To End in Peace

A lone figure sat atop the hill, looking upwards at the sky. No stars hung there, and no sun shone, only an immense glowing white light, covering half the sky, leaving the land in perpetual day. The hill on which he sat was ancient and worn, low lying yellowed shrubs dotted the surrounding area, the sound of insects chirping amongst him. The creature took a deep breath, breathing the clean untouched air. He remembered a time long past when he had experienced the detrimental effects of pollutants from machines, but that age was gone, lost to the distant eons. Stars had been born and died in the time he had existed. The figure was known as Raereokk the Seventh Seeker of Truths and High Avatar of Mura svash. He was of an ancient race, that had descended from a being called Man long ago, when the stars lit the sky and galaxies were but grains of sand on a quiet beach.
He stood then, stretching his long arms and legs, craning his thin neck upwards, and squinting his enlarged eyes. He let out a small sigh and made to continue his walk down the hill, away from his small home in the east, when he heard someone approaching. He turned to regard the visitor, it was an old friend, Raereokk had known him for eons, and he smiled in greeting. A trail snaked its way along the hill, beginning near the bottom, where the small amber forest that surrounded the knoll faded into the peculiar yellow shrubs. It was on this trail that the newcomer walked.
Good morning to you Raereokk, if that is what this should be called, said the visitor.
Indeed, Raereokk replied, this planet s star has been dead for billions of years, and the only thing keeping us alive now are the Great Engines deep in the core.
The visitor nodded, an awkward movement considering his lengthy neck, but one that had never been retired through the ages. He glanced upwards and motioned towards the immense shimmering sphere above them,
We all knew this day would come, but none of us ever really believed that we would live to see it, to see... the end. < BR>Are you afraid Malaikasj?
I do not know, I have not felt fear in eons, not since the last star died a trillion years ago. But yes, I think I am afraid, I think all of us are. All of us, except you Raereokk, why are you not afraid?
Raereokk considered this for a moment before answering,
Many years ago, Malaikasj, our ancestors were mortal, they lived and died and the universe was none the wiser. They would live for a hundred years at best, and yet, at the end, the did not run, they did not cry, they accepted their deaths as the natural end to the course of life. Perhaps now, so far removed from them are we, that we have forgotten that, forgotten that life and death are merely two sides of the same essence.
You will not be joining us then?
No old friend, I will not, but perhaps aboard your Great Ship, sailing through space, you may find the peace you need to accept death,
Perhaps I will. I shall miss you Raereokk, we have been through much, and I am saddened to see it end.
As am I, but all things must end, and there is a small consolation in the fact that we end in peace.
Not long now is it? Malaikasj said, motioning towards the glowing light above.
Raereokk shook his head, and glanced at his chronometer, 20 hours, a day at best, the singularity is already showing signs of instability, the fluctuations around the it are breaking down the laws of physics, and rewriting them every second into something so unstable it breaks down again and into something new.