何枝可依 The Bird and the Branch

“你的力量天生就是用于毁灭的，你却不想好好利用一下?也行，你就抱着它沉进水底去吧。”

“That power of yours was meant to destroy. You don’t want to use it? Fine. Let it sink you like a stone.”

这是塔莉垭最后听到的声音，随后她就被诺克萨斯的军官推进了咸苦的海水中，这些词句如鬼魂一般缠绕着她。万幸的是，水流把她推到了岸边。四天过去了，她仍然在逃亡的路上。她跑了好久，直到艾欧尼亚的农夫和诺克萨斯的士兵筋骨折断的声音越来越远，终于杳然，她才放慢了脚步。她沿着蜿蜒的半山路跋涉，根本不敢回过头去，看一眼她撇下的成堆尸体。雪下了两天，又或者是三天?她已经不记得了。今天早晨，她经过了一座废弃的祠堂，峡谷里没来由地涌起了一阵凄寒的风。这阵风越发猛烈，最后直上天际，吹开重云，现出了清澈的蓝天。纯净欲滴的蔚蓝色，让她恍惚间以为自己又跌进了水里。塔莉垭的心里泛起了非常熟悉的感觉。她清楚地记得幼年时，金色的沙海在碧空之下绵延起伏。但这里不是恕瑞玛，这里的风也冷酷地拒绝着每一个外来者。

Those were the last words Taliyah heard from the Noxian captain before she slipped beneath the salty water, words that haunted her still. Four days had passed since that landing on the beach where she had made her escape. At first she ran, and then, when she could no longer hear the breaking bones of the Ionian farmers and Noxian soldiers, she walked. She followed the high skirts of the mountains, not daring to look back at the carnage she’d left behind. The snow had started to fall two days ago. Or maybe it was three; she couldn’t remember. This morning, as she passed an empty shrine, a cheerless air had begun to move through the valley. Now the wind grew stronger and broke through the clouds to reveal a sky clear and blue, a color so pure it felt like she was drowning again. She knew that sky. As a young child, she saw it blanket the sands. But this wasn’t Shurima. The wind here was not welcoming.

塔莉垭抱紧自己，尽力回想着家乡的热土。她的外套虽然可以隔绝飘雪，但却挡不住寒冷。孤独像一条无形的蛇，盘绕着她的身体，一点点地钻进她的骨头里。亲人远在天边——这个念头让她双腿发软，不禁跪倒在了地上。

Taliyah hugged herself, trying to remember the warmth of home. Her coat kept out the snow, but still the cold air crept in. The invisible loneliness snaked around her, sinking deep in her bones. The memory of being so far from those she loved now dropped her to her knees.

她把双手深深地塞进口袋里，抖抖索索地翻弄着几块残旧的小石子，妄图取暖。

She shoved her hands deep in her pockets, her shaking fingertips tumbling a few well-worn stones for warmth.

“好饿呀。除了饿还是饿。”塔莉垭自言自语起来。“织母啊，一只兔子，一只小鸟，哪怕是只耗子我也会吃的。”

“I am hungry. That is all this is,” Taliyah said to no one and everyone. “A hare. A little bird. Great Weaver, I would even take a mouse if it showed itself.”

就像是回应她的祈求一般，几步之外的一团积雪下发出了嘎吱嘎吱的轻响。一捧灰毛从地洞里探出头来，比她的两个拳头加起来稍小一点。

As if on command, a small crunching of powdered snow sounded several strides away from her. The culprit, a gray handful of fur no bigger than her two fists, popped its head from a burrow.

“谢谢。”她冷得牙齿打架，只能轻声呢喃着。“谢谢。谢谢你。”

“Thank you,” she whispered through chattering teeth. “Thank you. Thank you.”

她从口袋里摸出一块光滑的石子，悄悄塞进了投石索的皮兜里，而小动物一直好奇地看着她。虽然她不太习惯跪着扔石头，但既然这是织母送来的礼物，她没有理由浪费。

The animal looked at Taliyah inquisitively as she took one of the smooth stones from her pocket and slipped it into the leather pouch of her sling. She wasn’t used to throwing from a kneeling position, but if the Great Weaver had given her this offering, she wasn’t going to waste it.

她荡起投石索，卵石兜在皮绳之间，慢慢加速，小动物仍然没有要逃开的意思，反而还在盯着她看。塔莉垭感到全身僵冷，手臂也开始哆嗦。当她觉得速度差不多时，就放开了手里的绳子，石头破空飞出——还有她的喷嚏。

The little animal continued to watch as she wound the sling once, seating the small rock. The cold gripped Taliyah’s body and gave her arm a jerky feel. When she had enough speed, she unleashed the stone and, unfortunately, a harsh sneeze.

石子打在雪地上滑了出去，刚好错过了她几乎到手的美餐。塔莉垭向后跌坐在地，前所未有的沮丧感翻涌上来一股脑地堵在喉头。她忍不住哀叹了一声，只听到自己的声音寂静地荡开散去。塔莉垭难过地深呼吸了几下，寒气凛冽地灼烧着她的气管。

The stone skipped along the snow, narrowly missing her would-be meal. Taliyah rocked back, the heavy weight of frustration erupting in a guttural growl that echoed in the silence around her. She took a few deep, clearing breaths, the cold burning her throat.

“我猜你应该是沙兔一类的东西吧。那样的话，附近应该还有不少同类。”她对着空空的雪窝说——她那天真的乐观精神又回来了。

“Assuming you are anything like sand rabbits, if there’s one of you, there are a dozen more close by,” she said to the patch where the animal had been, her defiant optimism returning.

引了她的目光。她沿着雪地上自己的足迹望向远处，越过稀疏的松枝，看到一个男人出现在那座空荡的祠堂里。她不禁屏住了呼吸。他坐了下来，低垂着头，下巴快要抵到胸口。长风卷起他茂密的黑色长发，看起来要么是在睡觉，要么是在冥想。她松了口气——根据她的经验，没有哪个诺克萨斯人会在外人眼底下做这两件事。她回忆起祠堂外墙粗糙的触感，似乎指尖还残留着那些纹路的余味。

Her gaze lifted from the burrow to more movement farther down in the valley. She followed her winding tracks through the snow. Beyond them, through the sparse pines, she saw a man in the shrine, and her breath caught. His wild, dark hair tangled in the wind as he sat, head bowed to his chest. He was either sleeping or meditating. She breathed a sigh of relief. No Noxian she knew would be caught doing either. She remembered the shrine’s rough surface from earlier, as her hands had run along its carved edges.

