Cameo and the Vampire by Dawn McCullough-White Read Free Book Online

thick, uneven layer of ice covered with snow that had seeped into it, making it crumbly and uncertain. A dusting of snow was dancing around them as Cameo and Opal stepped out onto the ice.
    "This seems a bad idea," Opal concluded. He gazed out over the Azez and couldn't see land on the other side, just white without definition. "Won't your Master be waiting for you over there?"
    Cameo searched his eyes, "It will be safer for you."
    He took a tentative step forward, the frozen snow crunched beneath his weight but the ice held. "I hope you're right behind me."
    She smiled. "It would be faster if I carried you."
     
     

Chapter Three
     
    Kyrian saw a figure in the distance. She was standing in the center of town, beside the community well. He ran his hand through his hair, but it was nothing more than strands of ice from warming up in taverns and then going back out into the cold. He shook his hair, but it did no good; he just got pelted in the face with the little whips his hair had become.
    As he moved closer, he made out a sign just up ahead ... Hangingford . The town of Hangingford. The girl and the well were lit up in the golden glow of a torch, still burning in a lamp overhead. The town seemed very cheery for having such a dreadful name.
    "Hello," he offered, grinning.
    The girl was close to his age, but small, with large, brown eyes and long, brown hair that she wore in braids; they swished when she walked, touching the hem of her gown. "Are you alone?" she asked.
    He looked around, "Yes."
    "Oh. We thought that you had more friends."
    "I did. I tried to persuade her to come with me, but ... she has her own path."
    She nodded sadly and began to walk up the street, motioning him to walk beside her. "I'm Sage."
    "Kyrian."
    "I like that name."
    "Thank you. I've heard it means s hrine in the old Lockenwood language."
    "Why in the world did they ever change it?" She smiled thoughtfully at him. "It's so much prettier."
    He blushed.
    "Were you far from here when you received the cry for help?"
    "In Shandow."
    She stopped and looked at him. "Truly? You were able to receive the message I sent from that distance? It was quite a long way."
    Kyrian readjusted his shoulder-pack self-consciously. "My grandfather's spirit tells me things sometimes, too. Sometimes, if the message is too far away ...."
    "Oh. Yes, that might explain it. Well, come on. Let’s go inside. No point in discussing all of this out in the cold, is there?" Sage patted her mittens together, knocking off some of the snow, and led him up a path to a gray building.
    By the looks of the building, Kyrian determined that it was another temple. The spires reaching toward the sky suggested it was a Temple of the Sun, larger than any he had seen before.
    She opened the door and stomped her boots just before she entered. "Come along. Several others have joined the cause in the past couple days."
    He removed his fur-lined gloves and stuffed them into the pockets of his coat. There was a fire burning in the hearth up ahead, and candles in sconces on either side of the room lit up the beautifully detailed frescoes.
    Kyrian sucked in a quick intake of air as he beheld the splendor of the place. There was the faint smell of incense that permeated the pews, the podium, and the hanging tapestries. The place made him realize that he had forgotten how much he missed living in a sparse room in a temple, working with his grandfather, being an acolyte.
    Sage unwrapped the long scarf she was wearing and removed her overcoat. She watched him as he marveled at the murals dedicated to the God of the Sun. "You're an acolyte, aren't you?"
    Kyrian broke from his reverie and turned toward her. "Um ... I was. I was—"
    "Oh, hello!" came a new voice from behind them. A young man in dark robes extended his hand to Kyrian. "I thought I heard someone talking out here."
    "This is Caith," Sage said, pointing to the young man of about Kyrian's age who had just joined them. "And Caith, this