"We have to jump to those stairs!" Gazelle pointed.
"Are you insane?!" Dante yelled, blasting another creature back. "That's a twenty-foot gap over a bottomless pit! We don't have wings!"
"The platform is our only way deeper into the spire," Alexander concluded, seeing Gazelle's logic. "Containment runes locked the door behind us. The Scientist's security protocol is designed to overwhelm intruders at the entrance. If we stay here, we will be torn apart."
"Then we jump," Raven decided, his red eyes burning with absolute authority. He turned to Mei and Dante. "Clear a path to the edge. Now!"
Dante pumped his shotgun, stepping forward with Mei. The two formed a brutal vanguard. Dante blew wide holes in the advancing pack while Mei executed any beast that slipped past the blast radius. They pushed the swarm back just enough to give the group a running start.
