夜之花 Nightbloom

作者： Rayla Heide

冷风抽打我的树皮发出空号的哨音。我一阵颤抖。我的肢体早已忘却夏日的温暖。

The chill wind whips through cracks in my bark with a hollow whistling sound. I shiver. My limbs have long forgotten the warmth of summer.

我周围矗立的大树在狂风中碎裂崩倒。里面的生命早已逝去，现在它们是我无声的伙伴。它们脆弱的树干只剩下一层空壳，这里曾经的茂密丛林只剩下粗糙灰暗的残影。

The towering shapes around me fracture and fall in the gale. The lives within died long ago; now they are my silent companions. Their brittle trunks remain only as empty husks, rough gray sketches of the lush forest that once bloomed here.

我前方有一只恶灵在树木之间徘徊，在夜色中显得苍白幽暗。我树皮上一阵郁结。通常我都会用根须刺穿它的心脏，但今天我一动没动，不想惊扰这只怨灵。我已太疲惫了，疲于抵抗。我的存在就是对这诅咒的公然抗辩。

A spirit weaves between the trees in front of me, pale and spectral against the night air. A knot tightens in my bark. Normally I would lash my roots through its heart, but today I hold still, trying not to alert the wraith to my presence. I am tired of resisting. That I exist at all is an act of defiance against the curse plaguing these lands.

它空洞的眼神闪烁着月光。在这死亡之岛上，它冷冰冰的恶毒找不到任何生命或者能被伤害的东西，没有任何猎物或者食物。恶灵在树林中游荡穿行，让我安静地独自留在这里。

Its moonlike eyes are vacant. There is nothing alive and vulnerable to fuel its cold bitterness on this isle of death, nothing to be hunted or consumed. The spirit slips between the trees, leaving me to my solitude.

我在阴影下的森林中四下张望，枝干摇曳。我的目光注意到了什么——一簇小小的红色火焰在无尽的灰暗之中生长着。它根植在一堆黑土上，小小的蓓蕾正在奋力摆脱地面的束缚，鲜艳的花瓣明亮得灼眼。

I look across the forest of shadows and my branches waver. My gaze catches – a tiny flame of red growing amid the endless gray. Nestled in a mound of black dirt, the smallest flower bud pushes up from the ground, its petals so bright they burn my eyes.

这是一朵夜之花。很早以前，福光岛漫山遍野都铺满了这种花，每年夏至之夜都会同时绽放。待到黎明时分，花朵枯萎，只留下灰黑的花瓣，直到明年的同一夜才能再见到它们。但在这一夜，它们用鲜艳的火红映亮了这座深林，好似点燃了整片大地。

It is a nightbloom. Long ago, they carpeted the floor of the Blessed Isles, blossoming on the evening of the summer solstice. By morning the flowers wilted, leaving only blackened petals, not to be seen again until the following year. But for one night, they illuminated the forest with blazing crimson, as if the very ground were aflame.

我环顾四周，有那么一瞬间，我希望这一朵花的存在或许意味着它还有其它同类。但这座死亡的岛屿只充斥着忧郁的灰暗。

I look around and, for a fleeting moment, hope that if one flower exists there might be others. But there is only the somber gray of these dead isles.

我摇晃地向前迈步，树干发出吱呀的响声。我走近这朵花，出神着迷，顾不得脚下被踩成粉末的苍白树叶。我的庞大身躯覆盖在它娇小的身体上方。我弯腰垂头，我的脸距离散发着香甜气息的花瓣只有几寸远。我芯中强大的地下圣水开始翻涌，唤醒它的是久违的认知共鸣。生命。

My boughs creak as I take a shaky step forward. I approach the bloom, transfixed, crushing ashen leaves to dust underfoot. My colossal frame towers over its delicate shape. I lean down until my face is inches above the sweet-scented petals. The potent groundwater within my heartwood stirs, awakening in recognition. Life.

鲜花歪着脖子向上探头，似乎是在好奇。朱红色的脉络布满了每一枚花瓣，浅绿色的茎周围包裹着上百根银白色的绒毛。我可以花上永世的时间观察它的每一丝每一毫。

The flower’s neck is tilted as if curious. Deep vermillion veins spread across each petal, and its pale green stem is coated with hundreds of silvery, velvet-soft hairs. I could spend eternity basking in its every facet.

