Ashen Light

Chapter 18: Beasts and Basalt

The sun hung low over the horizon, its golden light shimmering against the calm waters of the oasis. Palm trees swayed gently in the breeze, providing patches of shade where the group had settled. The atmosphere, though serene, carried a subtle tension—the calm after the storm.

Zack leaned back against a rock, tossing a smooth stone across the water's surface. It skipped three times before sinking. "You know," he said, breaking the silence, "we've been running into these demons for a while now, but I don't even know what to call half of them."

Skylar, sitting cross-legged nearby, glanced up from cleaning her arrows. "They're demons. Does it matter what we call them?"

"Of course, it matters!" Zack retorted, gesturing animatedly. "You can't just yell, 'Look out for that... thing!' every time we're in a fight. It's confusing."

Astro, perched on the edge of the water with his feet barely skimming the surface, looked thoughtful. "He's not wrong," he said, his tone shy but steady. "Giving them names would help us remember what they're capable of. And... it feels less chaotic."

Cyrus sat apart from the group, his blade resting across his knees. He hadn't spoken much since their last encounter, but his gaze shifted to Astro, intrigued.

Zack perked up. "Alright, Astro. You seem like the creative type. Got any ideas?"

Astro's wolf ears twitched, and his tail swayed slightly as he considered the question. "Well... the ones with all the ice and frost, like the ones Froxious summoned—maybe we call them... Frostborn?" He glanced at the others, his expression uncertain. "It's simple, but descriptive."

"Doesn't really matter what we call them, there won't be any more." Cyrus said shortly, sitting with his knees to his chest.

Skylar nodded slowly. "Frostborn works. What about the ones we've seen in the shadows before? The ones that vanish and reappear?"

"Phantoms," Zack said immediately. "Creepy as hell and always in your face. Fits, doesn't it?"

Cyrus finally spoke, his voice low but clear. "We might need to group them by more than just what they look like. If the ones Froxious summoned were Frostborn, they could be connected to him or... his domain."

Astro tilted his head. "Domain?"

Cyrus met his gaze. "If Froxious was as powerful as he seemed, he's not the only one. There could be others like him—demons tied to specific elements or aspects. It's just a guess, but it fits what we've seen so far."

The group fell silent for a moment, considering this. Then Zack broke it with a grin. "Alright, so we've got Frostborn and Phantoms. What about that big ones with the crystal in it's chest we ran into a while back?"

Astro's eyes lit up. "Well... it was draining life from the world I'm pretty sure, so... Extractor?"

Zack laughed. "Now you're getting it!"

Skylar smirked faintly, though she didn't look up from her work. "We'll be like a traveling demon catalog before long."

Cyrus couldn't help but smile at their banter, though his mind lingered on Froxious's words. If there were other powerful demons like him, each with their own domains, their journey was far from over.

"Let's just hope we don't need to name too many more," he said finally, his tone dry.

Zack tossed another rock into the water. "Too late for that, pal. Naming things is fun. Besides," he added, leaning back with a grin, "it makes us sound more like a team, doesn't it?"

Astro's tail wagged slightly at that, though he quickly tried to hide it. "A team... yeah."

For the first time in days, the group relaxed, the tension of their journey momentarily forgotten as they worked together to make sense of the chaos they faced.