The great escape

After some minutes of Agis trying different keys on the door, she finally finds the correct one and successfully unlocks the armory. "Yes!" She exclaims to herself, grabbing the heavy iron door by its handle and starting to pull on it.

"Need any help, pointy ears?" Rhea asks.

"N-nuh, I got this." The elf just grunts, continuing to slide the large door back until it is completely open. She looks back at the minotaur, struggling to breathe, chest moving up and down as she wipes the sweat off her forehead. "See? Let's go." She gestures all of you to step into the room.

The armory consists of a rather small area. Wooden racks settled against the four sides of the room, full of spears, axes, and swords of different types. The walls are adorned with a few small lanterns, shields of various colors, and some long wooden bows, the famous backdoor hidden on one corner, much discrete and small than the previous one. Scattered around the room there is also a pedal-powered sharpening wheel (that you remember using a lot when you were the guild's errand boy), some barrels with arrows inside, and a table where all the weapons the orcs stole carelessly lay.

Agis grabs her rapier, softly smiling as she examines its blade. Rhea snatches her huge hammer, Kara holds onto her homemade bow and you recover your sword. "Here." You say, grabbing a lonely dagger and handing it to Gina. "Just in case..." The orc hesitantly grabs the knife, awkwardly holding it between her hands.

"Wait..." Agis suddenly murmurs. "...What's this?" She says, noticing a strange wooden crate stashed under the table. She walks closer to it, kneeling down, grabbing its sides, and pulling it out. Looks just like an ordinary box, no labels or stamps on it. The elf slides her fingers under the lid and forces it open, gasping as she sees the contents inside. Tons of red-colored, long fused sticks of dynamite resting over a coat of packing straw. "W-where did they get these things?!" She looks back at the rest of you.

Before any of you gets a chance to guess, a loud "N-NO! HOW DID THEY...? FIND THEM, STUPID PET!" from Delilah booms all over the Guild.

"Let's get out of here!" You quickly say.

"We are going to leave this stuff here?! Who knows what-"

"Not our problem anymore, lass." Rhea interrupts.

"...Right." The elf sighs, standing up again, moving towards the backdoor and kicking it open.

You all make your way outside, reaching the guild's yard. Three saddled horses stand in a row, hitched to a hastily built single wooden rail nailed to the ground. How convenient.

Forius' own horse stands in the middle of the group, the same big, imposing stallion you saw when he first arrived in town.

You walk towards the one in the right, patting him behind the ear, the horse softly neighs. He seems calm enough. You slide your foot into the stirrup hanging by its side and mount up. When you are finally in position, you offer Gina your hand and help her climb behind you. The orc grabs your waist and firmly holds onto your body.

Kara and Agis take seat over the horse on the left, the wolf girl taking over the reins.

"Come on, Rhea!" Agis exclaims as she sees the minotaur doubtfully looking at the horse in the middle, hesitant to mount over it. "It's a big one, I'm sure it can hold your weight."

The tall, brawny minotaur sighs, moving over the horse and resting her butt on its saddle. The horse puffs, his knees buckle slightly but his posture remains straight. "...That's a good boy. Rhea isn't that heavy after all, huh? Good horse!" She grins, rubbing the back of the horse's neck. The animal softly whines in displeasure.

You and your companions ride the three horses towards the den as fast as you can. Hooves slam against the grassy ground as you dodge trees. Branches, pebbles, and dust flying around under your trail.

After some more minutes of riding, you finally reach the entrance of your cozy home-cave, you pull on the reins, the horse abruptly stops. You step down, grabbing Gina's waist with both of your hands and helping her down.

Agis and Kara quickly dismount, Rhea does the same, earning a gasp of relief from her tired horse. "Alright. We get the rest of the girls, ride to the Capital, sell the horses, buy a boat ticket and sail somewhere far away." The elf says, you all nod your heads.

"Oh thank the gods! We were so worried!" Mathilda faintly exclaims as she sees you and the rest of your group walk through the entry tunnel. Your sister and the succubus next to her on the verge of tears. Rocko and Ollie bark loudly as they spot Kara, the wolf girl kneels and gives each one a warm hug and a head scratch.

"W-what happened?" Lola asks, but before you could answer, a furious catgirl pounces over you and starts to punch your arm with her tiny fists as hard as she possibly could.

"You left without me! I worked a lot on this potion! I wanted to help!" Maggie angrily lashes out.

"Hey! S-stop it! Ouch!" You yelp, trying to push her off you. She is surprisingly strong for someone her size. "It was Agis' idea!"

The catgirl sorceress directs her wrath now towards the elf, but you swiftly catch her and hold her petite body in place before she could reach Agis. "Enough! We don't have time for this! There is a demon in town, we need to-"

"A-a demon?! O-oh no..." Lola gasps, a horrified expression on her face as she covers her mouth.

"Uhm... pointy ears, I'm not the best with numbers but... we are eight... and we only have three horses." Rhea softly says, rubbing the back of her neck.

"We are ten! You forgot Rocko and Ollie." Kara adds.

Agis stays speechless with her eyes wide open. "I... i didn't think about that... maybe... maybe... fuck, I don't know what to say..."

"It's okay, Ag. We will find the way. Don't worry." You softly calm her, placing both of your hands over her shoulders and looking down at her face.

"...Can't ya... conjure another horse or somethin', kitty?" Rhea asks Maggie in a half-serious, half-joking tone.

"No. If you all had waited for my potion, then this..." She simply says, her eyebrows suddenly going up as she realized she was finally able to comprehend the minotaur's accent. "Hey! I understood you!"

"Haha, you did!" Rhea giggles. "Hello, kitty!"

While Rhea and Maggie talk, Agis sadly whimpers, looking at you with a pout before pressing her face against your chest. "I let you all down..." She softly says.

"Don't say that, you-" You start soothing her, rubbing her back as she clings to you.

"Every plan I had failed. I'm not good at this..."

"Ag..."

"I'm scared, Theo."

"...Me too, Agis..."

"It's my fault!" Lola suddenly exclaims as loud as she can with an ashamed look on her face, tears leaking across her cheeks. "T-this is all my fault! I'm so sorry!"

You and the girls look back at the succubus with confused expressions. "...What do you mean?" You ask with a raised brow.

Lola sniffs and opens her mouth to talk, but sudden loud, short steps and some persistent hissing sounds coming through the entry tunnel interrupt her...