它无时无刻不在生长，以最微妙的方式变换姿态；它的茎越撑越高，花瓣逐渐伸展开来。它的一举一动都让我看得入迷。在我的注视下这朵花羞涩地吐出了花蕊，迷人的香味让我脑海中迸发出鲜艳的色彩。有那么一会，我忘记了寒冷、忘记了狂风、忘记了自己的苦痛。

Every moment it grows and shifts in subtle ways; its stem pushing ever higher while its petals slowly unfurl. I am enchanted by each movement, however minute. I watch as the bloom spreads to reveal the filaments extending from within, its heady scent flooding my mind with color. For a moment I forget the cold, the hollow wind, and my own bitterness.

一道惨白的光亮闪过，我震惊地缩回了身子。一个发光的人影在靠近。我的树皮发麻。在这死气沉沉的树林中，来者不善，善者不来。

A pale light flickers and I flinch. A glowing shape approaches. My bark tingles. Nothing from these bloodless woods is an ally.

刚才那只恶灵回来了，被律动所吸引。生命不可能像死亡那样静止。

The cursed spirit is returning, attracted to the lure of movement. Life is not so still as death.

我愤怒地收紧肢体，不再避讳暴力，奉陪到底。

I flex my limbs in fury, no longer eluding violence. I welcome it.

至少在这一夜，生命将会存在于这片荒凉贫瘠的岛屿之上，不被腐朽之力侵害。

For one night, a living thing will exist on these barren isles unmarred by corrupt forces.

那只恶灵向我们安静地滑过来。她曾经是个人类，但现在已经是半透明的惨白。她原本冷漠的表情在看到血红的花朵以后开始露出贪婪和渴望。

The spirit glides toward us. She was once human, but is now translucent and bone-white. Her blank expression grows ravenous as she sees the blood-red blossom.

这只鬼魂开始向小花快速奔跑，想要将它孱弱的生命吸入体内。我不要看到小花枯萎成为不死的残魂，我向前甩出手臂，扫向恶灵的双腿。她发出尖叫，像是被灼伤了一样退了回去，我向她大吼一声。我体内的地下圣水对这种非自然的产物恨之入骨。

The specter races toward the flower and tries to inhale its fragile life. Before the bloom withers into a lifeless shade, I fling my limbs forward and lash them about the spirit’s legs. She screeches, recoiling as if burned, and I roar. The groundwater within me is anathema to such unnatural beings.

她奋力扭转，挣脱了我的抓握。我卷起根须，砸向地面。这一击震裂了地表的泥土，冲击波沿着地面散播开去。巨大的震击让恶灵痛苦地哀嚎。我冷笑一声。她还没缓过神来，我用肢体刺穿了她的身形，将她化为乌有。

She twists and breaks free of my grasp. I hoist my roots and smash them to the ground. The impact splits the barren topsoil and sends shockwaves through the earth. The reverberations strike the wraith and she reels in agony. I laugh bitterly. As she stirs, I sling my limbs through her form and she dissolves.

昏暗的迷雾平地升起，随之而来的是一股恶臭的邪气。风依然在呻吟，数十只恶灵在我面前具象化，他们的鬼魅面孔在这番景象前目瞪口呆。夜之花和我一起倔强生长在暗影的壁障前。我绝不会让他们破坏这黑暗之中唯一纯洁的生灵。

Dusky mist rises from the ground, accompanied by a foul stench. As the wind moans, dozens of spirits materialize before me, their garish faces gaping silently at the scene before them. The nightbloom and I grow before the wall of shadows. I will not let them destroy this one pure thing amongst so much darkness.

我将满腔怒火倾注于猛烈的攻击之中，用凶狠的力量将他们逼退。我无法消灭岛上的全部恶灵，但我可以暂时抵挡住他们。一只怨灵想要越过我。我一声怒吼提起根须，刺穿了他的心脏，他随即消融成了迷雾。

I throw all my rage into my blows, driving them back with furious strength. I cannot destroy every spirit on the isles, but I can hold them off for a time. A wraith tries to dart past me. I howl as I lift my roots to pierce its heart, and it dissipates into mist.

我的力气正在被如此大量的恶灵逐渐消耗，但我绝不投降。

My strength is draining with so many spirits nearby, but I refuse to concede.

