"Was it like this every time?" Voi asked the stillness. "Time to leave. Ten years since the War of the Living."

He resumed his walk, his pace steady and rhythmic. The only sound was the crunch of his boots on the grit. Then, a low vibration began to rattle the air. From the haze ahead, a massive shape emerged—a military armored car of the Pragna army. It was a block of heavy steel, bristling with weaponry and painted in the drab colors of the Order. It slowed to a crawl and then stopped directly in Voi's path.

Voi continued walking until he was only a few feet from the vehicle's reinforced front bumper. He did not reach for his red sword. Inside the car, the air was thick with a different kind of silence—the silence of fear.

"You represent the order," Voi said, his voice easily penetrating the armored hull. "Those who command the world as winners of the war. The shepherds of the frightened."

Inside the vehicle, Sorro, the driver, sat with his hands frozen on the wheel, his forehead beaded with sweat. Beside him, Leik was hunched over, his lips moving in a frantic, silent prayer.

"Praying isn't going to work on him, Leik," Sorro whispered, his voice trembling. "He is blue-eyed Voi."

"Call for backup," Leik hissed, his eyes fixed on the man in white through the viewing slit. "We can't outrun a Pika in this car. It is too heavy."

In the back, Trom grabbed the radio headset with a shaking hand. "This is unit 32. We have faced a Pika. We have faced blue-eyed Voi," he shouted into the transmitter. "Requesting backup."

The fourth soldier, Rahs, sat with his jaw clenched, staring at the back of Sorro's head. "We could take him," Rahs said, his voice a low growl. "We have heavy artillery and machine guns."

"Rahs, he is one of the most dangerous," Leik snapped back. "He stays on the battlefield just to let others know his location."

Outside, Voi observed the vehicle with the same clinical indifference he showed the ruins. "A machine of war," he noted. "Full of people who call us evil. What will you do?"

Sorro slammed the car into reverse gear. The engine roared, tires spinning on the grey dust as the massive vehicle lurched backward. Sorro spun the wheel, and the car roared away from Voi, heading toward the distant Pragna base.

Voi began to walk toward them, his pace never changing. "You cannot outrun me, Pragna soldiers," he said softly.

The vehicle continued its retreat, a cloud of grey dust rising behind it to swallow Voi's white figure. Inside, Rahs watched the Pika through the rear slit. He saw the tall man in white simply walking, closing the distance despite their speed.

"He has lost the will to live," Trom whispered, watching his comrade.

Rahs stood up, grabbing a machine gun and a pistol from the rack. "Living in fear serves no purpose," Rahs said, his eyes hard. "I am a soldier. I fight for safety. I will not let a Pika disrupt our peace."

He pounded on the driver's partition. "Stop the car! I am getting out."

The armored car slowed for only a second as Rahs jumped from the rear hatch. It then accelerated again, fleeing into the haze. Rahs stood on the road, the dust settling around him as he waited for the man with the red sword to emerge from the grey. Voi continued to walk forward, a white dot moving through a world of ash.