A streak of red light flew through the air, hitting the target between the eyes. A second one followed almost as fast as the first one, this one aimed at a second target. Both hits were immediately followed by the ring of a bell, indicating a bullseye. Marcus holstered his wand in the harness he had specially made to keep the tool hidden and accessible. It was handy when he was an Auror, but even more handy as a politician. For all appearances, Marcus appeared to be unarmed. he hasn't needed to draw his wand in four years as the Minister of Magic, hence this training session tonight.

Twice a month, he would meet up with Alex in the dead of night to keep their skills sharp. It was a small patch of land in the countryside that Marcus had developed with Alex, specifically for the purpose of training. Over the last four years, the two had installed different obstacles and targets. Some were just standard targets, others were cheesy Wizarding versions of human shaped targets that would have been right at home in an old wild west shooting game. It was fun, but it was also practical.

Marcus had been training for almost a half an hour. A towel lay on a nearby table at the start of the training course, and Marcus used it to wipe off the beads of sweat that gathered at his brow. He looked around the area, hoping that Alex would show up sometime. It was already a half an hour into their usual training time, and Alex was late. Marcus thought it was because of paperwork, and then instantly dismissed that notion. It was Alex, so it definately wasn't because of paperwork.

Today had been a busy day.  First it had started off with a meeting with Headmaster Greyfriar about the security measures for Remembering day.  Then after a brief meeting with a different individual in Hogsmeade, had ran into a old school mate from his days at Hogwarts.  Ms. Jasmine-Lori Black, to which was now a Professor at the school.  After that he headed back to the Ministry to see to anything that could not be belated to another time.  When all of that was said and done, he was late with meeting the Minister of Magic and his old partner, Marcus Annwyl.  But Alex certainly always had the energy for training.

As the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, there was little reason for him to ever draw his own wand.  After all he had a load of Aurors and Hitwards to do it for him.  He could stay behind a desk for the rest of his life if he so choose.  But Alex was more of a man of action, despite his talent on being able to lead the department, he was more natural as a fighter, a field agent.  His speciality through his career had been capture and retrieval.  If your target was a tough catch, you took Alex.  That was just a well known fact.

Stepping onto the training field, targets began to pop up and he smiled.  Alex's wand was attached under his left arm, just below the wrist.  Spring loaded so just a flick of his wrist brought his wand out and into his hand.  Two stabs in the air released his first two and in a quick twist and jump in the air he turned and did the same again.  He heard all the bells ring within seconds of each other as he moved on, landing his jump he began to move in a sprint as more targets began to appeared further along his path.

This objective was simple enough.  Aiming while on the run.  He released his stun spells in rapid succession, and never missing a target as he ran just a bit faster as time went on.  He was catching up to where Marcus was and stopped next to his old partner.

"Sorry about the wait," he said as he blasted two more targets without really looking at them.  "It's been a busy day.  Had a meeting with Headmaster Greyfriar about Remembering day.  I'm sure you've been busy with similar things."

"Busy doesn't even begin to describe it," Marcus said while hastily folding up his towel and setting it on the table, "This whole Kingstreet thing has got me all tied up. My biggest problem isn't even the paperwork, which is impeccibly done by the way." If there was one thing Kingstreet was good at, it was her organizational skills. "The problem is my potential conflict of interest. We were the ones that apprehended her, but I'm also required to serve in the vacated seat of the Chief Warlock. You can see how it can be hard to remain neutral."

Marcus took a drink out of his water bottle and sighed. "Neutraility is one of my job descriptions, and in reality it's probably not going to be difficult. It's just that..." Marcus took another drink and scratched his head, "She's done so much for us in the past, before the whole Voldemort thing. When we were undercover fighting the IRA, she was the one that processed the paperwork every time we found a dark wizard."

