血统 Bloodline

作者：Graham McNeill

塔莉垭几乎要忘记了，自己是多么地思念着恕瑞玛那炉膛般的热烈。成百上千的人聚在一起，联袂成云，挥汗成雨，语速极快地高声谈笑、讨价还价、赌咒发誓等等等等。外乡人看到此景总会以为他们一直在争吵。

Taliyah had almost forgotten how much she’d missed the furnace heat of Shurima – the sweat and crush of hundreds of people pushing, cursing, haggling and speaking with such passion and speed that outsiders often thought they were fighting.

她从未在旅途经过的任何一处见识过同样炙热奔放的风土人情。艾欧尼亚宛如仙境，弗雷尔卓德的冻原也是独一无二的壮丽，但当她踏上了卑尔居恩的埠头，恕瑞玛炽烈的阳光就把这些记忆一下子都蒸烤殆尽了。

In all her travels, she’d never found anywhere with the sheer bustle and energy of her homeland. Ionia was wondrous, and the frozen landscapes of the Freljord were stunning in their own way, but the blazing sun of Shurima melted them from her memory as she set foot on the stone wharf of Bel’zhun.

她感应着这块土地深处的岩床，所感觉到的战栗让她想起了巴巴扬泡的香料茶。她沿着石阶走上码头，脸上的微笑快要咧到了耳根。就算头顶经过了一块诺克斯托拉的黑石，也没能影响她的心情。

The connection she felt with this land’s bedrock surged through her like one of Babajan’s spiced teas. She’d been grinning from ear to ear as she climbed the steps from the docks, and even passing beneath the black stone of a Noxtoraa couldn’t dampen her spirits.

塔莉垭并没有在卑尔居恩停留多久。港口停着的几艘诺克萨斯战舰让她想起了不好的回忆，搞得她很紧张。她在城里买了一些旅行的补给，偶然听到了市井间的一些流言。商队从沙漠深处带回来的消息要么彼此矛盾，要么神乎其神。比如黄沙化成的武士、晴天里的雷暴、凭空出现无人记得的水源等等。

Taliyah hadn’t stayed long in Bel’zhun. The Noxian warships in the harbor made her too nervous and brought back bad memories. She remained just long enough to buy supplies and catch the latest market-stall rumors carried from the deep desert by trade caravans. Most of it was conflicting and fantastical; visions of sand warriors, blizzards of lightning from clear skies and rivers flowing where no water had run for as far back as anyone could remember.

一支全副武装的商队愿意带塔莉垭一程。他们做的是奈瑞玛桀丝绸的生意，此行的打算是南下去往肯内瑟。臭名昭著的肯内瑟位于大塞沙漠的北端，让塔莉垭在马车里颠得七荤八素，终于在抵达杂货市场之后才能双脚沾地。商队的老大是一个瘦成麻杆的女人，名叫夏玛拉，一双眼睛像是磨亮的黑大理石。她建议塔莉垭别再往南去了，但是塔莉垭告诉夏玛拉，她的家人需要自己，而且他们对于即将到来的威胁毫不知情。

For the sake of some friendly faces, she left Bel’zhun in the company of a heavily armed caravan of Nerimazeth silk-merchants heading south to Kenethet. She’d endured the rolling motion of the caravan long enough to reach the bone-souks of that notorious city on the northern borders of the Sai before striking out on her own. The caravan master - a whip-thin woman named Shamara, with eyes like polished jet - advised against traveling farther south, but Taliyah told her that her family needed her, and there were no more warnings.

从肯内瑟出发，她沿着蜿蜒的河道继续往南边走。人们把这条大河称作生命之母，大河的源头据说就发自古时恕瑞玛帝国的都城。塔莉垭孤身一人，反而给她不少方便。岩石就像她的骏马，乖乖地让她骑在头上。下方的岩层不断地翻出地表，接连推着塔莉垭朝着南方的维考拉前进 。传闻那座城市早已大半掩埋在了大塞沙漠溢流而出的黄沙中。

From Kenethet, she pushed ever south, following the winding arc of what people were once again calling the Mother of Life, a great river said to have its source in the capital of the ancient Shuriman empire. With no one around, she could make much better time, traveling with the rock as her steed, and riding its leading edge as she shaped it beneath her in sweeping waves that carried her ever southward toward Vekaura, a city she’d been told was half buried in the sand creeping out from the Sai.

夏玛拉觉得，现在的维考拉最多就是个荒废旧城上建起的部落营地，给过路的旅行者和旅法师们歇脚的地方而已。但就算是在几公里之外，塔莉垭也看得出夏玛拉被流言误导了：维考拉已经重生。

Shamara had dismissed it as little more than a tribal camp built on the ruins of an abandoned city, a meeting place for weary travelers and wandering nomads. But even from a mile away, Taliyah saw she’d been misled; Vekaura was reborn.

除了她碰到的那个快死的女人。

If only she hadn’t found the dying woman.

城中的市集淹没在色彩与喧闹中，空气弥漫着浓烈的气味，紧邻彼此的拱形帆布遮阳蓬几乎盖住了整条街道，激烈的讨价还价声，夹杂着香料和烤肉的刺鼻味道，随处可闻。塔莉垭全然不顾商贩们的自卖自夸，和替家中老幼生计着想所做的恳求，她在人群里艰难地挤出一条路。有人还一手抓住她的袍子把她往一个摊位上扯，卖的全是遭人厌恶的沙漠里常见的害兽，所以她挣开拉扯躲远了。

The city’s souk was awash with color and noise. Pungent air rolled down the arched, canvas-awninged street in a wave, freighted with the sound of furious haggling, and the smell of tangy spices and roasted meat. Taliyah pushed her way through the crowds, ignoring the merchants’ extravagant promises and pleas to think of their starving children. A hand grasped her robes, seeking to pull her toward a stall laden with racks of spitted desert vermin, but she pulled away.

通往破败城墙的宽阔街道上挤着好几百号人。智者模样的干瘪老人们坐在门廊底下抽着烟斗，芳香的烟气像雾一样蒸腾着。她看到了许多不同部落的标记，能认出来的有巴贝、扎加亚和叶申耶，除此之外的十几个她从来没见过。在她离开恕瑞玛的时候，犹记得他们还是誓死的仇敌，如今却像战场上的同袍一般，和平地坐在一起。

Hundreds of people thronged the wide street leading to the broken walls of the city. Aromatic smoke drifted like fog from the bubbling pipes of the old men sitting in doorways like wizened sages. She saw the tribal markings of Barbae, Zagayah and Yesheje, though there were dozens more she didn’t know. Tribesmen who would have sworn enemies back when she’d left Shurima, now walked side by side like brothers in arms.

“我走之后，好多都变了呀。”她低声自语道。

“A lot’s changed since I’ve been gone,” she whispered to herself.

她已经找齐了自己想要的东西，现在该回到城市东边的那片废墟去了。如果没有必要，她不想在这里逗留太长时间。但她又承诺了要照看那个受伤的女人，她母亲总是告诫她一定要信守诺言，因为织母嫌恶食言的人。

She had what she’d come for and needed to get back to the ruined building she’d chosen on the eastern edge of the city. She didn’t want to linger any longer than was necessary, but she’d made a promise to keep the injured woman safe, and her mother had always taught her never to break a promise. The Great Weaver took a dim view of such people.

她肩上粗制的挎包里塞满了食物，包括熏肉、燕麦、面包和奶酪，外加两皮袋水。分量远远超过她的需要，但这不是给她一个人的。袍子上绣的金线已经所剩无几，但她知道自己离家已经不远了。虽然完全没有证明，但她清楚地感觉到，脚下的每一步都在靠近父母亲温暖的怀抱。所以她也用不着金子，在那顶帐篷里有她想要的一切。

The roughly-woven bag over her shoulder was filled with food; cured meats, oats, bread and cheese, along with two skins of water. More than she would need, but it wasn’t all for her. The gold sewn into the linings of her robes was almost gone, but she knew she wasn’t far now. She had no way of knowing for certain, but felt sure her every step was bringing her nearer to the warm embrace of her mother and father. After that, she wouldn’t need gold, she’d have all she needed right there in the tent with her.

塔莉垭沉浸在幸福的憧憬中，完全没注意到前面的大个子，一头撞到了他身上，自己却被弹飞出去平躺在地上。

So lost in that pleasant future was Taliyah, that she didn’t notice the big man until she ran into him. She bounced off his unmoving body and landed flat on her backside.

对方纹丝不动，她感觉就像是撞上了一座山崖。市集里的人们看起来倒已经习以为常，人潮像溪水流过礁石一样绕着他来来往往。他从头到脚都裹在破布一样的长袍里，但仍然掩饰不了他高壮的身材。他紧握着一根长长的裹布手杖，宽大的顶端也包着破布条。她发现他的双腿弯成一个奇怪的角度，似乎行动不太方便。

It had felt like walking into a cliff, not an inch of give in it. The people in the souk seemed to know that better than her. They flowed around him like water around a rock in a stream. He was dressed from head to foot in tattered robes that did little to conceal his enormous bulk and height. He held fast to a long, cloth-wrapped staff, its wide head bound in rags. Perhaps he needed it because she saw his legs were strangely angled.

“对不起，我刚才没看见你。”她仰着头说。

“Excuse me,” she said, looking up, “I didn’t see you.”

他低头看她，脸庞藏在伸长的头巾投下的阴影里，却没有说话。他伸出手，手指缠裹着麻风病人一样的绷带。塔莉垭只稍稍迟疑片刻，便握住了他的手。

He looked down at her, his face hidden in the shadows of an elongated cowl, but didn’t answer. He held out his hand, the fingers swathed in bandages like a plague victim. Taliyah hesitated for only moment, and took the proffered hand.

他毫不费力地就把她举了起来。她看见他满是扑尘的袍子下，有一缕金色的光芒微微闪动着。他放下她，一双手又笼进了袖子里。

He lifted her up with barely any effort at all, and she saw a gleam of gold beneath the dusty fabric of his robes before he clasped his hands back within his sleeves.

