黑影的猎人 Hunter of Shadows

作者： Anthony Reynolds

它们如同一片模糊的影子扑向卢锡安，用非物质的爪子和古老、锈蚀的刀剑刺向他。它们很快……但快不过他。

They came at Lucian in a blur of shadow, lunging at him with insubstantial talons and ancient, rusted blades. They moved fast… but he was faster.

他的动作如同舞蹈，款步回旋，行云流水，手中的圣物双枪射出耀眼的奥法光弹，点亮了这座小酒馆腐朽的室内。

He moved like a dancer, turning and spinning, ever in motion, the relic pistols in his hands lighting up the rotting interior of the inn with their blazing, arcane light.

卢锡安修长的皮衣和紧实的辫子随着他的动作飞舞抽打，他闲庭信步般地躲过了四面八方袭来的狂乱攻击。每一发光弹都像太阳一般灼热，都将某个怪叫着的恶灵驱逐，把它们打回无形的黑暗。

Lucian’s long leather coat and tightly bound locks whipped around him as he moved, effortlessly avoiding the frenzied attacks coming at him from every direction. Every shot he fired burned with the intensity of the sun, banishing one of the screeching spirits, sending them reeling back into formless darkness.

他的使命已经无法让他获得满足感。再也无法。这个世界的所有光明都已经黯然，因为她已被夺去。

He took no satisfaction in this duty. Not anymore. All the light in his world had been snuffed out when she had been taken.

黑暗的利爪割向卢锡安的一只小臂，他发出痛苦的吸气声，一边咒骂着自己短暂的分神，一边用一发光弹把来犯的恶灵脑袋炸开了花，然后继续专注于手头上的任务。他坚定地站在小酒馆的中央，用枪消灭了潮水般涌过来的幽灵，每一发光弹都点亮了黑暗。

Dark talons raked across one of Lucian’s forearms, making him hiss in pain. Cursing himself for being momentarily distracted, he destroyed the offending spirit with a blast of light to its head, and focused upon the task at hand. Standing firm in the center of the inn, he gunned down the tide of spectral forms rushing at him, every shot lighting up the darkness.

最后终于只剩下他自己，张开双臂，武器分别对着两侧，石质的末端依然泛着光。他向左右两侧瞥去，等着下一波进攻。酒馆壁炉里的火似乎烧得旺了一些，驱赶着深出的暗影，逼退了刺骨的冰冷。

At last he was alone, arms spread wide, weapons pointed in opposite directions, their stone tips still glowing. He glanced left and right, awaiting another attack. The fire in the inn’s hearth seemed to burn more brightly, banishing the deeper shadows, and the icy chill retreated.

疲惫突然涌上来，卢锡安扶起了一条长凳，轻叹一声坐了下去。他将双枪放在了桌子上，然后检查自己的伤口。

Suddenly weary, Lucian righted a fallen bench and sat with a groan. He placed his pistols upon the table, then turned his attention to his wound.

他咬着牙，把左手上的黑色长手套抽了下来。皮革外表没留下痕迹，但他小臂上的皮肉却在鬼爪割到的地方变成了黑色——就像被冻伤的一样。

Wincing, he slid the long, black glove from his left hand. The leather was unmarked, but the flesh of his forearm was blackened where ghostly talons had slashed him—almost like frostbite.

他的余光捕捉到轻微的移动，卢锡安立刻站了起来，双枪瞄准了……一个黑发女孩，刚刚十多岁的样子，从仓库里的躲藏地点走了出来。

He caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, and Lucian was instantly on his feet, both pistols aimed at… a dark-haired girl, barely into her teenage years, who had emerged from her hiding place in a back storeroom.

她停在原地，望着他，瞪大双眼一眨不眨。

She froze, staring up at him, eyes wide and unblinking.

“求你，”她小声说。“别。”

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t.”

“不要悄悄出现，”卢锡安说着，放下了枪。

“Shouldn’t sneak up on people,” Lucian said, lowering his guns.

他正要转身，但女孩双眸倒映出一个移动的影子。他立刻回旋，枪口转向身后，但这一次他不够快。

He made to turn away, but caught a shadow of movement reflected in the girl’s eyes. He spun, swinging his weapons around, but this time he was not fast enough.