Marcus put down the water bottle and looked out on the training ground, "I probably shouldn't be talking about it with you like this, chain-of-command and all that." Marcus turned to Alex and requested/demanded, "This conversation doesn't leave this place." Marcus knew he didn't have to say it, but he felt it necessary for the sake of covering his backside. Politics have a funny way of biting you in it at the most inappropriate of times. "So what kept you so long? A part of me thought you weren't going to make it."

"This whole Kingstreet thing has got me all tied up. My biggest problem isn't even the paperwork, which is impeccibly done by the way."

Of course it was.  He remembered how Kingstreet loathed whenever Alex was supposed to finish up any paperwork.  Mostly because he hated it, and she couldn't stand it if a t wasn't crossed correctly.  Alex was a fighter not a english major.  So that had been a constant annoyance in that relationship.  Back when she had been a lawyer.

"She's done so much for us in the past, before the whole Voldemort thing. When we were undercover fighting the IRA, she was the one that processed the paperwork every time we found a dark wizard."

Yeah that was true, but that didn't make up for what she had done.  "Everyone changes, regardless of how good she was at her job.  She knew what she was doing.  We knew that she wasn't under imperio, and hell wasn't even a Death Eater."  Alex added but stopping himself.  He was under a great deal of stress because of the whole ordeal as well.  Both of them couldn't maintain neutrality in this case.  The two of them had owed a lot to Kingstreet in the years before the 2nd Rise of Voldemort.  Thanks to her help a lot of dark wizards had been put behind for a very long time.  As long as Kingstreet could get them in for.  So when Alex and Marcus had their initial thoughts that Kingstreet was involved in some foul play, the two had almost written it off.

There was just too much that had happened during that time, and a lot of it Alex wanted to forget.  But now ten years later...they had no choice but to open old wounds.

"This conversation doesn't leave this place."

Alex merely nodded.  They had always been partners and so being in their positions meant they weren't supposed to tell each other everything.  However, it had a habit of happening anyway.  There wasn't anyone else that he respected as much as Marcus.  But with all the crap over the years they had faced together, anyone would understand that.

"So what kept you so long? A part of me thought you weren't going to make it."

"I had to stop by my office and double check there wasn't anything immediate I needed to get too.  With Remembering Day coming up and the event at Hogwarts I have my hands full with preparations.  Shouldn't be a problem, as I have a few Auror's sitting on their thumbs at the moment.  But it'll be good for morale to see them out in force," Alex knew that it wasn't often for the wizarding community to see the ones that were responsible for protecting them.  That was why this was so important.

"Enough about that though.  Lets get into some training, I need to get out some tension before I go a little crazy,"  It probably had a lot to do with the meeting with Knox that happened in the morning.  Or maybe just because of the whole day.  Either way he just wanted to get some exercise.

Marcus began to run towards the first obstacle, vaulting over the wooden wall as if it was second nature, pulling out of his wand and Stunning two targets. A bell sounded, notifying that he had his the bullseye. A cardboard cutout of a nefarious fake wizard sprung up and shot a baseball at Marcus. Without thinking, Marcus threw up a Shielding Spell, and the ball bounced off the wave of energy. Alex vaulted off Marcus' back and jumpkicked the cardboard cutout, breaking it in half.

"Alex?!" Marcus said, irritated that Alex had broken one of the training dummies.

"What, we're training!" Alex said with a rebuttal.

"You kicked it!" Marcus said, somehow surprised by his friend's actions.

"It's what I do! It's out thing, quit messing it up!" Alex paused, looking as irritated as Marcus had a second ago. "Besides, we can repair it. Or did you forget we're Wizards?"

Marcus just simply shrugged, forgetting that little fact. Marcus proceeded to dash across the course, hitting targets as he ran. Alex was catching up to him, and then surpassing him quickly. Alex had always been faster, but Marcus was more resourceful. He aimed the wand at Alex's feet and turned the ground beneath him to mud. Marcus sped past him, grinning along the way. Then he ran straight into a solid wall of light.

