explosion, but when it happened the suddenness of the movement still caught her off guard. The barrier she had built was successful in containing the explosion with only a few pinpricks of flame and shrapnel escaping from her shadows, but it was not as successful with stopping the rapidly expanding concussive force that followed.

The magic shell abruptly gave out and Lexi barely had time to shout out before the contained energy washed over her small frame. Eyes closed against the pain, she was roughly tossed across the room. A gasp escaped her lips as she landed harshly onto of the rows of barrels and rolled end over end before crashing into the far wall.

With a groan, Lexi pulled herself up and shook the stars from her vision. Silently, she removed herself from the barrels and retrieved Nightmare. As a small trail of blood slid down the edge of her face she made a decision.

She was going to kill Atlas Silver.