Light engulfed Jenny from her body as she broke free from her imprisonment. All her power surged through her blood like she was on fire.

When she saw a tiny cube trapped Huntar, she knew she has to do something. She expected her friends to find her soon, but maybe not all of them made it.

Huntar was the only one who reached her cube. Nobody else followed him, which meant the cubes caught the others.

Without a choice, Jenny must use all her power to break free to save her friends, even if it kills her.

After her cube exploded, Jenny floated in the air. Her skin shimmered in whiteness, and her hair waved apart.

The warm sensation tingled through her nerves. Her body felt so light, she could believe that was the reason ‌she could float. 

She looked up and glared at the sorcerer. She aimed her fist and shot herself up toward him. Her punch smacked his right cheek near his tusk.

Nagendra flew back and crashed against a floating cube. His cheek swollen into a purple bump, shaped as Jenny’s fist.

She hovered toward him, shimmering her clenched fists. “Release my friends and give us the time stone!” Her voice roared like an angry goddess.

The elephant rubbed his swollen cheek. “How did you know about the stone?”

Jenny pointed her glowing finger at him. “Release them!!!”

Nagendra glared. “You think your power can threaten me? This is my domain!”

Jenny tilted her head. “Really?”

She held out her open palm. A white energy ball appeared over her hand.

On her ghostly face, she curled a grin. “What if I can destroy your collection with this?”

The elephant widened his eyes in shock. “Ho! You wouldn’t dare!”

Jenny giggled. “You will release my friends and give me the time stone or else.”

Nagendra shook his left fist. “I won’t! This is my domain, and only I decide here! You can’t give me orders!”

“Suit yourself.” Jenny threw the ball toward a cube with different colored crystal balls inside. Her attack vaporized the cube and its contents into sparkling dust.

Nagendra’s mouth dropped. “No! My fortune-telling crystal balls!”

Jenny grinned and floated toward another cube. The cube contained a pile of golden coins with red and blue gems.

She tossed her attack and vaporized the cube.

“Noooooo!” The elephant shook his fists like an angry infant. “A tribe gave me that loot!”

Jenny circled around until she approached a cube with a strange creature inside. It looked like a pink fluffy sheep with three horned heads and a reptile tail.

She held up her open palm and formed another energy ball. She hovered over the cube to get a clear aim of it.

“Stop! That’s a Moogal! The last of her kind!” The elephant glided toward Jenny and blocked her aim. “Alright! Alright! I will free your friends and give you the time stone! But please leave and never return!”

Jenny grinned as her attack vanished.

*****

“You should have let me kill him,” Rani complained, following Jenny outside the pyramid. “He will capture more innocents.”

Jenny glared at her. “There is no point. Nagendra gave us his word by setting us free. Killing him wouldn’t change anything. But when we encounter the next sorcerer, you can do whatever you want.”

Rani narrowed her eyes. “Next time, if you don’t allow me to kill a sorcerer, I will leave your group. That is my warning.”

Jenny couldn’t care less if the panther woman left. Rani was a good warrior, but she wasn’t pleasant sometimes. Why did Huntar want to save her life in the first place?

While walking back to the ruined hotel, Jenny studied the stone. Blue runic markings coated the rough dark grey fragment. The fractured part was riddled with tiny sharp edges and a blue gem glittered in the exposed center. Indeed, the stone was a unique artifact. Jenny couldn’t feel any power from it, as if the magic inside died some time ago. That won’t be the case when she gets the other half to make it whole.

“How did you know destroying the sorcerer’s collection will force him to give us up?” Huntar asked.

Jenny placed the stone into her ouch. “Simple. Every greedy creep doesn’t want their belongings destroyed. Because he is so obsessed with his collection, I figured he would do anything to protect his spoils.”

“Would you have killed that rare creature if he didn’t stop you?” Basju asked.

Jenny grimaced at the ground. “I wouldn’t, but my power nearly clouded my judgment. I really wanted to force him to free you guys… Even if it means killing a living innocent creature. If my mind was clear, I wouldn’t target the Moogal in front of Nagendra’s eyes.” She sighed. “I wouldn’t feel the same if I did that…”

Zena caught up to Jenny and placed her hand on Jenny’s left shoulder. “You did what you needed to do, Jenny. If you didn’t threaten his pet, he would still trap us inside his lair.”

Huntar smiled. “She is right. No matter the cost, we will always stand by your side. We didn’t turn into monsters after spilling so much blood. Nothing will change your heart as long as you understand your own reason.”

Jenny widened her eyes. “You mean if I killed that innocent creature, it wouldn’t affect me?”

Huntar shook his head. “I meant, if you did a horrific act, you can still move on, and we won’t doubt you ever.”

Jenny wiped a tear off her left eye and grinned. “Thank you, Huntar.” She glanced forward. “Let’s get the next stone in the morning.”

“Torag!” The rhino cheered.

Jenny felt fortunate she has friends like Huntar, Zena, and Torag. They were so loyal to her, that they will never betray her, or abandon her in the wild lands. Since they had been together for so long, their bonded friendship never broke apart. Still, they have another challenge to face, which will test their strong bond.