"You did that last time, and now you pay for it." Alex ran past Marcus, laughing along the way. "You want to play, I can play!"

"Yeah, that was my fault. That was definately my fault," Marcus said, chuckling while repairing his bloody nose.

(God modding approved)

Despite the road block Alex had suddenly given Marcus, his old partner wasn't far behind them as they neared the next section of their training course.  Up ahead was a long balance beam that went over a mock pit.  (Basically the pit appeared deep but was actually only about a four foot drop.)  After that was a steep barricade and then a heavy intensified group of fake baddies.

Alex was running and didn't stop when it came to the balance beam.  He was still running and going down the balance beam with ease, as if it wasn't even an obstacle.  That was until he felt he footing go strange on him.  He was no longer on the balance beam but in the air.  High enough that Marcus ran underneath him.

"Be careful on the landing," Marcus called as he continued down the balance beam.

Alex landed safely back on the balance beam and went back into running down it towards where Marcus was.  Aiming his wand, he waited until Marcus was off and about to climb up onto the barricade and then sent a spell, slamming Marcus rather hard against the barricade. 

"That's a cheap shot," Marcus muttered as Alex came next him.

"So was yours." Alex said as the two looked at each other.

"But yours hurt.  That's my nose, twice now."  Marcus said as he fixed his nose once more.

"You want to punch me?" Alex laughed.

"What kind of question is that?" Marcus was genuinly surprised, even if this was hardly the first time he had been asked that question.

"You heard what I said, do you want to punch me?" Alex highlighted two of the words, half trying to egg on Marcus and half wanting him to answer the damn question.

"That is a loaded question, and you know it." Marcus responded, moving his wand ever so slightly towards Alex's feet. "If I say yes, you'll throw a spell that traps me and yell out, 'How does it fell to want?" If I say no, then you'll throw a spell that traps me and yell out something disgusting and unnecessary."

"I know, you just can't win." Alex said with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Marcus shot out an entanglment spell, but Alex deflected it with a Shielding Spell.

"Why would you try something like that, I saw it coming a mile away."

"Yeah..." Marcus ran towards the next part of the course, and Alex followed close behind... for about a half of a second. Alex fell to the ground, his feet trapped by a series of ropes. "You saw the second spell from a mile away!" Marcus yelled out to Alex, who was quickly leaving earshot.

The next portion of the training course was a series of monkey bars hanging over another mock pit. Cutouts would, at random times, pop out and shoot baseballs, and took quick reflexes as well as balance and strength to avoid being pelted. Marcus cleared the first set of bars when he felt a warm jolt hit his back. "What the..." Marcus was only able to get two words out before falling to the ground in fits of laughter. "This is..." More laughter. "Got to be..." More laughter. "The stupidest spell you've done!" The laughter continued, the compulsion nearly overriding Marcus' ability to form a coherent sentence. "I feel like a... giggly little girl!"

"Trust me, you definately look like a giggly little girl!" Alex yelled while crossing the second round of monkey bars. "Don't worry, I'll tell everybody!"

Alex continued across the monkey bars and watched as he got to the big end.  Five of the cutouts jumped out and all shot at him.  He had only a few seconds to react so he moved with a very high speed that only a trained warrior could do.  He swung his feet up into the monkey bars, and let go with his hands.  He hung from his legs and using his wand deflected each baseball directly back at the cutouts.  Only a few of them hit their targets, but the fact he was able to stop them all was incredibly impressive.  Of course the only one that ever saw him was the one still on the ground giggling like a girl.  Which was in a word.  Priceless.

After all who would ever believe that the Minister could be reduced to such a state.  Dropping back to the ground he turned back and undid his spell and offered a hand to help Marcus to his feet. 

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself.  You might as well have a big target on your back when you are on the monkey bars.  I mean you knew I was going to hit you with something."  Alex laughed a bit.  As he did two more cutouts popped up and shot at them. 

