Zech looked at his companion with doubt. A horrible rumbling in his stomach was rising. Not one of hunger, but of guilt. Something told him if he left the village now, something horrible was going to happen. And for a brief moment he considered leaving; he considered going home with his friend and enjoying a quiet meal with his family. But as much as he wanted to he remembered the oath he had sworn when he joined the Exorcists.
"I swear, as long as my legs allow me to stand and my weapons are sharp enough to pierce my foes I will fight to defend this village from any threats, be they natural, supernatural, or foreign encroachment."
Nearly every day he regretted that oath, but there it was. He waved his friend out to the exit of the alleyway and pointed him to a small farmhouse barely visible a walk down from the path they were on. "You remember my home, right? If you don't, there it is. Go and tell my father I sent you, and he will feed you. Tell him I will be out late on business relating to my profession."
He turned, and with a feeling of deep terror at facing the Romans directly he walked to the center of the village. He ducked behind a crate the old woman Ruth had placed outside of her home, and saw that the Roman he had spotted before was now facing several of his fellow Exorcists. One appeared to be Matrion, and he believed the other was Onyx. He had little time to befriend all of his co-workers, but Zech had at least taken the effort to learn their names. And now they appeared to be in a direct confrontation. The Roman was speaking both Latin and Aramaic, though he intended for them to speak his native tongue.
That stirred something in him, and he stood up and proclaimed "Invader, if you will speak then you shall do it in the tongue of the people you wish to put under your heel."
He took in a shivering breath as he realized the gravity of revealing himself like this. His heart nearly stopped out of shock and dread.