一声裂响打断了塔莉垭的神游，旋即转为低沉的隆隆声。脚下的土地传来可怕的颤抖，厚实的雪层与岩石剧烈地摩擦，隆隆声很快变成了持续的刺耳呼啸。塔莉垭看向山顶，眼中陡然是一面高耸的雪墙，正扑面而来。

Taliyah was shaken from her reverie by a sharp crack. Then a rumble started to build. She steadied herself for the rolling earthquake that didn’t arrive. The rumbling grew into a steady, terrible grinding of compacted snow on stone. Taliyah turned to face the mountain and saw a wall of white coming for her.

她手忙脚乱地爬起来，却不知道该往哪儿去。她眼角的余光瞟到地面，脏兮兮的冰层上探出了岩石的棱角，脑海中意外地想起了安然躲在地洞里的小动物。她竭尽全力凝聚起精神，想象着粗大的石脊从岩石上升起的画面。一排巨大的石栏猛然隆起，飞快地冲上半空。岩层高高地罩在她的头上，而雪崩也恰好冲到跟前，重重地砸在上面，发出一声雷霆般的震响。

She scrambled to her feet, but there was nowhere to go. She looked down at the rock peeking through the dirty ice and thought of the little animal safe in its burrow. She desperately focused, pulling on the rough edges of the visible rock. A row of thick columns sprang from the ground. The stone blockade reached far over her head just as the crushing white avalanche slammed into it with a heavy whumpf.

雪流撞在这块新生的山坡上，溅起晶亮的巨大雪瀑，直向着山谷盖去。塔莉垭眼睁睁地看着这卷致命的白练瞬间便裹住了溪谷，严严实实地遮住了祠堂。

The snow rushed up the newly made slope and spilled like a glittering wave into the valley below. Taliyah watched as the deadly blanket filled the little glen, covering the temple.

只一瞬间，雪崩便停止了。就连孤寂的冷风也静了下来。前所未有的寂静压在她的头顶。黑发男子不见了踪影，估计已经被埋进了冰雪和乱石之下。虽然她自己逃过了雪崩，但她的心口却泛起了难忍的绞痛：她不仅是伤害了无辜的人而已——她把人直接活埋了。

As quickly as it had begun, the avalanche was over. Even the lonely wind stilled. The new, muffled silence weighed heavily on her. The man with the wild, dark hair was gone, entombed somewhere beneath all that ice and rock. She was safe from the snowslide, but her stomach lurched with a sickening realization: She hadn’t just brought harm to an unsuspecting innocent; she had buried him alive.

“织母啊。”塔莉垭自言自语。“我究竟干了什么?”

“Great Weaver,” Taliyah said to no one and everyone, “what have I done?”

塔莉垭踏着大腿深的积雪，不顾一路踉跄打滑，急急忙忙地赶下山。她好不容易从诺克萨斯入侵舰队上逃脱，现在却一不小心就把她看到的第一个艾欧尼亚人给弄死了。

Taliyah picked her way quickly down the snow-covered hillside, skidding in places and plunging thigh-deep in others. She hadn’t run from a Noxian invasion fleet to then accidentally kill the first Ionian she saw.

“从我的运气来看，他很可能还是一位圣人。”她低声说。

“And knowing my luck, he was probably a holy man,” she said.

山谷里的松树只剩下原来的一半高，变成了细密的灌木丛。祠堂只有尖顶支出了雪地。远处悬着一串破旧的经幡，现如今扭曲纠结在一起，勉强指示着山谷的尽头。塔莉垭的眼睛紧张地搜索着雪地，寻找着被她活埋的男子所留下的任何痕迹。她记得最后看见他的时候，他正好坐在屋檐下。也许那能救他一命。

The pines in the valley had been reduced to spindly bushes half their original size. Only the tip of the shrine broke the snow’s surface. A string of tattered prayer flags had twisted themselves into knots, marking what used to be the far end of the glen. Taliyah scanned the area, looking for any trace of the man she had committed to the ice. When she’d last seen him, he had been under the temple’s eave. Perhaps it had sheltered him.

当她终于远离了雪崩的范围，来到了祠堂附近时，在靠近树丛的位置，她看到雪地上伸出了两根手指。

As she made her way to the temple, closer to the trees and away from the sweep of the avalanche, she saw two fingers that had broken through the surface.

她几乎是连滚带爬地跑过去，紧盯着那对苍白的指头，连声说：“千万别死。千万别死。千万别……”

She half trudged, half ran to the pale fingertips. “Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please…”

塔莉垭小心地跪下来挖开雪层，发现那人的手指硬得像铁一样。她的双手几乎不听使唤，却死死地抓住了男人的手腕。她牙齿打战，全身发抖，手心完全感觉不到脉搏跳动的迹象。

Taliyah dropped carefully to her knees and started to scoop away the icy powder. She uncovered fingers as strong as steel. She reached in and gripped the man’s wrist, her own clenching hands barely obeying. Her teeth chattered, shaking her body and drowning out any pulse of life she might have felt in the man.

“要是你还活着，就帮帮忙吧。”她对着雪下喊。

“If you’re not dead already,” she said to the man beneath the snow, “then you’ve got to help me.”

她抬起头环顾四周。一个人都没有，只有她自己。

She looked around. There was no one else. She was all he had.

塔莉垭放开他的手，站起身退后了几步。她将麻木的双掌贴在雪地上，努力回忆着雪崩之前山谷的地面景象。稀落的岩石，碎石遍地。回忆缓缓流转着，然后在她的脑海里汇聚成形。那是一幅暗淡的画面，粗粝的炭灰色，散着一些白点，就像是阿德南叔叔的胡子。

Taliyah let go of his fingers and backed away a few paces. She laid her numb palms to the surface of the snow and tried to remember what the floor of the little valley had looked like before the avalanche. Loose stones, gravel. The memory swam, then coalesced in her mind. It was dark, a coarse charcoal gray with flecks of white, like Uncle Adnan’s beard.

塔莉垭在脑海中紧紧抓住这幅景象，从积雪深处扯出来。雪地上溅出一大片冰晶，一道花岗岩的石条高高耸起，顶上拖着一个人影。岩石的顶端微微颤动着，似乎在等待她的指示。塔莉垭四下看了看，不敢贸然就把他放下来，于是把石条推向树丛，打算让枝条接住他。

Taliyah held tightly to the vision and pulled up from deep below the snowpack. The crust of ice erupted in front of her, quickly followed by a towering ribbon of granite balancing a lone figure. The suddenly flexible stone wavered at its peak, as if looking to her for guidance. Unsure of any safe landing, Taliyah pushed them both toward the spindly pines, hoping their boughs might break his fall.

