The wraith stopped a few metres from them and became difficult to see. They could only make out a slight shadow in the area.

“Uhh,” Cheela glanced from the wraith to Selene. “It’s under your control?”

“Yes,” Selene nodded.

“How many can you control?” Meelara asked.

“Not many,” Selene frowned. “I don’t think I can handle more than three. Taking control of it is very demanding, and I need to supply a stream of Spirituality to maintain the control.”

“Right,” Cheela sighed. “What can it do?”

“Uhh, let me see,” Selene closed her eyes and turned her senses to the connection between her and the wraith. “OK, so… It can possess a target, which will deal constant damage; cold, and necrotic… Its attacks are of the same damage types and can ignore physical defences. It’s incorporeal, so it can pass through objects that aren’t infused with spirituality.”

“So,” Cheela frowned. “As long as we create a shield of spirituality around ourselves, we should be able to avoid being possessed.”

“Right,” Meelara agreed. “But, doing that will be draining, especially if we’re attacked.”

“Yeah,” Cheela nodded. “Can you sense more of them?”

“Yes,” Selened pointed in a few directions. “I think there are four more of them nearby, and there are some other creatures as well, but I can’t identify them. I can try to dominate one of each type.”

“That would be good,” Cheela nodded. “Don’t push yourself though.”

Selene took a breath and closed her eyes. She activated Undead Echoes, reached out her senses to one of the new signatures, and pushed her Spirituality through. She once again felt the resistance, and the overwhelming negative emotions in the target, but it came under her control.

“Another one done,” Selene muttered as she turned her sights to the last unique signature. “Far easier than the wraith. I’m going for another.”

The last one was by far the hardest, as it took Selene a long time to break through the resistance. In addition to the overwhelming blend of negative emotions, she heard whispered groans in her mind.

“It’s trying to affect me,” she realized as she gritted her teeth. “It wants to control me by making me give up. I won’t! I’ve come too far. I’ve just started on the Path, and I refuse to give up on this hope.”

She mustered most of her remaining Spirituality, sent it through the link, and flooded the undead creature.

She breathed a deep sigh of relief as she felt it fall under her control. Then she ordered the two undead minions to approach.

The first one was a shambling corpse; it moved slowly and looked like it would fall apart at any moment. As it walked around the corner of a building, an arm fell to the ground.

“Useless…,” Selene grumbled.

“Yeah,” Cheela nodded. “Those are the lowest tier of undead. Barely reanimated corpses. They’re only dangerous in huge numbers.”

Selene nodded and watched as the last creature dashed around the corner. With a smirk, she ordered it to take out the shambling zombie, and as a blur, it rushed at it. Selene saw long claws and sharp teeth dripping with a green liquid. It had pale grey, gaunt skin and was entirely hairless. Its eyes looked like deep, black pits of malice.

It tore into the zombie, tearing it apart before it settled down and looked toward Selene and the group.

“That’s a ghoul,” Meelara said with raised eyebrows. “Those are nasty buggers. Though as nails, and filled with venom. Well done, girl.”

“Yeah,” Selene breathed heavily, but she smiled. “It was difficult to take control of it. Far harder than the wraith. I don’t sense any other ghouls in the area, but there are lots of zombies in every direction and a few wraiths.”

“Right,” Cheela nodded. “The zombies are not a big threat. Meelara should be able to handle a large number on her own. The wraiths are worse though. They can only be damaged by magical damage. We don’t have that many mages…”

“I think I can handle another wraith,” Selene said. “I just need a moment to recover. My wraith might also be able to handle another one. I think I can supply it with energy to resist damage, but it will cost me my Spirituality.”

“Right,” Cheela said as she frowned slightly. “I think we should keep moving. You take it easy and recover. Take control of a wraith if, and when you can. As we move, you can send your ghoul and wraith to assist us.”

“Sounds good,” Selene nodded before she frowned. “Is there a way to mark my minions? So, you don’t have to worry? Otherwise, you might waste resources to attack a friendly creature.”

“I think that as long as they attack our enemies, we should be able to differentiate,” Meelara smirked.

“Right,” Selene grimaced. “Yeah, let’s go. I’ll have the ghoul help Meelara with the normal zombies.”

The group moved slowly through the ruined city. They passed through intersections that were littered with rubble, pockmarked streets, and through a large building that looked to be a slight breeze from collapsing. All the while they were attacked by various undead creatures.

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Selene’s ghoul and Meelara made quick work of the zombies. Meelara’s flaming sword cut them down in swathes, and the ghoul dashed through the shambling corpses, cutting them into shreds in passing.

She took control of another wraith after a small moment of resistance and used them to deal with the other wraiths, taking some attention off the few magic users in the group.

They stopped their advance when they neared a towering spire at the heart of the city. Despite the damage to the surrounding city, this spire seemed almost pristine.

“It’s made from some sort of Spiritual material,” Cheela explained. “That’s why it’s still standing. The ones who built this city put a lot of wealth into it, likely hoping for it to survive, and be used as a final hold-out.”

“The Crystal is inside?” Selene asked.

“Yes,” Cheela nodded.

