Monty's Master – Part 18
The narrow corridors crawled with guards holding bright torches high above their highly flammable masks.
"Hey guys, lost something?"
The first man came to a halt and slowly raised his arm until the warm light reached the smug look on Monty's face.
"How did he get out?" asked the second man.
"Oh, I don't know," said Monty, pulling a white flute from behind his back and twirling it between his fingers. "Next time you try to bury someone alive, maybe you should check it out first." And he blew a short, high-pitched note. "You know the Princess owned the only weapon that could beat the staff, right?"
The first man blinked in confusion.
"What are you waiting for?" said the second man. "Get him!"
Monty laughed and took off in the opposite direction.
Perry listened to the patter of footsteps until they became echoes in the distance and before he and Flipper came around the corner. He stopped to look back. Flipper turned, holding up his torch.
"Don't worry," he said, rubbing his bare stomach. "One-Eyebrow can throw a punch."
"I know that," Perry sighed, "that's not what I'm worried about."
He trusted Monty he truly did; only Monty didn't know how much his plans relied on improvisation.
"I just hope we're not too late," he said, resuming his walk. "What exactly does Bringdown plan to do after he releases the Snake Guards anyway?"
"Bringdown has sworn that once the king's power is in our grasp, the world will finally see that we were right all along and offer us the respect we rightfully deserve."
"That means he must have been teased at school because of his less-than-conventional interests."
"How do you know that?"
"Just your typical tragic backstory, really. But what about you, Flipper? What made you join him in the first place?"
"Flipper hasn't always looked like this," he said, flexing his enormous biceps. "Back at school, I used to be more on the heavy side. The others always made fun of me."
"Hm, yeah, I suppose some kids can be pretty mean," said Perry thoughtfully.
"Did they bully you too?"
"Um, no, actually I never really went to school," Perry said with a little shrug.
"Huh, lucky," Flipper murmured. "Anyway, then we started learning about heroes of the olden days. No one dared mess with them, they were admired by everyone. So I started training hard to be more like them, and by the time I got into high school, no one dared going anywhere near me!" Flipper stopped and looked at him. "Why'd you ask?"
"I always try to understand my enemies before I can properly defeat them. Now I know that Bringdown tapped into your shared passion as well as your deep personal insecurities."
Flipper frowned at the ground. "Well, when you put it that way..."
Perry motioned for him to stop. Several hurried voices and a hazy light drifted through the tunnel. They advanced quietly and hid behind a huge column.
Bringdown and the remaining Walrus Warriors were huddled in front of a brick wall below a tall arch carved with several ancient symbols.
"It says: Destiny lies in your own hands," Flipper whispered.
"Huh, who'd have thought people were this corny even two thousand years ago," Perry murmured. "I didn't know you knew Ancient Sanskrit."
Flipper shrugged. "It was an elective course in my second year. I still don't think you've missed much."
"This is it, boys!" Bringdown's voice boomed. "Just as I promised!"
The Walrus Warriors moved aside to reveal the statue of a man wearing many long shawls around his shoulders, and a turban decorated with beads as well as a peacock feather. The Serpent King held one of his hands to his chest and the other extended in front of him with his fingers curled at the end as if holding an invisible rope.
The doctor stood up on his tiptoes, and Perry quickly understood what he was about to do.
He grabbed the hilt of the tusk sword hanging from Flipper's belt and threw it straight forward. The Doctor gave a startled gasp, and the staff flew from his hand and hit the ground with a clang while the sword stuck into one of the cracks between bricks.
Bringdown counted his fingers one by one, let out a sigh of relief, then looked up at Perry emerging from behind the column.
"You! I knew I should have finished with you when I had the chance! I just thought it would be more entertaining to let you die a slow, agonizing death where no one would ever find your rotting bones!"
"Well then try to be more practical and less sadistic next time," Perry said, then lowered his voice and fixed him with his eyes, "unfortunately there won't be a next time."
Bringdown stiffened and looked like he was starting to reconsider, but Perry was already in midair, his good foot making contact with the mask of the warrior who had bent down to pick up the staff. The mask tore in two, and the man held onto his head, which wobbled like the tongue of a bell.