“谢谢你。”塔莉垭说。

“Thank you,” said Taliyah.

“小人儿，你得好好看路。”他的口音很重，嗡嗡作响，就像是从他心底一口悲伤的深井中传出的一样。“恕瑞玛现在是个危险的地方。”

“You should watch your step, little one,” he said, his voice heavily accented and strangely resonant, as if coming from a depthless well of sadness within him. “Shurima is a dangerous place now.”

他看着女孩穿过集市跑远了，于是转身朝着维考拉的龟裂城墙走去。巨大的城堞只刚好与他身高齐平，高处的部分则由烈日晒干的土砖砌成。维考拉人肯定觉得叹为观止，但在他眼里，这都只不过是拙劣的仿造而已。

He watched the young girl run off through the souk, and turned back toward the cracked walls of Vekaura. The giant blocks only reached his head, and the courses higher were formed of sun-baked bricks painted to match. To the people of Vekaura it must look impressive, but to his eyes it was a poor copy of the real thing.

他大步走过一道拱门，一边端详着头顶生堆硬砌的方石。路边有个卖水的小贩，他正在用一个带有转轮的铜制装置往绿色的玻璃瓶里灌进混着泥沙的水。看到他经过，小贩抬起了头。

He strode through the gateway, looking up at the crudely fitted stone overhead. A water vendor, standing in the midst of a brass contraption of spinning wheels that dispensed gritty water into bottles of green glass, looked up as he passed.

“要水吗？新鲜的，从生命之——”小贩看清了面前铁塔一样的身形，半截话卡在了喉咙里。

“Water? Fresh from the Mother of-” said the vendor, but the words died in his throat at the sight the towering form before him.

他知道自己不该停下来的。占星塔墙上潦草的血字指示他来到这里，而那个巫师也会被吸引过来。他感应到某个飞升血统的拥有者已经在维考拉现身了。早在帝国还未变成废墟，而是疆域跨越整个大陆的时候，这份血统便已经存在许久了，这是古恕瑞玛最珍贵也最强大的血统。所以重中之重，是赶在敌人之前找到那个人。飞升之血可以将阿兹尔从虚无中带回现世，也可以在邪恶的用意下将重生的恕瑞玛毁于一旦。

He knew he should keep moving. The words scrawled in blood on the walls of the Astrologer’s Tower had guided him here, and the magus would also be drawn to this place. He sensed the presence of one of the Ascended Bloodline in Vekaura, one who could trace their lineage back to the days before the empire that stretched from ocean to ocean and beyond was brought to ruin. To find that person before his enemy would be crucial, for the blood of Ancient Shurima was both rare and potent. It had brought Azir back from oblivion; and in the wrong hands, could bring doom to the reborn Shurima.

是的，他不该停步——但他还是站住了。

Yes, he should keep moving – but he did not.

“你的摊子摆在了一群久远的鬼魂中间。”他说。

“You trade among ghosts of the past,” he said.

“鬼魂？”小贩的声音里渗出恐惧。

“Ghosts?” said the vendor, his voice wavering in fear.

“这道拱桥，”他举起手杖戳了戳头顶的石砖。行人在桥上走过，尘土像细密的轻纱一样从裂缝中洒落。“是失落了的艾卡西亚所放逐的匠人们建造的。每块石头的切割和垒砌都无比精准，搭建的时候连一滴灰浆也不需要。”

“This archway,” he said, jabbing his staff toward the roof of the arch. Dust fell in veils through the cracks from the men walking on the ramparts above. “Exiled craftsmen from lost Icathia built it. Each stone was cut and fitted with such precision that not a drop of mortar was required to lock it in place.”

“这……我不知道。”

“I...I did not know that.”

“你们凡人早已忘记了过去，还把理应铭记之事冠以传闻之名。”在沙漠深处无数个世纪的苦涩徘徊，渐渐变成了暴烈的愠怒。“我建起大图书馆，难道不就是为了防止记忆的败落吗？”

“You mortals forget the past and consign to legend that which ought to be remembered,” he said, the bitterness of centuries lost in the deep desert threatening to become violent anger. “Did I not build the Great Library to guard against such failures of remembrance?”

“请您原谅，大人。”小贩背贴着石墙说，“您所说的都是古时候的神话了。”

“Please, great lord,” said the water vendor, pressing his back to the wall of the gateway. “You speak of myths of ancient times.”

“那是对你而言。我初来的时候，城墙刚刚兴起，两百尺的精磨大理石，崭新的石块里嵌着金线。我的兄弟和我带着一万名金甲士兵，手执利矛凯旋而归。我们在城中居民的欢呼声中走过的就是这道拱门。”

“To you, but when I first came here, the walls were newly raised, two hundred feet of polished marble, every stone pristine and veined with gold. My brother and I entered the city in triumph at the head of ten thousand gold-armored soldiers with burnished spears. We marched through this gateway to the cheers of the city’s people.”

他忍不住哼了一声，然后才继续道：“一年之后，一切荡然无存。那是所有的终结。又或许是所有的起点。我已经厌世许久，再也无法分清。”

He let out a rumbling sigh before continuing, “A year later, it was all gone. It was the end of everything. Or perhaps it was the beginning. I have turned from the world so long I can no longer tell.”

小贩一脸苍白，眯起眼睛想要看穿他头巾下的阴影。他突然两眼圆睁。

The water vendor paled, squinting in an attempt to penetrate the darkness beneath his cowl. The man’s eyes widened.

“你是迷失的沙漠之子！你是……内瑟斯。”

“You’re the Lost Son of the Desert!” said the vendor. “You’re… Nasus.”

“是我。”他转身离开，走进了城门。“但还有一个人，比我迷失得更严重。”

“I am,” he said, turning away and entering the city, “but there is another far more lost than I.”

内瑟斯跟着人群穿过城市朝着中心的神庙走去，尽量无视人们的眼光。他的身材本来就很引人注目，而且现在那个卖水的小贩肯定已经把他的身份传得人尽皆知了。恕瑞玛本来就埋藏着许多秘密，但没有一个会永远地沉眠地下。等他抵达城中心的时候，如果竟然有人不知道他是谁的话，那才是真是怪事。没错，停下来教训小贩确实非常愚蠢，但他对于历史的无知深深地激怒了内瑟斯的学者之心。

Nasus followed the crowds moving through the city toward the temple at its heart, trying not to notice their stares. His bulk alone would attract attention, but the water vendor would by now have spread his identity far and wide. Shurima had always been a place of secrets, none of which cared to remain buried for long. By the time he reached the center of the city, he’d be surprised if the entire population did not know his name. Yes, it had been foolish to stop, but the vendor’s lack of regard for history offended the scholar in Nasus.

与城墙和大门类似，维考拉内城的景象也只是之前荣光逝去后残留的阴影而已。阿兹尔的母亲就出生在这里，年轻的皇帝也曾慷慨地将恩典赐予此地的人民。层层而上的花园里栽满了帝国各处运来的鲜花，环绕着斑斓的色彩和美妙的香气。成群的高塔缀以白银和玉石，清凉的水从大神庙中潺潺流出，沿着高架渠日夜奔流。人们无不天真地相信，这里的福祉永不会终结。

Like the wall and gateway, Vekaura’s interior was a shadow of its former glory. Azir’s mother had been born here, and the young emperor had been lavish in his gifts to its people. Stepped gardens and flowers brought from every corner of the empire garlanded its structures in vivid colors and wondrous scents. Its towers gleamed with silver and jade, and cool water flowed from the great temple, running along great aqueducts in the naive belief its bounty would never end.

过去的一千年将这座城市剥蚀得皮肉皆销，只剩下石头所建的骨骼，而当年的荣华之盛大半已褪为废墟。这些废墟是在过去的几百年里由那些依然怀恋故土的人们所建起来的，他们执拗地相信故园的未来存在于对过往的复兴中。内瑟斯跟随着逐渐壮大的人群，眼中所看到的无外乎都是那段被遗忘的历史的恶劣模仿而已。

The passing millennia had worn the city down to its exposed skeleton of stone, its once magnificent structures reduced to ruins. Those ruins had been built upon over the last few centuries by those who still clung to the old ways, believing their future might be saved by revering the past. As Nasus followed the growing crowds, he saw only crude imitations of an all but forgotten memory.

能工巧匠们所设计的建筑一看就知道是恕瑞玛身前荣光的骗人仿品。城墙曾因其裁切方正的花岗岩而闻名于世，但现在却是木材和粗鲁劈成的石块组成的。城市原本的轮廓还在，但内瑟斯只觉得自己仿佛行进在噩梦之中，新的材料和古怪的形式肆意改造着曾经熟悉的周遭，所有事物的原貌都被刻意地进行了曲解，似乎设计的目的就是为了让人坐立不安。

Buildings planned by master craftsmen were now crooked parodies of their former glory. Walls once fashioned from square-cut granite were built over in timber and crudely shaped blocks. The city’s original outline was still there, but Nasus felt like he was moving through a nightmare, where once familiar surroundings were skewed in new and strange forms, where everything was twisted from its original form in ways designed to unsettle.

他听到周围有人咕哝着什么，间或会隐约传来他的名字，但他充耳不闻，一路前行，拐过一个弯，最终踏进了城中心的广场。当他看到维考拉的居民们在重振的城市中心所建起的东西时，他的爪子忍不住攥紧了。

He heard muttering voices around him, his name spoken in hushed whispers, but he ignored them, finally turning a corner and entering the open plaza at the heart of the city. His clawed hands clenched into fists at the sight of what the citizens of Vekaura had raised in the heart of their rebuilt city.

那是一座太阳神庙，由凿子敲出的砂岩和裸礁石垒成。出自人手，而止于人境。相比曾经恕瑞玛帝国心脏位置的庞然神殿，这座神庙只能算得上是孩童的玩具。大神庙曾经是整个瓦洛兰大陆都又羡又嫉的存在，远方的诸王们不远万里前来只为一睹它的风采。而后人所谓的铭记，就是眼下这堆不知廉耻的石块？

A sun temple built of chiseled sandstone and bare rock. Raised by human hands to human scale, it was a child’s recreation of the titanic structure that sat at the heart of the Shuriman empire. The Grand Temple had been the envy of Valoran and the architects of distant kings had traveled thousands of miles to see it. And this was how it was insultingly remembered?

