The battlefield erupted into chaos as the army of Cypher descended upon Jacob, Zede, Kylan, and the allied dragons. The skies above Dragon Hills turned a swirling mix of smoke and fire, illuminated by the clash of chromatic and gem-scaled dragons who circled the fight like vultures, eager to tear through the resistance. Their roars reverberated through the air, the ground trembling beneath the weight of their presence.
Jacob, his body transformed with the strength of a giant's hands and dragon wings sprouting from his back, hurled himself into the fray. He tore through the first wave of gem dragons, his fists crashing into their shimmering scales with a thunderous force. A ruby dragon lunged at him, its claws gleaming as it aimed for Jacob's chest. In a swift motion, Jacob blocked the blow with his orc-reinforced arm and followed up with a bone-shattering punch, sending the dragon crashing into the ground below.
Not far behind, Zede's mind worked at lightning speed. His ability to craft instant mecha and battle suits gave him the upper hand against the swift, chromatic dragons. With a quick flick of his wrist, he created a medium-sized mech suit, its arms bristling with weapons—plasma cannons, electrified blades, and reinforced shields. His metallic bull, Diego, charged alongside him, knocking dragons off their feet with its sheer strength.
Zede launched himself into the air, his mech's thrusters propelling him forward as he fired energy blasts at a pack of sapphire dragons. The bolts of energy slammed into their glistening blue scales, causing them to scatter, their roars echoing in pain. A group of emerald dragons swooped down, their jaws crackling with the energy of the earth, and unleashed a barrage of glowing green orbs at Zede. He quickly erected a force field around himself, the emerald blasts exploding harmlessly against it.
"Kylan, watch your flank!" Zede shouted, his voice amplified through his suit.
Kylan, who had been hanging back and studying the sky, was startled into action. He released a blinding light beam from his staff, incinerating a chromatic dragon that had crept up behind him. But Kylan's focus remained on the stars above. The constellations of this world, Ditivas, were different—mystical and unknown to him. As a cosmic mage, his power was drawn from the alignment of stars, but here, the constellations didn't match anything from his own reality.
"I can't read them yet!" Kylan muttered under his breath, frustration creeping into his voice.
Zede, still fighting off the waves of enemies, growled, "Then stay at the back and support with your light beams! We need every ounce of power we can get!"
Despite the confusion, Kylan continued firing radiant beams of energy at the encroaching dragons, cutting through their scales like burning arrows. As the battle raged, his eyes constantly flickered to the sky, desperately trying to make sense of the foreign stars.
Finally, something clicked. His eyes widened as he spotted a faint constellation that had a familiar energy to it—Sorvath, the Warden of the Void, a formation of three sharp stars aligned like a spear cutting through darkness. It wasn't from Earth's sky, but its shape resonated with his cosmic magic. Kylan raised his staff, channeling the power of Sorvath. A deep purple glow engulfed his body as the energy surged through him, and he released a devastating arc of void energy, slicing through an entire line of chromatic dragons. The force tore through the air, disintegrating anything in its path.
"I've got it!" Kylan yelled triumphantly, grinning as his newfound power surged within him.
He spotted another constellation—Boreas, the Frostclaw, a series of icy blue stars in the shape of a wolf, its jaw open and howling toward the sky. Channeling Boreas' power, Kylan unleashed a chilling frost wave that encased several gem dragons in ice, freezing them in mid-flight before they shattered to the ground.
Meanwhile, Jacob continued his assault, his hands transforming into those of a colossal giant. He grabbed two chromatic dragons by their tails, swinging them into each other with bone-crushing force. The impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield, toppling several dragons that were caught in the blast radius. With a roar, he flared his dragon wings, soaring above the melee and dive-bombing into a group of sapphire and emerald dragons, his fists cracking the earth as he landed.
Above them, a massive black opal dragon—the largest of Cypher's forces—descended upon Zede. Its scales shimmered with the colors of the night sky, and it unleashed a torrent of black flame, threatening to consume Zede and his mecha in one swoop. Zede barely managed to activate his energy shields, deflecting the brunt of the attack.
"This one's mine," Zede muttered to himself. With a few quick gestures, he reconfigured his suit, transforming it into a larger exo-frame equipped with a massive, glowing hammer. The mech's frame hummed with energy as Zede charged at the opal dragon, dodging its fiery breath and landing a thunderous blow to its side. The impact sent cracks spreading across its shimmering scales, but the dragon retaliated with a tail swipe, sending Zede skidding across the battlefield.
Regal, witnessing the fierce struggle from the sky, let out a ferocious roar and dove down to help. With his vast wings spread wide, Regal slammed into the opal dragon's side, clawing at its eyes and delivering a fiery breath to its neck. Together, Regal and Zede battled the monstrous creature, their attacks synchronized in a deadly dance of fire and steel.
Kylan, his confidence growing with each new constellation he discovered, called upon another—a shimmering cluster he recognized as Voritha, the Thunder Serpent, an undulating string of stars that crackled with latent energy. He raised his staff, summoning the power of Voritha, and bolts of lightning arced from the heavens, striking down several dragons at once. The sky above lit up with the blinding light of the thunderstorm, the booming sound of thunder shaking the battlefield.
Despite the ferocity of the fight, Cypher's forces kept coming. The chromatic and gem dragons fought with relentless fury, their ranks seemingly endless. But Jacob, Zede, and Kylan fought with everything they had, their unique abilities proving to be the deciding factor in the battle's momentum.
As the fight raged on, Jacob caught sight of Cypher watching from the ridge, his wings folded as he observed the chaos with cold amusement. The time to confront him was near—but first, they had to cut through the remaining forces and secure their path forward. With renewed determination, the group pressed on, pushing their limits to fight for survival and the future of every life threatened by Ryulong's dark plan.