脱皮换骨 The Shedding of Skin

作者： Rayla Heide

Cassiopeia reclined against the crenelated rooftop, and gazed over the winding alleys and crowded streets of Urzeris. A Noxian possession for years, the coastal city still refused to completely embrace its new identity—it felt ancient, and quietly resistant to the future.

卡西奥佩娅倚靠在锯齿般起伏不定的屋顶上俯视着诺克萨斯的蜿蜒小巷和拥挤街道。她丝毫不在意夜晚的寒冷，仅仅穿了一件轻纱薄丝衬衫，露出自己腰身的移行交界之处，娇柔的肌肤在这里变成了弯曲层叠的蛇皮鳞片。

So Shuriman.

Untroubled by the cool night air, Cassiopeia wore a shift of translucent silk, which revealed the transition at her hips where soft skin merged into sinuous, overlapping snake scales. The scent of roasted meat wafted up to her hidden aerie, but it could not mask the vile stench of thousands of people living on top of each other. Her mouth burned as noxious venom mingled with her saliva. She flexed her muscular tail, cracking the stonework and sending crumbled fragments to the streets below.

烤肉的气味徐徐钻入卡西奥佩娅的藏身小巢，但却无法掩盖成千上万人乌合苟活、互相压榨迫害而散发出的邪恶气息。猛烈的毒液和口水混在一起，在她嘴里泛起一股灼热的辛辣。她用力收缩了一下尾巴宽厚的肌肉，扭碎了石雕，碎石向下滚落掉在街道上。

Rats scattered from the falling stone. Filthy street urchins dashed around street corners as hooded figures whispered in the shadows and burly soldiers staggered in and out of taverns. All were oblivious to the predator lurking in the darkness above.

Cassiopeia brushed a taloned hand against her scaly side, her serpentine figure concealed by the shadows. Once, she had been a powerful figure in Noxus: assassins killed at her slightest whim, soldiers spilled their darkest secrets, and generals willingly followed her counsel in the hopes of patronage. Cassiopeia sighed. These days, she emerged only under cover of night. No longer was she an influential voice in Noxian society—not since she had been reduced to this grotesque abomination in hiding.

落石之处巨鼠四散而逃。蓬头垢面的街头顽童在角落之间跑来跑去，罩帽阴影下的面孔窃窃私语，五大三粗的士兵跌跌撞撞地在酒馆门口进进出出。一切都被上方黑暗中潜伏着的掠食者看得一清二楚。

Upon her return from the desert, Cassiopeia had hidden in the crypt of her family’s residence, fearful of her transformation. She remained alone in the cold, dank vault for weeks, filled with disgust for her serpentine body and mourning the loss of her aristocratic life.

Eventually, a growing desire to hunt overwhelmed her, and she ventured out to roam the city by night as the household slumbered.

卡西奥佩娅用她鹰爪般的手在她下半身的鳞片上摩挲着，阴影藏住了她的蛇身。这些日子以来，她只会在夜幕的掩护下外出。曾经，她还是诺克萨斯的权贵名媛：只要她眉目微颦，刺客就会立刻行动暗杀，低阶士兵会透露自己所知的最黑暗的秘密，高阶将领会甘愿听从她的一切建议，只为获得她的青睐。卡西奥佩娅叹了一口气。她已不再是诺克萨斯上流社会的重要声音了，自从那天她被贬落至此，成为这种见不得人的诡异憎恶的化身。

Cassiopeia put aside her reverie as a broad-shouldered soldier in a leather breastplate stumbled from a tavern, drink in hand. Finally; this was the man she’d been waiting for. She trailed his movements from above, following him silently over fortress walls and archways, until he entered an empty courtyard. Perfect. Cassiopeia slithered onto an adjacent roof, eyes glinting with predatory thrill.

Her figure cast a shadow across the soldier. He turned, drunkenly defiant.

她从恕瑞玛返回以后就一直躲在家族地下密室里，被自己的形态改变吓得六神无主。她在阴冷潮湿的密室中独自度过了数周，对自己的蛇形身躯深恶痛绝，同时也为自己失去的贵族生活惋惜默哀。最后，一种与日俱增的狩猎欲望占据了她的情感，于是她在全家人都熟睡以后的夜里鼓起勇气外出，在城市中游荡。

“I know you’re there! Show yourself!” he said.

Cassiopeia’s tail twitched in anticipation. Her forked tongue extended, tasting the air. She drew the sweet scent of his blood into her lungs, then exhaled with great satisfaction.

卡西奥佩娅离开了自己的藏身小巢，因为她看到一名肩膀宽厚的士兵从一间酒馆中踉跄而出，身穿皮甲，手中还握着酒瓶。终于出现了，这就是她一直在等待的那个人。她在屋顶尾随着他，悄无声息地拂过要塞的高墙和拱门，直到最后他进入了一片空旷的庭院。简直完美。卡西奥佩娅滑到了相邻的屋顶上，捕猎的冲动让她双眼放光。

“Fight me face to face!” he shouted. “I ain’t gonna be stalked like some animal.”