一个怨灵从退行的阴影中冲了出来——这是一只消瘦的、非物质的生物，身上披挂着裹尸布。一对空洞的眼窝和血盆大口里透出蓝绿色的惨淡幽光，它用匕首般的长爪向他劈过来。

A wraith lunged from the receding gloom—an emaciated, insubstantial creature, swathed in shrouds. Pale, blue-green light spilled from its eye sockets and gaping mouth, and it lashed at him with talons the length of daggers.

卢锡安被这下攻击的力道向后掀翻，飞过了吧台，飞过了大约十五尺的距离。他撞到了墙上，打碎了酒架上数十个空酒瓶，然后伴着碎玻璃一同摔落在地。他的胸口被怨灵击中，燃起一阵灼痛，而他的心脏则被一股寒气紧紧握住，每一次呼吸都要竭尽全力。

Lucian was hurled backwards by the force of the blow, flying over the bar, some fifteen feet distant. He slammed into the wall, shattering dozens of empty liquor bottles lined up on the shelves, and fell to the floor in a shower of broken glass. His chest burned where the wraith had struck him, and an icy chill clutched at his heart, making him gasp for every breath.

他狂乱地寻找着自己的武器。他看到了其中一把，正躺在左面十步以外的平地上。太远了。另一把枪则旋转着滑过地板，停在了那个女孩的脚下。

He searched frantically for his weapons. He spied one, lying on the uneven floor ten paces to his left. Too far. The other had spun across the floorboards, before coming to a halt at the girl’s feet.

她捡起了那把古老的武器，瞄准了怨灵，她的双手在颤抖，而那个东西却向她冲了过去，巨口长大到难以置信的角度。

She picked up the ancient weapon and aimed it at the wraith, clutching it with shaking hands as the thing lunged towards her, its mouth opening impossibly wide.

“没法开火！”她一边哭喊一边后退。“没有扳机！”

“It won’t fire!” she wailed, backing away. “There’s no trigger!”

卢锡安的脑海中浮现出回忆的片段，像刀扎一样突然。

An echo of memory rose in Lucian’s mind, as sudden as a knife strike.

“可是这要怎么开火？”卢锡安一边说，一边看着这把精巧的武器，脸上满是疑惑。“没有扳机。”

“But how do you fire it?” Lucian said, looking down at the exquisitely crafted weapon, a look of puzzlement on his face. “There’s no trigger.”“不需要扳机，我的爱，”赛娜说，她的眼神中闪着愉悦。她轻轻抚过他的鬓角。“扳机在这里。”“It doesn’t need a trigger, my love,” said Senna, her eyes glinting with amusement. She touched him lightly on the side of his head. “The trigger is in here.”“我不明白，”卢锡安说。“I don’t understand,” said Lucian.赛娜举起了自己的武器——这一把的外形更加优雅——瞄准了二十步以外的标靶。她的表情凌厉起来，眯起双眼。“你必须用意念让它开火。”她话音刚落，目标就在一道黄色火光的烈焰中炸裂开来Senna aimed her own weapon—a more elegant version of the one he held—at the target twenty feet away. Her expression hardened, her eyes narrowing. “You have to will it to fire,” she said, and the target exploded in a searing blast of yellow flame.“好的。用意念，”卢锡安说着，将手枪瞄向下一个标靶。什么都没发生。他晃了晃手枪，呼出一口粗气，一半是气馁，一般是迷惑。“Right. Will it to fire,” said Lucian, leveling his pistol at the next target. Nothing happened. He shook the pistol, and snorted, partly in frustration, and partly in bewilderment.“需要的是控制，”赛娜说道。“是专心。开火的意念需要发自你身体中的每一丝存在。”“It requires control,” said Senna. “It requires focus. You need to will it to fire with every fiber of your being.”卢锡安大笑着转身面向赛娜，扬起了一瞥眉毛。“身体中的每一丝存在？”Lucian laughed and turned to Senna, one eyebrow raised. “Every fiber of my being?”“试一下！”她催促道。“Try it!” she urged.他试了一下，但没有抑制住弯上嘴角的微笑。“我放弃，”他叹了一口气。他靠近了赛娜，将她拉入怀抱。“有你在，叫我如何对别的东西专心？”He did, but couldn’t keep a smile from curling at the corners of his mouth. “I give up,” he sighed. He stepped in close to Senna, and drew her into an embrace. “How do you expect me to focus on anything else when you are near?”赛娜将他推开，笑着说。“你别以为这么容易就放过你了，”她说。“再来。这次要认真起来。”

Senna pushed him away, laughing. “You’re not getting out of this that easily,” she said. “Again. And actually try this time.”

