The moment the word left Orun's mouth, he shot at Ethan.
His right fist came down with a deafening mechanical roar. Layers of black-and-red plates cinched tighter and tighter, and the air in front of his knuckles compressed into visible distortion. The punch was aimed straight at Ethan's head—like he meant to pulp him in one blow.
At the instant the fist dropped, Ethan lifted both hands off the ground.
He sprang upward on the power he'd just stolen, sliding along the edge of Orun's punch like his body was greased by the wind itself. The mechanical fist grazed past him and smashed into the earth. The explosion of force shredded the corner of Ethan's clothes—
—but it still didn't touch his body.
Ethan snapped back with a punch of his own, driving it into Orun's goat horns.
White lightning detonated across his knuckles. Ash-gray energy drilled through the contact point and into the mechanical structure.
CRACK!
Both mechanical horns snapped clean off.
