Wintercraft: Legacy Read Free

than that refused to make anysense. It was like trying to remember a dream when most of it had already faded away.
    The wind tugged at Kate’s long black hair as she leaned against the guardrail separating her from the sea. The coast of Albion emerged slowly as an inky sprawl of cliffs in the distance, and as the ship drew closer to the shore the gentle energies of the veil began to settle around her. The powerful influence of the woman on deck prevented her thoughts from venturing too far into the realm that lingered between the living and the dead, but that, she had been told, was for her own protection.
    Dalliah Grey claimed that Kate was her student and she was her teacher, and had promised that Kate’s memory would gradually return over time. When Kate looked at the woman she expected to feel some flicker of recognition, or at least a slight hint of trust, yet all she felt was a dull creeping sense of unease.
    Dalliah left the captain’s side and climbed the steps to join Kate where she stood looking towards the coast. ‘The veil is at its most powerful in these lands,’ said Dalliah. ‘You will experience changes as we approach the shore. That is natural. Make sure you are prepared.’
    Frost played across Dalliah’s fingertips and gathered on her eyelashes as the veil’s influence swept in across the water. Kate remembered what she had been told. She breathed in deeply and gripped the guardrail as tightly as she could. The chill of air in her lungs and the ache in her fingers grounded her physical senses more strongly to the living world, but even that could not prevent her own skin from frosting briefly as the veil whispered around her.
    Kate wanted to let her soul reach out and reconnect with her country, her home, but she could feel Dalliah watching her, quietly studying her reaction to the land’s unique atmosphere. Just being close to Albion again made Kate’s blood pulse with steady energy. If she pushed herself, she was sure she could break the restriction Dalliah had placed upon her, but she had the unsettling feeling that she was being tested. If what she had been told about her life was true, nothing would be lost by being cautious. If something else was happening and she pushed too far, Dalliah would simply strengthen her hold. It was better to appear weak than to risk showing too much resistance, at least until she could discover the truth about their journey.
    Kate tried to close her mind against the veil, but she did not let go of it completely. She let its presence linger as a gentle whisper at the back of her thoughts and watched the souls within it drifting as a hint of grey haze seen at the very edges of her vision. She tucked her hands into her sleeves, concealing the frost that was spreading across her fingers, then closed her eyes against the cold wind and listened secretly to a sound that few people could hear. It was a hollow sound, empty and dull, like an echo of a voice fading in an empty room. It was the kind of noise most people would forget about as soon as they heard it, but for those who recognised what they were listening to it was the most amazing sound in the world.
    Kate was one of the Skilled: one of the rare few who could hear the voices of souls that had not yet made the full journey into death. She could hear thousands ofwhispers, thoughts and cries bleeding from the shores of Albion, becoming louder as the ship travelled in towards a small cove. She could not make out any distinct words, but the more she listened, the clearer her own clutch of scattered memories became. She remembered fire and smoke, and a circle made of carved symbols drawn upon an old stone floor. She tried to hold the memory and let it grow, until Dalliah’s cold hand touched hers, forcing her to open her eyes.
    Dalliah’s face was inches away from her own, her eyes sharp with curiosity. When Kate tried to step back, the woman held her still.
    ‘What can you see out there?’ she asked.
    Kate did