冬刺山路 The Winterspike Road

作者：Laura Michet

傍晚将近，雪已经浸透了玛哈的靴子。每走一步，她都能感觉到冰水从脚跟挤到脚尖，就像一把剥皮刀刮过脚底。

By evening, the snow had soaked all the way through Maja’s boots. With each step, she could feel icy water slosh from her heel to her toes, like a flaying knife drawn along her foot.

其他士兵也不好过——在齐腰深的雪地里走十五里下坡路，谁也不好过。但纵队最前面的军团战士们却若无其事。他们自从早晨开始就一直是雄赳赳的步态，一双双警惕的眼睛也紧盯着天边。

Other soldiers were struggling, too—fifteen miles downhill in waist-high snow wasn’t easy. But the legionaries at the head of the column weren’t limping. Their steps kept the confident rhythm they’d struck since morning, and their watchful eyes were still glued to the horizon.

估计是他们的靴子比我们好，玛哈心想。崔法利军团的确厉害，但就算再厉害，要是穿上了标配的靴子也不可能厉害成那样。

They probably have better boots, Maja thought. Trifarians are tough, but nobody’s that tough in standard-issue boots.

“喂，”扎尔特低声说，“还好吧？”

“Hey,” Zalt muttered. “Holding up?”

扎尔特是战团里唯一一个牛头人，他更高、更壮、也比其他人年纪更大。他健壮的蹄子在雪地上犁出一道深深的沟。玛哈对此十分嫉妒。“真希望我的脚也没有知觉，”她说。“如果我没长脚，就没人能逼我行军了。”

Zalt, the only minotaur in the warband, was taller, wider, and older than everyone else. He was plowing a deep trench through the snow on sturdy hooves. Maja was jealous. “Wish I couldn’t feel my feet,” she said. “If I didn’t have feet, no one could make me march.”

“上次打凛冬之爪的时候，我看到一个人的脚被冻成了冰坨，”扎尔特说，“他穿靴子的时候脚趾头都崩碎了。所以德莱厄斯将军噌！地一下把它整个儿剁了下来。”

“In the last campaign against the Winter’s Claw, I saw a soldier’s foot freeze solid,” Zalt said. “His toes cracked off when he put his boot on. So, wham! General Darius chopped the whole thing off.”

玛哈把目光投向山下。远处的道路转弯处，可以看到德莱厄斯本人——诺克萨斯之手，武力的化身。一把巨斧在他背上闪闪发亮。

Maja turned her gaze down the mountain. On a bend in the road far below, she could see Darius himself—the Hand of Noxus, Might incarnate. The general’s huge axe gleamed on his back.

“你现在算走运的了，”扎尔特对她说，“德莱厄斯比任何人都更熟悉这条路。因为这条路是他在达克威尔的时代修的。我们能帮他夺回这条路。”扎尔特的眼里腾起一丝怒火。“凛冬之爪该死！”

“You’re lucky to be here,” Zalt told her. “Darius knows this road better than anyone. He built it during Darkwill’s campaign. And we can help him take it back.” A little lick of anger burned in Zalt’s eye. “Damned Winter’s Claw!”

德莱厄斯修建的山路两边都是陡峭的悬崖。玛哈抬起头，可以看到悬崖顶端有一些士兵的身影。“斥候们从不休息，是吗？”她问道。

Cliffs rose sheer on either side of Darius’ mountain road. Looking up, Maja could see the silhouettes of soldiers standing atop them. “The scouts don’t get a rest, do they?” she asked.

“什么？”

“What?”

她用手指过去。“那些斥候。”

She pointed. “The scouts.”

“什么斥候？”扎尔特问。

“Which scouts?” Zalt asked.

然后他也抬头看过去。

Then he looked up, too.

不知道他骂了什么脏话，反正都被雪崩盖过了。

Whatever curse he bellowed was smothered by the avalanche.

他们头顶两侧的悬崖上抖开了两张白色的巨毯，几乎一瞬间就填满了山道。一团团巨大而又敦实的雪块倾泻而下砸在诺克萨斯的行军纵列中间，吞没了一排排士兵。玛哈缩起了身子，可感觉仍然像是被冲锋的龙蜥直接撞翻。先是轰鸣的恐怖，可怕的失重感——然后是黑暗，和凛冬一起压下来。

Two curtains of white separated from the cliff tops above them. Almost instantly, they filled the pass. Chunks of hard-packed snow smashed into the Noxian column, swallowing the soldiers row by row as the avalanche raced downhill. Maja braced, but it was like being hit by a charging basilisk. There was tumbling terror, an awful weightlessness—then darkness, and the crush of winter.

