The pair ran through the night, sprinting at top speed. They would need to cover as much ground as possible. "You're sure there are bolt holes all the way there?" said David. Not needing to breathe, he wasn't winded at all by running.

"Yes. I've made the trip a couple of times in recent years, and I'm sure I remember enough to get us there."

"Good! And you're also sure we won't find the stuff any closer?"

"The nearest old city is pretty picked over by now, and we could waste months trying to search a city I don't know. This one I know, and I know where to look for what you need. Besides," added Aidan cheerfully, "This is going to be a terrific trip. You've never seen real mountains, or the ocean before!"

"No, I suppose not," said David, and then they ran on in silence.

For four nights they ran through the desert, following an old highway that threaded through narrow gorges and ran across flat plains. They passed on the second night through the ruins of the nearest great city, where high towers lay fallen and desert dust and sand were piled up against buildings that had once been opulent and luxurious, but which were now empty, everything useful stripped away, only the useless decorations of gilt and glitter left behind, dulled by decades of dust.

On the fifth night the desert stopped abruptly, and a line of gray-topped mountains, dwarfing the mountains above Aidan's cabin, which David had always thought of as high, rose directly, without any foothills, from the dry plain. The road wound its way up through them, and the two vampires followed it higher, the desert scrub giving way to a dry forest of fragrant pines. As the night waned they took shelter inside an old cabin, chinked thoroughly against the light.

"The ground here is mostly granite," explained Aidan, "And not even vampires can dig holes in granite with their bare hands."

Another night saw them across the highest point of the mountains, and descending amid a rich, damp forest where massive evergreens towered impossibly high. They wound their way through tree-covered hills, until emerging onto a rolling plain, where the straight lines of old orchards, fields and canals could still be made out faintly. It took three more nights to cross the plain, and they had to circle wide around several glowing cities. The next night they began to see ruins along the side of the crumbling road. David was amazed at the size of this ancient city, for they took shelter in a basement bolt hole that day while still amid buildings, and Aidan told him that there was almost a half day's travel yet before they reached the city's heart. "Although this wasn't really one city, it was actually several. In those days there were so many, and they grew so large that they often grew together."

The following night was cloudy and dim as they ran through the ruins. Everything seemed almost surreal, shapes looming up out of the dark as they ran. And then they crested a small hill, and David caught a glimpse of shimmering light ahead. For a moment the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, and shattered into a million reflections on the ground before him. David had never seen a large body of water before, so it took him a moment to realize that the shivered silver trail was the moonlight glancing off of waves.

"Is that the ocean?" he said.

Aidan chuckled. "No. That's a bay. Look there, across the water."

David lifted his gaze from the shifting waves, to see what must be the heart of the city lying beyond the bay. The half tumbled buildings didn't seem to be as high as the ones from the desert city, but they were clustered closely on the hill that rose from across the water, a jumble of angular, alien shapes in the moonlight. Then the moon vanished again, and the city was gone.

"Come on. The night is yet young!" Aidan laughed and sprinted down the road. David chuckled and ran after him.

Soon they came to the edge of the bay, where the road ran out across a bridge. David eyed it warily. It was large, and seemed quite solid, but he knew it had to be close to a hundred years old, at least. The road curved gradually up to the bridge, which arched high over the bay. He jogged up the slope behind Aidan, but then hesitated where the crumbling black road surface gave way to rusted metal decking.

Aidan glanced back. "Worried about the bridge collapsing?"

"It's got to be a century old, so yes." said David, irritated at his own nervousness.

Aidan nodded. "If it helps, this thing was built to drive things almost as big as road trains over, so it's all kinds of sturdy. It should be fine."

"I suppose..." said David dubiously.

"I'll fly across, so there's less weight on it, and I can fish you out if it does fall down." said Aidan. "It's either that, or swim across," he added. "Our goal is on the other side."

David nodded, and gingerly set foot on the rusted metal. It didn't budge so much as a millimeter beneath his foot, so he set off, slowly at first, but with increasing confidence as the bridge proved to still be rock solid even after so many years. Soon he was stepping off on the other side, entering the city proper.