Ethan's body re-formed from the legs up.
He kept his right hand hidden behind his back, power tightening through his shoulder as it gathered. His left hand swept forward first, batting aside every mechanical tentacle in his attack line.
The little dinosaur sensed movement behind it—
But its head turned a beat too slow.
Ethan's fist was already coming down.
BAM!
His knuckles slammed into the armor on its back.
The impact blasted the little dinosaur out from the center of its tentacles. Its metal body sparked wildly in midair. From inside, intermittent clanging and grinding rang out, like something critical had just gone out of alignment.
All the tentacles attacking the others froze at the same time.
They hung in the air, suspended, no longer moving.
Deep underground, Vexara lay in a nest where flesh and steel tangled together.
The walls around her kept pulsing. Mechanical eggs occasionally clicked and ticked.
She stared up at the ceiling, bored enough to talk to herself.