Alex and Marcus jumped back to back and deflected them with ease.  But then in rapid fire, many more came up and added their own baseballs to the mix.  Soon the two of them were locked in a constant state of deflection, unable to even send out counter attack spells, as they were outnumbered by the sheer number of the cutouts.

"Marcus...did you add something to the training course?" Alex yelled out.

"I thought we could use the extra challenge," Marcus yelled back.

"I think you went a little overboard this time," Alex muttered as he focused himself on the task at hand.  Alex changed his tactic and started firing off blasting charms to counter each oncoming baseball, and pretty much turning them to ash on contact.  But he was managing to get through with follow up spells and began, very slowly to dwindle down the number of cutouts attacking them.  "Nevermind, this is a lot more fun than I thought!"

"Yeah, uh, I had forgotten how many of these I had installed the last time I did an upgrade," Marcus revealed as he Deflected baseballs. "It's probably for the best, considering how much of an advantage it would have given me. Speaking of..." Marcus broke from his round of Deflecting spells to Disarm Alex. The wand went flying just a few feet away. Unfortunately for him, the baseballs would continue their assault.

However, Marcus could not in good conscience let Alex get pummeled by the oncoming baseballs. Well, not allof them anyway. He sent out his own Blasting charms in quick succession, only pausing to resume Deflection. "Have fun getting hit by baseballs. I have to go."

Marcus knew that Alex wasn't going to be stalled for long, but he made him laugh like a little girl! Under normal circumstances, it would have been a bit morally unbalanced to let your friend be attacked by baseballs simply because he made you giggle. This was Alex though, someone who ups the ante on just about everything. It would balance out eventually.

The course's track came to a 90 degree angle bend, leading to the next obstacle. There were a series of wooden dummies spinning long sticks. They were each attached to a long track and rapidly approaching. If you took too long to think, or if you missed with even one shot, you'd be beaten by the sticks. This section was called The Motivator.

Suddenly, a large tree came flying over Marcus' head. The wooden dummies fell off their tracks and crumpled into a pile. Marcus couldn't help but laugh at what had just occured. That is, until he turned around and saw yet another tree careening at him. He moved his wand up in an upward swiping motion, and what looked to be a ripple of energy followed close behind. Upon contact, the tree disintigrated into ash, falling all around Marcus.

Alex ran up to Marcus, "Does it taste good?"

It was clear that Alex was referring to the sudden influx of ash, some of which had fallen into Marcus' mouth. He coughed and spit, "No, ash doesn't taste good." Marcus quickly recovered from the experience, "Where did you get those trees?"

"They were around. I figured you'd deflect it somehow, I just didn't figure on the heat shield thing. You know you could have just used a Shielding charm, right?"

"If you've got it, flaunt it." Marcus came to a realization, "What if I didn't turn around?"

"Hmm, I don't know," Alex said thoughtfully. "I didn't really think about that."

They both travelled forward, hopping over the remains of The Motivator. The next obstacle was a tricky one, and something that Marcus hadn't even tried yet. It was a large angled floor that was meant to be ran across quickly. Along the angled floor were knee-high wooden barriers that were intended to impede progress. At the bottom of the angled floor was a pit filled with water. The nature of tha floor made it nearly impossible to jump over the obstacles while still maintaining balance and footing. There were several ways to get through it, almost all of them involving quick and precise magic.

Slowing his run to observe the next area, Marcus allowed Alex to pass him. With a path mapped out in his head, Marcus quickly gained speed and closed the gap between him and Alex. "I've got an idea," Marcus said as Alex passed him. Alex was much quicker than Marcus ever was, which meant that Alex had the same idea.

Alex jumped onto the angled floor, maintaining his speed throughout. The first barrier came up quickly, and Alex looked to be ready. One could blast the barrier to create a pathway, but the reaction time needed to do so for all four of them was not possible at this time of night. Vaulting over them was another possibility, but in order to keep one's balance and footing, one would have to use magic to reposition themselves after the landing. Doing this four times was not favorable, as it would make the venture much too slow.

