Chapter 39: Entering Heston

The large man in armor was the first one to talk to Julius. “Who are you and what’s your business in Heston?” The man’s voice was quite warm and soothing despite his physical appearance.

Julius didn’t bother hiding anything, “My name is Julius and I am planning to take the Goldencrest Academy entrance exam.”

As Julius was responding, his senses picked up something. It came from the man in the long coat. Julius’s eyes snapped over to the other guard and focused on what the man was doing. It appeared like an application of aura, Julius was only able to recognize this much because of his previous exposure to the troll mage’s aura. The man was similar in that it was incredibly subtle, but it was much more refined than the trolls.

Julius saw the tall man’s eyes raise minutely, surprised that Julius managed to detect the subtle probe. Julius believed that the man was using his aura to somehow detect if Julius was being truthful or not. Having a way to determine the truth would make sense considering they were dictating who to let into the city.

The guard in the back interrupted his friend who was about to ask another question, “What happened to you?” The guard asked him while waving his arm pointing out Julius’s choice of attire. The man’s voice was quite the contrast between the first guard. It was sharp and commanding, like the voice of someone who was used to giving orders.

Now that Julius was pretty sure that there wasn’t a point to lying, he made sure to tell the truth, but also make sure not to divulge too many details. He thought about how he was going to answer for a second.

“I got separated from my family and found myself alone in the wilderness fighting against monsters. Eventually, I made my way over there.” Julius turned and pointed at the hill in the distance. “And now here I am.”

Julius felt the man’s aura wash over him, probing him and determining whether or not Julius was being truthful. The man’s sharp gaze also roved over Julius, and he felt like all his secrets were exposed to this man. Finally, the man seemed to be comfortable that Julius wasn’t lying to him and relaxed.

Then the guard walked up close to Julius and got on one knee so that his head was only at Julius’s chest. Then he reached over and laid a hand on Julius’s grimy shoulder, giving Julius a small empathetic look.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you know where you were when you lost contact with your family?” The guard asked Julius.

Julius dropped his head and shook it, “I have no idea where they might be, I don’t even know if they are still alive.”

“It’s going to be okay, maybe they also found their way to Heston. What are their names I will check if we have noted anyone with them coming through.”

Julius paused, he didn’t expect the man to ask about their names. He would rather not have to give out their names, Lukas and Edwin weren’t uncommon names but he wanted to be careful.

The guard seemed to notice the indecision on Julius’s face and understood that there was some sort of reason why he was hesitant to share their names. He turned to his partner and said, “Hey Orus, I’m going to take this young man back to the guardhouse. Keep watch for me in the meantime.”

Orus, the man in armor just nodded his head in response and started to check the next person in line. Then the other man looked back at Julius, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up back at the guardhouse. There should be some spare clothes lying around as well.”

Julius was tentative about following this man back to the guardhouse. Still, the man had been quite kind to Julius so far, so he decided to give the man a chance. Julius followed the man past the main gate, walking through and seeing beautiful buildings placed around a very wide stone path that led to a large square. The square seemed to be some sort of intersection that had large signs and directions to where specific sections of the city were.

The guard didn’t take Julius to the square. Instead, they approached one of the larger buildings off to the side of the path. A large gold and black banner was hanging from the front of the building, displaying a gold dragon in the middle of it.

Another two guards were standing in front, both holding spears and backs straight as an arrow. As the front gate guard walked up to them, they stepped aside, giving a salute as Julius and the man passed them.

When the two of them walked through the doors, Julius could make out a massive common room. It had many large mahogany-colored wood pillars stretching to the high ceiling and many tables scattered around the premises. Many guards who were off duty were either eating or just hanging out with each other, laughing and talking loudly. Most of them were wearing similar gold and black uniforms, but their top buttons were unsnapped and flared open. Several of the men who noticed their entrance stood up and saluted the guard escorting Julius.

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Julius took note of the respect these men were showing to the guard who brought him in. This man must be a high-ranking officer or someone important, he thought to himself.

Eventually, they made their way past the common area and up a set of stairs. Then they walked down a warmly lit hallway. The man randomly stopped at a door and turned the doorknob, stepping into the room. Julius had stopped in the hallway and the man was turning on some lights in the room.