A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 20 - The Triptych II

The sun outside didn't reflect the mood or condition of those inside the Manor. The morning started almost the same way for everyone, open their eyes, move a limb and groan from the soreness in their muscles.

The training yesterday took more out of them than they could imagine, but now not only women were struggling. The Death Eaters who took great pride in their physical shape and exercises they went through weekly or even daily still struggled with pulling themselves out of their beds, as the day they spent training and training newcomers was more intense than they anticipated.

This morning no one splashed each other with cold water or tried to drag one another out of bed, allowing those who need it to sleep in and regain some of the lost energy.

Around midday everyone was out of their rooms, most of them silently eating their breakfasts as Alden made sure everyone got a piece of bread down their throats before taking a potion from him, one he handed out with a fair amount of smugness on his face, knowing the key to other's comfort lay in the vial he brought.

The day promised to stay calm and give those needing it a break, but the hopes were quickly crushed when Viridian personally announced that everyone had 10 minutes to finish up whatever they were in the middle of and make their way to the potions chamber in the dungeons of the Manor.

Training days weren't over as it looked, considering the men were the first ones to take their spots in a modified working chamber of Alden's. Down were brought chairs, making space for all of those who would prefer to sit down rather than stand and listen.

Alden was talking to Evander in a hushed tone as they both stood in front of a work table which was littered with various vials, dry ingredients and several plants. Other Death Eaters found themselves sitting down in chairs while Avery sat on the small sofa in the corner of the room, Dirca soon joining him as the women arrived at the room.

The space was too small for 12 people to simply function without creating trouble for each other, so a decision was made to exclude the group training and look more towards theory instead. Considering the nature of the training they were about to receive, creating a practical problem to solve would be quite troublesome.

Alden cleared his throat as he looked over the ten people seated in the room, the girls preferring to stay by each other's side creating a clear divide between themselves and the Death Eaters. Apart from the couple sitting on the sofa, they didn't mind the divide of their groups as they were using every moment to be together.

"I would start with a good morning, but it's way past morning at this point," Alden who was up earlier than others today, found himself rather amusing, "Welcome to your second day of training, yesterday was eventful and I assume some of you truly enjoyed it."

Lestrange was the one to confirm his statement with a lazy smirk.

"Yesterday you learned how to cause damage, how to defend yourself and how to attack if needed. You learned how to cause damage and today we are going to learn how to undo it, we are going to learn what to do if the attacker was stronger or smarter than you." Viridian went on.

Malfoy allowed himself a smug look.

"All of you know the basics, considering healing potions were a part of the school curriculum. But as you got a little taste yesterday, you won't have time or the opportunity to make potions when someone is aiming for your throat. That's why today we will go through fight first aid, what to do with common and complex injuries, which spells to know and what to do when you find yourself or one of your... friends bleeding, in shock or with their intestines outside." Alden smiled as if such topics and knowledge were the weather or a chat with his mates about sports.