"Thirsty?" asked Blanc, offering his skin of water, after they finally managed to set the carrier down and breathe the exhaustion away.
Kael nodded, accepting the skin with pleasure, his throat a dry plain, ready to receive the blessings of rain.
And after returning it and watching his brother drink as well, he finally asked a question that had been on the tip of his tongue for a while now.
"Brother, can you show me your marks?" he asked, curiosity overshadowing his nervousness to ask such a question.
The other older siblings he had, Valar and Sera, refused him without a second thought, but he knew, deep in his soul, that Blanc wouldn't.
A smile, stolen from the best jokes mankind knew, crept on Blanc's face as he heard his brother's question.
He loved his little siblings dearly, trying to protect them as much as possible from the annoying things he found himself in because of the Noble Blood they had in their veins.
And of course, he would never refuse to show off to the twins, that's why he was on this hunt after all. It wasn't his job, yet he wanted it to be.
"But of course, Little Kael, you want to see all of them or just the stags?" he asked.
Kael's face turned for a moment into a frown, and then his eyes opened wide, the answer he received crushing any expectations he built in his heart. "All of them, please."
"As my Lord commands," jumped Blanc to his feet before getting into a gracious bow as he turned himself towards Kael, "now, where should I start… there aren't that many, but… hmm…"
"Show me the stags first!" yelled Kael, barely able to contain himself.
"As you wish, my Liege," grinned Blanc, as he began taking off the blue tunic he had on, "but you best keep it a secret."
"Not a word will be uttered."
The sight that befell Kael's eyes left him speechless.
Not because of Blanc's physique, that too was an impressive feat for one as young as he, tall and well-built, but the marks on Blanc were things he had only seen in books before, as the Vita Marks are best kept secret.
Not even their parents showed theirs. This secret was too important.
Especially for a Noble Blood as they were.
As Blanc turned around, showing everything off, the first thing that jumped into Kael's eyes was the two black antlers he bore on each side of his back.
They grew like a mighty tree from his lower back, spreading like roots along his back, stopping as they touched his ribcage and spine.
"How does it look?" Blanc asked, perhaps just as curious as Kael was.
"Black, and magnificent, of course," Kael muttered.
Blanc giggled, "Yeah, but how many points are on them? Five?"
"Uh… five each, yes, but why does it matter?"
"We will talk later, now just enjoy the view," Blanc laughed, "I'll get dressed back soon, who knows if someone appears."
Kael didn't press further, as the next marks that jumped into his eyes were the gray tusks on Blanc's lower sides, one on each, pointing the way he moved, as if ready to impale everything that getting too close was a good idea.
And the last thing Kael saw was a barely visible feather, the outline of it white, and the inside of the mark a light gray.
"Well, satisfied?" smiled Blanc from ear to ear.
Kael nodded, still processing what he saw, "Amazing," was the only thing he was able to speak out loud.
"Yes, I've been somewhat lucky," he replied, getting his tunic back on, and keeping it in place with a skin belt, "there is one more mark, but that I will keep as a secret."
"Why!" Kael cried out, "Let me see it, I beg of you." he jumped to his feet, grabbing Blanc's hand and shaking it.
"Come now, Little Kael, the afternoon is about to leave us, and those rain clouds look as friendly as Sera."
And just like that, Kael let go of Blanc's hand, starting to head ahead, towards the opening in the forest that would finally get them out.
"And what about the stag?" Blanc asked out loud.
Kael replied, not turning back, "You carry it!"
"And what if I tell you all about the marks and what they are?"
"Then I might reconsider," said Kael, stopping in his tracks.
Blanc sighed at that, "You cheeky brat, come here and help me with this stag and I might even tell you one day about that last mark, huh?"
"Deal." Kael turned around.
"Who told you all these fancy words?"
Kael giggled as he started running towards him, "I read a lot of books, you know?"
Blanc just hung his head, giving up, "I should just burn them all."
"So, what about the antlers? Why were they so different than the rest?" asked Kael, as they started their walk.
"But you said you read many books, why don't you know the answer?"
"I read the wrong kinds of books, perhaps," Kael shrugged.
And it only made Blanc sigh louder, "And what about Sera's lessons? She is supposed to teach you both about Vita."
