Gifted With Curses

Chapter 4

Cason

I tried to read Coral's expression but it was different somehow, it was as if he'd put on a mask to make himself look easy and confident, hiding on the inside. Maybe he was like how he made himself seem but I knew there was something about him, something big. There was something this recruit wasn't telling us, and I made it my personal mission to find out what.

As we got off the train, I led the way to the Haven of Truth. To be honest, I even disliked this place. I felt like it was unfair for people to have to do this, but it was protocol. And I would follow protocol. This place could save many lives by figuring out if what people said was purely the truth and most importantly if they were a potential threat and could put the home of the witch-hunter in danger.

We were a species that seemed too important for humanity to just go extinct, it would be chaos without us. Witch-hunters brought order to the madness of the world, thwarting the plans of those who are evil from taking over the world and creating utter destruction. Without us, witches would take over and no one would be able to stop them. The army might try but it would be useless, they'd be beaten to corpses. The world would be like being ruled by the devil. Not to mention what would happen when one witch wanted the power that another had. The battles would damage entire cities, killing thousands of people. The world would be reduced to a pile of ashes, the reign of witches the last one.

I shook my head. No, witch-hunters would never be beaten, I would make sure of it. We would keep the world in order forever more. In the future, witches will just be a fairytale, extinct like the dinosaurs that once roamed the earth.

I led them down a path just off the train's platform. Its entrance were two silver trees entwined together like an archway, but anything beyond that was covered by a swath of darkness. I led them down the old path covered in dead leaves. I noticed Coral looking around in awe and couldn't help smiling. I was proud of my home. Tasmania, home of the witch-hunters. I loved to see the look on peoples faces as they saw it for the first time. I put my steeling face back on and remembered what I was doing was serious. This mission would determine whether or not Coral was actually going to hurt us. Whether or not he was a threat.

"Damn," Coral said. "This place looks ancient. When did you first build it?"

I looked back at him. "134 years ago. It was built by one of the first witch-hunters ever known to earth, Judah. He had a power that no one has ever had after him - the power of truth and justice. He powered an altar with his power and had to stay near it to keep the power running inside of it. Judah then sewed his mouth shut, saying that if he talked he would say too much. From there, he developed the idea of the altar being used to make sure people weren't a danger and had the right idea in mind. The stone makes you answer that question, and there will be voice recordings of it all around the place. Even though you can't see it, this is the place most guarded by witch-hunters. There is a security camera on nearly every tree surrounding the altar and they built the cabins close to this place."

"Wait, so if this guy built this 130 whatever years ago isn't he dead?"

"Yeah, obviously," Cammy answered sarcastically. "What do you think, us witch-hunters can make ourselves immortal? You wish!"

"I said Judah has to stay near it," I answered. "Alive or dead. Right now his corpse powers the stone."

Coral cringed. "What a nice welcome to your newest witch-hunters, showing them a dead corpse that's somehow magical."

I rolled my eyes. "It's protocol. And it'll work for the next however many years it takes before the last piece of ash from his corpse is taken by the wind."