Cassiopeia let out an angry hiss. By the time the soldier looked up, she’d slid to the opposite side of the courtyard and perched directly above him, remaining out of sight in the shadows.

她的影子与那名士兵交叉相错。他回过头，酩酊大醉，目中无人。

“You consider yourself better than an animal, do you?” she said.

The man’s head turned abruptly, trying to pinpoint the sound of her voice.

“我知道你在那！出来吧！”他说。

“How’d you get across so fast?” he said, his wavering tone betraying false bravado.

“Even beasts are nothing to your savagery,” said Cassiopeia.

卡西奥佩娅的尾巴兴奋地抖动着。她吐出分叉的舌头，品尝着周围的空气。她深吸一口气，将他体内鲜血的甜美气息吸入肺中，然后满足地呼了出去。

Breathless, he edged away, looking for an escape. He hammered his fists against every door, but each was bolted shut. Cassiopeia imagined his mind racing to solve the riddle of who was hunting him and why.

He unsheathed his sword, turning on the spot, unsure where to direct his threat. “You don’t want to cross me. I’ve gutted worse enemies than you.”

“面对面来和我打！”他大叫道。“我可不要被当做动物一样跟踪。”

“Not just enemies,” Cassiopeia replied. “I’ve seen your handiwork. You’re not the only one who creeps about in the dark.”

She spat a bilious wad of venom as he turned toward the sound of her voice. The man howled in pain, coin-sized holes burning through his armor and into his skin. She inhaled the satisfying sear of burning leather and flesh.

卡西奥佩娅发出一声愤怒的嘶叫。当那名士兵向上望去的时候，她已经溜到庭院的对面了，缠绕在他正上方的树枝上，隐蔽地躲在阴影中。

The man brandished his sword. “Who are you? Why’re you doing this?”

“I’ve been watching you,” replied Cassiopeia. “I know what you are, what you do…”

“你觉得自己比动物更优越，是么？”她说。

“What I do is no business of yours.”

“I know you’re murdering children for drake meat. I hear it’s quite lucrative.”

那个男人突然转过头，想要确定声音的来源。

The man tried to pry open the shutters of a nearby window with the flat of his sword, but they too were bolted shut.

“Then there’s the three tavern wenches,” said Cassiopeia. “Sarmela, Elmin, and Lyx. They were found in the river yesterday. Their faces were hardly recognizable once you’d finished with them.”

“你怎么这么快就过去了？”他说道，颤抖的声音出卖了他假装的勇敢。

She relished the thought of sinking her talons into his flesh.

The man readied his stance. “You can’t fight me from the shadows. Show yourself!”

“你的野蛮行径禽兽不如“

“Very well,” Cassiopeia said.

She slithered down to the courtyard and rose to her full height. The man’s eyes widened in horror, his hands trembling. Cassiopeia stood head and shoulders over the man, glaring down with narrowing eyes.

他屏住呼吸，悄悄贴边溜走，四下寻找着退路。他用力凿向每一扇门，各家各户全都大门紧锁。卡西奥佩娅想象着他在脑海中胡思乱想究竟是谁在为了什么而追杀自己。

“Monster!” he cried.

“Monster,” murmured Cassiopeia. “Not the worst I’ve been called.”

他抽出了自己的剑，突然回过头来，完全不确定应该面向哪个方向迎接自己的威胁。“你最好别惹我，比你更难对付的敌人都被我捅死过。”

She slid left and whipped her tail across his legs, effortlessly knocking him to the ground.

Curling her tail around his chest, she squeezed his ribcage tighter and tighter, sensing his pounding heart straining beneath her grasp. She heard bones crack. She resisted the urge to break him completely, and released her grip. He crawled to his sword, grasping it in desperation. She so enjoyed watching him tremble.

“不仅是敌人吧，”卡西奥佩娅回答道。“我见过你的手法。你并不是唯一一个潜藏在黑暗中的人。”

She circled him slowly. He met her gaze and stared in slow recognition.

“I know your face. The Lady Cassiopeia!” he said. “Look at you!”

她吐出了一团苦涩的毒液，正好在她寻声转身的同时命中。那个人痛苦地嚎叫起来，硬币大小的孔洞烧穿了他的皮甲，烧进了他的皮肉。她嗅到了那股皮革和肌肉烧灼的味道，心满意足，神清气爽。

Point to the ground, he pushed himself onto his feet with his sword.

“You chase drunkards like me through the filthy gutters of this city now, is that it?” The man spat a wad of blood. “From such great heights we fall, eh?”

那个人将自己的剑挥舞了几下。“你是谁？你这是为了什么？”

She hissed, exposing dripping yellow fangs.

Cassiopeia’s gaze bored into the man’s eyes, locking them in a cold-hearted bond. She screamed, pouring all her rage into the cry; fury at the unfairness of her current state, anger at the loss of her privileged life, resentment for her failed ambitions. She channeled it all into the screeching, mind-shredding wail.