黝黑的外墙闪烁着玄武岩似的光芒，但是内瑟斯可以透过粗糙拼接的墙板看到里面大小不一的榫节。一面太阳圆盘悬在神庙顶部，就算从远处看过去内瑟斯也能发现那上面没有半点黄金，只是青铜和紫铜的熟锻合金而已。此外，当年内瑟斯化为飞升之形时所仰拜的太阳圆盘是悬浮空中的，但是这个铜盘子是被几条麻绳吊起来的，挂在两旁几根不对称的柱子上。

The walls were black and gleamed like basalt, but Nasus could see the uneven joints between panels where they had been fixed to the rough stone beneath. A sun disc gleamed atop the temple, but even from here Nasus could see it was not fashioned from gold, but wrought from alloyed bronze and copper. Nor did it float like the disc beneath which Nasus had been transformed into his current form. Instead, braided ropes tied to asymmetrical pillars on either side of the disc held it aloft.

内瑟斯想要大发雷霆。他和无数的战士为了帝国浴血奋战，但今天的子民们却只会用这等丑陋的方式来纪念故国。他想晃醒他们，告诉他们先祖们用拼死的血战才换来了帝国庄严的历史。但他们一无所知，双眼浑浊，无从了解他所知的过去，而他也没法让他们理解。

Part of Nasus wanted to rage against these people, to hate them for building this ugly remembrance of the empire he and countless others had fought and bled to win. He wanted to shake them and tell them what they despoiled by building upon the grandeur of the past. But they did not know what he knew, had not seen what he had seen, and he could not make them understand.

一名身着羽毛长袍的圣职者站在圆盘前，双手高举着祈祷的姿势，而他的声音淹没在城市的噪音里。

A feather-robed hierophant stood before the disc, arms raised in supplication, though his words were lost in the city’s noise.

这会是他要找的人吗？

Was this the one he had come to find?

他坚定地迈着大步，穿过广场走向神庙，这才看到四个角落的台阶也是参差不齐的石块。两名武士穿着铜片连成的合身盔甲，头顶着覆有羽毛的兽形盔，把守着阶梯。他们转头过来看着他。内瑟斯认出了他们的头盔分别代表着什么，脚步不由得犹豫了一下。两顶头盔上的兽首都有着突出的口鼻，一个是鳄鱼长吻的粗劣拟态，另一个的帽檐塑的是一头咆哮的胡狼。

He crossed the plaza toward the temple with purposeful strides, seeing irregular steps cut into each of its four corners. Two warriors armored in form-fitting strips of bronze and feathered helms molded to represent beasts stood guarding the approaches to the stairs; they turned at the sight of him. Nasus faltered as he recognized who their helms were intended to represent. Both had elongated snouts; one in crude imitation of crocodilian jaws, the other with its visor molded into a snarling jackal’s head.

看到他靠近，两人长矛一横，拦在他面前。但当他除掉长袍并站直身体的时候，武士们惊住了。内瑟斯在凡人的世界里徘徊了太久，一直带着羞愧弓着身子，想要隐瞒自己的高名。他在漫长而又萧瑟的自我放逐中默默偿还自己的罪过。但是，隐姓埋名的日子已经结束了。内瑟斯再也不想把自己的面容藏在暗处了。

They leveled their spears as he approached, but he read their shock as he cast off his robe and stood to his full height. For too long he had wandered the world of mortals hunched over and ashamed, seeking to hide his stature. For too long he had hidden himself away, paying his penance in bleak isolation, but his days of concealment were over. Nasus had no desire to keep his true face hidden any longer.

耸立在守卫面前的内瑟斯，就是神力与魔法的本尊。当英雄们仍在凡人之中行走的年代，他作为飞升者便早已存在。他的肉身被太阳圆盘的魔力升华再造，枯萎濒死的血肉变成了黑曜石身体的胡狼头半神。他的胸前和肩膀上罩着历尽沧桑的滚金盔甲，系着带有恕瑞玛纹章的还愿束带。他伸手扯掉了“手杖”上裹着的布条，露出的是一把长柄的战斧。斧头的刀锋闪着兴奋的光芒，中心镶嵌的海蓝色宝石痛饮着阳光。

Towering over the guards, Nasus was a figure of might and magic, an Ascended being from an age when such heroes still walked amongst mortals. His body had been raised up by the magic of the sun disc and remade, his withered, dying flesh transformed into a jackal-headed demigod of obsidian flesh. Banded golden armor, tarnished with age and hung with votive strips embossed with sigils of Shurima, enfolded his chest and shoulders. He reached up and tore the cloth bindings from his staff to reveal his long hafted war-axe. Its edge glittered in anticipation, the ocean blue gemstone at its heart drinking in the sunlight.

“让开。”

“Stand aside,” he said.

守卫胆怯地缩了一下脑袋，但脚下没动。内瑟斯叹了口气，挥起斧头，在身前来回划了一个半弧。斧柄末端向上一挑，击中其中一个武士把他甩出三十码远。然后借势往下一敲，另一个武士就趴进了土里。内瑟斯抛下痛苦呻吟的武士，伸出带爪的脚掌踏上了台阶的第一层。

The guards quailed in fear, but stood their ground. Nasus sighed and spun his axe in a looping arc. The end caught the first guard on an upward stroke and hurled him back thirty yards. His reverse stroke drove the second into the dust, leaving him groaning in pain as Nasus set a clawed foot on the bottom step.

他朝着顶端爬去，高处的阳光正洒在劣质的金属圆盘上。爬到半路，他的目光越过维考拉破碎的城墙向外望去，只见三面都是贫瘠的沙丘连绵直到天际尽头。而在城市的东侧，土地隆起结成了大片邦硬的矮小山麓，其上长满了耐旱的沙漠棕榈和巴那瓦尔树的硬枝，它们的根系有数百米长，深深地探进沙地中吮吸着水源。

He climbed toward the summit where the sun gleamed on the beaten metal of the disc. As he climbed, he looked beyond Vekaura’s crumbling city walls. An unbroken sea of barren dunes stretched to the horizon on three sides. On the city’s eastern flank, the land steadily rose into the haunches of rugged foothills of stubborn earth, upon which grew hardy desert palms and thick stands of bhanavar trees whose roots plunged hundreds of meters below the sand to find water.

空旷的沙漠正是恕瑞玛眼下的光景，内瑟斯感到一阵忧伤。他回想起生命之母滋养大地的时候，无数生命曾是多么繁盛地开放。也许阿兹尔能让恕瑞玛重获新生，但万一不行，找到身怀血统的人就尤为关键了。

The sight of Shurima as this empty desert saddened Nasus, thinking back to when the Mother of Life had nourished the land and it had bloomed with life and vitality. Perhaps Azir would bring life to Shurima once again, perhaps not, which made his task of finding the one who bore the bloodline all the more vital.

更多的守卫开始往神庙高处赶来，嘴里嚷着的话语也继承自古恕瑞玛，但毫无半点原来的优雅和精巧。

Other guards were moving to the top of the temple, shouting in a language that owed a debt to Ancient Shuriman, but had none of the beauty and complexity of that lost tongue.

内瑟斯感到了痛苦和恐惧。这种感觉，在他为了自己的飞升仪式而攀上旧时的大神庙时，也曾体会过。消瘦的病症让他无法自己攀爬，所以他的弟弟一直背负着他。当他们终于登上顶层时，太阳也将将到达天顶的位置。他的生命正在不断地流失，如同破碎沙漏里的流沙。他恳求雷克顿放下自己，让他独自面对烈日。但雷克顿只是摇了摇头，轻轻说出了他们以凡人之身所能记得的最后一句话。

Nasus remembered the pain and fear he’d felt during his final ascent of the Great Temple in preparation for his Ascension ritual. The wasting sickness had left him too weak to climb and he’d been carried in the arms of his younger brother. By the time they reached the summit, the sun was almost at its zenith and his life was pouring out of him like the sands of a broken hourglass. He’d begged Renekton to go, to leave him to meet the sun alone, but Renekton simply shook his head and whispered their last shared words as mortals before the sun disc took them both into Ascension.

“我会和你一道，直到终结。”

“I will be with you until the end.”

随后，太阳圆盘便让他们都点化为了飞升者。

Even now, those words still had the power to wound him, cutting deeper than any blade. As a mortal, Renekton was unpredictable; sometimes prone to violence and cruelty, but equally capable of great nobility and courage. The power Ascension granted him had made him mighty, and in the end, it had been Renekton who wrestled the treacherous magus into the Tomb of Emperors and sacrificed himself to save Shurima.

就算是现在，这句话仍能轻易地切进他的心口，比任何利刃都更伤人。还是凡人的时候，雷克顿就显得变化无常，他有时暴躁又残忍，但也怀有同等的优雅与勇气。飞升的能量赐予了他无上的神力，而到头来，在帝皇的陵寝中和背叛的巫灵搏斗的也正是雷克顿。他牺牲了自己，拯救了恕瑞玛。

Save Shurima...?

拯救恕瑞玛……？

Had anything they did that day saved Shurima? Azir had died, murdered by his boyhood friend, and the city was destroyed as the unchecked magic of the broken Ascension ritual buried it beneath the desert sands. He relived the moment he sealed the doors of the tomb behind Renekton and Xerath every day, knowing there had been no other choice, but burdened by crushing guilt nonetheless.