Instead, Alex jumped onto the upwardmost edge of the first barrier and used it as a platform to jump onto the very edge of the top of the angled floor. He ran to the other side, balancing on the delicate edge as he pressed forward. He slid down the floor when he reached the end and levelled his wand at the barriers, Blasting them seconds before Marcus passed through.

All except the last barrier, which came as a surprise to Marcus. He barely had enough time to Blast the last one himself before he tripped over it. He moved down the floor and landed on the other side with ease. "Damnit, Alex!"

"What did you think was going to happen?" Alex yelled back.

Marcus sent a spell toward Alex's feet, turning the ground below him to the consistency of quicksand. He triumphantly ran past the sinking Alex.

Alex dug his hands in to the solid ground around him and using just his arm muscle pulled himself free, and flipped up to his feet like a pro gymnast.  He set off on a dead sprint trying to catch some ground on Marcus.  The next part of the course was a throw back to their time in the IRA conflict.  There was not baseballs being thrown in all directions as they had to reach their goal.  It was unrelenting, just like a mounted turret would be.  So trying to get back at Marcus here would be rather mean.  This time the baseballs that were being chucked from the machines were going in upwards to 90/mph.  This was the true test of their skills from this point forward.

Finding himself approaching his limit in speed he had two things to worry about.  First of all the 90 mph baseballs coming in all directions...and second the obstacles.  When they had designed it there were two ways in order to navigate this portion.  A lower and a higher course.  The difference was that the higher was much more difficult.  As in the IRA conflict, if you were more visible then you were an easier target.  Marcus was taking the lower course.  Alex was never the one to ever do the same as Marcus, so he took the higher course.

Alex jumped over a barricade of barb wire and found himself balancing on a beam as he was still being attacked in all directions.  Still he was moving with ease so far, and still able to deflect the incoming attacks.  The one advantage of taking the higher course was it was also faster...as long as you didn't fall.  Which he had fallen on a number of occasions trying to do so.  However, he didn't really feel like falling into barb wire.  But he wasn't moving fast enough.  Six baseballs headed at him at once and on all different sides.  So Alex just reacted and shifted his weight and hurled himself forward.  His flip was a little sloppy but fast and he managed to dodge them all and land back on the beam without losing his balance.  Again he was running and nearing the end of it.  The last part had four jumps and each further than the other.  And the last jump was specifically made so you had to do all the jumps consecutively or you had no hope to make it.  Alex and Marcus could probably be labeled as masochistic. 

Alex managed to quicken his pace and made the first jump, then the second...leaped to the third.  He adjusted his body landing with both legs on the third platform and propelled himself far into the air towards the last platform and flipping his body. He landed cleanly on the last one and then jumped off the platform back onto solid ground and rejoining Marcus.  He was able to make up ground and now the pair were back to being neck and neck.

"Alright one more challenge and this is over," Alex grinned.  This was about the only work out he could get anymore considering the days just weren't as exciting as they used to be...

The barricade of barb wire was daunting, but Marcus would not be jumping over it like Alex was. Marcus would be taking the lower road this time, a path he rarely takes in these training exercises. There was a small gap at the bottom of the barricade, just big enough to fit a body if compacted in the right way. Marcus got a running start and slid feet first through the gap, folding his arms and keeping his head down.

His one mistake was that he closed his eyes, and only opened them when he felt he was clear of the gap. He tucked up into a roll, and clipped his head on the edge of the small opening. Blood slowly ran down his forehead, and would eventually obstruct his vision. He would have to hurry through the obstacle before sealing up his wound, because there was no way that he was going to let Alex get ahead all because of a minor head wound.

