They continued to gallop for a long while, always following the edge of the canyon to their left. The countryside had opened up into a large grassy field. Single trees of different types dotted the field with only a few small clusters here and there. The same went for the opposite side of the canyon. “Where are we going?” Tom asked as his stomach growled.

Chaphar stopped and said, “Up there.”

Tom looked up ahead and saw the first hint of human habitation. This was more than a hint, though; it was evidence, almost proof. There in front of them, nearly a mile away yet, was a huge city. The buildings were a muddy color with red outlines. Most were flat roofed and many stood at least five stories high. “Whoa,” Tom said in a low voice.

“That’s it? You have nothing else to say on our architecture?” Chaphar asked trying to look at him, but quickly finding he couldn’t.

“What, you mean horses made that?” Tom asked looking down at Chaphar for a second.

“We certainly helped, but not really, no.”

“Than what do you mean by ‘our’?”

“Nearly every sentient creature works together here, even if we don’t live together. I am a horse and I live in a herd, not a city. The pterodactyls have designed their own city: Ramus. Most of them live either there or other places where they establish colonies. I could go on and on, but you get my point.”

“Wait, dinosaurs? Real dinosaurs?” Tom said with a little worry in his voice.

“Why are you nervous? There’s nothing to worry about, at least with them. If you see a dragon, then worry.” Chaphar began walking again.

“I think I want to go home now,” Tom said trying to slip off, but Chaphar started trotting.

“Oh come on, I thought you were hungry. You must be able to find something in with your own kind,” Chaphar said picking up speed to a gallop.

Tom growled, “If anything bad happens, it’s your fault.”

“Oh, how is that?” Chaphar asked looking back behind him. “I can’t send you home. It wasn’t me who brought you here. When it’s your time to go home, it will be He who sends you not me.”

“Who’s this ‘he’?”

“He’ll let you know when He wants to.”

Tom frowned and looked to his left. He was surprised when he saw another city, built the same way, on the other side of the canyon. The canyon was extremely narrow here compared to other areas, maybe only three hundred yards total. That distance was cut into thirds, though, by two plateaus of rock that were even with the ground level.

These plateaus looked like things Tom had seen in pictures of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon isn’t always a clean crack in the ground. Sometimes it had areas that were untouched. Some of these could almost be mistaken for the opposite wall of the canyon, but were really just a slab of free standing rock.

Between the two cities stretched a huge bridge. It was wide, nearly a four lane highway across. It was making use of the two plateaus, turning them into pillars, although, since these plateaus were large, the bridge actually looked like three separate bridges.

It wasn’t until now that Tom noticed he couldn’t see the bottom of the canyon. It was totally obscured by something. Some black cloud. The plateaus seemed to be floating on the cloud. “Nice bridge,” Tom commented.

“Thanks!” Chaphar said looking over at it. “These are the Twin Cities: Ciphrah over here, and Cepher over there. These are also known as The Crossover since this is the only place to cross the canyon without flying.”