The plateau shook as the last fragments of the vortex faded, leaving only drifting sparks of chaotic magic swirling in the morning air. Danny, Swift, and Jake stood in rigid silence, each of them processing what they'd just witnessed. The magical child hadn't attacked further. He hadn't needed to. His message had been clear:
This was only the beginning.
Swift was the first to move, jaw tight as he paced in a tight circle. The green light in his chest flickered with agitation. "That boy… whatever he is… he wasn't attacking at full strength."
Danny nodded, gripping his katana. His golden aura flared softly around his shoulders. "He's testing us—testing me. My father warned me that chaotic magic behaves like a living creature. It evolves. Learns. It's never the same twice."
Jake exhaled sharply. "Great. So next time we fight him, he'll be even worse."
Swift turned sharply, silver armor clinking. "That's not the worst of it." He pointed toward the treeline where the vortex had formed. "There was someone else. A second energy signature. Ancient. Heavy. Wrong."
Danny swallowed. "Bones."
Swift nodded once—slowly, grimly. "He didn't show himself. But he was there. Watching."
A cold wind swept across the plateau, and even the rising sun felt dimmer somehow, as though the world itself sensed the looming threat.
Danny straightened. "We train harder today. And every day after. We can't face both threats unless we grow stronger—fast."
Jake cracked his knuckles, his bronze aura flaring. "Then let's start now."
But just as Danny turned toward the training ground, a fierce crack split the sky overhead—not thunder, but something tearing.
A rift.
Swift felt it first—his entire body stiffening, the green star in his chest pulsing like a panicked heartbeat.
"No," Swift whispered. "No, no, not now—"
The rift widened, jagged green light pouring through the tear in space like dripping acid. Danny and Jake jumped back, weapons out, as the air grew suffocatingly cold.
From inside the rift, a single skeletal hand of pure emerald energy reached through.
Jake choked. "Is that—"
Swift stepped in front of them, red-star broadsword drawn.
"Yes," he said, knuckles white. "It's Bones."
The hand clawed at the fabric of reality, widening the rift. The sound was like metal grinding against bone, a shriek that sent birds scattering from miles away.
Then—an eye appeared inside the crack. A spinning, spiraling void rimmed with green fire.
Bones' voice slithered out, fragmented and echoing.
"Swift… Danny Chan… little Dragonlings…"
Danny felt his heart drop. This wasn't an illusion. This wasn't a projection.
Bones was trying to enter their world.
"…did you think I wouldn't find you?"
Swift growled, raising his blade. "Not here. Not now. You're too weak to cross!"
Bones laughed—a sound like shattering glass.
"Weak…? No. But the seals… slow me."
The rift pulsed violently.
Jake stumbled back, sweating. "What do we do?!"
Danny slammed his katana point-first to the ground, golden aura exploding around him.
"We stop him. Together!"
Jake activated his bronze aura, Swift raised his red-star sword—but before they could strike, a gust of wind knocked all three backward.
A figure appeared behind them.
Wide hat. Crooked cane.
Sedge Hat.
"Ho… ho…" the old man muttered, voice unusually grave. "Children, step back."
Danny's eyes widened. "You… you can stop him?"
Sedge Hat tilted his hat just enough to reveal a single glowing eye—not old, not frail—
Primordial. Dragonlike.
"I can delay him," Sedge Hat said. "Barely. Now hush."
He struck the ground once with his cane.
BOOM.
A golden shockwave erupted outward, slamming into the rift. Bones shrieked, the eye flickering violently.
"You—!" Bones snarled. "Dragon Elder—traitor—"
Sedge Hat smiled faintly. "Yes, yes, insults later. Close, you foul thing."
He tapped his cane again—
CRACK.
The rift snapped shut like a slammed door, echoing across the mountain.
Silence fell.
Danny staggered to his feet. "Y-you're… a Dragon Elder? Why didn't you tell us?!"
Sedge Hat waved him off. "Didn't ask."
Swift exhaled shakily. "He almost broke through. Bones is pushing harder."
"Yes," Sedge Hat said, leaning heavily on his cane. "And soon, he won't need a rift. He will simply arrive."
Jake swallowed. "Then what do we do?"
The old man adjusted his hat, eyes glinting.
"You prepare," he said. "Harder than ever. Because when Bones walks into this world…"
He pointed his cane at Danny's chest.
"…only the Dragon Emperor can stop him."
Danny froze. "The… what?"
But Sedge Hat was already walking away, fading into the mist.
His voice drifted back on the wind.
"Train well, Mr. Chan. The fate of two worlds sits on your shoulders."
Danny, Swift, and Jake exchanged looks—fearful, determined, united.
Danny lifted his katana.
"Then we train until the mountains break."
Swift raised his sword.
"Until Bones regrets surviving."
Jake powered his aura.
"Until we're ready."
Three warriors stood against two rising disasters.
Earth had never needed Dragons more