I pointed my weapons as the goblin slowly emerged from the brush. Behind me the horses and the driver slept, clearly knocked out by some spell or other.

“I didn't come here to fight,” she said, hands open to show she had no weapon, as if she needed one.

“I've heard that one before,” I replied.

“Fair, but if you kill me my siblings will destroy your home. They know I'm here, and they know where you live.”

I felt a twitch at that, the house was defended to an extent, yes, but it was no fortress. If they went there now it was likely people would die, it was likely Kaylee would die. Did they know about her? I doubted it, but I couldn't risk it.

“And your 'Father' won't do so anyway?” I asked.

“He's not involved in this,” she answered, and must have seen my brow raise at that. “I have several concerns, and... his temper got the better of him before.”

“You mean he's a maniac, killing people when they displease him and with no concern for the lives of others.”

“I still believe he wants a better world... I have to.”

“What I believe is that that is what he's saying, what he puts out there to justify his actions. Perhaps on some level he thinks helping people makes it alright, has convinced himself, but that's not what he's doing. He's kidnapping humans, and I can guess what happens to them based on how many have returned.”

This girl, goblin or not, bit her lip, clearly seeing where I was coming from. Good, very good, she had a conscience, and that was important, critical even. We didn't need to genocide their whole race, and I didn't want to. If we could just stop this 'Father' from his experiments then we could find a place for them. It wouldn't be easy, but I had some pull, and if some of them joined us it would be all the easier.

“Do you hate me for that? For allowing it to go on?” she asked, almost childlike, and she was a child in some ways wasn't she?

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I remembered him coming here, his initial escape. This girl was likely years younger than me. I might well be talking to a girl no more than ten years old, and even if they matured quickly there could be some mercy there. If we could just bring them around to seeing what they were doing was wrong we could make those changes.

“Were you involved in the killing?”

“No, I couldn't stomach it. My duty is to protect our home.” Excellent, she'd be the perfect one to turn.

“Then understand that what he's doing is a danger. My people will continue to act, and if they find you an army you can't hope to defeat will come for you. There can be another choice though, you can change things. We can find you somewhere your people can live in peace, without the fighting, without the hate. From what I understand you came from an island nobody else wants, you could return there, smarter then you were, and make it into something great without any more of this.”

“I will consider that, what I came to ask about was the strange ones you sent into the undercity.” A start, but one I could work with.

“Strange ones?” I asked.

“They're not completely human, like us? But different, and it looks like they did something to their ears. They've been killing our people so effectively, so how can you call for peace when you do something like that?”

“I don't know anything about that unfortunately, but there are people who I can ask. Don't expect them to stop though, not after the problems your people are causing.” Also ears? Not completely human? Was she talking about... “These strange people in the undercity, what else makes them different?”

“Father caught one, said he'd live much longer than was normal.”

Oh, shit. “Elves? I promise you I will bring that up to somebody. The fight, the one your sister was at, one of them was there. If they are who I think they are, they're our enemy too.”

It didn't make sense, what was their angle here? I knew they'd been after the archmage, but now the goblins too? Were they just hunting potent mages? If so that was a huge problem. Others would need to be warned, because that would be the lead up to a war.

“Very well, I don't suppose you'll agree to meet later?” she asked.

“The last time I went to a meeting with your people it didn't go so well.”

“True, will you at least let me leave peacefully this time?”

“You came in peace, you can leave in peace. Do think about what I said though, know that you have choices,” I added, it wasn't like I had the backup to win for sure anyway, so a fight might well end poorly for me.

“I will.” With those words she slipped into the brush, disappearing again.

I breathed deeply for a few minutes, stretching out my senses to their limits to look for any others, anyone who might ambush us. As I did I heard the driver stir behind me.

“Oh, Lord Percival, what? Why are you out here, and why are we stopped? Did something happen?” he asked in quick succession, clearly understanding that something was off.

“It did, and we should leave with haste,” I replied.

“Yes sir, at once!” He snapped the reins, causing the snoozing horses to shake awake quickly as well. They seemed less bothered by the fact that they'd fallen asleep in the middle of the road.

As I walked back to the door I stopped to change his instructions.

“We've a new destination though, take me to this address.” I quickly jotted down where Ignus had his public offices, and being that they were the law enforcement for the whole city it was instantly recognized.

“Yes sir,” he answered, and we began moving once more.

Now all I needed to do was figure out how I was going to explain all of this without causing another panic. I also needed to get Ignus and his superiors to agree to spare any who surrendered. If I could do that I could continue to try and get them to switch to our side in good conscience. I'd have to anyway, but I didn't know how well I could act before people I knew I was turning on.