Forum:Failing Quests

I just got to Gran Soren with the hydra's head and noticed a quest on the board about escorting Reynard across the map to somewhere. I figured I could haul ass across the map and get a better lay of the land, but half way through I'm thinking it would be a better idea to haul ass back to the city. Is there a way to cancel the quest and do it later? If I fail it, will Reynard be dead permanently? If he does die, is that something that I should be concerned with? haha