“我一直都在观察你，”卡西奥佩娅回答道。“我知道你做了什么，你是怎样的人…”

As she screamed, her fury was replaced with joy. It felt like she was floating, her potential for greatness infinite. Every fiber of her being sang with ancient power.

Searing emerald light blazed from Cassiopeia’s eyes. The man’s final panic was outlined in silhouette as he petrified from the inside out. His stare hardened, greyed, and stiffened, his last cry of terror stifled as her curse transformed his flesh to stone.

我做了什么不关你的事。

Cassiopeia slithered up to the statue and softly caressed its hard cheek. What was once skin fractured into a grisly pattern resembling a dried riverbed.

“Once, I had to manipulate, bribe, or otherwise… persuade people to orchestrate my schemes,” she said. “But now… Now I simply take what I want.”

“我知道你谋杀儿童换取龙蜥肉。听说油水很大。”

She whipped her tail forward, smashing the statue to the ground. She smiled, eyes glinting, as it shattered into a thousand pieces of rubble and dust.

Cassiopeia flushed with pride as she considered her handiwork. Her life as a noble was over, yes, but never had she felt such boundless power coursing through her veins. She slithered back onto the rooftops, her mind awhirl with ideas.

那个人试图用剑背撬开旁边一扇窗户的挡板，但所有窗板也都紧紧地被插栓锁死。

Her next victim would offer her a far greater challenge.

“另外还有三名酒馆女招待，”卡西奥佩娅接着说道。“莎梅拉，伊尔敏，还有莱克丝。她们的尸体昨天在河里被人发现。她们的脸已经被你糟蹋得几乎无法辨认了。”

她想象着自己的长爪深深刺入他的血肉，细细品味着想象中的滋味。

那个人准备好了应战的姿势。“你别在阴影中和我打。快现身！”

“那好吧，”卡西奥佩娅说。

她滑下来，在庭院之中挺身展露出完整的身高。那个人瞠目结舌，手忙脚乱。卡西奥佩娅超出那个人一头高，怒目俯视，凶光毕露。

“怪物！”他惊呼道。

“怪物，”卡西奥佩娅低声说，“并不是对我最糟糕的称呼。”

她向左侧滑蹿，甩出尾巴扫向那人的下盘，轻而易举地将他掀翻在地。

卡西奥佩娅旋即用巨尾缠住他的胸腔，将他的肋骨越收越紧，感受着他的心脏在挤压之下竭力挣扎。她听到了骨头碎裂的声音。她抑制住了冲动，没有将他彻底摧毁，而是松开了缠绕。他奋力爬向自己的剑，绝望地抓在手中。她实在是很享受眼前的景象，欣赏着他的颤抖。

她缓缓地绕着他转圈。他看到了她的眼睛，开始觉得似曾相识并逐渐认了出来。

“我认识你这张脸。是卡西奥佩娅小姐！”他说。“瞧瞧你自己！”

他刀尖抵地，支撑自己站了起来。

“你现在也像我一样呢，在臭泥沟里追杀醉鬼，是吗？”那人吐出一口血痰。“我们摔得都很惨呢，是吧？”

她发出愤怒的嘶声，露出了挂着粘液的蜡黄毒牙。

卡西奥佩娅的凝视灌入了那人的眼中，他的目光被冰冷地禁锢在这对视之中。她开始发出尖叫，其中注入了她全部的愤怒；对于自己身心状况的恼火、对于失去贵族生活的哀怨、以及对于壮志落空的憎恨。她将这一切都倾注于这一声尖锐刺耳的哀嚎之中。

在她发出尖叫的同时，她的愤怒被欢愉所取代。她觉得自己似乎飘浮了起来，有着无穷无尽的伟大潜力。她体内每一根经脉都荡漾着远古的能量。

炙热翠绿的光芒从卡西奥佩娅的双眼喷薄而出。那个人临终之际的恐慌被完整地刻画出来，他已经从内到外彻底被石化了。他的目光渐渐僵滞、暗淡、凝固，他最后一声惊恐的惨叫戛然而止，她的诅咒已经将他的血肉变成石头。

卡西奥佩娅滑到石像旁边，轻柔地抚摸着它的坚硬脸庞。曾经的皮肤已经变得粗糙龟裂，犹如干涸的河床。

“曾经，我必须攻其所想、投其所好、或者使用其他方法…说服别人按照我的计划行事。”她对石像说道。“而现在…现在我可以轻而易举地夺走我想要的。”

她向前扫尾，将石像打翻在地。她嘴角上扬，明眸闪烁，石像顷刻之间化为上千块碎石和尘埃。

卡西奥佩娅红光满面，自豪地回味着自己的杰作。的确，她的贵族生活已经结束，但她从未感受到自己的血管之中流淌着如此无边无际的力量。她滑行回到屋顶，脑海中浮现出万花筒般的新想法。

她的下一个目标将会带来非常高难的挑战。