[i][/i][i][/i][h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]
[color=ed1c24]"Ah!"[/color] Novak shouted as the arrow grazed him, startled by both the surprise and slight pain.  He wasn't too concerned with whether or not he was bleeding, because the injury would be minor, compared to what might happen if the hunter was able to get off a more accurate shot.  Then, to make matters worse, four more hunters emerged from the fog, all of them armed.

Novak reached for his sword, perhaps not quite by instinct yet, but more adeptly than before.  However, he paused midway through the motion, his free hand to the pouch where he kept his mask.  If their goal was to protect the seal from being breached, perhaps it wasn't necessary to fight.

[color=ed1c24]"Listen, I am not your enemy,"[/color] Novak said, taking a step back.  [color=ed1c24]"I promise you I don't want to break the seal.  One of the other hunters told me what you saw, the dreams about the land being flooded.  I don't want any harm to befall the village that was so gracious to house and clothe me.  Just please, listen to what I have to say first, there's no need for more death."[/color]

He'd need to speak quickly.  Fortunately he had already considered this conversation several times, having held his tongue because it didn't seem prudent to reveal prior.

[color=ed1c24]"Listen, the Illuminator spoke to me too.  I met him in the temple in the form of the old woman.  And it was he who warned me that some of his followers- namely you- were lurking in wait to attack us outside the temple.  And there's more..."[/color]

Novak pulled the mask from his pouch, holding it up for the hunters to see.

[color=ed1c24]"The Illuminator has been showing me things with this mask.  It directed us down to the temple's lower reaches.  It showed me the theft of the orb.  It showed that Lazhira is more than what she seems.  It showed me that you planned on ambushing us with what appeared to be poisoned arrows.  And it showed your scheme to anger the Kyrinth in hopes of goading it into killing Enli."[/color]

It was risky revealing all of this, but things appeared urgent enough that he felt warranted telling them this.

[color=ed1c24]"Look,"[/color] Novak continued, [color=ed1c24]"We weren't trying to thwart your attempts to protect the seal, we were just protecting the man who welcomed some tired and lost outsiders to the village.  We were trying to help the people who live in fear of the Kyrinth's wrath.  We were trying to survive against people whom we had no idea why they wanted us dead.  And while we cannot agree with some of your more extreme methods, I promise you, the last thing we want is to see this seal break and this land be flooded as a consequence.  We only came here to talk, to find out what you are doing."[/color]

Novak looked over each of the hunters, looking each one in the eye.  If they reacted badly, he didn't have his sword drawn and thus would have to use his torch to defend himself.  At least he had Nobunaga and whoever accompanied them backing him up if things went south.  He wasn't sure whether they- either his allies or the hunters- could sense how nervous he really was.

[@Rune_Alchemist][@VitaVitaAR]