在那一天，他们所做的，真的有一件事拯救了恕瑞玛吗？阿兹尔死了，被他童年的好友所谋害，飞升仪式中断后所迸发的失控魔力也将城市一举摧毁，殓入了漫漫黄沙。他把陵墓的大门封死，将雷克顿和泽拉斯留在了里面。从那之后，每一天他都会重新在脑海里经历封门的那一刻。虽然心中清楚，除此之外别无选择，但负罪感仍然不可阻抗地涌上胸口。

Now Xerath and Renekton were free. Azir had somehow conquered death to become one of the Ascended, and by his will was Shurima reborn. The ancient city had risen from its desert sepulcher and cast off the weary dust of its millennial slumber. But if the tales coming out of the desert were true, the Renekton Nasus had known and loved was gone. Now he was little more than a maddened killer that slaughtered without mercy in the name of vengeance.

现在，泽拉斯也好，雷克顿也好，都自由了。阿兹尔也不知道为什么，居然战胜死亡化为了飞升者。在他的意志下，恕瑞玛获得了重生。古老的城市从沙下的埋骨所中遽然升起，抖落了千年长眠时积蓄的疲惫尘土。但是，如果沙漠里传来的消息属实，那么，内瑟斯曾经认识并挚爱的兄弟已经不在了。雷克顿完全变成了疯狂的屠夫，以复仇的名义毫不留情地杀戮所有人。

“And I put you there,” said Nasus.

“是我令你如此的。”内瑟斯说。

He reached the summit, and tried to set aside thoughts of what his brother had become; a monster that roared the name of Nasus over the burning sands of the desert.

他爬到了神庙顶端，尽力驱走了脑中有关雷克顿的想法。隔着沸腾的茫茫沙海，一头怪兽正咆哮着内瑟斯的名字。

A monster he would eventually have to face.

一头他命中注定要面对的怪兽。

内瑟斯站在神庙最高处，手臂和腰带上缠着的还愿束带在风中翻腾。他把斧头杵在粗糙的石头上，四下观察了一番。

Nasus reached the top of the temple structure, the strips of votive paper fluttering from his arms and belt. He planted the haft of his axe on the rough stone and took a moment to survey his surroundings.

太阳圆盘反射出千鳞万片的阳光，金属表面非常粗糙，显然有欠打磨。麻绳极其碍眼，维考拉人精心之下所作出的拙劣在这里暴露无遗。顶层几乎毫无装饰，没有刻着星穹的巨大石台，也没有深红色的垂帘，更没有通过了飞升仪式的英雄浮雕。

Sunlight reflected from the sun disc in splintered angles, the finish of its metal rough and unpolished. The braided ropes were painfully obvious up close, and the crudity of what Vekaura’s people had built was all too apparent. The roof was bare of ornamentation; no great dais carved with the celestial vault or cardinal winds, no etchings of the heroes who had Ascended upon its sacred surface.

十名武士披着扑尘的斗篷，全身盖着青铜板甲，挡在内瑟斯和圣职者之间。那是个瘦高的男人，穿着一匹挂满虹彩羽毛的长袍，一双大袖彷如飞翼，头巾像是一只乌木色的鸟喙。头巾下的脸看起来贵气十足，毫无怜悯，凛然不可相近。

Ten warriors in dusty cloaks and overlapping strips of bronze armor stood between Nasus and the hierophant. The priest was a tall, slender man in a long robe of iridescent feathers with wide, wing-like sleeves and a cowl that resembled an ebon beak. The face beneath the cowl was patrician, stern and unforgiving.

与阿兹尔别无二致。

Just like Azir.

“你是内瑟斯？”圣职者问。他的声音深沉广阔，带着皇家的口吻，但是内瑟斯却感到了他的恐惧。声称自己看到神明降临是一回事，亲眼见到却是另一回事。

“You are Nasus?” said the hierophant. The man’s voice was deep and imposing, almost regal, but Nasus heard his fear. It was one thing to claim to be descended from gods, quite another to meet one.

“你既有此问，说明我已经离去太久了。是的，我是内瑟斯。但更重要的是，你是何人？”

“That you have to ask tells me I have been away for too long. Yes, I am Nasus, but, more importantly, who are you?”

圣职者挺直腰板，鼓起了胸膛，活像一只交配季节的雄鸟。“我是阿兹拉希尔•色拉木，鹰王之后裔，维考拉的最初先声，光照之人，光行者，护火人，晨曦使者——”

The hierophant stood taller, puffing out his chest like a preening bird in mating season. “I am Azrahir Thelamu, Scion of the Hawk Emperor, First Voice of Vekaura, the Illuminated One, He Who Walks in Light and Keeper of the Sacred Fire. Bringer of the Dawn and-”

“鹰王之后裔？”内瑟斯打断他：“你说你是阿兹尔皇帝的血脉？”

“Scion of the Hawk Emperor?” interrupted Nasus. “You claim lineage from Emperor Azir?”

“还用说吗，我就是啊。”圣职者不耐烦起来，自信又一点一滴地回到他身上。“来吧，告诉我你想要什么。”

“I do not claim it, it is who I am,” snapped the hierophant, a measure of confidence returning. “Now tell me what you want.”

内瑟斯点点头，然后拔起斧子，双手擎住横在胸前。

Nasus nodded and spun his axe, holding it in both hands, horizontal to the ground.

“你的鲜血。”内瑟斯说。

“Your blood,” said Nasus.

他将斧柄猛地砸向地面，腾起了一阵尘云。烟尘停在半空，像一片闪烁微光的轻纱，然后绕着圣职者和他的武士们，打着圈儿缓缓落下

He slammed the butt of his long-hafted axe against the stonework, and a cloud of sand lifted from the roof. It hung there in shimmering veils, spinning in a slow circle around the hierophant and his warriors.

“你在做什么？”对方厉声问。

“What are you doing?” demanded the priest.

“我说了，我要见你的血。”

“I told you, I need to see your blood.”

眨眼间，成圆的沙尘变成了一股飓风。武士们不由自主地挡住了脸，而圣职者眼前看不清，又呛又咳，把腰弯得都快对折起来了。沙暴裹着沙漠最深处的狂怒之风，转瞬就能把一群伊卡苏尔绞成骷髅。盔甲毫无用处，沙粒会从每个角落和缝隙钻进去擦破人的皮肤。太阳圆盘在内瑟斯召来的狂风中前后摇晃，穿在铁环里的吊绳纷纷绷紧了。

In the blink of an eye, the circling sand became a roaring hurricane. The warriors raised their arms to shield their faces from the whipping sandstorm and the hierophant bent double, blinded and choking on windblown dust. The sandstorm howled with all the fury of deep desert winds that could strip a flock of Eka’Sul to the bone in minutes. Armor was no protection, the sand penetrating every nook and cranny to reach the skin below and scour it raw. The sun disc swung back and forth in the winds Nasus conjured, its supporting ropes pulling taut on the iron rings fitted to the stonework.

内瑟斯让沙海的怒意填进自己身体，他的四肢充满了力量，身体也涨大起来，仿佛咆哮的沙漠将怒火灌注到他黑暗的血肉中。他的身形越来越大，可怖地高耸着，正如传说中初代的飞升者一样。

Nasus let the fury of the sands fill him, his limbs surging with power and his body swelling as the desert’s wrath manifested within his dark flesh. His form loomed and grew, towering and monstrous like the first Ascended were said to be.

他毫无预警地动手了，一把长斧左挥右挡，用斧柄或是无刃的一侧把守卫撞到两旁。他并不想杀掉这些人，毕竟都是恕瑞玛的子嗣。他们只是碰巧拦了他的路而已。

He attacked without warning, bludgeoning his way through the guards and smashing them aside with the haft of his axe or the flat of his blade. He had no wish to kill these men, they were sons of Shurima after all, but they were in his way.

他经过武士们翻滚挣扎的身体，朝着圣职者走去。那个家伙躺在地上蜷成一个球，血迹斑斑的双手捂着脸。内瑟斯弯下腰，捏着他的后脖颈提了起来，让他的双脚离地足有一尺，轻松得像是猎犬叼起一只狗崽。内瑟斯贴近他的脸。

He stepped over their writhing, groaning bodies toward the hierophant. The man lay curled in a ball, his bloodied hands held up to protect his face. Nasus reached down and lifted him by the scruff of the neck as easily as a hound might carry a pup. The hierophant’s feet dangled a yard off the ground as Nasus held him to his face.

圣职者的脸上全是沙子搓出的血道子，腮边还挂着猩红的泪珠。内瑟斯提着他走近了太阳圆盘。这个圆盘虽是赝品，没有熔进半分黄金，但仍然能够反射阳光，这就够了。

The hierophant’s skin was red raw where the sand had scoured him, and tears of blood ran down his cheeks. Nasus moved closer to the sun disc. It wasn’t the real thing, wasn’t even gold, but it reflected the light of the sun and that would have to be enough.

“你说你是阿兹尔的后裔，我们来验一验吧。”

“You say you are of the line of Azir?” he said. “Now we will see if that is true.”

他把圣职者的脸按到圆盘上，烈日炙烤过的金属烙在他受伤的皮肤上，只听得一阵惨叫。内瑟斯把哭哭啼啼的男人扔到一边，盯着圆盘上嘶嘶作响的溪状血迹。鲜血已经被烤成了棕色的硬块，血腥味飘进了他的鼻子。

He pressed the hierophant’s face against the sun disc, and the man screamed as the scorching metal burned his exposed skin. Nasus dropped the whimpering man and stared at the hissing blood running down the disc in red rivulets. The blood was already drying to a brown crust, and the scent of it filled his nostrils.

“你的血不属于飞升血统。”内瑟斯伤感地说：“你不是我要找的人。”

“Your blood is not that of the Ascended Bloodline,” said Nasus sadly. “You are not who I seek.”

突然，圆盘的表面闪过一丝蓝光，反射的是很远地方的景象。他的眼睛不由得眯了起来。

He narrowed his eyes as he saw a radiant blue glow reflected on the surface of the disc from something in the far distance.