花岗岩矮了下去，一声闷响跌进了雪地里，常青的松枝托了男人一下，没让他直接砸到地面上。

The granite ribbon fell short, collapsing into the snow with a heavy puff, but the evergreen arms caught the man before casually dropping him to the surface.

“要是你刚才还活着，现在也千万别死啊。”塔莉垭一边说着，一边跑向他。阳光开始渐渐消退，乌云飘进了峡谷。雪很快就要来了。幸运的是，她在树丛后面看到了一个小岩洞。

“If you were alive, please don’t be dead now,” Taliyah said as she hurried toward him. The sunlight faltered above her. Dark clouds were moving into the valley. More snow would soon be upon them. Beyond the trees, she saw an opening to a small cave.

塔莉垭往手心拼命呼气，强迫自己镇定下来。她弯下腰，伸手碰了碰他的肩膀。男人发出了低沉的痛呼。塔莉垭还没来得及后退，只感到一阵劲风，伴随着一道闪光在眼前划过——一把冰冷的利刃抵在了她的喉咙上。

Taliyah blew warm breath into her hands and willed them to stop shaking. She bent close to the man, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He let out a pained grunt. Before Taliyah could pull back, there was a quick breeze and a metallic flash. The sharp, cold edge of the man’s blade pressed at her throat.

“死期未到。”他断断续续地呢喃着。紧接着一阵剧烈的咳嗽，让他双眼翻白几乎晕厥过去。他手中的剑歪斜下来点进了雪中，但他仍然握着剑柄没有松手。

“Not yet time to die,” he said in a broken whisper. He coughed, and his eyes rolled back in his head. The sword dipped to the snow, but the man did not release the weapon.

第一片雪花擦过了塔莉垭皲裂的脸庞。“看起来，你应该是很难死的。但是如果我们呆在这里，等风暴一来，那就很难说了。”

The first snowflake flitted past Taliyah’s chapped face. “From the look of it, you’re pretty hard to kill,” she said. “But if we’re caught in this storm, we just might find out if that’s true.”

男人的呼吸声几不可闻，但至少他还活着。塔莉垭伸手穿过他的臂膀，把他往岩洞的方向拖去。

The man’s breathing was shallow, but at least he was still alive. Taliyah reached under the man’s arm and dragged him toward the small cave.

冷风再度刮了起来。

The lonely wind had returned.

塔莉垭拾起一块棕褐色的圆石，就像是一团粗棉。她紧张地回头看了一眼洞穴的深处：衣衫褴褛的男子仍然倚着墙，双目紧闭。她往嘴里塞了一小块肉干，那是她从他的口袋里找到的。希望他不会吝啬这点食物吧。

Taliyah bent to pick up a rounded stone the size and color of a small hank of raw wool. She shivered and looked back into the cave; the ragged man was still propped against the wall, his eyes closed. She pushed the bit of dried meat she had found in the man’s pack around in her mouth, hoping he wouldn’t begrudge sharing if he lived.

她回身走进洞穴，温暖逐渐包围过来。她先前堆砌的石板仍在传出阵阵热量。她半跪下来。塔莉垭没有想到的是，自己加热小石子的把戏也能用在更大的岩石上。年轻的恕瑞玛人闭上眼睛，精神集中到层叠的石板上。她回想起炽烈的阳光铺在沙漠里，不绝的热力深深地透进大地直至深夜。干燥的暖意袭来，她松开了外套的扣子，全身也放松下来。她开始摆弄起刚刚捡到的圆石。在意念的作用下，石头转起圈来，顶端渐渐凹陷下去，最终变成了一个石碗。她满意地拿着新的餐具再次走向洞口。

She stepped back into the warmth of the cave. The slabs of rock she had stacked still glowed with a wavering heat. She knelt. Taliyah hadn’t been sure her trick of warming the stones in her pocket would work with something larger. The young Shuriman closed her eyes and focused on the stack of rocks. She remembered the blistering sun on the sands. The way the heat sank deep in the earth long into the night. She relaxed and loosened her coat as the dry warmth settled around her, then set to work on the stone in her hands. She turned it, wrapping and pushing it with her thoughts until it was hollowed like a bowl. Satisfied, she returned to the cave opening with her newly formed dish.

一个呻吟的男声从她背后传来：“就像是麻雀在拣食。”

A male voice groaned behind her, “Like a sparrow gathering crumbs.”

“麻雀也会口渴。”她顶着嘶叫的寒风盛了一碗干净的雪，再折回来，把石碗放在面前温热的石板上。

“Even sparrows get thirsty,” she replied, scooping up a bowlful of clean snow. The cold wind whispered around her. Taliyah set the round stone onto the stack of hot rocks in front of her.

“你捡石头要用手吗?不像是织石人的手段啊。”

“You gather stones by hand? That seems tedious for someone who can weave rock.”

塔莉垭双颊泛起红晕，绝不是因为石灶的温热。

A heat rose to Taliyah’s cheeks that had nothing to do with the little stone hearth.

“你还生气吗?那场雪崩，还有——”

“You’re not angry, are you? I mean about the snow and the—”

男人笑了笑，挪了一下身子，又哼了一声。

The man laughed and then clutched his side with a groan. “Your actions tell me all I need to know.” His gritted teeth still held the edge of a smile. “You could have left me to die.”

“无需解释。”他牙关发颤，唇边却仍弯着一丝笑意。“你大可以扔下我不管的。”

“It was my mistake that put you in danger. I wasn’t going to leave you buried in the snow.”

“是我的错，差点害死了你。我不可能看着你被雪活埋的。”

“My thanks. Although I could have done without the tumble through the trees.”

“多谢。虽然我觉得，没有那些树枝可能更好。”

Taliyah grimaced and then opened her mouth. The man held out a hand to stop her. “Do not apologize.”

塔莉垭面露难堪，张口正要说话，男人抬起一只手，打断了她：“别道歉。”

He strained and pulled himself upright, taking a closer look at Taliyah and the ornament in her hair.

他强撑着坐直身体，仔细地打量着塔莉垭的样貌，还有她的发饰。

“A Shuriman sparrow.” He closed his eyes and relaxed into the heat of the stone hearth. “You are a long way from home, little bird. What brings you to a remote cave in Ionia?”

“来自恕瑞玛的麻雀。”他闭上眼，在温暖的石边放松了身体。“你离家很远了，小鸟儿。什么风把你吹到艾欧尼亚来了?”

“Noxus.”

“诺克萨斯。”

The man raised a dark eyebrow but kept his eyes closed.

