“Hold right there.” Rareth ordered as soon as the Agent started to move off along the side passage. “If you are going to help me, you must move behind me, not ahead. It is necessary for us to scout these caves for danger, but we are not here to exterminate every pest that might live here. Follow behind me, and we will see what is living here, but do not simply shoot on sight. If these are simple animals, they may simply flee when they see us. If they attack, I will kill them.”

 Regardless of what 595 might have thought about Rareth taking the lead, it was not as if there would be much hope of overtaking her once she did get moving. There was no feasible way of moving their entire group through the caves stealthily, with all of their equipment, when the tight passages would carry the echoes of every single footstep far and wide. Since they would not have the option of stealth later, Rareth made no attempt to hide now. If something was going to attack, she wanted it to attack her, without the civilians present. Ideally, whatever creatures they encountered would either flee on sight, or they would be able to scare them off. If not, she would need to assess how much of a threat they posed.