Garath laughed. He was tickled that, even during this apocalyptic fuckstorm, these people surrounding him were making jokes and laughing. They all knew it wasn't a game or a nightmare but, like himself, they used humor to mask overwhelming anxiety or fear.
“The real question though, is whether it’s just Ghouls and those Archers again or if they hit us with something new,” Todoroken offered as he approached what was quickly becoming somewhat of a clique in the fighting force.
“That’s an easy one,” Garath said, smiling confidently at the doctor and closet gamer. “The Archers will come back as Tamers with skeleton dogs.”
Todoroken’s serious expression cracked and he broke into a laugh. Upon seeing the doctor’s smile, Garath finally realized just how out of place a serious expression had looked on him. Having only just met the guy, of course Garath hadn’t known anything was off about the doctor’s expression but, as soon as he started laughing, it was evident that Todoroken was not a particularly serious individual.
“How do you figure?” the doctor asked, sliding his glasses up his nose.
“Just a shot in the dark.” Garath shrugged. “That or…” he stopped mid-sentence as the orbs began to spark and vibrate.
“Or?” Athios asked urgently. She flicked her burned out cigarette to the ground.
“I guess we’re about to find out,” Garath said. With a quick series of mental commands to navigate his MENU panels, Garath altered his voice to reach the entire Raid. “One minute to wave four, get to positions.”
In the seconds that followed, several members of The Band left the Church of Immaculate Conception to join Garath on the asphalt outside the building, took up their previous formation, and collectively held their breath as the orbs swelled and started to take shape once again. As they had with the first three waves, the Raid members moved aside to allow space for the monster balls suspended over their heads to drop to ground level and the melee fighters formed up around them them.The orbs reached their fourth climax of the day and an eardrum shaking 'boom!' heralded the start of the fourth wave.
When the first creatures spawned from the monster balls, still motionless as their bodies solidified, Garath easily recognized the now-familiar form of more Fetid Ghouls with their uniform scimitars and bucklers. He was also able to make out the curved bow of several Skeletal Archers in the surrounding area. The Necrologist continued to scan form after form as quickly as his eyes could move from one to the next but he wasn’t able to identify anything they hadn’t already encountered. The new addition for the fourth wave, if there was one at all, did not make itself immediately apparent.
As the undead finished taking shape and whatever level of consciousness that gave them the will to move entered their bodies, the closest one to Garath - just between himself and the healers standing at the ready in the doorway - wasn’t holding a weapon of any kind. It also lacked the hunks of rotting muscle and bits of greasy hair the Ghoul’s had hanging to their bones. Garath quickly triggered Inspect.
Skeletal Magi
Undead
Health: 50/50
Level: 10
Station: Mage
Mana: 180/180
Description: Skeletal Magi sling spells of various elemental Magics.
Average Respawn Time: 10 minutes
Level Range: 9-11
*Note: Skeletal Magi came about as a consequence of ill advised experimentation explored by students of the Arcane Order. In their attempt to summon an army of magically enhanced undead, the Arcane Order brought Tanus to un-life. The first of his kind, and the most powerful, Tanus continued the research initiated by the Arcane Order to bring about the Skeletal Magi.
Garath dismissed the informational table and projected his voice to the Raid at the exact moment the endless army of undead jolted into action. “The all white ones without weapons are Magic users,” he told them.
The bone-white Skeletal Magi’s head swiveled unnaturally, balancing atop its vertebra like some plastic children's toy, as it chose a target. The process took only milliseconds, but it seemed to Garath that the ‘mindless’ creature was gauging threat and he couldn’t help wondering what factored into the decision. Its gaze ultimately landed on Fergus and fiery orange balls formed around each of its hands as it readied its spell and took aim.
Garath funneled the required Mana into the casting of a Death Bolt aimed at the Skeletal Magi just in front of him. He released the spell and a ball of pitch black energy shot from between his outstretched left hand and the staff in his right. The orb smashed into his target, connecting hard and parting the monster with over a third of the Health displayed in the red bar hovering over its head.
“Treat them just like the Archers,” he said, again projecting his words to the entire Raid group.
And that is exactly what they did, at first. Within a few minutes it became clear that the Magi posed a larger threat even than the Archers. Not only did the newest addition to the undead army inflict greater damage with their spells than their bow wielding allies, they were also able to cast an area of effect ice magic spell that slowed the movement speed and casting time of The Band’s fighting force. Garath promptly amended his instructions to make the Magi a priority target over the Archers for The Band's ranged fighters.
As the fourth wave of The Culling pressed on, The Band of the Hawk became very aware that the undead horde with its improved arsenal of ranged fighters was not their only attacker. The new clock system displayed on Garath’s MENU panels may have read 10:43GST, but the mid-afternoon sun was high in the sky and was bearing down hard with no concern for what time this ‘system’ claimed it to be. Garath noticed his Stamina draining faster as the afternoon grew hotter and The Band had to increase the frequency of