男人不禁挑起了眉毛，但仍没有睁开眼睛。

“They said I would bring people together in Noxus. That my power would strengthen her walls. But they only wanted me to destroy.” Her voice grew thick with disgust. “They told me they would teach me—”

“他们说我可以让诺克萨斯的人们团结起来。我的力量能够帮助他们加固城墙。但是他们只想让我去杀人。”她的声音带着厌恶，变得沉重起来。“他们告诉我他们会教我——”

“They have, but only half the lesson,” he said without emotion.

“他们确实教育了你，但过于偏颇。”他的声音波澜不惊。

“They wanted me to bury a village. To murder people in their homes.” Taliyah let out an impatient snort. “And I escaped only to bring a mountain down on you.”

“他们想让我活埋一座村庄。把人们坑杀在自己家里。”塔莉垭不耐烦地喷了一下鼻子。“可我跑了出来，却把一座山盖在了你头上。”

The man lifted his sword and looked down the length of the blade. A small breeze wiped it clean of dust. “Destruction. Creation. Neither is wholly good or bad. You cannot have one without the other. What matters is intent, the ‘why’ of choosing your path. That is the only real choice we have.”

男人举起剑，端详着剑刃。随后轻轻吹掉了上面的薄尘。“毁灭还是创造。两者并没有绝对的好坏，任何人都无法独占其一。而最重要的，也是唯一的问题，是你意欲何为。你为何要选择这条道路，这是我们唯一可以左右的。”

Taliyah stood up, irritated at the lecture. “My path is away from this place. Away from everyone, until I learn to control what’s inside of me. I don’t trust myself not to hurt my people.”

塔莉垭有些生气地站起来：“我的道路，就是离这里，离所有人远远的，直到我学会了控制自己的内在。我不相信自己不会伤害我的同胞。”

“A bird’s trust is not in the branch beneath her.”

“鸿鹄之志，不在林间。”

Taliyah had stopped listening. She was already at the mouth of the cave, wrapping her coat tightly around her. The wind whistled in her ears.

塔莉垭不想再听下去了。她走到洞口，束紧了外套。冷风灌进她的耳朵。

“I’m going to try and find us something to eat. Hopefully, I won’t bring the rest of the mountain down on you.”

“我要出去给我们找点吃的。希望我不会把这座山也给弄倒了。”

The man settled against the warm stone at his back, speaking softly to no one and everyone. “Are you sure it is the mountain you seek to conquer, Little Sparrow?”

男人重新靠着温暖的石壁坐好，自言自语起来：“小麻雀，你找到自己想要征服的山峰了吗?”

一只鸟啄弄着细瘦的松枝。塔莉垭踢开脚下的雪，鞋尖却不小心挑起了一块，落进了鞋口的缝隙。男人的话回响在她耳边，再加上脚踝的湿冷，让她一阵心烦气躁。

A bird pecked at a thin pine nearby. Taliyah kicked at the snow, accidentally shoving a clump of it into the top of her boot. She pulled at the cuff roughly, annoyed at the man’s words and at the melting ice slipping past her ankle.

“为什么要选择这条路?我离开了亲人，离开了故乡，就是为了保护他们啊。”

“The why of the path? I left my people, my family, to protect them from me.”

她蓦地停了下来。四周突兀地陷入了寂静。片刻之前，她重重的脚步声虽然驱走了周围窸窣的响动，但枝头的小鸟却毫无忌惮地嘲笑着她怒气冲冲的自言自语。而现在，就连鸟叫声也消失了。

She stopped. An unnatural hush had settled. Any small game that had been nearby had long since disappeared at the sound of her stomping feet. Not sensing any danger from the girl, the little bird had kept to its branch and twittered at her angry rants. Now even the birdsong was silenced.

塔莉垭警惕起来。之前她怒气冲冲，心不在焉地顺着一条山脊走了好久，已经离他们藏身的洞穴太远了。因为对她而言，石头比树木要亲切得多。现在，她面前只剩下一道悬崖。她不觉得那个男人会跟出来，但她确实感到背后有什么东西在看着她。

Taliyah stood cautiously. In her anger, she had wandered farther than she had intended from the cave. She was drawn more to the stone than the wood, and had absently followed an exposed ridge until she found herself looking down from a rocky cliff. She didn’t think the man would follow her, yet she sensed something watching her.

“长篇大论还没完?”她愤愤地问。

“More lectures?” she asked indignantly.

回应她的却是一阵令人胆寒的呼气声

There was a bone-vibrating exhalation in response.

她一只手伸进外套，另一只手抓住了投石索。口袋里还有三颗卵石。她捏紧了其中一枚，一边想着也许地上的碎石能够稍微给身后的偷袭者制造一些困难。

She slipped one hand into her coat, and the other reached for her sling. Three stones tumbled in her pocket. She clutched at one just as loose gravel betrayed the movement of her stalker behind her.

塔莉垭终于转过身来，只见一头身形雄伟的艾欧尼亚雪狮，正小心地围着峭壁转圈。

Taliyah turned to face the presence at her back. There, padding carefully around sharp crags, was a great Ionian snow lion.

即使是四爪着地，它也让塔莉垭感到一股没顶的压迫感。这头野兽从头到尾几乎等于她身高的两倍长度，粗厚的脖颈上围着浓密的奶黄色短毛。雪狮死死盯着她，放下了嘴里叼着的两只新鲜野兔，伸出比她的小臂还粗的舌头，舔去了口边的血迹。

Even standing on four stout legs, it towered over her. The beast was easily twice as long as she was tall, its thick neck covered in a short mane of tawny white. The lion watched the girl. It dropped two freshly slain hares from its jaws and licked a drizzle of red from a canine bigger than her forearm.

她身后原本风景壮丽的悬崖，现在变成了陷阱。如果她转身逃跑，雪狮毫不费力就能扑倒她。她吞了口口水，努力将挤到喉头的恐慌压回肚子里。她往投石索里塞了块儿石头，开始缓缓地旋转起皮绳。

Just a moment ago the high view from the cliff where she stood had been thrilling. Now it left her trapped. If she ran, she would be chased down in an instant. Taliyah swallowed, trying to push down the panic that was rising in her throat. She fit a stone into her sling and began to spin it.

“滚开。”她的声音倒是丝毫听不出内心的恐惧。

“Get out of here,” she said. Her words came out with none of the terror she felt inside.

雪狮反而靠近了一点。她甩出石头，打中了它脖子附近的鬃毛，抵消了石头的冲力。它不高兴地吼了一声，塔莉垭感到胸腔一阵颤动，不禁怀疑是不是自己狂跳的心马上就要破体而出。

The lion took a step closer. The girl released the stone from her sling. It hit the great beast near the mane, the fur taking the brunt of the impact. The animal growled its displeasure, and Taliyah could not separate the heavy resonance from her own heart as it tried to beat its way out of her chest.

