Tablet Guardian Drabbles

5. The Lost Empire

A bright golden light blinded Larry as he broke the cage Ahk was in, the others behind him. His mind flashed back to all those months ago as Ahk was lifted into the sky by the power of the Heart, the living crystal acting quickly in order to protect the occupants of Akhetaten. When a man named Roosevelt originally had sought out Larry for the expedition to find the lost city, the poor man was ready to cry at the absurdity of it all. The fact that he would see this instead of his grandfather Nicholas made him rather sad at the fact that the only person who would have believed Larry couldn't be by his side except for his old hat and a photograph taken years ago. A bright light shot past Larry before hitting the edge of the statue of Wadjet, his eyes glowing gold as he rose from the water, years of disuse causing the plants to be ripped from his back. Statues of Horus, Bast, Kebechet and Ra also ascend from the water before clapping their hands together. As they pulled apart, a barrier began to form around the city before being encased in lava. Larry watched in fascination as the lava immediately hardened before cracking into a million pieces, breaking away and taking chunks of land with it. The natives and Larry's friends cheered as the catastrophe was averted, but all the linguist cared about right now was whether Ahkmenrah survived.  

As the smoke cleared, Larry looked to the sky to see Ahk being lowered to the ground. The former night guard to the Smithsonian rushed over, catching Ahk before he could touch the ground. When the light vanished, Ahk fell into Larry's arms, unconscious. It took a few seconds for the prince to wake up, making Larry thank the gods that Ahk seemed unharmed. Ahk blinked owlishly before looking up, immediately making eye contact with him. "Larry?" he breathed out, confused. Larry smiled in reassurance, causing Ahkmenrah to give him a small smile in return before frowning in confusion. Looking down at his hand, he found the bracelet with the Eye of Horus, something he had not seen since his mother Shepseheret was taken from him by the Heart. Ahk held it tightly to his chest before relaxing into Larry. Larry embraced the prince, trying to reassure him that everything would be alright now. They remained like this for a few minutes. When Ahk pulled away, Larry pointed to their crowd. Ahk smiled brightly at those who stayed behind to protect Akhetaten: Wea, Jed, Oct, Atilla, and Wilhelmina, with the latter smoking a cigarette. Looking beyond them, Ahk walked toward the edge of the platform, looking down to see the once-great civilization thrive again, Larry and the others joining him. Without looking away, Ahk grabbed Larry's hand, intertwining their fingers. Larry gave his prince's hand a reassuring squeeze, as if to say I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.