Chapter 40: Taking a Leap

Julius just stood there conflicted, not sure what to do. Declan on the other hand just stood there patiently, waiting for him to make his decision. He didn’t put any pressure on Julius, he allowed Julius to make his own choice.

That in itself was a sign that I can trust him, Julius thought to himself.

“Okay. I want to tell you, but I have to make sure I can trust you.” Julius told Declan. “There are some things that will cause things to get ugly if they get out. I want to trust you, but—”

“But you don’t know me.” Declan finished Julius’s sentence, running a hand through his short hair.

“Yeah.”

They both didn’t say anything for a minute or so until Declan spoke up “If you are worried about trusting me, I might have a solution to that.”

“Solution? What kind of solution?” Julius asked Declan.

“At the gate earlier, I noticed that you were able to feel my aura probing right?”

Julius nodded his head in confirmation.

“It might be possible for you to feel my aura to see if I am being truthful,” Declan explained. “You wouldn’t have to be able to use it like me, but being able to sense aura means you have some sort of aura skill already, which is the hardest part of this technique.”

“And it will allow me to sense if you’re being truthful?”

“It would depend on how good you are at sensing aura. But basically, I will open up my aura and allow you to get a more in-depth feel for it.”

Julius was sort of able to follow what Declan was trying to get at. Instead of probing Declan’s aura with his own, Declan would open his up and allow Julius unfettered access, which would let him determine his intentions.

“Okay, we could at least try, right?” Julius responded.

Declan sat both of them down on the wooden planks of the floor, facing each other. Declan gave him a quick walkthrough of what he should be looking for in his aura. It was confusing and Julius didn’t quite grasp the concepts. Julius told that to Declan but he continued explaining regardless, and once he believed Julius understood enough, he started.

Julius felt Declan’s aura surround him like a blanket. He could sense how gentle Declan was being with his aura, Julius instinctually understood that if Declan wanted to, he could crush Julius within his aura with little resistance. Julius shook those thoughts away and concentrated on Declan’s aura, attempting to feel his “intent”.

Julius and Declan sat there for close to half an hour, not making any progress. However, something began to click. It was similar to sensing mana and different affinities. There were flavors and textures associated with aura. He couldn’t determine it yet, but he had a feeling that each person would have different aspects based on their personalities. In Declan’s case, Julius was able to feel a hardness that surrounded it but also a softness and warmth on the inside just underneath it.

Julius focused on digging deeper. It was made much easier because Declan was purposefully opening his metaphorical doors for Julius to explore. However, as he progressed, Julius began to realize how vulnerable it was to open up one’s aura to another. It was like getting naked in front of someone but on a spiritual level.

Julius couldn’t even begin to understand why Declan was going through this much just to help him. Getting him a room, a shower and a change of clothes was already generous enough, but for some reason, Declan felt the need to go beyond that. Now he was literally baring his soul to Julius, just so Julius would be able to trust him.

Why is he doing this? I don’t understand.

Julius was able to feel the “intent” that Declan was talking about. He could feel Declan’s emotions and knew why Declan was confident that Julius would be able to trust him after this. At the moment the predominant emotions were empathy, justice, and sorrow interestingly enough. Was this what Declan felt every time he inspected someone with his aura?

Julius opened his eyes to look at Declan now that he had established contact.

“Why are you helping me so much?” Julius asked the question he had thinking about.

He could immediately feel Declan’s aura tense at the question although his face hadn’t moved a muscle. Declan didn’t respond right away but Julius was patient and gave him time to answer. However, he had to know why Declan was doing this for him, it was important.

Finally, he could feel Declan’s aura relax and a sad feeling of acceptance came through their connection.

“I used to have a son right around your age, Isaac. Looked just like you too. Black hair, dark brown eyes, and similar facial features.” Declan paused. “Several years ago, we took a camping trip with my wife and her family, just outside of Heston. It was a trip we had taken many times before and nothing ever went wrong. The location didn’t have any rifts or monsters around so it was safe for the kids. Then one day, my older son and I went off and did some hunting like usual, but when we were gone, a pack of monsters came out of nowhere and attacked the camp. My wife and her family were all raised as hunters so they were able to handle the monsters, but my son was off exploring on his own. He always enjoyed a good adventure.”

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Declan eyes were misting up at this point but continued anyway. “I found his body torn apart several miles away from the camp. There was nothing I could do to save him. And when I saw you at the gate and then heard your story, I couldn’t help but compare you to Isaac.”