小花在月光下明亮闪烁，这场为它的存在而进行的战斗让它显得微不足道。一枚血红色的花瓣从完美的花朵之上缓缓坠落，凄美犹似滴血。这朵花的生命轮回已经接近尾声，死亡如期而至，随之而来的还有休止。但我并不渴望休止。我感觉自己的怒火能够清洗整个岛屿的灾祸。

The flower grows brightly beneath the moonlight, oblivious to this battle for its very existence. A single crimson petal falls from its perfect blossom like a drop of blood. The lifecycle of the bloom is near its end, bringing death, and with it, respite. But I do not crave it. I feel I could cleanse the entire island of its scourge in my fury.

诅咒的迷雾已经涨没过了树顶，形成了团团乌云。无穷无尽的恶灵从雾中涌出，张大了嘴巴透着尸鬼的饥饿。我站直了身躯，用肢体重重拍向疯狂的恶灵大军，他们接二连三地化为尘埃，但同时不停地有新的从迷雾中出现。

The cursed mist has risen above the treeline and swirls in great clouds. An endless host of spirits pours from the fog, mouths agape with ghoulish hunger. I rise to my greatest height and slam my limbs into the ravenous spirits, shattering one after another into dust. Still, more come.

我怒吼着将空气搅成旋风，用怒火滋养着这股风暴，使之成长为肆虐的龙卷风。我狂笑着任凭混乱的复仇漩涡在我和小花周围席卷肆虐。它粗暴地将恶灵推到树林以外。在这场噩梦之中，我掘出了一间避难所，让生命得以生长。

I howl as I stir the air into a crudely twisting spiral, and nourish the storm with my wrath until it expands in a tempestuous whirlwind. I revel in the chaos as the maelstrom surges in a frenzied circle around me and the flower. It blasts the spirits violently back beyond the trees. From within this nightmare, I have carved a sanctuary where life can grow.

我转过身面向小花。我们在暴风眼中安静地共处，在一片疯狂之中求得宁静。第二枚火红的花瓣从夜之花掉落，紧接着又是一枚。我的能量被复仇漩涡消耗殆尽，但我并没有畏缩，狂风继续呼号。每一刻，花朵都在凋落，最后垂下头面向土地。它在缓慢、自然的凋零中完美无瑕。我情不自禁、目不转睛地看着它渐渐逝去了火红的花冠，最后完全凋零。

I turn to the flower. We are silent together at the eye of the storm, still amidst the madness. A second fiery petal falls from the nightbloom, then another. My energy drains into the maelstrom, but I do not falter and the tempest rages on. With each passing moment, the blossom droops further until it faces the ground. It is perfect in its slow, natural decay. I cannot look away as it gradually loses its crown of flaming petals and wilts completely.

它死去了。

It is dead.

我放下了枝干，复仇漩涡也平息下来。在我头顶，天空灰蒙蒙的——这片凄苦之地最明亮的白昼也不过如此。迷雾再次笼罩起来，恶灵也随之回归。他们的面孔冷淡了下来，不再感知得到夜之花的突兀生命，也不再企盼杀掉鲜活生命的快感。

I lower my branches and the maelstrom quiets. Above me, the sky is slate gray - as bright as it ever gets in this grim place. The gloom of the mist encroaches once more and the spirits return. Their faces are blank, no longer sensing the illicit life of the nightbloom, no longer anticipating the joy of a fresh kill.

他们撤回了空洞的树林之中，我用根须抽打撕裂了身边经过的一只恶灵，将它的精魄打散成为浅薄的迷雾。其他恶灵躲到了远处，回到了暗影之中。

They retreat into the hollow woods. I whip my roots through a specter as it passes me, scattering its essence into the fading mist. The others edge farther away from me as they return to their gloom.

虽然这片土地看似没有变化，但这片群岛已经不再是昨天的那片废土。生命之水在我体内搅动，我根须之下的土壤已经可以再次孕育生命。

Though the land appears unchanged, these isles are not the same gray wasteland they were yesterday. The waters of life stir within me and the soil beneath my roots is fertile again.

虽然夜之花的花瓣已经在尘土中凋零，但它的光明却依然炽热地烙印在我的脑海中，引燃我的怒火。这片海岛最初就诞生于滚烫的岩浆，我将用同样的火焰净化它的顽疾。

Though its petals decay into dust, the luminous nightbloom burns fire-bright in my mind, igniting my fury. Just as these islands were born of burning rock, I will cleanse them of their pestilence in a flaming blaze.

我尾随着那些撤退的恶灵，看着他们在空洞的树干之间游荡串行。

I follow the trailing spirits as they slip between hollow trees.

他们将为自己的恶念付出代价。

They will pay for their wickedness.