Choose your own adventure: 21

The story so far:

You awoke on an island full of anthropomorphic animals not remembering how you got there. Among the many adventures you have had, you met a crazy old English blackbird, found an otter village destroyed by an evil Bulldog and his lizard henchmen, rescued the only survivor of the otter decimation as well as your new friend, the Penguin Pirate Captain Pierre. You were almost killed by a scary fairy and a black lake monster, and recently have been traveling with some friends, Ox, Rand and Mina to Edgeton, to find Pierre's ship.
Currently, you have all been hiding from a group of Jackals in a ghost town, when Mina goes missing. You find a secret lair underground and everyone equips themselves with some weapons in preparation for the upcoming fight!

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 21

While you know that the bo staff is the coolest weapon avaliable, you pick up the short sword because you are a pussy. You consider picking up the dagger as well, but you can't carry more than one weapon at a time. Sorry.
"We should definitely check out that whip noise," says Pierre.
"They could be hurting Mina!" cries out Ox.

The group heads off north-west towards the noise. They come to a closed door, and behind it you can hear grunting, whip noises, and most especially, screaming.
"Okay, what is the plan?"
"Let's smash down the door and take 'em out, and save my sister!"
"On the count of three!" says Pierre.
"One"
"Two"

Smash! Rand knocks down the door.
"Three?"

You look around the room. Its a large room, with torture devices all along the west side of it. On one of the chambers lies one of the horses you saw earlier. A rather large, demented looking Jackal is whipping it, and laughing manically. In 4 other chambers lie horses tied up, and jackals torturing them in all kinds of gruesome ways. Other animals seem to be tied and caged up in the far east corner.
"Mina!" yells Rand, as he charges the closest Jackal.
Ox goes running at another one, leaving Pierre, the otter child and you to take on the last three.
You and Pierre take the offensive and the child readies its sling. Pierre is able to keep his foe at bay with his rapier. Rand is pummeling his Jackal, whose whip doesn't seem to do much against his tough hide. Ox is going wild, swinging his axe wildly. You keep to the other side of the room from him, who knows what he will hit, swinging the axe like that.
Two Jackals come running at you, one with a spear and one with a sword. You prepare for the attack by readying your shortsword to swing. If only you had chosen the bo staff you could combat two at once! One Jackal, the one with the sword, swings at you and you jump to the right. You just barely manage to dodge the attack. The spear comes swinging at you then.
The jackal rolls low, luckily, and only hurts you for 3 HP. (He stabs you in the left leg). You swing at him with your shortsword, but don't manage to reach him, as the sword is too short. Foiled again!
Just then the Jackal with the sword turns to swing at you! Raising his sword he prepares to cleave you in half. But bam! A stone hits him between the eyes! Go Otter Child!
You stand back up to face the other Jackal. He stabs his spear at you but this time you were ready. You dodge the spear tip and grab it with your unarmed hand, pulling it away from the Jackal. He looks shocked, but not for long as you whack him over the head with the flat of your blade, knocking him unconcious. You look around, everyone else seems to have finished with their enemies too.
Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun--DunDunDun!
You gain 82 EXP, 2 AP, 50 GP.
You gained a Level!
LVL: 2
HP: 36
MP: 0
ATK: 6
DEF: 3
MGC: 2
MDF: 0
AGL: 5
LCK: 3

Rand comes up to you. "Why didn't you kill your enemy?" He asks. "You could have gotten more experience for killing him."
"Its probably a good thing," says Pierre, "We need someone to question."
"Pierre has a point," says Ox. "I don't think Mina is here."
You look around, there seems to be horses, some cats, a dog and some mice tied up in the corner. They all look just as wornout as the horses tied up on the torture devices. Speaking of, the Otter child and Pierre have been untying the horses from their torture devices and helping them up. One horse, with a white mane, approaches your group. "What have you done?" he says.
"What do you mean? We freed you!" says Rand.
"You doomed us is what you did."
"You were being tortured! Now you are free!"
"Yes, you defeated a few of them, but they are numerous. We will never escape here alive. And now they will kill us for trying to escape. We were better off being tortured."
"That's a terrible way to think!" says Pierre. "Listen, you can all escape easily. Go back this way and you will find a large barracks. You can escape through there, and find a path to the surface."
"Yes, and head south to Ladon Fields. There is a small village there, our parents live there. They can help you. I promise!" says Ox.
"We won't be able to make it."
"Stop it! Stop being so negative, father Ben! We can do it! These people saved our lives, we should be grateful!" says a younger horse. "And anything is better than this life we have. I say we take this chance they gave us!"
"Don't worry sir, you can do it. And we can send one of us with you to protect you," says Ox.
The older horse looks at the rest of the captives. They all nod. "I guess you all have given us the spark we need. Fine, we will try to escape. But who will lead us there?"

You think about it, probably the best options would be Rand or Ox. Rand is a little crazy, annoying and overall a risk. He could snap at any moment, and doesn't seem to get along with Pierre. Ox is calmer, but not the best fighter. Pierre or the otter child could lead them back in theory, but neither really knows how to get back. Plus, who knows when you will see that party member again.
You chose:
A: Rand
B: Ox
C: Other
to go.

They prepare to lead the captives out, and you ask the captives if they have seen Mina. "No, we haven't seen anyone of that description, but we know they keep the "better" slaves in the back."
"Better slaves? What do you mean?"
"We are slaves. We are bought and sold for profit, and forced to work our lives. The prettier or healthier ones are sold off, but the weaker ones are put to work down here in the caves. Or tortured to keep in line, or killed when too weak. We are the only ones here currently, except for the leader's favorites. He keeps them in the back."
"Okay, so we need to find his personal stash. That may be where Mina is." says Pierre.
"Who is the leader?" asks Ox.
"I've never seen him, but the Jackals seem to be afraid of him." says the older horse. "Anyways, I wish you well. I know there are two paths in the cavern, one goes through the mines below to the boss' chambers, and the other through the main fortress. Obviously, the main fortress path is going to be more heavily guarded. I wish you well on whichever path you take, but I hope it goes well. We should be off."

Whomever leaves with the captives heads off, and the rest of you decide where to go next. Should it be:
1: The path through the mines, which should be less guarded.
2: The path through the fortress, which should be faster but more heavily guarded.

(Choose both by thursday.)