Dr. Kidd frowned, brow creasing in a fit of concentration as his finger traced the patterns of the stonework. It was half-buried under moss and rubble, but by now, the excavation had cleared away most of the ruins.

As his hands glided over the bumps and curves and indentations, footsteps approached.

“How goes the detective work?” a bored, elderly female voice said.

Dr. Kidd clicked his tongue in frustration. “All right, I suppose. These bas-reliefs here, though, they don’t match the cultural artwork of the era.”

“Right. Which was?”

“Flat. Straight lines. Painted on, not carved.”

“And these?”

“Just the opposite. Will you get the radar and confirm this? It feels like an animal – religious icon, probably.”

The footsteps went away, and came back a few seconds later. A beep sounded. “Yep. A stone head, about three teeth still remaining, a tongue curled outward…”

“What? What is it?”

Rose, the woman, was speechless for a moment. “Dr. Kidd, I think you may have found our city.”