Take on the manticore now

You can't wait by and let people die. You go to the local weaponsmith and spend all of your current gold on a longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows that you strap to your hip.

You find the cave easily enough it is at the base of a mountain, there is a pile of broken carts and other stuff outside that smells like shit, dry blood and rotten flesh. You stay clear of it and light a torch. You slot it into a custom holding in your barding on your horse body. It does mean that part of the way ahead is obscured by the shadow of your torso but it means you can have your bow at the ready and see into this dark cave.

The smell seems to be only coming from the pile and you are relieved that it only smells like a damp cave in here. The lack of bats is odd but then again you wouldn't nest in the home of a big flying predator either. The crackles and flickers behind you. There is something causing a light breeze drawing air into the cave. Your hooves clatter on the rocky floor. Before you left Clive you were glad you had him fit you with the iron shoes that humans put on the hooves of their horse; the mountain paths and many human roads that have got you here had been hard and rough. Now you regret not having a blacksmith remove them before entering the cave as they clink on the floor creating quite a ruckus and losing you the element of surprise.

"I hear your hoves and smell your odd sent" a gruff but oddly feminine voice echoes through the cave. "Come deeper horse-man." Taunts the voice.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, NO, Please ahhhhh" You hear a woman scream "MMMmmmmmumuuuuuumm" He voice is muffled.

"mmmmmmmmumumuum" Comes the muffled voices of at least 5 more people.

Well, there goes any surprise and since there are people in danger you hurry into the cave.

You reach a fork in the cave listening to the moans of the people you determine that two are down one tunnel and 4 down the other at least that is how many are conscious and moaning. You can't tell which way the Manticore is.

Do you go after most people first or the fewer? saving more people means that you will have more to look after before fighting the manticore but how knows which side the beast is even on. Is it where more of its food is or is there less because on one side because it is currntly reducing their numbers? Who knows all you can do is choose a side