Marcus approached the numerous parallel columns that supported the balance beams high above. Attached were thick sticks placed at seemingly random locations. The columns themselves were actually built with a rotating mechanism that allowed the sticks to turn on very deliberate intervals. The point of this section, Marcus had remembered, was to wait until the perfect moment and run through them. If timed right, the sticks would move to an unobstructed position one by one, leaving a path wide open. There was only one way to do it though, and it had to be fast.

Marcus took a runner's stance and focused on the rotation. He saw an opening, and ran at full speed. The sticks turned, left a small window to get through them, then turned again and closed the path. Marcus snagged his arm on one of the sticks, creating a nice bleeding gash along his forearm. He shrugged it off, added it to the list of injuries to fix, and worked his way to the end of the gauntlet.

The last section of the obstacle was the trickiest. More columns, this time used to support the platforms. Small handholds were placed at only two spots, side by side,  on the columns, and it was Marcus' job to grab hold, shift his weight to grab the other one, and vault over to the next one. Like the platforms above, the columns were placed exponentially farther apart. One slip up, and you fell into the water below. It wasn't dangerous, but it did severely wound the pride. Marcus continued in his sprint, and leapt to the first column.

The only real difficulty was the final column, and Marcus dreaded it as he approached it. Not backing down, he summoned all of his strength and hurled his body towards the last one. His hand reached out and... missed. The handhold was just out of reach. Thinking quickly, Marcus wrapped his legs around the column, and just barely avoided falling into the drink. Instead, he inched his way back up and grabbed onto the handhold. He sighed, relieved that he had not fallen, and hopped onto dry land.

Marcus took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to relax himself, and applied a magical salve to instantly heal his wounds. Alex hopped down off the balance beam.

"Alright one more challenge and this is over."

Marcus pulled out his wand. "Yeah," He levelled it at Alex, "Me." Did he want to give Alex time to register it by using the incantation, or was it enough that he was only going to be using a Disarming Spell?

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

When faced with a disarm spell you have a lot of options.  Some not as obvious as the others.  The first one is just a simple shield charm which could deflect it in any direction.  The second was to simply dodge the spell.  The third was to cast the same spell and thus canceling each other out.  But all of those options were a bit too simple for Alex's taste.  He could never do anything simply.

Alex grinned, and moved towards Marcus and his spell.  However the instant before the spell made contack he made his own.  "Coruscus," Alex did not opt to appear behind Marcus and instead appeared several feet to his left and then casted three spells in rapid form. 

"Aurae Sparusi!" He casted the spell three times making large slashing motions in the air with his wand.  And each time it sent a gust of wind towards Marcus that looked to be like that of a blade.  Since literally the spell meant Wind Blade.  This was more of a test, since he had never actually tried the spell out in practice...but that was why his fights with Marcus were so entertaining.  He always liked to try out his new spells he had been trying to perfect.

"I wouldn't let them hit you!" Alex called out with a large grin on his face.

"Uh huh. Is that why you're so close?" Wind Blade. Excellent. It was usually easy enough to dodge this attack, but the proximity of the spell made things much more difficult. So he pointed his wand at the ground and traced an imaginary line in front of him. A faint white glow emanated from the tip, and a wall made up of the earth formed and blocked the wind attack.

The wall crumbled upon impact, but Marcus was ready. "You want to use my Flash Step Charm, I'll use something of yours." Marcus shrugged, "It's only fair." Once the wall had completely fallen, Marcus moved forward using Alex's Propulsion Charm. He could have said the incantation, but why give away his strtegy? His skill had improved greatly over the years, and had trained himself to use wordless magic for most of his spells. If you've got it, flaunt it.

Alex wanted to get close, so Marcus got closer. He closed the distance in a split second, and for Alexs's sake decided to verbally convey what he was about to expect. Still moving forward, Marcus raised his wand arm, then brought it down in what appeared to be a shoulder tackle. He stopped right in front of Alex, moved his wand so that it was pointed at Alex, right around the stomach area, and maintained his stance and footing for the spell.