“Does anyone know what happened to this city?” Selene asked with furrowed brows. They’d witnessed a lot of damage, but most of it seemed to be from the cavern collapsing, and not fighting.

“From what we know,” Cheela explained as she leaned against a wall. “It was called Hades; named after the underworld of one of the old religions of the Natives. It was among the last cities of the resistance, but they gave up and abandoned it. They then, deal some damage to the cavern, hoping for it to be buried.”

“How does nobody else know?” Selene frowned. “If you know, then the other Invaders should as well, right?”

“No,” Cheela shook her head and smiled ruefully. “We, or rather, Mark learned it from one of the Native slaves he saved during one of our operations. It’s highly unlikely that anyone told the Invaders before or after that.”

“Alright,” Selene said, frowning. “I’ll take your word for it…”

“...,.” Cheela looked at Selene for a few seconds in silence before she turned to the rest of the group. “We’ll rest up here for a while, take turns keeping watch.”

“No need,” Selene said. “The wraiths and the ghoul can keep watch. They have some intelligence and can act independently on my orders. They can give a warning if anything approaches. Anything less than a ghoul, an army of zombies or several wraiths, they can handle on their own.”

“Huh,” Cheela blinked rapidly before smiling. “Nice work. Alright folks, rest up.”

Selene closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. From time to time, she’d shift her senses to her minions and use their eyes. The wraiths didn’t have much of a normal vision but sent out regular pulses of spiritual energy, which would bounce off and return to it, and used this to ‘see’, in addition, it could sense vital energies. The group was lit up in their senses. The ghoul had the same vital sense, but had a much better normal vision, though it was somewhat blurry. Its dark vision was far superior to Selene’s though.

Only a few zombies shambled over, which were quickly defeated by the ghoul, letting the group rest in peace.

The group took their time to eat, and meditate. They chatted quietly with each other.

“How’s it going?” Meelara asked Selene.

“It’s fine,” Selene answered as she nibbled on some dried meat. “It’s taking a bit longer than normal to recover since I’m maintaining control of the minions, but it’s not too bad.”

“Can you control any more?” Meelara sat down next to her and placed her hands behind her head.

“I don’t think so,” Selene shook her head. “Or, I could, but I would lose Spirituality. I’d eventually run out and lose control.”

“Right,” Meelara nodded. “You could do it, though, just control one more, send it in to take out a bunch, or divert attention before dying.”

“Yeah,” Selene pondered the idea. “That could work. The only issue is the cost of taking control in the first place. It’s quite demanding. Might be a tactic in the future.”

“Mhm.”

“What do you think we’ll find in the spire?” Selene asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Hard to say,” Meelara frowned. “It could be clear, empty, since it’s a fortified building. It was abandoned, so it might be sealed. On the other hand, an abandoned building made with Spiritual material tends to draw the attention of monsters. We might face a dangerous enemy.”

“I see,” Selene sighed.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re taking our time recovering now. We need to be at peak condition.”

“What’s the most difficult fight you’ve had?” Selene asked, turning toward Meelara.

“There was…,” Meelara frowned. “Yeah, there was this adolescent dragon. Not very big, but the scales were tough and it was fast and strong. My blade broke halfway through the fight.”

“How did you beat it with a broken sword?” Selene interjected, wide-eyed.

“Hah,” Meelara smirked and puffed out her chest. “I pummeled it. Eventually, I wore it out, knocked out most of its teeth, and shoved my flaming fist down its throat.”

“You burned a dragon from the inside?” Selene frowned.

“Hehe,” Meelara preened. “Yeah. Dragons don’t really become resistant to fire before they’re adults. They start to develop a breath weapon in their juvenile stage, and during this process, they grow resistant.”

“Wow,” Selene sighed. “That’s pretty cool.”

“If you carry on your Path, you’re likely to face far more dangerous opponents,” Meelara said in a low voice. Her eyes were downcast, and her smile was rueful. “There are a lot of dragons under the God of Life, and he’s going to oppose you any chance he gets.”

“Oh,” Selene looked down and fell into silence.

“So, I’ll have to fight dragons,” she thought. “I mean…. I knew I’d have to face dangerous enemies, but dragons… They’re legendary creatures. What am I thinking? Don’t worry about that now, Selene. Focus on the present so you can prepare for the future.”

She shook her head and smiled.

“When that happens, I’ll be ready!” Selene said with conviction. “And I expect you to be there, right beside me, like you promised.”

“Hah,” Meelara lifted her head and smiled widely. “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Thank you, Meelara,” Selene said as she smiled at her friend and mentor. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if it wasn’t for you.”

“Bah!” Meelara waved her hands. “Don’t go all mushy on me, girl. I don’t… You’re resourceful. You would have figured something out.”

“I’m not so sure,” Selene smiled slightly. “I was just moving blindly when you showed up… And if you hadn’t been there, there would have been three enemies I’d have to fight, rather than the one. I’d have lost that fight… I barely beat the one guy, and that was through luck.”

Meelara didn’t respond. She wrapped her arm around Selene’s shoulder, as they waited.