她又装了一颗石头。

She fit another stone to the sling.

“继续叫啊!”她鼓起勇气大喊：“我叫你滚开!”

“Go on!” she shouted, feigning more courage. “I said get out of here!”

塔莉垭把石头甩了出去。

Taliyah let the next stone fly.

饥饿的怒吼声更大了。松树上的小鸟也感觉到此地不可久留，顺着风轻轻一跃，就窜进了天空。

The predator’s hungry snarl grew louder. The bird in the thin pine, sensing no good could come from this encounter, leapt from the branch and took off on a current of air.

塔莉垭伸进口袋，摸到了最后一颗石头。她的手抖个不停，即是因为寒冷，也是因为害怕。石头在她的手指间打了个转，掉在地上，滚到了旁边。她抬起头。雪狮又向前走了一步，硕大的头颅架在肌肉贲突的肩膀上，轻轻地抖动。她够不着石头了。

Alone, Taliyah reached into her pocket for her last stone. Her hands shook from the cold and the fear coursing through her. The rock slipped from her fingers and hit the ground, rolling away. She looked up. The lion’s head bobbed between muscled shoulders as it took another step toward her. The throwing stone was just out of reach.

——你捡石头要用手吗?

You gather stones by hand? The man’s words echoed in her mind. Maybe there was another way. Taliyah reached out to the stone with her will. The small rock shuddered, but there was also a quiver in the ground beneath her.

男人的话回响在耳畔。似乎还有别的办法，塔莉垭试着调集起意念。小石子震动起来，但她脚下的地面也传来了颤动。

The bough beside her still trembled from where the bird had taken flight. A bird’s trust is not in the branch. The choice was clear: She could either stand frozen in her doubt, letting the beast come for her, or lean into her power and take the leap.

小鸟离去的树枝还在微微晃动。

Taliyah, a girl born in a desert land far beyond the shores of snow-capped Ionia, held on to the image of the bird and the empty branch that bounced. In that moment, she forgot the imminent death before her. The loneliness that haunted her fell away and was replaced by her last dance on the sands. She felt her mother, her father, Babajan—the whole tribe encircling her. Her whispered promise to return to them when she finally gained mastery over her gifts.

——鸿鹄之志，不在林间。

She met the gaze of the beast. “I’ve given up too much to let you stop me.”

她面前的抉择已经显而易见：要么继续疑心重重，坐以待毙;要么跨过心坎，投向力量的怀抱。

The stone began to warp beneath her in a graceful crescent. She held on to the warmth of that last embrace and leapt.

出生自沙漠的塔莉垭，在远离海岸的艾欧尼亚雪山上，脑海中是小鸟离去后兀自摇晃的枝条。这一刻，她完全忘记了近在眼前的死亡。挥之不去的孤独褪了下去，取而代之的是她最后一次在沙丘上跳过的那支舞。她看到自己的母亲、父亲、巴巴扬——整个部落都围在身边。她终于领悟了自己天赋中的奥秘，然后轻声对着他的亲人说出了承诺：我会回家的。

A rumbling built beneath her, louder than the growl of the beast. The lion tried to back away, but it was already too late. The ground split beneath its thick paws into a sluice of swirling gravel, the weight of the creature pulling it farther down the crumbling cliff.

她直视着野兽的眼睛。“我已经抛下了太多，你决不可能阻挡我。”

For a brief moment, Taliyah floated above the flurry of dissolving earth. The rock beneath her continued to splinter into a thousand tiny pieces, no longer solid enough to control. She knew she couldn’t hold on to the destruction forever. The girl started to fall. Before she could say goodbye to the coarse world fracturing around her, a strong wind lifted her up. Fingers like steel grasped the collar of her coat.

脚下的石头开始蜿蜒，化成优美的新月形状。她紧紧依靠着意念中那份熟悉的暖意，然后高高跃起。

“I didn’t realize you were serious about bringing down the mountain, Little Sparrow.” With a grunt, the man pulled Taliyah up onto the newly created ledge. “I now understand why much of your desert is flat.”

巨大的轰隆声从她脚下传出，盖过了雪狮的狂吼。它想要退后，但已经太迟了。它两脚之间的土地纷纷裂开，喷出了碎石汇成的巨流。它的体重把它自己拽下了隆隆震动的悬崖。

A laugh bubbled up from within her. She was actually relieved to hear his patronizing voice. Taliyah looked over the side of the cliff and stood up. She dusted herself off, picked up the lion’s discarded hares, and walked back toward the little cave with a new skip in her step.

大地渐渐平息，卷起的气流轻轻托着塔莉垭漂浮在低空中。身下的岩层已经碎成了千万沙砾，再不能呼应她的召唤。她心里清楚，自己没法在这废墟上停留了。女孩的身体开始下坠。在她还没来得及，对眼前正在分崩离析的残酷世界告别之前，一阵强风裹起了她。铁硬的手指抓住了她外套的领子。

“你刚才说要把这座山给推倒，我还以为你在说笑呢。小麻雀。”男人吸了口气，把塔莉垭从新生的绝壁外提了回来。“我现在明白了，为什么沙漠里总是一马平川。”

她抑制不住地笑出声来。他那种居高临下的腔调，反而让她倍感轻松。塔莉垭站起来，看了一眼崖壁的边缘，掸掸身上的尘土，捡起雪狮留在地上的野兔，然后往洞穴的方向走去，脚步带上了莫名的轻快。

塔莉垭咬着下嘴唇，在座位上兴奋地扭来扭去，一双眼睛四下打量着。夜已经深了，旅店里还有几桌稀稀拉拉的客人。她已经记不清离群索居有多久了。她看向自己表情冷酷的同伴——现在已经成为了她的老师，是他坚持要坐在这个阴暗的角落的。他拗不过塔莉垭的请求，终于答应来这个偏僻的小店吃一顿饭，但他一直眉头紧锁，丝毫不顾及两人的交情。

Taliyah bit her bottom lip. She looked around the inn, excitedly bouncing in her seat. The evening was late and the wooden tables sparsely populated. It had been so long since she had been around people. She looked to her grim companion, who had insisted on the darkened corner booth. The man who now served as her teacher didn’t count. The scowl he had worn since agreeing to a meal at the remote inn offered little in the way of camaraderie.

当他发现自己和其他人差不多，基本上谁也不认识谁的时候，终于放松了一些，在阴影里安稳地坐了下来，背靠着墙板，手里握着杯子。既然他可以不用提着一颗心了，他专注的凝视又落回到她身上。

When it was clear that he was as much a stranger here as anyone else, he relaxed a bit and settled into the shadows, his back firmly to the wall and a drink in hand. Now that he was no longer distracted, his concentration and watchful eye returned to her.

