The Quiet End

Kalari says: "Three times," she whispers, her voice barely audible. "The first time, Kalari was very young. It watched me from the deep, and I hid until the sun came back. The second time, it killed a silver-swimmer right in front of me, and I learned its touch is death." She pauses, a shiver running through her slender frame. "The last time... it found me in the Great Forest. It did not attack. It just... flowed through the fronds, watching me. For a long time. Kalari did not breathe. She did not move. She became part of the rock until it was gone. That is how you survive the Quiet-End. You do not exist."