Toz had expected the beasts to stay in the forest, but he didn't especially care when they didn't, and foolishly chose to follow him.
He didn't bother to keep up the high pace he had in the forest. Since he was going to spend at least a week crossing the wasteland, he would need to be frugal with his stamina. It was impossible to tell when the rats might attack them. Even if Toz and Mindle kept sending down streams of fire down their tunnels, the rats might set up an ambush further ahead or even swarm them above ground with incredible numbers.
If the rats did choose to swarm them, Toz would need as much of his stamina as possible to be able to run away.