“你应当专注，不可犹豫不决。”

“You must focus,” he said. “You cannot hesitate.”

塔莉垭盯着杯里旋动的茶叶出神。今天的课程有些难，进展得不太顺利。到最后，两个人都是灰头土脸地站在一地的碎石瓦砾中间。

Taliyah studied the leaves swirling at the bottom of her cup. The lesson today had been a difficult one. It had not gone well. In the end, they had both been covered in dust and shattered rock.

“你一分神，危险就会降临。”

“Danger comes when your attention is divided,” he said.

“我很容易伤到别人。”她盯着他脖子上围着的斗篷，新划出的口子相当显眼。她自己先前的衣服也好不到哪去。不过现在她穿着新的罩袍和裙子，都是旅店的老板娘看她可怜，从之前的客人留下不要的东西里挑出来送给她的。艾欧尼亚风格的长袖需要花些时间适应一下，但厚实致密的布料确实耐穿。在外套底下，她仍然穿着自己的短衣，虽然饱经风霜，可那是她绝对不愿抛下的、来自故乡唯一的念想。

“I could hurt someone,” she said, eyeing the new rip in the mantle wound around the man’s neck. Her own clothes had not fared well either. She looked down at her new overcoat and traveling skirt. The innkeeper’s wife had taken pity on her and offered what she had on hand, castoffs left by some previous patron. The long sleeves in the Ionian style would take some getting used to, but the rich fabric was sturdy and well woven. She had kept her simple tunic, faded from so much wear, determined not to give up what last bit of home she still had left.

“不破不立。控制力来自长久的练习。你的潜能不可限量。要知道，你已经进步很多了。

“Nothing was broken that cannot be mended. Control comes through practice. You are capable of much more. Remember, you have improved.”

“但是……我失败了怎么办?”

“But… what if I fail?” she asked.

旅店的门被推开了，男人的目光迅速瞟过去。两个行商打扮的人跺着脚走进了旅店。旅店老板向两人示意，塔莉垭他们旁边那张桌子是空的。其中一个径直走过来，另一个在吧台附近等待着。

The man’s gaze drifted as he watched the far door to the inn push open. A pair of merchants came in, stamping off the dusty road. The innkeeper motioned to the open tables near Taliyah and the man. The first moved toward them while the second waited for his drink.

“每个人都会失败。”塔莉垭的老师说道。一丝不易察觉的沮丧掠过他的脸庞，让他原本内敛的举止有些失态。“但那只是生命中的一个阶段。你必须一直前进，而它终会过去。”

“Everyone fails,” Taliyah’s companion said. A small edge of frustration passed over the man’s face, marring his otherwise restrained demeanor. “Failure is just a moment in time. You must keep moving, and it too will pass.”

其中一个商人坐了下来，一双眼睛来回打量着塔莉垭。他注意到她衣服上素淡的薰衣草紫，和发间佩着的金饰与石子。

One of the merchants took a seat at a nearby table and watched Taliyah, his eyes drifting from the pale lavender of her tunic to the glimmer of gold and stone in her hair.

“那是恕瑞玛的东西吗，小妞儿?”

“Is that Shuriman, girl?”

塔莉垭竭尽全力，假装没有听见。她的老师甩来一个警告的眼神，但商人一笑置之。

Taliyah did her best to ignore the merchant. He caught the protective glare of her companion and laughed it off.

“以前倒是不多见。”他自顾自地说下去。

“Would have been rare once,” the merchant said.

女孩盯着自己的手掌，一言不发。

The girl stared at her hands.

“现在到处都在说，你们的城市又起来了。”

“It’s a bit more common now that your people’s lost city has risen.”

塔莉垭猛地抬起头：“什么?”

Taliyah looked up. “What?”

“据说河水也开始倒流。”商人挥了挥手，脸上全是轻蔑的神色。偏远地方的人民在他眼里看来只是头脑简单的愚夫愚妇而已。“都是因为那个鸟头皇帝从坟墓里爬了出来。”

“Word has it the rivers flow backward too.” The merchant waved a hand in the air, poking fun at the mysteries of a far-off people he considered simple. “All because your bird-god has returned from the grave.”

“不管他是个什么东西，都坏了我们的生意。”另一个商人也加入了谈话。“他们说他立志要召集所有的恕瑞玛人，包括奴隶啊什么的。”

“Whatever he is don’t make any difference. It all threatens trade.” The second merchant joined the first. “They say he aims to collect his people. Misses his slaves and all that.”

“小妞儿，你在这里可比在那儿好多了。”头一个人补了一句。

“Good thing you’re here and not there, girl,” the first merchant added.

第二个人从酒杯前转开了目光，这才注意到了塔莉垭的同伴。“你很眼熟，我之前见过你。

The second merchant looked up from his ale, suddenly noticing Taliyah’s companion. “You look familiar,” he said. “I’ve seen your face before.”

旅店大门又被推开了。一伙卫兵走进来，眼神凌厉地检视着每一个人。中间的一个，显然是队长一类的角色，盯住了塔莉垭和她的老师。她感觉到旅店里升起一股不祥的气氛，几个客人纷纷站起来，匆匆地离开了。两个商人也精明地溜了出去。

The door to the inn opened again. A group of guards entered, eyeing the room carefully. The one in the middle, clearly a captain of some sort, noticed the girl and her companion. Taliyah could feel a quiet panic rise in the room as the few guests stood and made their way quickly to the exits. Even the merchants got up and left.

卫兵队长拨开几张挡路的椅子，走近前来，在离他们一剑距离的位置站定。

The captain waded through the empty stools toward them. He stopped a blade’s length from the table where they sat.

“杀人犯，”他说。

“Murderer,” he said.

“你居然躲在这里。喝光你的酒，反正是最后一杯了。”队长说。

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” the captain said. “Savor that drink. It’ll be your last.”

钢刃出鞘的声音让塔莉垭打了个激灵，站起身来。她看着自己的老师握着长刀，俯视着满屋的卫兵。

Taliyah was on her feet just as she heard the whisper of steel drawn next to her. She looked over to see her teacher staring down the roomful of guards.

“这个人，叫亚索。”卫兵队长一字一句地说：“他被人指控谋杀了一位村长。罪该当死，见可诛之。”

“This man, Yasuo”—the captain spat the word—“is guilty of assassinating a village Elder. His crime warrants the punishment of death. To be carried out on sight.”

一个卫兵将十字弩架在了小臂上。另一个擎着跟她一般高的长弓，也搭上了一支羽箭

One of the guards leveled a loaded crossbow. Another nocked an arrow to a longbow nearly as tall as the girl.