女孩已经退到了墙边，无路可退，那把稍微纤薄一些的枪——赛娜的枪——在她的手中只是无用的石块。

The girl was backed up against a wall now, the slender relic gun—Senna’s gun—a useless weight in her hands.

“扔给我！”卢锡安粗声吼道，同时向前猛冲。

“Throw it to me!” Lucian barked, darting forward.

面对飞来的恶灵，女孩尖叫着把枪扔向卢锡安的方向。手枪颠倒旋转着从空中飞过，直接穿过了怨灵。卢锡安稳健地接住了旋转中的枪柄，同时单膝跪地，贴着地板滑铲到另一把枪旁边。当他再站起来的时候，两把枪都已准备就绪，然后火力全开。

The girl shrieked as the spirit flew toward her, and hurled the gun in Lucian’s direction. It spun end-over-end through the air, passing straight through the wraith. Lucian deftly caught it in mid-sprint, simultaneously dropping to one knee and sliding across the floorboards to scoop up his other weapon. He came to his feet with both pistols ready, and opened up.

那个恶灵惨叫着，慌不择路地逃窜，蜷缩着扭转着试图从他身边钻出去，但卢锡安不依不饶。他一个箭步向旁侧猛冲，维持着巨狼般的连续扫射。炙热的光芒撕裂了那个惨白的幽灵，它的吼叫逐渐变得惨厉，黑暗的形体逐渐消解，犹如晨雾在朝阳下散去。

The wraith screamed and tried desperately to escape, coiling and spinning through the air away from him, but Lucian was relentless. He dashed sideways, maintaining his strafing torrent of fire. The blazing light tore through the ghastly apparition, and its cry became piteous as its dark form dissipated, like mist beneath the rising sun.

卢锡安停在原地，双枪依然平举着。一切又静了下来。

Lucian came to a halt, though he kept the pistols raised. All was silent once more.

“它……走了吗？”女孩问道。

“Is… it gone?” the girl said.

他没有立刻回答，用怀疑的目光扫视房间的每一寸。最后，他把双枪收进枪套中。“它走了。没事了。”

He didn’t answer immediately, his narrowed eyes scanning the room. At last, he holstered the two guns. “It’s gone. You are safe.”

“我……我没法用它开火，”女孩盯着黑暗喃喃地说。“我以为自己要死了。就像其他人。”

“I… I couldn’t make it fire,” the girl said, staring at the darkness. “I thought I was going to die. Like the others.”

卢锡安回想起了自己使用这武器时遇到的难题——感觉已经是很久以前了。

Lucian remembered his own difficulty with the weapon—it felt so long ago now.

需要的是控制，是专心。

It requires control. It requires focus.

“我现在可以专心了，我的爱，”卢锡安将这句话藏在呼吸中。

“I certainly have focus now, my love,” Lucian murmured, under his breath.

“你说什么了吗？”女孩问道。

“Did you say something?” asked the girl.

“没，”卢锡安回答。他翘起头。附近什么地方传来了铁链的声音。“你听到那个声音了吗？”

“No,” Lucian replied. He cocked his head. The sound of rattling chains was coming from somewhere nearby. “Do you hear that?”

女孩摇了摇头。“我什么也听不到。”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t hear anything.”

卢锡安眉头紧锁，眼神锐利。“他依然还在嘲弄我……”

Lucian frowned, eyes narrow. “He taunts me, still…”

他转身离开了小酒馆，他身负诅咒，注定要追随那个遥远、凌虐的声音。

He turned to leave the inn, cursed to follow that distant, tormenting sound.

“把门锁好，”他用命令的口吻说。“然后祈祷黎明吧。”

“Bolt the door,” he ordered. “And pray for dawn.”