That night, a small army of goblins left our forest sanctuary and departed for the ruined Carverstead, with Dirx and I, their coveted Corn Commander, leading the pack of 12. Some armed with cheap daggers and others, iron spears, we marched out towards the still-smoldering ruins, a graveyard for the apparent 10,000 or so souls that once called it home.
After giving my corn body a long, oddly tongue-involved kiss, Lyka had handed me off to Dirx, where I now found myself riding in a satchel around the rotund goblin's hip. I watched the group from above via several fireflies that I'd taken control of, helping to light our way forward as we advanced. A part of me wondered if Lysander or the other Mage Corps members might be lying in wait to ambush us and finish the job that the reaper suspiciously did not finish the last time. Of course, it had been weeks since.
Our mission now was meeting an apparent roving pack of undead skeletons. Dirx explained that the likes of zombies, skeletons, or other low-level undeads needed human bodies to add to their numbers, so the sites of battlefields or massacres were often popular destinations for them sometime following. As the Franturro army had been fairly present in the area until recent, it made sense that they had to wait until a night like that night to make a move.
"Hold up," Dirx whispered as he raised clasped fist. "I think I hear rattling bones. That, or my knees are acting up again."
"I'll find out," I whispered telepathically and deployed one of my glittering insect hosts forward.
Floating above the moonlit grass below, I scanned the rolling plains for signs of movement. Climbing against the cool breeze to around 200 feet in the air, I searched and searched, only to find nothing. I turned around to return to the group, only to spot movement coming up from behind the dozen goblins.
"What business have you, goblin-folk?" a haggard, trembling skeleton asked as it emerged from the blanket of night. Naked, its bones were grey and stripped of any flesh. "You come armed to a graveyard tonight."
A counted at least 20 of them. Some unarmed, other skeletons had bits of armor on and wielded small, short bows. Slinging an arrow, those with bows stood back and aimed their weapons towards my goblin group.
"Well since we're meeting now face-to-face, a survivor from Carverstead has declared the dead here off limits to you and your ranks," Dirx explained calmly. "We came armed because we were unsure of how you and your people might react to us telling you to let the dead rest."
"A wise decision, and to extend the courtesy, I will now warn you and yours to begone. Or else," the skeleton warned as it reached into its rib cage and pulled out a pulsating black orb.
"A-a soul pearl!" one of the goblins piped up in shock. "It's a mage!"
"Yes, I will cast a pain spell upon all of you if you impede us further," the skeleton nodded.
"Well then, Corn Commander," Dirx asked with a grin towards his satchel. "How should we proceed?"
"Dirx!" I exclaimed confidently. "Throw me!"
I was ready.
As the shaggy-haired goblin threw my corn body towards them, the skeletons were caught off guard at seeing the wayward vegetable fly their way. Before the archers could fire off a volley, I withdrew from my insect hosts and activated my corn vision, now seeing a 360 degree view of the world flipping upside down. Channeling a mere pinch of my retained kernel energy, I initiated a shockwave upon landing in the middle of the skeleton group.
Floating into the air, surrounded in a spherical shield of energy, I blasted back the entire group of lanky, bony undead. Thrown off their feet, the skeletons tumbled around the ground from the shockwave, with some of them even breaking to bits of bone from the impact. The stronger ones weren't down for long, their rusted bits of armor saving from as they began to stagger towards me. One launched an arrow, but the flint-tipped projectile broke to pieces as it harmlessly collided with my energy barrier. Now freely manipulating my kernels, I moved the shield and extended it to hit several of the undead at once.
"What is that!? A talisman?" the skeleton leader hissed in shock as he raised the black stone in his palm while extending his other hand forward.
Using the barrier to reach out and bash 5 skeletons at once, reducing them to crumbled bones, I watched as what looked like black lighting shot from the bony finger tips of the leader. Focusing on my inner defense, I willed the barrier to thicken to the point that it withstood the undead magic and shielded my veggie form from harm. In awe, the skeleton growled as it prepared to attack again, but I didn't allow it a second move.
Extending my barrier and grasping the skeleton with my red kernel energy, I lifted it into the air, where its jaw noisily clamped and wailed as it became fully immobilized. Not giving up, its trembling arm pointed the "soul pearl" towards me and glowed a sinister dark purple, but I ended things before it had a chance to cast a spell.
My observing goblin group gasped and cheered as I ripped the skeleton to pieces above them, causing the bones to rain down on the field below. Watching their leader effortlessly torn apart, any skeleton that was still on its feet turned and stumbled into the darkness away from us in a hasty retreat.
"Dang, corn man," Dirx chuckled as I floated over and landed in his opened hand. "Why did you even take us with you? This battle was all your doing!"
"You guys were my back up, I mean who else could slay our enemies if I were to fall?" I responded humbly.
But internally, I was pretty ecstatic. Moving and combat as a corn cob was beginning to feel like second nature.