一夫当关 None Shall Pass

Jax sat cross-legged at the center of the bridge with his long-hafted polearm resting on his knees. Demacia had not changed much since he had last traveled this way, but that didn’t surprise him. Its people zealously protected their borders, which had turned them into pretty decent fighters. Well, some of them anyway, he thought, wiping a spot of blood from the softly glowing head of the lamppost. He flicked the droplet over the parapet to the river below and reached into his robe to pull out his third hard-boiled egg of the day. Tapping it on the cobbles, he slowly peeled the shell as he heard the warriors at the end of the bridge try to decide which one of them would face him next.

贾克斯盘着腿坐在桥中央，长柄武器搁在膝盖上。自打他上次途经这条路，德玛西亚变化不大，但这也没什么好大惊小怪的。人民狂热地保护着自己的疆土，也因此变成了非常像样的勇士。好吧，至少有一些像样的，他心想，同时擦去了闪着柔光的灯柱顶端的几滴鲜血。血滴被掸过栏杆、落入了下方的河流。他把手伸入斗篷中，取出了今天的第三颗水煮蛋。他把蛋在鹅卵石上轻磕了几下，然后不紧不慢地剥起了蛋壳，正好听见桥头的勇士们正在决定要派谁来当他的下一个对手。

Jax lifted his mask and bit into the egg. He took a deep breath, tasting sun-ripened crops on the wind and freshly turned earth from the expanse of farmland stretching to every horizon. Jax sighed; to see a realm at peace made him homesick for a land that no longer existed. He shook off the chill of memory, knowing thoughts of Icathia would only distract him. His robes were heavy, but the sun’s warmth didn’t reach the mottled and oddly hued skin beneath. No part of his flesh was visible, which was probably just as well. He wasn’t even sure what his skin looked like anymore.

A cold wind scudded over the snowcapped mountains to the north and a distant storm disgorged rain over distant fields and settlements. Where Jax came from, there was little in the way of clouds, and even less rain. Perhaps the storm would come south and make the cobbles of the bridge slippery. That might make this more challenging for him.

贾克斯掀起面具的一角，咬了一口鸡蛋。他一个深呼吸，品尝到日晒充分的作物们在迎风飘扬，还有新翻过的土壤，从广阔的农田向每个方向的地平线延展出去。贾克斯叹了口气；眼前的太平景象，让他对一个已不存在的国度泛起了思乡之情。他抖落了回忆的寒冷，因为他知道，对艾卡西亚的思念只会让他分心。他的斗篷很厚重，但太阳并不能温暖他斗篷之下斑驳怪色的皮肤。他没有一处皮肤露在外面。这样也好。他甚至都不太确定他的皮肤看起来像什么样了。

It would also make things more difficult for his opponents. And perhaps that was no bad thing. After all, a warrior worthy of fighting at his side in the battles against the monsters from beyond would need to be adaptable. He heard the clatter of armor and the whisper of a blade cutting air.

“Stand and face me,” ordered a powerful voice.

一阵寒风刮过白雪罩顶的山脉吹向北边，远方的风暴将雨水倾泻在陌生的田野和居所。贾克斯的家乡几乎没有云，更别提下雨了。也许风暴会一路南下，裹挟着雨水，打湿桥上的鹅卵石。那样的话，也许会让这次战斗更有打头。

Jax held up a finger while he finished his egg. He licked his lips then settled his mask back over his face before looking up at the warrior standing before him. The man was powerfully built, broad of shoulder and thick of arm. Armored head to foot in gleaming warplate of burnished steel, he carried a double-edged, hand-and-a-half sword.

And looked like he knew how to use it. Jax approved.

风暴还会让对手的处境更加不利。也许那也不错。毕竟，一个有资格与他并肩作战，对抗来自另一端世界怪物的勇士，起码的适应能力还是必需的。他听到了盔甲的咔嗒声，和一柄利刃切开空气时的轻语。

“You seem like a man who can hew ironbirch trees all day and still have energy left for a tavern brawl,” said Jax.

