Chapter 814: Chapter 815: Two Children Terror and fear should have been the emotions that flashed through their eyes at seeing something so terrifying, but what Damon saw instead was a deep curiosity and interest in what he had just done. The girl looked at Damon while speaking to her brother. "Lyn, you’re right, it’s magic..." her voice was calm as the raft drifted along the river, the current rocking it gently. Damon narrowed his eyes, standing on the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. His gaze remained fixed on the children as he gave them a quick appraisal. For all intents and purposes these two were just children. The girl was ten and her brother was thirteen. They were children. Damon wasn’t that much older than them when it came to age, being only seventeen, but with what he had lived through he might as well have been an old monster. He wasn’t as paranoid as he used to be, but he was still cautious of them. He slowly walked toward the raft. Then he stopped in front of it. With a small kick of his leg he pushed it toward the riverbank, causing them to fall flat on their faces from the sudden movement. There was a small thud as wet mud splashed against the side of the raft and soaked their clothes. The boy, Lyn, stood up quickly, shaking himself off before helping the girl to her feet. Damon turned into a shadow and flowed across the water, reforming on the riverbank ahead of them. The two children watched him with a sudden degree of apprehension now etched on their faces. After all, they would be wise to be cautious of strangers. "Stay behind me, Sithara," the boy whispered to his sister. She nodded and began to move her mana quietly, her fingers trembling as she tried to shape a spell. As Damon approached them, Lazarak suddenly jumped into the air and landed between them with a soft smile, his tiny feet sinking slightly into the mud. "My goodness, children. Actual innocent children. I haven’t run into a child in thousands of years." Lazarak seemed genuinely excited to see the two of them, his tone light and almost cheerful. His words made the children relax just a bit. "You just saw a bunch of children not long ago. Thousands of them," Damon muttered, referring to the Mother of Stillbirths and her brood of stillborns. The children glanced at each other, then looked down at the tiny toddler speaking to them as if they weren’t older than him, at least physically. "A talking baby..." the girl muttered. Lazarak’s lips twitched. "I’m a god, dammit." Damon sneered. "Yeah. God dammit..." Lazarak slapped his knees, considering that was the limit of his height. "Stop making puns. This is hardly the time. We need to spread my magnificence and gain followers." Damon rolled his eyes as Lazarak cleared his throat and straightened his posture, putting on a godly act. His aura rose gently, a wave of darkness seeping from the ground and curling around his small form. "I am Lazarak, god of darkness, peace, and serenity." He paused, waiting for them to recognize the name. The two of them glanced at each other, then turned back to Lazarak. "Never heard of you..." Lazarak’s aura deflated instantly. His face went pale, his small hands trembling at his sides. "Wh... what... I... I am... no... I mean..." he stammered. "You haven’t heard of me? Surely you’ve heard of my greatness. God of peace and darkness. Brother of Aetherus..." The two seemed confused until he mentioned Aetherus. "Oh, Aetherus. Yeah, we’ve heard of him. We’re from Aetherus after all, god of light," Lyn replied. "But we don’t think he has a brother." The girl, Sithara, bit her lip and looked at Lazarak. "You shouldn’t claim to be a god’s brother. You’ll get in trouble." Damon glanced at the two of them. It was obvious they were siblings. The boy had short, glossy dark hair and green eyes. His build wasn’t very prominent, but his eyes carried a spark of deep curiosity. Even from where he stood Damon could tell the boy was calculating risks, weighing possibilities of escape. As for the girl, she had the same dark glossy hair, though hers was longer and tied into a braid behind her. Her eyes were a softer green, similar yet different from her brother’s, as if she already knew most answers and simply wanted to confirm them. She had strong intuition. Their clothes were patched and soaked from the river. Damon didn’t have time to waste with them. "Who are you, brats, and where are you from." Lazarak was still distraught over not being recognized, but Damon didn’t want to waste time on that. "My name is Lyn, and this is my sister Sithara," the boy answered calmly. Then he slowly bowed, his sister following after him. "Thank you for saving us. We are grateful." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖 Damon didn’t respond. He simply asked the next question. "Where are you from, and how did you end up here." The two looked at each other. "We are from a place on Aetherus called Aerona. Our father did something that offended the lesser gods, so we were all punished by being sent here, like many others." Damon glanced at Lazarak, who shrugged. That much was true. Lazarak had mentioned this place was a prison. Damon hadn’t been able to use Eye of Veracity before since he didn’t have his own body, but now that he could, he had no reservations. "And where is your father now," he asked slowly. The boy hesitated, then bit his lip. "He’s gone. Our father is dead. He died when the chained people came." Damon raised an eyebrow. "Chained people." Lazarak nodded, answering his doubts. "The Chained are the natives of this realm. They are more or less the same races as in Aetherus, though they act as wardens and trap outsiders. In a broader sense, a Chained refers to those who worship Seraph Null and follow his creed." Damon nodded slowly. Then he turned to the children. Without hesitation, he grabbed the boy by the neck and lifted him off the ground, his grip firm and his expression cold. "Why did you lie? Your father isn’t dead, is he." The little girl screamed and tried to blast Damon with magic, but a single glance from him made her legs freeze. An overwhelming aura of fear consumed her entire body. Lazarak raised his hand, darkness spreading around them all. "Now now, my friend. Calm down..."