Basju woke up with a scream and found himself tied up on the sandy carpet. Huntar, Torag, Zena, and Rani stood over him with their arms crossed. Their eyes glared as if he left turds in their sleeping bags.

Basju struggled in his bonds. “Hey! Why am I tied up!?”

“Why did you attacked us?” Rani demanded through her harsh tone.

Basju blinked his eyes. “What?”

“You woke us up and tried to kill us!” Zena explained.

“Torag!” the rhino added.

“Yeah, like what Torag said. What was wrong with you?”

Basju hesitated until his eyes widened. The hazy memory slowly returned to him. “Jenny! Jenny is in trouble!”

“What do you mean, Jenny is in trouble?” Huntar asked with a wide concern on his face.

Basju raised his upper body and bent his knees to his chest. “I saw an elephant carrying her away outside! I tried to stopn him, but he sneezed something into my face. Nasty! I think he drugged me to see things!”

“Is that why you attacked us?” Rani asked.

“I thought you were hungry monsters! Please forgive me.”

Huntar chuckled. “You’re forgiven, my friend. But you did wounded us good. Rani is a fine healer, thank Kronos. We will live to fight another day.”

Basju’s stomach curled. He couldn’t believe what he did to his friends. 

“You said an elephant took her?” Zena asked.

The monkey nodded.

Huntar narrowed his eyes at his feet. “It might be the sorcerer, Nagendra.”

“How can you be sure?” Rani asked.

“Who else would dwell here when his lair is here?”

Zena and Rani paused in silence. They haven’t seen other Beastmen wandering in the ruin city. Basju should have guessed too when he spotted the elephant.

“If it is Nagendra, we must be wary of his power,” said Zena.

“Oo! Oo! He can shoot illusion powder into your faces!” Basju exclaimed. “Be wary of that too!”

The panther woman smiled at him. “Good to know, monkey.”

Basju grinned. “You’re welcome. Now will you please untie me? These ropes are too tight!”

Torag kneeled behind him and cut the ropes off with a dagger. After the ropes fell off his body, the monkey jumped to his feet. “Thank you!” He stretched his arms and legs. “How are we going to find Jenny?”

The lion smirked and tapped his nose. “We can track her scent from here. I know Jenny’s smell very well.”

Basju grimaced. “Eeeeeeuuuuu! You sniffed her butt!?”

Huntar’s cheerful face vanished. He glared hard at the monkey with shadows around his eyes.

Zena smacked her lips. “I think we should tie him up and leave him here alone.”

Basju shook his hands up. “No! No! I was joking!” He giggled. “Do you understand a joke?”

The Beastmen growled quietly at him, sending him cold looks.

Basju gulped. “Okay… No more butt jokes. You will have my word.”

*****

The white light faded away as Jenny opened her eyes. After her blurry vision cleared, she found herself inside a glass box. She tapped the glass, noticing how solid it was. Outside was an open space with twinkling stars in the black void. Nothing was at the bottom, but other glass cubes floated around, containing different objects. Plants, treasure, and ancient vehicles with polished exteriors. A baby lizard creature cried inside a cube, and another cube has a swimming three-eyed fish in clear water.

“Where am I?” Jenny placed her hands against the glass, looking around. “Is this… Outer space?”

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” a deep voice echoed from below.

Standing on a square stone platform, an elephant Beastman in a white robe levitated toward her cube. He appeared bigger than her, standing very close to her strange prison.

He folded his arms in his long sleeves and smiled a small grin behind his trunk. “You are the very first human I ever caught. Ho! Ho! Ho! A rare fine specimen indeed.”

Jenny pounded her fists on the glass. “Let me out! I am a living being!”

The elephant laughed. “So you can talk. Good. I ‌love conversations when I’m bored.”

Jenny growled. “Are you Nagendra?”

He grinned with satisfaction. “Your guess is good too.”

“Why did you capture me?”

“I am a collector.” Nagendra hovered back and held out his arms. The glass cubes rose behind him. “I like to collect any rarity in the outside world. When I find something truly remarkable, I bring it here inside my infinite storage chamber.”

Jenny glanced around again. The chamber must be an illusion or a pocket dimension. With magic, anything was possible.

Nagendra pointed his finger at Jenny. “When I found you, I sensed a great power inside you. A Star Crystal power, which I never felt for a long time. Have you ever tasted something so delicious, it stays in your memory for ages? Then finally you found what you craved for so long?”

Of course, Jenny missed her favorite food in the past. Ice cream, pizza, and salty potato chips. Anything sweet and salty was her treat. Certainly, she did ate healthy food to stay in good shape. 

In the future, she lived on whatever she could catch with her friends. Collecting nuts and fruits were easy, but hunting large reptile monsters was very dangerous. If she has something to trade, she could buy her own food at a friendly village. Still, she missed her favorite junk food.

“I do miss a unique taste before,” Jenny answered. “Are you going to take my power away?”

Nagendra shook his finger and clicked his tongue. “No, no, no. That’s not in my power. But I will keep you here as long as I desired. You will become part of my collection to keep me pleased and entertained. For the rest of your life, you are now mine.”

Jenny glared at him. “I have friends who will find me. If you don’t release me, they will make you regret this.”

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Nobody will ever find my tower. But if they do…” Nagendra smirked with a beaming glare on his elephant face. “I will make sure none of them will leave here alive.”