"She is boring and annoying, she doesn't want to be there, and neither do we. She barely teaches us anything. She just complains about stuff that Father makes her do, and how almighty useless we both are."
"Ah, for Vita's sake, if she isn't dead by now, she will be once I get home." Blanc muttered, anger slipping into his words, "She was supposed to teach you everything there was to know about Vita by now. It might have been a blessing that I was the one who killed the stag."
But Kael interjected, "Can you please just tell me about the marks?"
"Ugh… fine," Blanc sighed, calming himself down, "The antler marks are close to their limit, and I've felt it today. Raw Vita is absorbing the essence of life itself. Got that so far?"
"That much I know already," Kael replied, not amused.
"Good. Then I won't explain everything. But, there is a limit as to how much of a Vita you can absorb before it stops being beneficial to kill that type of beast, and actually, if you overdo it, it will become detrimental, or might actually kill you."
"In what ways is it detrimental?" asked Kael,
"Well… once you overdo it, there might be some changes."
"Wait, so if you kill another stag, you'll grow hooves next?" Kael blurted.
"No, idiot. That's not how it works," Blanc groaned, "I felt it today, this was the fifth stag I've killed. If I keep on absorbing the Raw Vita from stags, or any deer in general, it might make me act like one. Today, some emotions I felt were… more intense, as if-"
"As if you felt the emotions of not just your own," interrupted Kael.
"Correct," nodded Blanc, "It made me feel as if every twig crack was a threat. And at some point, if I keep going, unforeseen things might happen, maybe not from a stag, but let's say the boar marks I have on my sides, there are two I've killed, and they are still gray, as they were the antlers before today. But if I kill more and they turn black, and I keep on killing and absorbing more and more, I might just go mad or die as my body changes, trying to fuse itself with the Raw Vita of the boars."
"I think I understand it," replied Kael, "and the feather one. What bird gave you that?"
"An owl," Blanc responded, "I wanted wisdom from it, but gained the ability to run very silently and to see better at night."
"Doesn't sound bad at all. It sounds cool, actually."
"It really is pretty cool." Blanc agreed.
"What other things do you get from your marks?" Kael asked.
"Maybe another time. We are leaving the forest."
"Next time we go hunting?"
"I don't see why not," Blanc concluded as they approached the way out of the forest.
Each step they took revealed more of what waited outside, and it might have been one of Blanc's favorite sights, as he never grew tired of seeing it.
As they passed each tree, more of their family's estate could be seen far away.
A mansion that only fell short of the Imperial Castle he walked into when he and his family went there to have the High Monarch Corin, bless the birth of Kael and Lune, as was tradition to all the births of Noble Blood.
The mansion was built by Blood Denegis, Blanc's family, five centuries ago.
And yet, there it stood, as high as a sentinel tree, the mansion, built of stone, stood surrounded by trees of all kinds, courtesy of Blanc's mother and her choices in plants.
Because of that, the mansion grounds felt, especially for Blanc when he was a child, like a continuation of the forest they were in earlier, as well as the forest their family-owned.
The Golden Forest.
And next to the mansion, a few hundred feet away, there lay Duldera, the city fortress that kept these parts of the Senvia Empire, as well as the Blood Denegis, safe for centuries.
With a population of a hundred thousand, it gave rise to one of the best armies of the Empire, as well as one of the strongest economies around.
The fertile land, as well as all the rivers and lakes that flowed through the domain, allowed some of the best agricultural terrain in the Empire to be born.
"Young Masters, I see the hunt went well," said a soldier who stood guard at the entrance to the forest.
A young man, in his early twenties, but an excellent soldier nonetheless, as he was a Warder, an elite group of soldiers, which had bestowed upon them a shoulder pad with the Coat of Arms of Blood Denegis.
This elite group of soldiers answers to the Head of the Blood only, protecting their interests, whatever they may be.
"It did," Blanc replied. "Any issues while we were gone?"
"None worth mentioning," the Warden started, "but you are expected at the estate."
But Blanc wasn't phased by the Warden's suggestion, "We will head there as soon as we handle the stag."
"Very well, we will let the Matriarchs know."
And with a nod from Blanc, they left the Warden behind.