“Yeah,” I say, shaking myself out of my thoughts.
As we move through the cornfield this time, I feel as if things are different. I don’t know how to explain it, but I call for us to stop.
“What’s wrong,” Knots calls and backtracks to me.
“I don’t know how to explain it. Levi, can you make sure no one can hear us?” I ask.
He furrows his eyes but does as I ask, nodding once done.
“I feel like we’re being followed or that we’re not alone here,” I state, shrugging. “I know how crazy this sounds.”
“Don’t ever question yourself, JP,” Knots says, grabbing my shoulder. “You have a warrior’s heart. Trust it and your intuition.”
“Okay.” I nod, not knowing how else to answer. I’ve never thought of myself as a warrior. I’m a lover, not usually a fighter, but knowing that a warrior in his own right sees that part in me makes me proud.
“Are we still going the right way?” Levi asks.
“Yeah, straight ahead.”
“You take point. I’ll watch our back,” Knots says, nodding for Levi to drop his bubble.
As I start walking, I pay attention to my path before us and stop when I see one of the stalks move on its own. Without saying anything, I send some water into the stalk, shaking it until an ear of corn falls to the ground with a small scream. My jaw drops as four more wilted ears pop off the dry stalk and shakily stand up on legs that are made up of the dry husk. They push back their dried and dark silk as if it is hair and peel back the husks that make up their arms, exposing their kernels as they brush the dirt off of them.
“I’m not the only one seeing this, am I?” Knots asks as he comes up close behind me.
“Nope.”
“They're kinda cute,” Levi admits, and that’s when they look up and finally notice us.
Their wide eyes are part of their kernel body, and they stare a moment before they narrow, opening their mouths and exposing a forked tongue with a hiss. They jump and turn to face us,taking a wide stance as their kernels expand, showing a thin but deadly glint in the middle of each one.
Are those spikes?
Hundreds of spiked kernels face us as if the corn on the cob knobs were armed to the teeth.
“Um, still think they are cute?” I ask Levi.
Before he can answer, the stalks around us begin to shake as ears of corn fall off and land around us. Tiny legs pop out of the husk as they stand and peel back their leaves, exposing their shiny spikes. One by one, cruel expressions appear along their bodies as they face us.
“Now, this might be a problem. They’re Poppa-Corns,” Knots says as I quickly assess our options, which aren’t many.
“Quick, get together,” I say quickly, thinking back to the time I used my hollow bubble during the attack at the Hub. “Stay close,” I shout quickly as I tap into my magic.
In the blink of an eye, I create a massive water bubble and hollow out the inside so we can stay dry and breathe. My powers seem to come faster and more precisely since my time with L.A.M.B., and it shows. Just with a thought, the water all around us begins to move in different directions, adding extra protection as the corn running toward us triggers us to move.
“Let’s go. Moni is this way,” I raised my voice over the roar.
Leading the way, we move as one swift entity. Swerve left, move right, and run over the Poppa-Corns standing in our way. It’s a fucking warzone out here.
“Watch out,” Knots yells as we dodge left from some dark shadows coming toward us from our right.
Soon enough, we leave the fray, our legs outrunning those of the children of the corn, and we come to another clearing, but this one is empty.
I slowly let my magic dissipate as we come to the center and look around. Even though I’ve gained more strength and controlover my powers, I’m still not great with the new tattoo and need to concentrate more on trying to find Moni.
“Well, this one is at least empty,” Knots says, looking around.
“I’m not sure how fast those little buggers can move, but I’m sure we are ahead of them. I don’t like the idea of being surrounded. That was good thinking on your part, JP.” Levi nods with a smile.