唰！有人把玛哈从雪地里提了出来。“起来，”那个人命令道——他的声音就像剑刃交击时般铿锵。“挖人！”

Crunch! Someone heaved Maja out of the snowpack. “Get up,” he commanded—a voice ringing like the clash of blades. “Dig them out!”

她抖了抖身上的雪，开始挖掘。然后她意识到，自己正在将军本人身边挖雪。

She shook herself and started to dig. Then she realized: she was digging beside the general himself.

德莱厄斯在雪里看见了一只偶蹄类的脚。“扎尔特！”玛哈大喊，帮着将军一起把牛头人抬了出来。

Darius found a cloven foot in the snow. “Zalt!” Maja shouted. She helped the general heave him out.

玛哈回头望向身后的雪坡：远处的坡顶，凛冬之爪的战士们正在诺克萨斯人零落的尸体中间挑挑拣拣。这下没退路了，玛哈心想。

Maja looked back up the frosty slope: far above, Winter’s Claw warriors were picking through the scattered remains of the Noxian dead. No retreat now, Maja thought.

德莱厄斯在点人手。“士官！”他大喊。两个人应声跑来。“报告伤亡情况。翻过山有一条河。我们在那里驻阵。”德莱厄斯审视着刚刚遭受重挫的诺克萨斯队伍，强压住的愤怒扭曲了他的脸孔。“如果走不动，就爬过去。”

Darius was counting heads. “Officers?” he called. Two Trifarian legionaries swiftly ran over. “Report casualties. There’s a river over the next ridge. We’ll fortify there.” Darius surveyed the battered Noxian ranks, his expression burning with barely leashed anger. “If you can’t walk, crawl.”

惨淡的太阳已经垂近地平线，凛冬之爪的游击战士尾随着诺克萨斯军团的纵队一直来到了冰封的河畔，用带倒刺的箭矢不断骚扰。然而，训练有素的崔法利军团步履不停。玛哈尽力跟上他们的速度，开始喘起了粗气。

As the pale sun plummeted toward the horizon, Winter’s Claw skirmishers followed the Noxian column all the way down to the frozen river, peppering them with barbed arrows. However, the probing fire didn’t slow down the disciplined Trifarian Legion. Maja’s breath grew ragged as she hurried to keep up with them.

冰冻的河面宽阔平整，足以让凛冬之爪有所忌惮，不敢直接冲过来。诺克萨斯人知道，只要把河岸看紧，敌人唯一可能来袭的方向就是附近的树林。虽然有人不时在松林的阴影中放冷箭，但德莱厄斯还是命令士兵们强行沿着河岸在雪地上挖出两道平行的壕沟。士兵们把盾牌当成铲子来用，玛哈看到德莱厄斯也在做同样的事。

The frozen river was wide and slick enough to make it a dangerous approach for the Winter’s Claw, and by holding the bank, the Noxians knew any attack would have to come from the nearby treeline. In spite of the sporadic fire from the shadows beneath the pines, Darius ordered two snow trenches dug parallel to the bank. Soldiers repurposed shields into shovels, and Maja saw Darius doing the same.

“记住了，”扎尔特说，“你看到了诺克萨斯之手和小兵一起挖沟。”

“Remember this,” Zalt said. “You saw the Hand of Noxus digging with the infantry!”

然后大家开始削尖外圈壕沟的长木杆。德莱厄斯沿途检查防线——但是停在了扎尔特面前。“你很眼熟。”他说道。

Everyone then sharpened stakes for the outer trench. Darius checked defenses along the line—but stopped at Zalt. “You’re familiar,” he said.

“我参加过第一次弗雷尔卓德战役，将军！”扎尔特点头示意玛哈，“我跟这个年轻人讲过，那个时候比现在还惨烈。”

“I fought in the first Freljord campaign, general!” Zalt nodded at Maja. “Told this youngster how much worse it was!”

德莱厄斯打量了一下玛哈，“你是第一次参加行动，”他说。

Darius looked Maja over. “This is your first action,” he said.