内瑟斯转身看向地平线尽头。那里聚了一朵云，是行军的部队激起的尘土。透过烟尘，内瑟斯看到了矛尖和盔甲上反射的晶亮阳光。他听到了战鼓的擂击和军号的锐响。尘土里现出了驮物坐骑的身影。嘶叫的战兽被粗绳拴在轭上，由手拿刺棒的兵士驱赶。这些怪兽的身上生着钙化的鳞甲，撅着弯曲的獠牙，简直就是天生的攻城锤，可以毫不费力地推平早已摇摇欲坠的维考拉城墙。

Nasus turned and looked to the horizon. A cloud gathered there, dust kicked up by the feet of marching men. Nasus saw the glitter of sunlight on speartips and armor through the dust. He heard the beating of war drums and the skirl of battle horns. Lumbering beasts emerged from the dust clouds, braying war-creatures yoked with knotted ropes and directed by groups of men armed with barbed goads. Protected by calcified skin plates and armed with curling horn-tusks, the beasts were living battering rams easily capable of smashing down Vekaura’s already ruined walls.

战兽身后，是一大群部落的战团。他们高举着各式各样的图腾，正朝着城市进发。轻装的游击手、骑射手和手拿鳞盾与重斧的战士……至少有五百人。内瑟斯意识到，有一个意志正统领着他们。因为正常情况下，这些部落一旦见面就会拼个你死我活。

Behind the war-beasts, a host of tribal warbands advanced on the city beneath a wide variety of carved totems. Five hundred warriors at least; light skirmishers, whooping horse-archers, and fighting men bearing scale shields and heavy axes. Nasus felt the touch of a dominating will upon them, knowing that many of these tribes would normally tear each other’s throats out on sight.

内瑟斯感应到了远古魔法的存在，嘴里泛起一阵金属的腥味。他所有的感官都变得敏感起来。他听到神庙下方数百个喋喋不休的低语，看清了铜制圆盘上每一处瑕疵，感觉着脚下的每一颗沙粒。一股刺鼻的血腥味窜进了他的鼻腔——应该是刚刚止住的伤口。这气味让他依稀想起了旧日，还有某个在早已迷失的年代中的久远回声。他的注意力被引向了城市的东区，在最边缘的地方，城市的废墟与山峦相接。

Nasus felt the presence of ancient magic and the taste of metal flooded his jaws. His every sense heightened. He heard the babble of hundreds of voices from below, saw every imperfection in the bronze disc and felt every grain of sand beneath his splay-clawed feet. A sharp smell of blood, only recently staunched, stung his nostrils. It carried the faint trace of elder days and distant echoes of an age thought lost forever. It called to him from somewhere in the east of the city, at its very edge where the ruins merged with the hills.

那一股苏醒的魔力漂浮于宿主的上空。那是一个黑暗能量噼啪涌动的灵体，身上缠着生铁的锁链和一口远古石棺的碎片。那是恕瑞玛的忤逆之人，也是古老帝国覆灭的成就者。

The bearer of this awakening magic floated above the host; a being of crackling energy and dark power bound by chains of cold iron and the shards of an ancient sarcophagus. A traitor to Shurima and the architect of the ancient empire’s doom.

“泽拉斯。”内瑟斯说。

“Xerath,” said Nasus.

维考拉东侧边缘的这座废屋已经基本不剩什么部分了，屋顶开了一大块天窗，地上积着脚踝深的沙子，但仍然有四面墙。天最热的时候，头顶恰好还有树荫可以稍微遮挡一下。塔莉垭的包裹立在屋子角落，像往常一样随时可以拎起来就走。墙上挂着装有清水和羊奶的皮囊，衣服旁边摆着足够维持几周的肉干，皮袋子里装满了搜集自瓦洛兰大陆各地的石子。

The ruined house on the eastern edge of Vekaura was crumbling, without much of a roof, and ankle deep in sand, but it had four walls and overhanging trees that offered shade during the hottest part of the day. Taliyah’s pack was propped up in the corner, ready to go as it always was. Skins of water and goat’s milk hung from its side, and enough dried meat to last her a couple of weeks had been packed alongside clothes and pouches of rocks and pebbles gathered from all over Valoran.

塔莉垭靠着受伤的女人跪下来，后者躺在树荫下，身上裹着绷带。她看了一眼伤口周围结痂的血迹，忍不住打了个冷战——虽然那道伤口是她亲手缝合的。她不敢确定，伤口看起来像是剑伤。塔莉垭帮她脱掉了身上的盔甲，尽可能地帮她清洁了身体。除了那条几乎致命的伤口，女人的身体活脱脱是一幅伤疤绘成的地图。这是一生拼杀所换来的，并且几乎都在前面。不管这个女人是谁，看来只有一个敌人，与她不是面对面较量的。塔莉垭换了新的绷带，女人痛苦地低哼了一下，她的身体在沉睡中努力地恢复着，只有织母才会知道她在沙漠里究竟受了多少苦。

Taliyah knelt beside the injured woman lying in the shade and lifted the bandage from her side. She winced at the sight of crusted blood around the stitches she’d used to seal the deep wound. It looked like a sword cut, but she couldn’t be sure. Taliyah had stripped the woman’s armor and bathed her as best she could. Apart from the near-mortal wound in her side, the woman’s body was a map of pale scar tissue. All earned in a life of battle, and all but one to the fore. Whoever this woman was, only one of her enemies had not met her face to face. Taliyah replaced the bandage and her patient grunted in pain, her sleeping body trying to heal after the Great Weaver alone knew how much she’d suffered out in the desert.

“你是个战士吧。”塔莉垭说：“我能看出来，所以千万要努力活着啊。”

“You’re a fighter,” said Taliyah, “I can tell that about you, so fight for your life.”

塔莉垭不知道女人有没有听见，但也许她的话能帮女人的精魂回到身体里吧。无论怎样，能有人说话还是挺好的，即使别人并不会回应——除非算上高烧中她口里关于皇帝和死亡的呢喃。

Taliyah had no idea if the woman heard what she said, but maybe her words could help the woman’s spirit find its way back to her body. In any case, it felt good to talk to someone; even if they didn’t answer back – unless you counted fevered mutterings about emperors and being dead.

自从在艾欧尼亚与亚索告别，塔莉垭努力地告诫自己，除非迫不得已，否则不要在任何地方停留太久，要一直走。但是，她在维考拉的滞留已经超出了计划。原本的打算是买好新鲜的补给就即刻上路，但她实在没法丢下这个女人任其昏迷不醒。寻找家人的冲动在她心里有如针刺虫咬，但织母说过，每个人都在生命经纬的交错叠合中紧密相织。任由其中一条线头磨损的话，最终会破坏整幅挂毯。所以塔莉垭留下来，为的就是践行自己的对女人许下的承诺，尽管归家的冲动无时无刻不在绞痛她的灵魂。

Since leaving Yasuo in Ionia, Taliyah had tried to keep to herself, always on the move and never staying in any one place longer than necessary. She’d already stayed in Vekaura longer than she’d planned. This was supposed to be a quick stop to buy fresh supplies, but she couldn’t leave while the woman was still unconscious. The urge to find her family was all but overwhelming, but the Great Weaver taught that everyone was bound together in the warp and weft of life. To leave one thread to fray would, in time, affect them all. So Taliyah had stayed to honor her promise to the wounded woman, though every moment not spent trying to reach her family chafed her soul.

塔莉垭拨开女人滚烫眉间的黑发，仔细端详着她的脸，好奇她怎么受了那么重的伤，还被半埋在大塞沙漠边缘的沙丘里。她很漂亮，但又带着一种刚硬的锐气，就连昏迷也没法让她完全软化。她的肤色是日光染成的浅棕，典型的恕瑞玛当地人，而当她的眼皮偶尔颤动着开阖时，塔莉垭看到她的眼眸是透亮的天蓝。

Taliyah brushed dark hair from the woman’s fevered brow and studied her face, trying to imagine how she had come to be wounded on the edges of the Sai. She was pretty, but had a hard edge to her not even unconsciousness could entirely soften. Her skin had the tanned sun-weathered texture of a native-born Shuriman, and when her eyes would occasionally flutter open, Taliyah saw they were a piercing blue.

她呼出一口气：“好吧，我也没什么能帮你了，只能等你自己醒了。”

She let out a sigh and said, “Well, I don’t think there’s a lot I can do until you wake up.”

塔莉垭听到西边传来一声闷爆，然后是她绝对不会听错的声响：岩石滚动摩擦着彼此。她走到窗边张望，一开始她还以为是地震，但很快又觉得像是山崩——她倒是见过不少。鉴于维考拉城中大部分建筑的状况，如果是某座房子塌了的声音，也不见得有多么惊奇。她暗自希望没人会受伤。

Taliyah heard a thudding boom coming from the west. She moved to the window as she heard the unmistakable sound of rocks grinding on rocks. At first she thought it was an earthquake, but this was more like an avalanche, and she’d seen a fair few of them in her time. Given what she’d seen of the buildings in Vekaura, it wouldn’t surprise her if this was the sound of one falling down. She hoped nobody was hurt.

“发生什么事了……？我在哪里？”

“What’s going on...? Where am I?”

塔莉垭听到女人的声音，便转过了头。她正努力地想坐起来，一双眼睛打量着周围，手里还在四处摸索着什么。

Taliyah turned at the sound of the woman’s voice. She was sitting up, looking around her and reaching for something.

“你在维考拉。”塔莉垭说：“我在外面碰到你的，你流了好多血，都快死了。”

“You’re in Vekaura,” said Taliyah. “I found you outside, bleeding and half-dead.”

“我的刀呢？”女人急切地问。

“Where’s my blade?” demanded the woman.

塔莉垭指了指她身后的墙，那把奇怪的武器被收在熟皮的鞘中，压在一张飞鸟交错纹样的毛线毯下。

Taliyah pointed to the wall behind her, where the woman’s strange weapon was wrapped in its boiled leather sling and hidden under a woven blanket of interleaved bird motifs.

“在那里。刀刃很利，我可不想放在能绊我一下的地方，伤着脚可难办了。”

“Over there,” said Taliyah, “Its blades are very sharp and I didn’t want it anywhere I might trip over it and slice my foot.”

“你是谁？”女人语气里的怀疑都快溢出来了。

“Who are you?” said the woman, her tone laden with suspicion.

“我是塔莉垭。”

“I’m Taliyah.”