“I’ll not waste words on you, monster,” said the warrior, assuming the same fighting stance all the others had. Jax sighed, disappointed the defeat of the fifteen men before this one hadn’t taught them anything.

“站起来，面对我，”一个强有力的声音命令道。

“Monster?” he said, rising to his feet in one smooth motion. “I could show you monsters, but I fear you wouldn’t live long enough to tell anyone what a real monster looks like.”

He swung his lamppost around to loosen the muscles in his shoulders. Not that he needed to, but he’d been fighting, on and off, for the last four hours and it might make the man facing him feel like he at least had a chance of winning this duel.

贾克斯举起一根手指，自顾自地吃完了煮蛋。他舔了舔双唇，接着戴好他的面具，然后抬头看了看站在他面前的勇士。那人身材魁梧，肩膀宽阔，手臂粗壮，从头到脚都罩在闪闪发光的抛光铁甲中。他拿着一把双面开刃的一手半剑。

“For Demacia!” shouted the swordsman and he attacked with the same tired, predictable strikes all the others had. The man was fast and strong enough to wield his sword in one hand. Jax swayed aside from the first blow, ducked the second and parried the third. He spun inside the swordsman’s guard and hammered his elbow against the side of his helmet. The metal buckled and the man went down on one knee with a grunt of pain. Jax gave him a moment to still the ringing in his head. The man tore off his helm and dropped it to the bridge.

Blood matted the side of his head, but Jax was impressed at how the man controlled his anger. Demacians had always been sticklers for discipline, so he was glad to see that hadn’t changed. The man took a steadying breath and attacked again, a series of blisteringly fast cuts that went high and low, a mixture of sweeping slashes, lighting thrusts and overhead cuts. Jax parried them all, his lamppost in constant motion as it deflected the Demacian’s blade and delivered stinging, bruising ripostes to the man’s arms and legs. He feinted left and hooked his lamppost around the opponent’s legs, putting him flat on his back. He jabbed the butt of his post into the man’s belly, doubling him up and leaving him gasping for air.

并且，看起来他知道怎么使剑。贾克斯暗自赞赏。

“Had enough yet?” asked Jax. “I can swap hands if it makes it easier.”

“A Demacian would rather die than take succor from an enemy,” said the warrior, lurching to his feet. The man’s stoic facade was crumbling in the face of Jax’s mockery, and when he attacked again, it was with a ferocity untempered by discipline and skill. Jax ducked a risky beheading strike and switched to a one-handed grip on his lamppost. He spun his weapon under the man’s sword and rolled his wrist. The Demacian warrior’s sword was wrenched from his grasp and flipped through the air. Jax caught it deftly in his free hand.

“看起来，你可以砍上一整天的铁桦树，然后还有精力到酒馆里打一架。”贾克斯说道。

“Nice little weapon,” he said, spinning the blade in a dazzling series of master fencer’s strokes. “Lighter than it looks.”

The Demacian drew his dagger and rushed him. Jax shook his head at his foolishness. He threw the sword from the bridge and sidestepped a series of blisteringly fast thrusts. He ducked a sweeping cut and caught a thunderous right cross in his open palm. He nodded toward the river.

“我不会跟你浪费口舌，怪物。”勇士说道，同时摆出了所有其他人都用过的战斗姿态。贾克斯失望地叹了口气，看来前面十五个人的失败并没有教会他们什么东西。

“I hope you can swim,” he said, and twisted his wrist, lifting the armored warrior from his feet and flipping him over the bridge’s parapet. The man splashed down into the river and Jax planted his lamppost on the cobbles.

“Who’s next?” he said.

“怪物？”他说道，身体轻轻一舒就站了起来。“我可以让你见识一下怪物，但我怕你命不够长，来不及把怪物真正的模样告诉其他人。”

“That would be me,” said a woman dismounting a gray gelding at the end of the bridge. Her horse’s flanks were lathered with sweat, her cloak dusty from a hard ride. She wore a silversteel breastplate, and a long-bladed sword was scabbarded at her hip.

She marched past the men at the end of the bridge and strode toward him, moving with a perfect economy of motion, utterly in balance and supremely confident in her skill. Her features were angular and patrician, framed by dark hair streaked with crimson. Her eyes were cold and unforgiving. They promised only death.