The staff slid to the feet of another Walrus Warrior who anxiously tossed it away.
"Stop the nonsense!" Bringdown bellowed, watching the scepter fly from one man to another so that he didn't even notice the massive fist slamming into his face until it was too late. He fell to the ground and clutched at his cheek, glancing down at the trail of blood that ended with one of his teeth.
"I've always wanted to do this!" Flipper said, shaking off his hand.
After shoving a man into a wall, Perry made a run for the staff only for five other men to pounce on him and his path to be blocked by a great human pile. A red-masked warrior kicked the staff which landed in the hands of his purple-masked companion who had climbed onto the plinth of the statue.
Bringdown wiped the blood from his mouth and turned from Flipper, clenching his fist in victory, "Yes!"
Perry clicked his tongue in irritation. "This ought to be good," he muttered, feeling the ground shake the moment the staff touched the statue's hand.
One by one, starting with the top row, the bricks fell off and a faint light seeped out. Bringdown strode to the stone arch and held out his hand. Purple Mask retrieved the staff and tossed it back to him.
Flipper walked over to Perry, but no one was paying attention to them anymore. After the dust cleared out, Brindown stepped over the fallen bricks, holding the staff in front of him. The Walrus Warriors sheathed their swords but kept holding onto their hilt.
If he hadn't known they were still several hundred feet underground, Perry would have thought they were back to the outside world. The air felt fresh against his skin, and when he looked up he was blinded by sunlight. Vines, bushes, and even whole trees grew out of the walls on several levels, tending more and more toward the light, and the leaves were hiding murals similar to the ones at the restaurant.
"There's no one in here," said one of the men.
"It doesn't make any sense," whispered Bringdown, pausing in front of a tall bookshelf filled with old scrolls and entire texts written on tree bark.
"Are these offerings?" asked one of the warriors, removing his mask so he could take in the smell of pumpkin bread and mango cake slices laying on a gilded tray next to a bowl full of vegetable curry. "They're still fresh."
"Fresher than you think," Perry murmured, looking at rows and rows of large, round pumpkins and bushy spinach bunches growing behind a small stone fence.
"They must be close! Keep looking, and don't touch anything!" said Bringdown.
Flipper reached for a clay horse figurine which he began to turn in his hand.
"Um, Flipper," Perry said. "I know you don't take Bringdown's orders anymore, but perhaps you should listen to him this once."
Flipper set the horse back on the shelf but froze at a sudden rustle coming from above. A single leaf broke loose and floated gently until it touched the floor.
There were several sighs of relief, but Perry didn't look away from the mango tree and didn't even flinch when several branches broke off, giving way to green flashes of color that shot down the vines, landing on the ground with a whip-like snap.
Perry could see what Mr. Sharma had meant when he had called the king's snakes true guardians, for the warriors who were closing in on them with their spears pointed forward could hardly be called snakes at all, though they were not exactly human either.
Slit-pupiled eyes glared at them from behind greasy hair. The Snake Guards had well-defined arms and abdominal muscles completely covered in thick green scales, and tails about seven feet long.
A wild grin spread across Doctor Bringdown's lips.
"Servants of the Snake King, I command you to destroy them," he said, pointing the staff at Perry and Flipper, "and feel free to start with the blue-haired one!"
"Turquoise," Perry said, crossing his arms. "If you're going to doom someone, at least do it right."
Flipper gulped, staring at the spear points that glinted in the distant sunlight.
But the Serpent Guardians made no move.
Bringdown frowned and shook the scepter.
"Boss, look out!" cried Red Mask, parrying the spear that shot towards Bringdown's head.
The Snakeman slithered back, clutching his weapon with both hands and baring his equally sharp fangs.
The Doctor was still in shock, but the Walrus Warriors had quickly drawn out their swords, and Perry pulled Flipper by the hand to the side before the Guardians charged at the others.
"The scepter didn't work!" Flipper said over the clang of weapons, hissing, and battle cries.
"Yeah, I thought something like this might happen," Perry said, dodging a spear that hit the wall behind him, and wondering if the day could get any worse.