玛哈好奇他是怎么看出来的。“是，将军。”

Maja wondered how he could tell. “Yes, general.”

“不要浪费时间害怕，”他告诉她，“专注于面前的敌人，专注于用剑抹他们的脖子。”

“Don’t waste time on fear,” he told her. “Focus on facing the enemy. On putting your blade in their throats.”

玛哈不知道自己该说什么。“呃——”

Maja wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh—”

嗖。什么东西划破了二人之间的空气——一杆标枪插在了壕沟的雪壁上。

Zzzzip. Something parted the air between them, and a javelin lodged in the wall of the trench.

玛哈看向树林。枝干摇曳，阴影中闪着刀光，抛光过的骨甲在月光下寒意森森。

Maja turned toward the treeline. Branches were shaking, blades were shining, and moonlight glinted on polished bone.

“迎敌！”德莱厄斯大吼。

“Stand to!” Darius bellowed.

又是一轮标枪从树林中飞出，逼得诺克萨斯士兵们匆忙地寻找掩体。玛哈看到一名士兵一步踉跄，三尺长的粗糙木杆从他的胸前穿出。

As the Noxians scrambled for cover, and another volley of javelins flew from the trees, Maja saw a soldier stagger, three feet of knotty wood sprouting from his chest.

德莱厄斯一把推开玛哈和扎尔特，箭矢打在他背上的斧刃。“快了。他们很快就要冲锋。”他的眼中燃烧着炽烈的战意。“那就是我们反击的时刻。”

Darius pushed past Maja and Zalt, arrows pinging off the axe on his back. “Soon. They’ll charge soon,” he told them. His eyes were lit with fierce excitement. “That’s when we’ll strike!”

就在他说话的同时，树林的方向传来一声咆哮。一群像猫一样的六足阴影冲出了树影——是被驯化的狂爪兽，扑向了诺克萨斯士兵的喉咙。

And just as he spoke, a snarling came from the trees. A pack of six-legged, catlike shadows raced out of the darkness—trained wildclaws, leaping for Noxian throats.

凛冬之爪的人紧随其后。

The Winter’s Claw followed.

崔法利军团爬出壕沟迎战，玛哈也抽出了剑。她看到德莱厄斯的战斧像断头台的铡刀一样落下。她也挺直了身躯，准备迎战——这时，扎尔特倒在了她身边。

As Trifarian legionaries rose from the trench to meet them, Maja drew her sword. She saw Darius bring his axe down like a guillotine. She rose, too, ready to fight—when Zalt collapsed beside her.

一杆标枪插在他肩上。

A javelin was buried in his shoulder.

“走，”他费力地说，但玛哈却没走。凛冬之爪的人眨眼间就挥着短柄斧扑了上来。扎尔特用没受伤的手架开了一记足够开颅的纵劈，玛哈顺势绊倒了袭击的敌人——但她没有补上最后一下，反而是回到了扎尔特身边。

“Go,” he gasped, but Maja planted herself beside him. Winter’s Claw warriors were on them in an instant, hatchets swinging. Zalt deflected a skull-crushing strike with his good arm, and Maja tripped their attacker—but instead of delivering the killing blow, she turned back to Zalt.

她能救他。必须救他！

She could save him. She had to!

她推着扎尔特离开战场往河的方向走，一步一滑地来到诺克萨斯阵线后方的冰面上。扎尔特跪倒在地，艰难地喘气，玛哈突然有一种冲动，想要和他一起逃到河对岸。

She pushed Zalt toward the river, away from the fight, and they slithered out onto the ice behind the Noxian line. As Zalt fell to his knees, struggling for breath, Maja had a sudden urge to flee across the river with him.

“别！”扎尔特知道她在想什么。“诺克萨斯人从不逃跑。”

“Don’t!” Zalt could tell what she was thinking. “A Noxian never flees!”

玛哈的心脏在狂跳。她张开了嘴，想要与扎尔特争论——我是诺克萨斯人，我是——但她却一个字也说不出来。

Maja’s heart seemed to be beating in her throat. She opened her mouth to argue with Zalt—I am a Noxian, I am—but her mouth refused to form the words.

扎尔特瞪大了双眼，一只厚重的手掌落在玛哈的肩膀上。她不需要回头就知道这是谁。

Then Zalt’s eyes widened, and a heavy hand landed on Maja’s shoulder. She knew who it was before she turned around.