“杀我?”亚索说。“尽管一试。”

“Kill me?” Yasuo said. “You can try.”

“等等。”塔莉垭叫道。但她话音未落，只听得机括一响，长弓急振。只一个心跳间的功夫，老师身边瞬间刮起一道狂风，桌上的碗盘纷纷跌落。风卷起飞至半途的箭矢，一眨眼便化成碎片掉在地上。

“Wait,” Taliyah cried out. But before the word had finished on her lips, she heard the trigger snap and the reverberating hum of the longbow’s release. In the heartbeats that followed, a whirling gust picked up inside the inn. It spiraled out from the man beside her, blowing abandoned glasses and wooden dinner trenches off of tables. It reached the arrows, breaking them midflight. The pieces fell to the ground with a hollow clatter.

更多的卫兵手持刀剑鱼贯而入。塔莉垭在地上唤出一片尖利的石片，穿出地面朝着门口爆射出去，将他们挡在了外面。

More guards swarmed in, their swords already pulled from their sheaths. Taliyah laid down a field of sharp stone, pulling up each rock through the floor in a violent explosion to keep the men at bay.

亚索在人群中来回穿梭，手中金属的反光仿佛是一条吐信的闪电。卫兵们胡乱挥舞着武器，徒劳地想要招架疾风般的剑刃。一切都太迟了，亚索的刀在众人间一闪即没，只留下猩红的血瀑和一阵劲风。所有卫兵都倒在了地上，亚索收势静立。他喘着粗气，眼睛看着塔莉垭，打算说点什么。

Yasuo slipped through the crowd of soldiers trapped in the room. They brandished their weapons, foolishly trying to parry the sword that stormed around them, its metal arcing like lightning. It was too late. Yasuo’s blade flashed in and out of the men, trailing lethal ribbons of red in a whirlwind behind him. When all those who had come for the man had finally fallen, Yasuo paused, his breathing heavy and fierce. His gaze locked with the girl’s, and he prepared to speak.

塔莉垭慌忙伸手发出了警告。在他身后，卫兵队长爬起身来，两眼发光，嘴角挂着残忍的笑意。他双手握住了沾满鲜血的剑柄。

Taliyah held out her hand in warning. There, at his back, rose the captain with crazed eyes and a broken smile. He wielded his sword with both hands to keep a grip on the blood-slick pommel.

“离他远点儿!”塔莉垭大叫一声，卵石铺就的地面遽然隆起，把卫兵队长顶上半空。

“Get away from him!” Taliyah pulled at the cobbled floor of the inn, the flat stones erupting, lifting the captain off his feet.

他还未落地，亚索便发动了。冰冷的刀刃迎向队长的胸口，转眼便劈出了三连斩。尸身摔在地板上，再也没了动静。

As the captain’s body was knocked up, Yasuo was there to meet it, the cold blade cutting through the captain’s chest in three quick strikes. The body fell to the floor and was still.

外面传来了更多的喊杀声。“我们得走了。马上。”亚索看向女孩。“你做得到，别再犹豫了。”

More shouting was coming from outside. “We must leave. Now,” Yasuo said. He looked at the girl. “You can do this. Do not hesitate.”

塔莉垭点点头。地面开始鼓动，摇晃着墙壁，直到茅草屋顶也开始震动起来。她努力控制着地下深处不断增长的力量，脑海中划过了一个画面。她的母亲正在给一块粗布缝边，嘴里哼着歌儿。均匀的针脚从她的手里细密地流出来，她的手指在快速的动作中逐渐模糊。

Taliyah nodded. The ground rumbled, shaking the walls until the thatched roof began to vibrate. The girl tried to contain the power she felt growing from beneath the floor of the inn. A vision passed in her mind. Her mother, hemming a raw edge of cloth, singing to herself, her even stitches running away from her hand, her fingers a blur of motion.

旅店地下的岩石暴涨成巨大的拱环。石条挤挤挨挨地联结着彼此，形成了一道波浪。塔莉垭感到脚下的地面在升高，滚动向前的环石便带着她冲进了黑夜。身后狂风大作，亚索紧跟着她

The rock beneath the inn burst in great, rounded arcs. Stone columns threaded themselves in and out of the ground like a wave. Taliyah felt the earth rise, carrying her out into the dark night, the wild wind that was Yasuo following close behind.

亚索回头望向远处的旅店。连环相接的石条封住了道路，卫兵们被拦在尽头。虽然这为两人争取了一些时间，但是天很快就要亮了。到时候，只会有更多人手前来追捕他们——追捕他。

Yasuo looked back at the distant inn. The round stitches of stone had sewn the path shut and blocked off any oncoming approach. It had bought them time, but dawn would be coming soon. And with it, more men for them. For him.

“他们认识你，”塔莉垭低声说。“亚索。”她认真地说出他的名字。

“They knew you.” Taliyah’s voice was quiet. “Yasuo.” She held on to the last word.

“我们得一直前进。”

“We need to keep moving.”

“他们想要你死。”

“They wanted you dead.”

亚索呼出一口气。“很多人想要我死。而现在他们也不想让你活下去了。欲加之罪，何患无辞。”

Yasuo let out a breath. “There are a lot of people who want me dead,” he said. “And now some will want you dead as well. If it matters, they named a crime I did not commit.”

“我知道。”

“I know.”

亚索从未告诉过她自己的真名，但现在不重要了。她一直没有问起他过去的经历。实际上除了他教给她的东西之外，她没有问过任何多余的话。她静静看着自己的老师，她的信任似乎让他有些痛苦。也许更甚于她认定他是个罪人。他转过头，走开了。

Yasuo was not the name he had given on their journey, but it did not matter. She had not asked about his past in the time they’d traveled together. In truth she had not asked anything of him except to be taught. She watched her mentor now, it seemed her trust was almost painful to him. Perhaps more than if she had thought him guilty. He turned and began walking away from her.

“你去哪里?恕瑞玛在西边。”她困惑地问。

“Where are you going? Shurima is to the west.” Confusion rose in her voice.

亚索背对着她，没有回头。“我的去处不在恕瑞玛。其实你的也不在。时机未到。”他的声音冷酷而又谨慎，仿佛正在蓄势，迎接即将来临的风暴。

Yasuo did not turn back to face her. “My place is not in Shurima. And neither is yours. Not yet.” His words were cool and measured, as if he were steeling himself against a coming storm.

“你听到那些商人的话了。失落的城市已经复苏。”

“You heard the merchants. The lost city has risen.”