“我认识你吗？你的部落是不是要我的命？”

“Do I know you? Does your tribe want me dead?”

塔莉垭皱起眉头：“我不这么想。我们是牧人。织匠还有旅人。我们不要任何人的命。”

Taliyah frowned. “No. I don’t think so. We’re herders. Weavers and travelers. We don’t really want anyone dead.”

“那你们就是少数人了。”她慢慢地呼着气，塔莉垭难以想象她的伤口有多疼。她坐直身子，却不小心扯到了自己的缝线，脸庞一下子就扭曲了。

“Then you’re one of the few who don’t,” said the woman. She exhaled slowly, and Taliyah could only imagine how badly her side must hurt. She sat up and grimaced as her stitches pulled taut.

“为什么有人要你的命？”塔莉垭问。

“Why would anyone want you dead?” asked Taliyah.

“因为我杀了很多人。”她艰难地调整了一下坐姿：“有时候是因为我收了钱。有时候是因为他们挡了我的路。不过最近是因为他们很生气，因为我说我不会回去了。”

“Because I’ve killed a lot of people,” replied Sivir, struggling to sit up. “Sometimes because I was paid to. Sometimes because they were in my way. But these days, it’s usually because they get very angry when I tell them I’m not going back.”

“回哪儿？”

“Back where?”

女人湛蓝色的眼睛转到塔莉垭身上。而她仿佛看到了一双深井，痛苦在其中悸动翻滚。

The woman turned her piercing blue eyes on Taliyah, and she saw a deep well of pain and turmoil within.

“就是那个，从沙里升起的城市。”

“The city,” she said. “The one that rose from the sands.”

“所以那是真的咯？”塔莉垭问：“古恕瑞玛真的重生了？你看到了吗？”

“So it’s true?” asked Taliyah. “Ancient Shurima really is reborn? You’ve seen it?”

“亲眼所见。很多人都在往那儿赶。我看到最多的是来自东边和南边的部落，但其他地方的人也不会等太久的。”

“With my very own eyes,” said the woman. “There’s a lot of people going there now. I saw tribes of the east and south mostly, but others will come soon enough.”

“人们正在往那儿赶？”

“People are going there?”

“与日俱增。”

“More every day.”

“那你为什么不回去呢？”

“So why don’t you want to go back?”

“你的问题好多，真累人。”

“You’re tiring me out with all these questions.”

塔莉垭耸耸肩：“理解的第一步就是提问嘛。”

Taliyah shrugged. “Asking questions is the first step on the journey to understanding.”

女人微笑着点点头：“说得好。但得小心你问话的对象。有些人喜欢用刀代替回答。”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Good point, but be careful who you ask. Some people answer questions with a blade.”

“你呢？”

“Do you?”

“有时候我也是。不过既然你救了我，我可以宽容一些。”

“Sometimes, but since you saved my life, I’ll let it go.”

“再告诉我一件事。”

“Then tell me one more thing.”

“什么？”

“What?”

“你的名字。”

“Your name.”

“希维尔。”女人忍着疼痛回答。

“Sivir,” said the woman through her pain.

这个名字，塔莉垭并不陌生。事实上，恕瑞玛的人很少有不知道的。并且她在看到那把十字形的武器时就猜了个八九不离十。她还没开口，外面传来了另一种声响，取代了石头滚动的隆隆声。她很少在自己的家乡听过这种声音，但却在别的地方多次碰到，包括艾欧尼亚的海岸边、诺克萨斯的城区里、还有弗雷尔卓德的冰原上。

Taliyah knew the name; there were few in Shurima who did not, and she’d already had a good idea of who this woman was from the style of her cross-bladed weapon. Before she could reply, a new sound overtook the rumble of falling stones. She’d seldom heard anything like it in her homeland, but had heard plenty on the shores of Ionia, in the warrens of Noxus and on the icy wastes of the Freljord.

塔莉垭瞥了一眼墙角的行李，心里盘算着逃离维考拉要花多久时间。希维尔也听到了那个声音，曲起腿努力地想站起来。可是实在太过勉强，她痛苦地哼出了声。冷汗浸湿了她的眉毛。

Taliyah eyed her pack, working out how long it would take her to escape Vekaura. Sivir heard the sound too, and swung her legs out as she tried to stand. The effort was almost too much for her and she grunted. Sweat beaded her brow with the effort.

“你这样哪儿也去不了。”塔莉垭说。

“You’re in no state to go anywhere,” said Taliyah.

“你听见了吗？”

“Can you hear that?” said Sivir.

“当然。听起来很像是人们的尖叫声。”

“Of course,” said Taliyah. “It sounds a lot like people screaming.”

希维尔点头道：“千真万确。”

Sivir nodded. “That’s exactly what it is.”

天空正向下泼洒着火焰。

Fire was raining from the sky.

带着蓝白色火焰的彗星从泽拉斯伸展的双臂间飞出，划出长长的弧线，仿佛是投石机扔出的巨大圆石。第一发落进了市场，像流星坠地一样炸开，迸发出酷烈的火焰。带火的尸体被抛上半空，如同焦黑的薪柴。燃烧的飓风里充斥着泽拉斯恶毒的笑声，亘古以降的疯癫正以折磨他人作为最迷醉的乐趣。

Comets of white blue flame leapt from Xerath’s outstretched arms, arcing like boulders from a war-machine. The first fell to earth in the market, exploding like a falling star. Searing fire detonated from the impact. Burning bodies were hurled into the air like blackened kindling. Fiery winds carried Xerath’s spiteful laughter, an ageless insanity that reveled in the pain of others.

为什么我之前没看出他心中的邪念呢？

How could I not see the evil in him before?

内瑟斯听到城里不断传来的尖叫声，之前的对这些人的忿怒，转眼之间如同绿洲清晨的雾气般散去。被疼痛驱使的战兽奋力撞开了城墙，轻甲的武士踩着碎石潮水一般涌进来。他们嚷着十几种不同的战吼，急不可耐地要开始屠城。

Nasus heard screams rising from the city and all his earlier anger at these people vanished like morning mist over an oasis. The city walls were smashed aside by the pain-maddened war-beasts that reared and stamped with ground shaking force. Lightly armored warriors streamed into the city over the rubble. They howled a dozen different war-cries, eager to begin the slaughter.

内瑟斯拎着斧子走下神庙的台阶，一次挥击便能打倒四人，直到回到了地面上。从城市西侧逃来的几百人挤进了广场，一个个两股战战。嗜血的喊杀声和刀剑的碰撞声一路尾随着他们。惊慌的人们在广场边缘的建筑间奔逃，逮到机会就钻进屋中，闭门锁窗，妄图求得万全。内瑟斯曾经去过饱受侵略蹂躏的其他城市，站在血染的街道上，他深刻地明白这等惨烈的战争之后，士兵们会变得多么嗜杀。泽拉斯将会看着维考拉的每一个男人，每一个女人，每一个孩子身首异处。

Nasus spun his axe and descended the temple steps, taking them four at a time until he was back on the ground. Hundreds of people streamed into the main plaza from the western edges of the city, fear pumping in their veins. Bloodthirsty yells and the clash of weapons followed them. Panicked citizens sought refuge in the buildings around the edges of the plaza, bolting doors and shuttering windows in the hope it would keep them safe. Nasus had walked the bloody streets of enough captured cities to know how brutal warriors could be after such battles. Xerath would see every man, woman and child in Vekaura put to the sword.

更多的火球像雷电一样劈头砸下来，空气里满塞着哭叫和皮肉的焦臭。砖石在魔能的撞击下变成了熔岩的瀑布。市场包在熊熊烈火中，黑色的烟柱直上云霄。

More fireballs slammed down like thunderbolts and the air filled with screams and the smell of burned flesh. Stone split and tumbled in cascades of molten rock from the impacts of the magical assault. The market was burning and pillars of black smoke smudged the sky.

内瑟斯挤过吓坏了的人群，循着那一丝强悍之血的微弱气味，坚定地朝着东边走去。圣职者是个骗子，他的血早就在千年之中冲淡衰弱了，但他现在所感应到这个人呢？这些人都很强壮，他能听到一个凡人的胸腔里正在跳动如雷的心脏。这个人是皇帝们和战争皇后们的后嗣——那是一群雄心与力量都堪比天高的男女。他们的体内流淌着的，就是英雄血。

Nasus pushed through the terrified crowds, moving steadily eastward, following the spoor of potent blood he now scented. The hierophant had been a fraud, his blood weak and diluted after thousands of years, but the one he now sensed...? They were strong. He could hear the thunder of a heart beating within a mortal breast. This person came from a line of emperors and warrior queens; men and women of towering ambition and strength. It was the blood of a hero.

人们呼喊着他的名字祈求帮助。但他没有理会，因为有更重要的召唤需要他的追随。太阳重铸了他的身心，就是为了让他永世侍奉恕瑞玛，为了它的人民战斗，抵御所有来犯的强敌。他现在所做的也恰是为此，但放任维考拉的居民自生自灭却勾起了他灵魂深处熟悉的罪恶感。

People shouted his name, begging for help. He ignored them, knowing he served a higher calling. The sun had wrought him anew to serve Shurima beyond death, to fight for its people and defend them against their enemies. He served that purpose now, but leaving the inhabitants of Vekaura to their doom twisted a familiar barb of guilt in his soul.

你还要抛下多少条性命？

How many more will you leave to die?

他甩开这样的想法，拣了一条路，穿过黄沙堆积的破烂街巷。多数建筑已经完全成了沙漠的一部分，其余的也大多只剩下残损的地基和削尖的断柱头。他离那颗雷鸣般的心脏越来越近了，沙漠里的食腐生物一看到他便匆忙逃远。这座城市的废墟在黄沙的侵蚀下，变得逐渐稀薄起来。

He pushed the thought aside, weaving a path through broken streets piled high with drifts of sand. Most of the buildings here had been claimed by the desert, little more than broken foundations and sheared stumps of square-cut columns. Desert scavengers fled at the sight of him as he drew ever closer to the thudding heartbeat. The city began to thin out, its ruins ever more buried in the encroaching sand.

