A Handsome Addition

The paralysis hit Arthur’s face. He tried to close his eyes, to shut out the violet moons, but his eyelids were stone. He was trapped in his own body, a statue of flesh and bone encased in a prison of eternity.

He could still see. He could still hear. He could still feel the terror screaming inside his mind, pounding against walls that would never break.

Vane stepped back, admiring his work. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and polished a smudge from Arthur’s marble cheek.

"A handsome addition to the collection," Vane murmured. "You really do tie the room together."

Vane turned and walked back toward the vault door. The sound of his footsteps on the iridescent stones was rhythmic, calm, and maddening.

"I'll be back in a century or so to dust," Vane called out over his shoulder, his voice polite and distant. "Do try to keep yourself amused."

The vault door hissed open, revealing the sterile light of the penthouse office. Vane stepped through.

The heavy steel door swung shut.

* Clang.*

The lights of the Conservatory dimmed to total darkness.

Arthur stood in the garden of statues, surrounded by the silent screams of elves and knights, staring into the black void, holding a stone gun he could never fire, waiting for a morning that would never come.