“面向敌人。”德莱厄斯吼道。

“Face the enemy,” Darius growled.

“我——”

“I—”

“你是背对着。”德莱厄斯手臂轻轻一甩，就把她转了个方向。“诺克萨斯人要逃跑，就是死。”他说。

“You’re not facing them.” With a flick of his arm, Darius spun her on the ice. “Noxians who flee, die,” he said.

死在你手里，玛哈心里清楚。死在那把斧头下。在她的注视中，德莱厄斯举起了手中的战斧，那一刻玛哈心想，原来是这样的——我的死刑。

By your hand, Maja knew. By that axe. As she stared, Darius hefted the axe above his head, and for an instant Maja thought, This is it—my execution.

但那个时刻一直都没有到来。一阵箭雨打在斧刃的侧面弹开，无力地落在他们四周。德莱厄斯放下了战斧。“诺克萨斯人从不逃跑。我们要赢，”他吼道，“我们要让他们付出代价，要他们碎尸万段。”

But the moment never came. A flurry of arrows ricocheted off the flat of the blade, falling harmlessly around them, and Darius lowered the axe again. “Noxians don’t run. We win,” he growled. “We chop them to pieces for what they do to us.”

突然，玛哈感到了愤怒——对凛冬之爪，也对她自己，对自己的恐惧。她用冻僵的双臂将扎尔特推到一旁。她听到他倒在冰上呻吟了一声——但她没有理睬，德莱厄斯也没有。她跟随着德莱厄斯的步伐，与他一同冲进了诺克萨斯钢铁的旋风之中。

And suddenly, Maja was angry—at the Winter’s Claw, and at herself, and at her fear. With jerking, frozen limbs, she shoved Zalt aside. She heard him grunt as he hit the ice—but she left him there, and Darius did, too. Beside him, lock-step, she ran into the whirlwind of Noxian steel.

刀锋闪掠，玛哈也挥舞手中的剑，直到她肌肉灼痛，手掌也因一次次的碰撞而被震得发酸。随着每一下全力以赴的攻击，她都在提醒自己：活下去。要赢。把他们碎尸万段。

Their blades flashed, and Maja swung hers until her muscles burned and her hand was sore from impact after impact. And with each hammering blow, she reminded herself: Live. Win. Chop them to pieces.

等到日出时分，凛冬之爪已经溃不成军。

By sunrise, the Winter’s Claw had been routed.

当他们回来的时候，德莱厄斯和玛哈在河边发现了扎尔特，他胸前插满了箭。已经死了。

When they returned, Darius and Maja found Zalt at the riverbank, his chest prickled with arrows. Dead.

玛哈感到心里一空。她一直在跟自己说，或许他与大部队集合了。或许他也参战了。但他就死在他们离开时的地方。

Maja felt numb. She’d been telling herself, Maybe he rallied. Maybe he fought. But he’d just died where they left him.

“我想保护他，”她告诉德莱厄斯，“他——他是个好兵。我想保护他。”

“I was trying to protect him,” she told Darius. “He’s—He was a good soldier. I was trying to protect him.”

德莱厄斯停顿了一下。“这么决定不妥。”他说。

Darius paused. “That was a poor decision,” he said.

玛哈惊了一下，“长官，您是说——？”

Maja startled. “Sir?”

“你应该和那些还有机会活下去的士兵们并肩作战。”他转过身凝望玛哈。她颤抖了一下——他的双眼如同钢铁。“老扎尔特已经准备好赴死了。而你现在应该准备好战斗。”

“You should have been fighting alongside soldiers who still had a chance of living.” He turned his gaze to Maja. She shuddered—his eyes were like iron. “Old Zalt was ready to die. But you should have been ready to fight.”

“是——是的，”她结结巴巴地说，“我会……我会改正的，长官。”

“Y-yes,” she stammered. “I’ll… I’ll be better, sir.”

德莱厄斯看向北方，晨曦照亮了冬刺山脉的高坡。玛哈可以看到上面有篝火在燃烧。烟雾穿过树冠袅袅升起。

Darius turned north, toward the dawn-lit slopes of the Winterspike mountains. Maja could see campfires up there. Smoke rising through the trees.

是凛冬之爪，他们在等待。

The Winter’s Claw, waiting.

“那就赶快一点儿。”德莱厄斯说

“Then do it fast,” Darius said.