最后他来到了一座摇摇欲吹的建筑门前，看起来曾经是一个澡堂，墙壁要比其他屋子更厚实坚硬一些。他弓着背走进去，立刻闻到了两种不同的血汗气味。一个很年轻，另一个的灵魂却如此古老，就好像是一个曾与他肩并肩漫步在同一轮太阳下的老朋友。

Eventually he came to a crumbling structure that might once have served as a bathhouse, its walls thicker and stronger than those around it. He ducked as he entered, smelling the sweat and blood of two souls within. One young, and one with a soul so old it was like coming face to face with a friend who had walked beneath the same sun as he.

一个女孩从走廊里探出头来，披着一件宽松的外套，看样式应该是来自东边大海之外的国度。这个女孩，他早些时候在市场里碰到过的。他感受到了她的恐惧，但同时还有决心。她的双手在胸前来回比划着弧线，仿佛是在编织着某种自然的魔法。地面开始颤抖，石头在她的脚下起舞，纷纷从沙下探出头来。在她身后，内瑟斯看到一个女人手扶着剥落的墙面挣扎着想站起来。她的上衣浸着血红。是一道可怖的伤口，但还不算致命。

A young girl emerged from a doorway, clad in a free-flowing coat from a land across the eastern ocean – the same girl he’d spoken to in the souk. He felt her fear, but also her determination as her hands moved in curving, looping patterns as though weaving some naturalistic magic. The ground trembled, the stones danced at her feet and threw off their coating of sand. Behind her, Nasus saw a woman struggling to stand, using the peeling walls for support. Her tunic was soaked red. A grievous wound, but not yet a mortal one.

“我是内瑟斯，沙漠的司者。”他说道，但从她眼中的反应来看，她早就知道他的身份了。塔莉垭却惊讶地张大了嘴，但她没有动。

“I am Nasus, Curator of the Sands,” he said, but from the look in her eyes, she already knew who he was. Her mouth fell open in astonishment, but she didn’t move.

“让开。”内瑟斯说。

“Stand aside, girl,” said Nasus.

“不行，你不能动她。我承诺过的。”

“No, I won’t let you hurt her. I made a promise.”

内瑟斯转过斧头，挂在了背上，向前迈出一步。女孩退到废墟里，她脚边的地面随即漾起一圈圈波纹。石块从地面上升起，像是墙壁上纷纷碎落的石膏片。墙壁上钻出了可怕的裂缝，飞快地爬上了残存的屋顶。在他还是凡人的时候，也曾见识过相似的能力，而那一回他差点丢了性命。受伤的女人震惊地盯着女孩，显然她也完全不知道自己同伴的威力。

Nasus spun his axe, slinging it across his back as he took a step forward. The girl backed into the ruin, the ground rippling in radial patterns at her feet. Rock lifted from the ground as flakes of plaster peeled from the walls. Cracks split the stonework, racing upward to what remained of the roof. The last time he had faced someone with similar abilities he had been mortal and it almost killed him. The injured woman stared at the girl in shock. Clearly she was entirely ignorant of her companion’s abilities.

“你的能力，可以打破恕瑞玛的坚石。”内瑟斯说。

“You have the power to break the rock of Shurima,” said Nasus.

她挑起一边眉毛：“没错。所以你最好退远点儿，否则我能打破的东西可不止石头。”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Yes. So you’d better back off before I break you.”

内瑟斯被她虚张声势的逗乐了：“你有一颗英雄的心，姑娘。但你不是我要找的人。你的魔法很厉害，所以如果我是你的话，我会在泽拉斯炸平这里之前逃得越远越好。”

Nasus grinned at her bravado. “You possess a hero’s heart, girl, but you are not the one I seek. Your magic is strong, so if I were you, I would leave this city before Xerath rips it from you.”

她的脸色有些发白：“我哪里也不去。我答应了要保护希维尔的，而且织母讨厌食言。”

Her skin paled. “I’m not going anywhere. I promised I’d protect Sivir, and the Great Weaver hates a broken promise.”

“如果你要保护她，那你要明白，我并没有害她的想法。”

“If you are her protector, then know I am not here to hurt her.”

“那你想干什么？”

“So what do you want?”

“我来救她。”

“I am here to save her.”

缠着绷带的女人跛着一只脚，挪到了女孩身旁。虽然她明显非常痛苦，但内瑟斯仍然惊讶于她的意志。不过，古恕瑞玛的血脉一贯如此，只是他低估了而已。

The bandaged woman limped to stand at the young girl’s side. Though she was in obvious pain, Nasus was impressed at her resolve. But then, he should expect no less from one whose blood flowed directly from Ancient Shurima.

“泽拉斯是谁？”她问。

“Who’s this Xerath?” she asked.

“一个邪恶的巫灵，他对你的身世了如指掌。”

“A dark magus who already knows too much of your existence.”

女人点点头，然后转向塔莉垭，伸出一只长茧的手，放在了女孩肩头。

The woman nodded and turned to Taliyah, placing a callused hand on the young girl’s shoulder.

“我欠你一条命，但我从不背债。所以就当你的承诺已经达成了吧，从现在起我自己来。”

“I owe you my life, but I won’t be in anyone’s debt,” she said, “so consider your promise fulfilled. I can take it from here.”

女孩的表情显然轻松了不少，但她仍然犹豫着。

The relief on the girl’s face was plain, but still she hesitated.

“我很感激，但是你几乎都走不了路啊。最起码让我带你出城吧。”

“I appreciate that, but you can barely walk,” said Taliyah. “At least let me help you out of the city.”

“成交。”希维尔带着谢意地说完，然后转回去面对着内瑟斯。她挥了一下手，亮出闪着寒光的金色十字刃，中心镶着一颗翠绿的宝石。普通凡人根本没法轻松地舞动这件武器，但她却稳稳地抓在手里。

“Deal,” said Sivir gratefully, before turning back to Nasus. She swung her hand around to reveal a glittering cross-blade of gold, with an emerald gemstone at its center. She held it at the ready, a weapon no ordinary mortal could wield with such ease.

“最近有太多人想要救我了。但他们总是想要别的东西作为回报。所以，大个子，老实说吧，你到底想要什么？”

“I’ve had enough of people saving me lately,” she said. “They always want something in return. So tell me, big man, what do you really want?”

“想要你活着。”

“To keep you alive,” said Nasus.

“那我不用你帮忙也可以。”

“I can do that without your help.”

“你身上的伤口不是这么说的，你已经——”

“That wound in your side tells me otherwise. You are-”

“你说这个？”希维尔打断他：“有些蠢货不喜欢被人拒绝，所以他们留下了这个，算是个保留意见而已。相信我，我有过更糟糕的经历但也活下来了。我也不需要什么保护。老天看来一直都很照顾我，不管我做什么。”

“This?” said Sivir before he could finish. “Just a disagreement with some fools who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Trust me, I’ve had worse and walked away. And I don’t need protecting. Fate seems to be looking out for me these days, no matter what I do.”

内瑟斯大摇其头。凡人对命运的理解多么粗浅啊。

Nasus shook his head. How little mortals understood of destiny.

“未来并不是刻在石碑上的经文，而是一条支流众多的河流，它的河床会在任一时刻转道。即使是命运早已在星辰间写就的人，也会在放任之后发现，生命之水流进了干涸的死地。”

“The future is not set in stone,” he said. “It is a branching river whose course can change at any moment. Even those whose fate is written in the stars can find the water of their lives run to barren ground if they are not careful.”

他指着希维尔的武器问：“你知道那把刀曾经属于谁吗？”

He gestured to Sivir’s weapon and said, “Do you know to whom that blade once belonged?”

“谁管他呢？现在是我的了。“希维尔说。

“What does it matter?” said Sivir. “It’s mine now.”

“那是恰丽喀尔，它曾经的主人，讳为瑟塔卡，她是飞升之主最初的战争皇后。你要知道这在过去意味着什么。我光荣地陪伴着瑟塔卡征战了三个世纪。她的功绩已成传奇，但我想你并不知道她的名姓。”

“It is the Chalicar, the blade once borne by Setaka, foremost Warrior Queen of the Ascended Host; when enough of us remained for that name to mean something. I was honored to fight at Setaka’s side for three centuries. Her deeds were legendary, but I can see you do not know her name.”

“死者易逝。”希维尔耸肩道。

“The fallen are forgotten,” said Sivir with a shrug.

内瑟斯无视了希维尔对他战争中的姐妹的冷漠轻侮，继续说道：“一位沙漠里的修行者曾经告诉她，总有一天，会有一位来自恕瑞玛的王者统治整个世界。这番话让她以为自己是不可战胜的，因为我们就是征服世界的人。但是，她却被艾卡西亚末日前夜的怪物撂倒了。我抱着她，看着她的光芒一点一点熄灭，最后是我将她送进了黄沙中长眠。她的武器就放在她胸前。”

Nasus ignored Sivir’s cold dismissal of his quiescent war-sister and said, “A desert stylite once told her she would see the sun rise on the day a Shuriman emperor ruled the entire world. It made her think she was invincible, for we were yet to conquer the world, but she was brought down by monsters on the eve of Icathia’s doom. I held her as her light dimmed and I sent her to her slumber far below the sands with her weapon upon her breast.”

“如果你是来把这个要回去的话，那我们之间的麻烦就大了。”

“If you’re here to take it back, then you and I might have a problem.”

内瑟斯突然单膝跪地，双手在胸前交叉行礼。

Nasus dropped to one knee and crossed his hands over his chest.

“你是飞升血统的拥有者。这把武器也注定由你指使，因为帝皇之血在你体内流淌。它已经复生了阿兹尔和恕瑞玛，其中必有重大的意义。”

“You are of the Ascended Bloodline. The weapon is yours to bear, for the blood of emperors runs in your veins. It resurrected Azir and Shurima, so that has to mean something.”

