Monty's Master – Part 19
Monty kept running without looking back. The deep yells and heavy trots told him that the Walrus Warriors were not far behind. He turned left, slipped through a large, oval-shaped hole in the wall, and found himself in a long, dark chamber.
Tall statues loomed on either side of the wall, covered in vines and small tufts of wildflowers growing out of the cracks. Monty reached the end of the chamber at record speed and blew his flute.
Hazy light spilled over the stone slabs at the entrance as the Walrus Warriors filed in, waving their torches.
"It came from here," said the first man, motioning for the rest to follow him in a quick march.
Monty, who was hiding behind the last of the statues, quickly moved behind the next. He then took his chance, using the shadows cast by the statues to stay out of sight and the clatter of heavy feet to camouflage his own footsteps hurrying in the opposite direction. And by the time the Warriors reached the back wall, Monty had already crossed the threshold.
Another golden cobra stood to his left. Because they had been using Bringdown's scepter to get past the obstacles, the Warriors had probably mistaken it for a decorative item, but Monty had no problem twisting the snake's head and watching with satisfaction as the crack in the wall closed in.
The group of warriors turned back at the rattle of stone and Monty waved them off before they faded out of view.
"I suppose Perry was right," he said, running his finger over the label under the mouthpiece, "must have skipped the gift shop otherwise they would have known the Princess's Flute wasn't made in China."
And he blew one more time just for the sake of it.
Perry tried his best to remain neutral, which was quite new to him. But he had to remind himself that this was not his fight.
"You aren't making this easy," he said between his teeth, blocking a spear with a brass vase.
The snakeman stopped and glanced down. Perry followed his direction and saw a large scratch along the brim. The snake hissed, flicking his forked tongue, but did not raise his weapon again.
Perry tapped his chin and tossed the vase away just to test his theory. The snakeman slid to the side and coiled his tail around the base. It was a close save, but perhaps all the objects jumbled together were not just for decoration after all, and the serpents' mission to protect the tomb did not stop at the king's remains.
Before he could give it a second thought, however, he found himself pushed towards a round brick well located right in the center of the chamber where most of the light fell in. He looked behind him and made out a faint glow in the deep. Perry held the shaft firmly with both hands; only the snake must have sensed the dry blood because he tilted his spear to the left, putting all his weight into it. Perry's knee gave way and he was slammed against the margin of the well.
"Two can play dirty," he muttered, keeping his eyes locked on the snake who continued to thrust into him, not noticing Perry sliding his good foot under the roped bucket. It flipped in the air and landed upside down on top of the snake's head, who backed away immediately.
Flipper was throwing mangoes at three Guardians attempting to catch them. When he ran out of ammo he used the wicker basket as a shield, which only seemed to make the snakes angrier.
"I really think we should leave their stuff alone," Perry said, watching Purple Mask being slammed into a ceramic vase that shattered into pieces.
"Yeah, well maybe you should have thought about this before you threw my sword into a wall," said Flipper, tossing aside the basket which now had a large hole in the middle.
"Fair point," Perry said, climbing on top of a spear that had stuck between two stone slabs to get a better vantage point. When he jumped back down he tossed the spear to Flipper. "Just hang on."
Perry ducked under locked weapons, dodging fruit, books, and copper pots flying about. He tried not to lose sight of the golden glint that led him to a stone coffin not much larger than the one they found in the princess's tomb.
Doctor Bringdown was crouching down, hiding with his hands clasped around the scepter as if his whole life hung upon it. He flinched at the sound of Perry's voice, "I think they want the scepter back. That's why they attacked you first."
"The scepter..." Bringdown whispered. "I don't understand... The scepter is the key to Nagaraj's power! Sources don't lie!"
Perry scowled. "Look around you! This world may hide many strange things, but if you still think people will just magically listen to you, well, that's just crazy."
Bringdown shook his head frantically. "I need it! It's my only chance!"
"It takes more than that to make others trust you. Just give it to me. I'll make things right."
"And why should I listen to you?"
But before Perry could tell him why, a loud swishing noise made him spring up and flip the offering tray off the coffin lid. The spear struck with full force, producing a bang much like a gong. The doctor let out a whimper and shrank away even more.
"Now do you believe me?" Perry asked, holding out his hand.
The Doctor opened his eyes and considered him for a moment, but as he rose to his feet he cast the scepter aside, shouting, "Don't let them have it!"
Perry sighed, "Not this again."
The scepter traveled from one Warrior to another, and the Guardians joined in this time, striking it with their spears so that it became difficult to follow. Perry pulled out his rope, made a loop at the end, and swung it around Red Mask's arms, causing him to drop the scepter.
