Huntar jumped higher and higher through the floating collection. He stopped when his wide eyes caught something.

About five cubes up, he could see Jenny sitting inside her prison, almost close to the black ceiling.

"Jenny!" Huntar shouted.

The girl didn't budge or look around. Perhaps the lion wasn't close enough in her sight.

He leaped further ‌until he landed on a cube next to Jenny. "Jenny!"

The girl spun around and widened her eyes at him. "Huntar?"

He grinned and stepped toward her cube. "Aye! I'm going to free-"

Solid glass appeared around him. He tried to touch Jenny’s cube, but his imprisonment prevented his reach.

"No!" He pounded on the glass. "I was close!"

The elephant’s voice laughed, and then he appeared next to Huntar’s cube. "You are the only one who made it this far. Unfortunately, you couldn't see my tiny containers guarding my most prized possession."

Huntar roared. "Release us! I found Jenny! That was the deal!"

Nagendra clicked his tongue and shook his finger up. "No, no. You didn't touch your human's containment."

"You said I have to find her! I did what you said!"

Nagendra laughed. "Ho! Ho! Ho! This is my domain. I can do whatever I want here. Nobody steals my collection and escapes with it!"

Huntar snarled. "Jenny is a living being! We're all living beings here! You can't keep people here like objects!"

The elephant levitated off the cube. He hovered in the air, facing Huntar’s cube. "Living, non-living? It doesn't matter to me. I take whatever I want in the ruins. With my power, I can keep my collection preserved and protected. Anything in my care has a better chance of surviving."

"But all living things deserve freedom in the wild lands! Being imprisoned forever is the same as death!"

Nagendra rubbed his trunk. "Death? There is no death in my containers. You will live forever without eating or sleeping. Time will pass outside, but not here."

"It is still death if nobody can do anything here!"

Nagendra grimaced. "Perhaps you should think more about your human. Would she be safer in here than out there?"

Huntar glanced down. His cube hovered higher above Jenny’s prison. Soon, he won't be able to see her for long.

"There is nothing outside but death and pain," Nagendra explained, following Huntar’s cube. "But here, there is only peace."

Huntar glared at the sorcerer. "Is that why you are here? Slumbering like a coward?”

Nagendra raised his hands. "I built this place to treasure what I find the most pleasing in my eyes. I can leave anytime I want to explore and fight whatever threatens me." His eyes narrowed. "I am not a coward. I am a collector who brings salvation to my collection."

Huntar chuckled. "Maybe you are not a coward, but you are greedy, like a fat pig who sleeps with whores."

Nagendra laughed. "Have you ever found something you want to cherish for the rest of your life? Something you can take without consequences?"

Huntar crossed his arms. "I collected many things, which I found useful and precious. But I only take what will help me and my companions to survive. We don't keep what is unnecessary."

Nagendra smiled. "Good! That is what we have in common. Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"Common?" Huntar pointed his finger at the sorcerer. "My friends and I don’t take lives and force them to live in confined prisons forever! You only take because you are greedy and selfish! You don't need this collection at all! With your power, you can do more than collect objects and creatures. You can help starving tribes and save lives out there. But you are only wasting yourself here!"

Nagendra glared. The wrinkles on his trunk folded. "Why should I help anyone when I can live like a god here? Your words are starting to bore me."

Huntar pounded on the glass again. "You are madness!"

Nagendra covered his mouth and yawned. "I don’t care. There is nothing you can do, anyway. I am your owner now, and you will-"

Below the elephant’s feet, a bright white light flashed as the sound of glass shattered. Nagendra looked down. "What was that?"

Huntar smiled after he recognized the light. In his gut, he knew the sorcerer would face judgment.