"Bestia!"

It was a form of Marcus' Force Shield Charm, with any shield connotations taken away. Alex created it as a purely active version of Marcus' defensive version. If done correctly, with meaning, the resulting force wave created made the visage of your Patronus. It was an interesting side effect of the spell, and it made it that much better. Marcus had only hoped that Alex had an adequate defense for it, otherwise he'd be in some serious trouble.

"Uh huh. Is that why you're so close?"

Alex just grinned as Marcus literally used the Earth to block his attack.  Upon impact the three spells tore right through the wall but nothing actually hit Marcus.  And, of course, he was ready with his own retaliation.  Alex opted that instead of attempting to pursue his offensive to move to the defensive. 

"You want to use my Flash Step Charm, I'll use something of yours. It's only fair."

Marcus took off in a blast using Alex very own propulsion charm.  Alex knew it would happen since he had already used Marcus' technique.  Just like anything though, one didn't get better without pushing yourself to the limit.  Doing everything you can physically do.

Alex shifted his weight as Marcus got closer.  Through his legilimency he could feel the intent behind Marus movement.  He was about to do something rather reckless.  Or no...he was just thinking that to throw him off.  But before Alex could consider his options Marcus was right on top of him with a wand pointed at his stomach.

"Bestia!

Alex literally had  seconds before impact, and he had to do something cause he knew how much that spell hurt.  No time to say the incantation he moved his wand in a upward motion as a blue shimmer met that force wave head on.  The resulting clash sent both of them backwards from each other.  This made Alex slide back away, but kept his stance.

"I think I saw the head of a bear in that mess.  Do you think that suits you?" Alex laughed a bit.  He conjured up a bottle of water and opened it and drinking it down.  "Did you want to continue?  I think that was good enough of a workout, but I'm always up for more."

"I think I saw the head of a bear in that mess.  Do you think that suits you?"

"No, I wouldn't think so. My Patronus is a raven, Alex. I'm wondering, did I connect with that move? You seem to be a bit... out of it." Marcus laughed and took a drink of his own water. It was a good workout, followed by a battle that would definately have gathered onlookers had it not taken place in such a secluded area. There were more than enough trees in the surrounding area. Not to mention the protective Charms that had been placed to block out sound.

"Did you want to continue?  I think that was good enough of a workout, but I'm always up for more."

"No, I think we'll call it good for the night. If you want battle, you'll have to take your bloodlust somewhere else." Marcus joked, but knew that if provoked to do so, Alex would probably do this all night. He began to walk towards the exit. Alex had questioned the need for an exit when the place had been built. His justification was that they could just Apparate away.

That is, until he tried to do it. An anti-Apparation spell had been placed on the area, to prevent any unwanted visitors. The exit was just a signal to let them know that they were outside the barrier. Alex had suggested that he put a spell on the place that prevented anyone from seeing it, but Marcus was afraid that over time he would forget the exact location.

"Do you hear that?" Marcus put a hand up as if to say, 'Be quiet.' Marcus looked in all directions, trying to find the source of the sound. "It sounds like, crying?" Who could be out here besides Marcus and Alex? And who would be crying? "No, not crying." Marcus looked towards the designated exit and saw several bodies shuffling towards them.

"Moaning. Alex?" Marcus looked over at his friend, who had seen it at the same time, "Why are there Inferi in our training ground?" Marcus' question clearly downplayed the severity of the situation. The revelation of these lifeless husks meant that there was not only someone who knew of this place, but had scouted it enough to know when Marcus and Alex arrive to train. Are they watching us now? Marcus thought, but dared not to look. The last thing he needed was the enemy to get a good laugh out of this supposed ambush.

Dozens of them slowly approached the two. In small groups, Inferi were no more than a nuisance. In large numbers, however, they could definately pose a problem. "Alex, I don't think our workout is over."