Flipper held out his spear and the scepter swung above the shaft before one of his former brothers pushed him to the floor. The scepter spun in the air, and the clanking of weapons subsided, all eyes glued to it. Only Perry didn't stay still. He leaped off the shoulders of a Warrior with a mango stuck in his tusk, hung onto a spear, and propelled himself forward. He caught the scepter with one hand before plunging headfirst into the well.
Dead silence fell over the rest of the crowd and no one moved. Several seconds passed, but not a single plop was to be heard. They all huddled to the edge, but before they could take a look, a soft, feminine voice echoed from within, "It's okay. You can trust my friend," there was a short pause, "I trust him."
The Walrus Men drew back with questioning looks on their faces, but the Snake Guardians lowered their weapons at once.
Perry jumped up and landed smoothly on the stone ledge, slipping his voice recorder back into his pocket. One of the snakes carefully approached him. Perry looked at him gravely for a moment, before his face softened into a smile and he handed him the scepter.
The snake ran his scaly fingers over the gold piece and turned to his companions. Red Mask was still struggling out of his grip and tripped over the rest of the rope sprawled on the ground. The snakemen looked at each other, nodded, and began to tear the vines from the wall.
Flipper rose to his feet and crept up to Perry while the Guardians surrounded Bringdown and the rest of his henchmen.
Less than five minutes later, Perry was back at the king's statue behind a large pile of tightly bound Walrus Warriors.
"Thanks again for your help," he said to the snakeman who tossed Bringdown on top of the others and rubbed his hands together.
"I won't lie," said Flipper, "you'd have made some valuable allies!"
One of the serpents crawled to them, holding a crumpled scroll of parchment.
"We're really sorry about your stuff," Perry said, suddenly aware that they couldn't understand what he was saying.
The snake simply handed him the item, letting out a short hiss.
"For me?" Perry asked, unfolding the scroll that appeared to be written in the same ancient language engraved on the stone arch.
The snakes retreated behind the statue and the bricks came together and started building on top of each other until the archway was sealed once more.
"Oh no, don't tell me I missed the Snake Guards."
Perry breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Monty.
"Does this mean you got the scepter back?" he asked, looking at Bringdown who was making muffled sounds through the vines wrapped around his mouth.
"The scepter didn't work," said Flipper.
"Huh, who would have thought Ash's grandpa was right," Monty said.
Perry glanced at the scroll, then crouched down next to the statue's plinth.
"Flipper, could you read this for me?"
"Um, of course," Flipper cleared his throat, "Here lies King Nagaraj, Keeper of Secrets and most Loyal of Friends. Not sure what it means though."
"It means the King never had anything to do with snake talking, " Perry said. "His servant was the real Snake Whisperer. Nagaraj must have lied to protect him."
"And you figured all that out from just one epitaph?" Monty asked.
Perry looked up at him and said with a grin, "A little more than that."
Monty smiled in reply.
"And when you're done with them, there's a few more locked up below," Monty told the SSSN soldiers who were loading the unmasked men into their armored cars above the ruin site.
"Hey!" Flipper said when one of the soldiers pinned his hands behind his back.
"It's okay guys, he's with us," Perry said calmly.
"Don't think so," said the soldier, studying Flipper's face, "I'm pretty sure he's in our database."
"Don't you know who this is?" whispered his colleague, sneaking a look at Perry, before saying in a louder voice, "Um, sorry about him, he's new!"
Monty looked curiously from the soldier who rushed to remove Flipper's handcuffs to Perry who was wearing a complicated expression.
"You know what, I think I'll keep it," Flipper said, holding Bringdown's tooth up to the light as the jeep's doors snapped shut in the doctor's face. "He never contributed to the offerings."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Perry asked.
"Actually, I think I'm going back to the festival. It was nice to use my muscles for something other than fighting for a change."
"I think you'd make a pretty good cheerleader," Monty said.
Flipper raised an eyebrow as though he didn't know whether to take his words as an insult or a compliment.
"So let me see if I get this straight," Monty said on their way back to the hotel. "All this time Ash was a Snake Whisperer and you recorded her voice anticipating something like this might happen?"
"That would be it," Perry said.
"So that's what you were doing when you were alone in her room?"
"Well, what did you think we were doing?" Perry asked, though part of him was afraid to know the answer.
Fortunately, his communicator started beeping, and Major Monogram's approving face appeared on the screen.
"Good job you two! Another international crisis averted! Agent P, I never doubted you for a second!"
Perry gave him a quick salute.
"Oh, and Monty, your mother and I are very proud of you!"
"Thanks, Dad! Oh, I mean… yes, Sir!" Monty saluted as well, but could barely contain his excitement once the screen went back to black.
Perry held up his hand. Monty stared at him in surprise. Perry nodded and now Monty looked like Christmas had come three months early.
He jumped up and gave Perry a big high five.