Gus sprung back from the two of us. Mason was licking the wounds on his shoulder as he glared at us. Mana didn't look injured in the least, if anything he looked refreshed, besides the keening wail that erupted from him.
"Mana?"
As I watched the great Zeta in front of me, shrunk. He looked like a balloon shriveling up, and when it finished, the great Zeta was the same size as me and the others.
Gus laughed as he spat out a mouthful of cream-colored fur. "Couldn't stand by and let her take the blow, could you?" he challenged.
Mana shook his head. The wail stopped and he took a deep shuddering breath. "No," he answered with a sneer. "Don't think I will be easily defeated just because I became smaller. My size wasn't the only dangerous thing about me."
"You're no longer a Zeta, you're n