“只不过是用来吓唬贩夫走卒的传说而已。这样一来，恕瑞玛的亚麻就能卖个好价钱了。”

“Tales to scare the tradesmen and drive up the price of Shuriman linen,” he said.

“沙漠的皇帝已经回来了。你不明白那意味着什么。他会夺回自己失去的一切，包括曾经侍奉过他的人民，还有部落……”塔莉垭控制不住语气，她的声音在夜色中紧张起来。她走了这么远的路，就是为了保护他们。而当她的亲人们需要她的时候，她却距离他们有如天涯之远。她伸出手，停在了离他手臂一掌距离的位置。希望他能听到，他能看到。

“And if a living god walks the sands? You don’t know what that means. He will reclaim what he has lost. The people who once served him, the tribes...” Taliyah’s voice strained with the emotion of the evening, her words boiling over. She had journeyed so far to protect them and now she was a world away when they needed her. She reached out, a hand’s breadth from pulling on his arm, anything to make him listen, to make him see.

“他会奴役我的家人。”她的声音回荡在空洞的岩石孔隙间。“我必须保护他们。难道你不明白吗?”

“He will enslave my family.” Her words echoed off the rock around them. “I must protect them. Don’t you understand that?”

一股风腾起，吹乱了地上的碎石，和亚索的黑发。

A gust of wind picked up, stirring pebbles on the ground and whipping Yasuo’s black hair about his face.

“保护。”他的声音仿佛是呓语。“你们敬奉的织母不会照看他们吗?”他几乎是咬着牙说。这个男人，她尊敬的师长，转回头面向着他唯一的学生，深色的瞳孔中闪烁着怒意。她被他的气势吓到了。“你的课程还未结束。而你却要赌上自己的性命，回到他们身边。”

“Protect,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “Does your Great Weaver not watch over them?” The words now came through gritted teeth. The man, her teacher, turned toward his lone student, anger flashing in his dark, haunted eyes, the raw emotion startling her. “Your training is unfinished. You risk your life returning to them.”

她不屈不挠地看着他。

She stood her ground and faced him.

“我的性命本来就属于他们。”

“They are worth my life.”

风在他们身边呼啸，但塔莉垭一动不动。亚索长叹一声，重又看向东方。一道曙光出现在墨蓝色的夜幕尽头。鼓动的气流终于平静下来。

The wind swirled around them, but the girl was immovable. Yasuo gave a long sigh and looked back to the east. A hint of light had begun to break the blue-black night. The last of the turbulent gusts calmed.

“和我一起走吧。”她提议道。

“You could come with me,” she offered.

他坚毅的下颌放松了。“我听说，沙漠中的蜜酒很美。”他说。微风拂过女孩的脸颊。但只短短的一刻过后，他又陷入了回忆的伤痛之中。“但我在艾欧尼亚的事还没了结。”

The hard lines of the man’s jaw relaxed. “I have heard the desert mead is quite good,” he said. A soft breeze tugged at the girl’s hair. And then the moment was gone, replaced again by a memory of pain. “But I am not finished in Ionia.”

塔莉垭定定地看着他，然后从衣服里掏出了一束细长的丝线。她把这根手纺的羊毛递给他。他的脸上挂着狐疑的表情。

Taliyah studied him carefully and then reached inside her tunic, breaking a long loose thread. She offered the length of handspun wool to him. He looked at it suspiciously.

“这是我们表达感谢的方式。”塔莉垭沉静地说。“赠人己物，永志不忘。”

“It’s a tradition of thanks among my people,” Taliyah explained. “To give a piece of yourself is to be remembered.”

男人慎重地接过去，系在自己的发辫上。他小心地斟酌着自己的语言。

The man took the thread gingerly and tied back his wild hair with it. He weighed his next words carefully.

“顺着这条路，到下一道河谷，就能沿着河走到海边。”他指着一条隐约的小路说。“你会在那里见到一个渔妇，跟她说你想去弗雷尔卓德。然后给她这个。”

“Follow this to the next river valley and that river to the sea,” he said, gesturing toward a lightly worn deer path. “There is a lone fisherwoman there. Tell her you wish to see the Freljord. Give her this.”

他从腰间解下一个皮袋，摸出一粒风干了的枫树种子，按进她的手心。

The man withdrew a dried maple seed from a leather pouch at his belt and pressed it into her hand.

在北方的冻原上，有一群人反抗着诺克萨斯。也许他们会帮你找到回家的路。”

“In the Frozen North there are a people that resist Noxian rule. With them you might find passage back to your sands.”

“弗雷尔……卓德?是什么?”她咂摸着这个拗口的词。

“What is in this… Freljord?” she said, testing the word in her mouth.

“有很多冰，还有石头。”他朝她挤挤眼睛。

“Ice,” he said. “And stone,” he added with a wink.

轮到她笑了起来。

It was her turn to smile.

“你会在群山之间尽情翱翔。运用你的能力，创造也好，毁灭也罢，拥抱它，毫无保留。你的翅膀会让你无可阻拦，甚至带你回到故乡。”

“You will move quickly with the mountains beneath you. Use your power. Creation. Destruction. Embrace it. All of it. Your wings have carried you far,” he said. “They may even carry you home.”

祈祷自己的部族能够平安无事。或许是她过分担忧了呢?如果他们现在看到她，会怎么想呢?他们还能认出她来吗?巴巴扬曾经说过，无论染上什么颜色，无论纺成什么图案，一束羊毛就是一束羊毛，永远不会改变。塔莉垭想起了这些话，心里不禁安定下来。

Taliyah stared at the path leading down into the river valley. She hoped her tribe was safe. Perhaps the danger she imagined was just that. If they saw her now, what would they think? Would they recognize her? Babajan said that no matter what color the thread, no matter how thick or thin the draft was as it was taken up on the spindle, a part of the wool always remained what it had been when it started. Taliyah remembered, and took comfort in that.

“我相信，你将织就正确的平衡之道。一路平安，小麻雀。”

“I trust that you will weave the right balance. Safe journey, Little Sparrow.”

塔莉垭再次看向自己的老师，但他已经消失在路的尽头。只有几片沙沙作响的草叶在清晨的微风中簌簌晃动，证明他曾到过这里。

Taliyah turned to face her companion, but he was already gone. The only sign he had been there were a few blades of grass that rustled in the new morning air.

“我相信织母对你也早有安排。”她说。

“I’m sure the Great Weaver has a plan for you, too,” she said.

塔莉垭小心地将枫树种子放进大衣的口袋里，开始朝着河谷进发。一路上的碎石纷纷跃起，向她致意。

Taliyah tucked the maple seed carefully into her coat and started down the path into the valley, the stone beneath her boots rising eagerly to greet her.