Horace couldn’t allow himself to run at full tilt until he was certain everyone was coming with him. Gods’ sake, no one else here but their benefactor was even [i]human[/i], but still he couldn’t stop himself from caring about the others. Whether they were orcish or elven or a strange, little pixie bug, they were bound by what they’d been through at that damned labor camp. 

Without having the slightest clue to anyone’s nature in this colorful assembly, it was nearly impossible to predict what anyone was going to do. To his enormous relief, they seemed as willing to listen to the old man’s orders as he was. Confident that his escape was a matter of obedience, and not cowardice, Horace let go of his doubts and hesitation.

He had plenty of encouragement.

“Ow! What?!” The insect did speak, and it was making a nest in his hair. “[i]Protect[/i] you? Who do you—ow, hey! You’re pulling my hair! I’m going!” Fairy, that’s what she was. Horace had read about them. Mischief makers, magical and rare. What had [i]she[/i] been doing at the labor camp? “I don’t wanna die here, either!”

Bringing up the tail of the group, Horace tried very hard not to listen to the fighting behind him while he sprinted toward the rocks. The crags pushed closer together, and for a moment he feared a dead end, but the path seemed to continue through narrow walls. Horace leaned his head forward, looking around the others and becoming intrigued by the opening of the cave. The smell of cold smoke wafted from inside.

It must have been where the old man was taking them. 

A deafening crack behind them shook him out of his fascination, and Horace glanced back to see the armored knight charged forward. Beyond them was the old man—on the ground, broken and bleeding. The only man who’d helped him in the past few weeks, the [i]only[/i] one who could offer him any answers about [i]any of this[/i]!

“Wait! Wait, you can’t!” The knight was closing in and Horace knew he had to get to safety, but panic and confusion froze him in place. “You can’t die!” Not yet! “Who are you? Who are [i]any[/i] of you?!”