他把灯柱抡了几圈，放松了肩膀上的肌肉。他虽然不需要这么做，但过去的四个小时里他一直在一场接一场地打架，并且这也许会让面对他的这个人觉得自己至少有一丝赢下这场对决的机会。

“Who are you?” asked Jax, intrigued.

“My name is Fiora of House Laurent,” she said, drawing her weapon, a dueling saber that gleamed with a perfect edge. “And this is my bridge.”

“德玛西亚万岁！”剑士高喊一声发起了攻击。这个人身手敏捷，并且强壮得足以单手舞剑，可惜他的招式与其他人一样，平平无奇，令人厌倦。贾克斯侧身躲过第一击，下蹲避开第二招，再挡下了第三下，随即一个转身切入了剑士的空当，顺势肘击剑士的头盔侧面。金属头盔被撞出一个凹坑，那人一声痛哼，单膝跪地。贾克斯给了他一些时间来平复脑中的回响。那个人扯掉了头盔，扔在桥上。

Jax grinned beneath his mask.

Finally, an opponent worth fighting!

鲜血糊满了他的侧脸，但令贾克斯印象深刻的是他控制住了自己的愤怒。德玛西亚人都是固守纪律的人，所以他很高兴看到传统仍然未曾改变。那个人稳稳地吸了口气，然后再次发起进攻。一连串迅雷不及掩耳的剑光从各处纷至杳来，混以横扫般的斩击、闪电般的戳刺和高举高打的劈砍……全都被贾克斯招架了。他的灯柱不停转动，兜住德玛西亚人的利刃，并将或锐或钝的回击到对方的手臂和腿上。贾克斯向左一晃，将灯柱钩在对手的双腿上，将他放平在地。他用柱子猛戳了一下那人的小腹，让他不得不蜷缩起来，痛苦地大口喘气。

“现在够了吗？”贾克斯问道。“我可以换一只手，如果想要更快结束的话。”

“德玛西亚人宁死也不接受敌人的垂怜，”勇士说着，歪歪扭扭地站了起来。他坚毅不屈的外表正在贾克斯的嘲讽面前片片剥落，并且当他再次发起攻击时，他的架势无异于一个全无纪律和技术淬炼过的莽夫。贾克斯一蹲，让过了一记要命的斩首，转而用一只手握住了灯柱。他将灯柱探到那人剑下，手腕一翻，德玛西亚勇士的剑就被夺下，然后扔上了半空。贾克斯用另一只空手接住了剑。

“这小刀不赖，”他一边说，一边眼花缭乱地舞动着长剑，俨然一副宗师的派头。“比看上去要轻。”

德玛西亚人拔出匕首冲向他。贾克斯为他的愚蠢大摇其头。他把剑掷下大桥，然后脚下侧滑，躲过了一连串电光火石般的快速戳刺。他再次下蹲，闪过一记横扫，张开手掌接下一记雷霆般的右钩拳。他朝河面点了一下头。

“希望你会水。”说完，他扭动手腕，将全副武装的勇士抬离地面，翻过了桥梁的护栏。那人跌入河中，贾克斯把灯柱在鹅卵石路面上一立。

“还有谁？”

“还有我，”一个女人说道。她在桥头，从骟马身上下来。坐骑身上密布着汗水，她的斗篷上也满是灰尘，看来是骑了好一趟苦路。她佩着一副银钢的胸甲，一把长刃细剑收在髋部的剑鞘中。

她穿过桥头的男人们大步走向他。她的动作轻巧省力，带着绝对的平衡和极度的自信。她容貌瘦削、贵气十足，深色的头发中掩映着几缕猩红。她的眼神冷漠无情，你能从中探见的只有死亡。

“你是谁？”贾克斯好奇心大盛。

“我是劳伦特家族的菲奥娜，”她说完拔出了武器，一把决斗用的军刀，完美的锋刃闪烁着寒光。“而且，这是我的桥。”

贾克斯在面具背后露齿而笑。

终于，可堪一战的人来了！