Excerpt
The trap had been sprung, and within its deadly grasp stood Morgan Asher, a man out of his element. Paralyzed by an unseen force, erect against a cold, granite wall, the physically-fit rogue was helpless against the cloaked woman before him whose intentions were anything but altruistic.

The lady snapped her fingers, and the magic at her command went to work.

A gray light sparkled on the floor underneath Morgan, and he looked down to see his weathered boots turn to stone. A few seconds later, a fierce stabbing pain erupted in his feet, as the magic began to petrify his flesh.

"Tonight, my vengeance shall be fulfilled!" the lady said, clenching her fist in front of Morgan's face, the graceful hands flushing a menacing red from her rage.

"Don't do this, Josie. This isn't what Rheena would want," Morgan pleaded, striving to strike a tender spot in the heart of this menacing assailant, while fighting the urge to scream in agony as his torso turned to solid rock.

"How would you know what she'd want? You were with her barely a year. You haven't a clue who she was."

"I have some clue," Morgan said, flinching in pain. "I knew her better than you ever could."

Listening to Morgan's words, Josie furrowed her brow, the dim lighting of the gloomy, stone chamber and the further shadowing from her blue satin hood exemplifying the depth of her eye sockets. "You're pathetic," she said with disgust. "I spent over twenty years with Rheena, and you presume to lecture me on what she would have wanted?"

"Time didn't form our bond, Josie, the computer did. Rheena's very essence, her thoughts and memories, yearnings and dreams, were all intertwined with me, and mine with her. I knew her very soul, unlike anyone else could."

"Then how could you let her die?" Josie shouted, throwing the hood of her cloak back in fury, revealing the vibrant coils of her blond hair. "How could you murder her like you did?"

"I didn't kill her," Morgan said, feeling the petrification reaching his belly button, while his entire body remained paralyzed from the neck down.

"You did nothing to save her."

"I couldn't. God knows I tried."

His pleas to her better nature fell on deaf ears, as Josie's intentions were clear, and her mind closed. There was no reasoning with her and no way to avoid her retribution.

As the petrification reached the base of Morgan's lungs, Josie took several steps backwards, keeping her eyes firmly on her victim and displaying a grin of satisfaction. "I've waited years for this. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to learn the necessary spells for this fitting punishment."

"If you wanted to hurt me, you've done it," Morgan said, struggling to breathe.

"Oh, no, Morgan. This initial pain you're feeling is only the beginning; the catalyst. Following the petrification process, your mind will remain here, trapped within your stone body, unable to witness the passage of time or boot out to the real world. You will remain here, a prisoner of time!"

"What?" Morgan asked, terrified by her claim.

"Yes, Morgan," Josie replied, stepping forward again. She stared up at his face, her own height barely reaching Morgan's clavicle. "You will pay for Rheena's death in the most fitting way; to be a prisoner of the program, as she was for so long. Nobody knows you're here, and none have cause to venture here. Perhaps, in a few thousand years, someone may stumble across you. Then shall your punishment truly begin!"

Feeling the stone claim his chest, Morgan experienced a sensation few people could ever know, as his heart petrified and ceased to beat, while his mind remained sharp and cognizant.

The petrification spell's progress hastened, seeking to alter his head before the lack of blood and oxygen could kill his simulated brain. As the magic reached his neck, Morgan mouthed his final words before consciousness faded. "I tried to save her."

As the final, breathless word passed his lips, the spell completed its work, freezing his entire body in a tomb of stone. His flesh stood as a gray statue, appearing both noble and dignified in its pose.

"You should have tried harder," Josie said, turning to leave.