"Wait until it closes," I told Liora. "Then take the side."
She looked at the first beetle, judged the narrow passage, and shifted her feet. The shell scraped the wall as it came through the bend. Behind it, the second creature climbed over a broken slab.
We had one clear strip of floor between the drain and Jory's board. Aiden stood over the board's forward end. Seraphina moved the medical bag behind him. Elara stayed beside the cracked brace, where loose stone still threatened the passage we had just crossed.
There wasn't room for everyone to fight. There was room for two people to make a mistake in front of the rest. I drew Nihil and took the second place.
