Von Tabby pushed aside a jungle vine and tumbled off a cliff.
"Look out!" called his guide, a whisker too late.
Von Tabby skidded to the base of the cliff and lay, panting, for several long moments before he flopped onto his back and stared at the adobe city that hung like so many wasps' nests from the heights above. "Incredible," he breathed.
He stood and wiped the blood from his trousers. "Who built this place?"
"Pygmies," his guide called from the top of the cliff.
"Pygmies? But there aren't any Pygmies for a thousand miles around." Von Tabby adjusted his helmet and attempted to scale the rocks he had just descended. On his third attempt he managed to climb to the nearest dwelling, which he entered through a hole in the bottom.
He looked about the little room. It was empty except for dust and a few scraps from a decayed mat. Someone had left fingerprints in the clay walls when they were still soft. From the roof of the little room he hoisted himself up to the next house.
The youngest kitten in a litter of twelve, von Tabby had always known he would have to earn his kibble. At sixteen he ran away from home, bade the kingdom of Meowstria farewell, and headed into the jungle. He quickly rose to distinction in the corps, mapped the Orinpurr River, and led the first successful expedition through the Azatian Rapids.
Now he was in search of the lost city of Brudeil. Excitement took hold as he leapt from precarious perch to perch across the abandoned cliff-dwellings. What had possessed these people to build their homes in such a remotes and inaccessible place--and then abandon them?
He reached one of the highest dwellings, set into a hollow in the cliff. Inside he found a ring of miniature clay vessels, like the one he was inside of, affixed to the roof. The light was fading, but he peeked into the mouth of one of the hives and found a second ring of even smaller hives.
What lay within? Were there even smaller hives, the size of pinheads, within the tiny dwellings? As he broke off one of the grape-sized balls, a buzzing filled his mind. A shadow fell across the room. When had he last seen his guide? He squeezed the ball of clay. Before he scaled the cliff?
The buzzing increased. Night covered the ruins. Von Tabby collapsed. The tiny hive rolled from his palm.
A torch flared in the darkness. Sir Magnus of Hyderabad secured his rope at the top of the cliff and leapt down.
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