“不，没有意义。”希维尔冷冷地说：“我从来没有求阿兹尔救我。我不欠他任何东西。我也不想和你，还有什么泽拉斯有任何牵连。”

“No, it doesn’t,” snapped Sivir. “I never asked Azir to bring me back. I don’t owe him anything. I don’t want anything to do with you or this Xerath.”

“你怎么想根本无关紧要。无论你接不接受自己的命运，泽拉斯都会杀掉你。他来到这里就是为了斩断阿兹尔的血脉，一了百了。”

“Your wants are irrelevant,” said Nasus. “Xerath will kill you whether you embrace your destiny or not. He has come here to end the bloodline of Azir once and for all.”

“阿兹尔想要她干什么？”塔莉垭忍不住问：“他既然回来了，那他到底打算做什么？他会把我们变成奴隶吗？”

“What does Azir want with her?” asked Taliyah. “And what is he going to do now that he’s back? Does he want to make us slaves?”

“她的问题很多，非常多。”希维尔说。

“She asks a lot of questions,” said Sivir.

内瑟斯犹豫了一阵。

Nasus hesitated before answering.

“实际上，我也不知道阿兹尔的计划。但只要知道他会对抗泽拉斯，对我来说就已经足够。现在，你们可以乖乖地引颈就戮，或者考虑日后再战。”

“In truth, I do not know what Azir plans. That he will stand against Xerath is enough for me. Now you can both meekly bare your necks, or you can live to fight another day.”

希维尔掀起衣服，露出了渗血的绷带，脸上挤出一个苦笑。“有生以来，我从不知道什么叫乖乖的，但现在我也没有打架的资本。哦，倒是有一双打架的眼皮。”

Sivir lifted her tunic to show her blood-wet bandage and gave a wry grin. “I’ve never done anything meekly in all my days, but I don’t plan to be fighting anything more threatening than sleep for a while.”

“你必须活着。”内瑟斯站起来：“并且时刻做好准备。”

“You must live,” said Nasus, rising to his full height. “And you need to be ready.”

“准备干什么？”希维尔一边问，一边和塔莉垭开始收拾不多的物事。

“Ready for what?” asked Sivir, as she and Taliyah began gathering up their few possessions.

“为恕瑞玛而战。不过我们现在得走了。泽拉斯的手下正在屠杀维考拉的每一个人。”

“The battle for Shurima,” said Nasus. “So for now we must run. Xerath’s warriors are killing everyone in Vekaura.”

“这里到底有什么特别的？”塔莉垭背起了行囊。

“What’s so special about this place?” asked Taliyah, shrugging on her pack.

“他们在找她。”内瑟斯说。

“They are looking for her,” said Nasus.

希维尔的脸僵了一下，然后长长地呼出一口气，问：“内瑟斯，对吧？我小时候听过你的故事。打仗的故事，英雄之战之类的。故事里都说，你和你的兄弟是恕瑞玛的保护人，是吗？”

Sivir’s face hardened and she let out a long breath before saying, “Nasus, eh? I’ve heard stories about you since I was a child. Stories of war and heroic battles. All the legends say that you and your brother were Shurima’s protectors, yes?”

“确实是的。雷克顿和我为了恕瑞玛战斗了几千年。”

“That is true,” said Nasus. “Renekton and I fought for Shurima over many centuries.”

希维尔往前蹭了一步，她的脸上挂着傲然的决心，竟与阿兹尔无视上千年的传统，下令祭司们准备太阳圆盘让他飞升那天的表情几乎一样。

Sivir took a halting step toward him, her face as set with imperious determination as Azir’s had been on the day he ordered the priesthood to prepare the sun disc for his Ascension, in defiance of centuries of tradition.

“那现在就为恕瑞玛而战。”希维尔不容质疑的语气有如君临：“在我们闲扯的时候，沙漠的子民们正不断死去。如果你是我从小就听说过的那位英雄，那你的责任就是出去拯救尽可能多的人。”

“Then fight for Shurima now,” said Sivir, as imperious as any emperor. “Sons and daughters of the desert are dying out there as we speak. If you’re the hero I’ve heard about all my life, then it’s your duty to get out there and save as many people as possible.”

内瑟斯完全没有预料到谈话会变成这个方向，但希维尔所说的责任点燃了他胸膛中沉寂多年的余火。他感受到怒火贯通了四肢，在身体中来回奔突。直到现在他才明白，自从恕瑞玛陷落以来，自己在孤独的流浪中究竟迷失了什么。

This was not how Nasus had imagined this meeting to go, but Sivir’s talk of duty fanned an ember that had slumbered too long within his breast. He felt its flame spread through him, only now understanding how truly lost he had been all the long, lonely years since Shurima’s fall and subsequent rebirth.

“我在此立誓。”内瑟斯扯下颈上系着的垂饰。“如果你们现在就走，我便会拼死保下维考拉的人民。”

“You have my oath it will be so,” said Nasus, reaching up to unhook a pendant hung on a leather thong around his neck. “If you both go now, I shall do all I can to protect Vekaura’s people.”

垂饰上嵌着一块翡翠，海绿色的质地表面走着细细的金线。一股微光从里面透出来，缓缓地起伏着，如同一颗沉重的心。

The stone of his pendant was jade, ocean green with veins of pale gold threading its surface. A faint light emanated from within, pulsing like a slowly beating heart.

他递给希维尔说：“戴着这个，泽拉斯就找不到你了。只能持续一阵子，不过应该足够。”

He offered it to Sivir and said, “Wear this and it will keep you from Xerath’s sight. It will not last forever, but maybe long enough.”

“足够什么？”希维尔问。

“Long enough for what?” asked Sivir.

“足够让我再找到你。”内瑟斯说完，转身离开了。

“For me to find you again,” said Nasus, turning away.

他趁着自己还没改变心意就离开了希维尔和塔莉垭。内瑟斯心里清楚，她们两人能活下来的关键是他能把泽拉斯的手下引到自己身边来。她们目送着他离去，他一次都没有回头。城中心已经是一团烈焰，内瑟斯随着维考拉居民的尖叫声走去。

He left Sivir and Taliyah before he could change his mind, knowing their best chance of survival was to draw Xerath’s warriors to him. They watched him go, but he did not turn back. Flames burned at the center of the city, and Nasus followed the screams of Vekaura’s inhabitants.

他走过了一具又一具被士兵们砍死的尸体，有男有女。他的怒火越来越高，与泽拉斯之间的旧账看来又多了不少条目。内瑟斯转动肩膀活动起肌肉来。上一次面对巫灵时，他的兄弟正站在他身旁——一阵战栗突然袭来。

His anger built as he passed the bodies of men and women cut down by the rampaging warriors – more deaths to add to the tally still to be settled between him and Xerath. Nasus rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles. The last time he had faced the magus, his brother had been beside him, and a tremor of fear touched him.

我们合力都没能打败他。单凭我自己，又怎么可能呢？

We could not defeat him together. How can I defeat him alone?

内瑟斯看到一组五人堵住了广场的出口。他们先是背对着他，听到他抽出斧头的声音时便转了过来。正常来说，内瑟斯应该会感觉到他们的恐惧，因为站在他们面前的是一名飞升者武士，但是他们两眼中燃烧着泽拉斯意志的蓝火，根本不知道什么是害怕。

Nasus saw a group of five warriors blocking the exit from the plaza. They had their backs to him, but turned at the sound of him unsheathing his axe. He should have felt their terror at the prospect of fighting an Ascended warrior, but the blue fire of Xerath’s will burned in their eyes and they feared nothing.

他们举着带血的刀剑和长矛冲向他。内瑟斯迎面错身一晃，手里大斧一挥，把其中三人拦腰斩断。他一拳打穿另一个人的胸口，又张嘴咬住了最后一人的头颅。内瑟斯牙关一合，武士的脑袋应声崩开。

They rushed him with bloodied swords and spears. Nasus met their charge head on, swinging low and splitting three of them in half with a single sweep of the blade. He put his fist through the chest of another and fastened his jaws on the bare head of the last man. Nasus bit down and the warrior’s skull burst open.

他走进广场，看到城里剩下的居民跪在太阳神庙前，头贴在地上像是蜷曲的朝圣者，只是面前是敌人的刀尖。浑身带血的士兵们高举着长矛，向着顶端夺目的可怕神明空刺着。

He entered the plaza, seeing what remained of the city’s inhabitants kneeling at swordpoint before the sun temple, heads bowed like cowed worshippers. Groups of bloodied warriors thrust their spears aloft toward the bright and terrible god burning at its summit.

背叛了皇帝的巫灵全身燃火，悬浮在空中，太阳圆盘的边缘在飞升者的烈火中逐渐软化成浆。在他面前的空气中，是那个倒霉圣职者挣扎尖叫的身影。

The burning body of the traitorous magus hung suspended in the air, the edges of the sun disc molten beneath the furnace heat of his Ascended body. The screaming figure of the hierophant writhed in the air before him.

“凡人极尽愚蠢。”泽拉斯一边说着，一边从圣职者的骨架上剥下他的血肉。“你为何声称，自己身为无用皇帝，阿兹尔的子嗣呢？”

“You mortals are fools,” said Xerath as he unraveled flesh from the bones of the hierophant’s body. “Why would you claim lineage to an emperor as worthless as Azir?”

“泽拉斯！”内瑟斯大吼，声音回荡在广场上。

“XERATH!” shouted Nasus, his voice echoing around the plaza.

武士们纷纷转过头来，但没有动弹。广场上只剩下了沉默。内瑟斯感觉到泽拉斯的仇恨像激浪一样席卷而来。圣职者的残骸只一个心跳间就变成了灰烬，被巫灵身边的焚风吹得一干二净。内瑟斯紧握着斧头，大踏步走上前去。每一双眼睛都紧盯着他。

The mortal warriors turned, but made no move to attack. Silence fell and Nasus felt the hatred radiating from Xerath wash over him like a surge tide. What was left of the hierophant’s body burned to cinders in a heartbeat, drifting away in the hot winds swirling around the magus. Nasus marched into the plaza with his axe held tight to his side as every pair of eyes turned his way.

“不用猜就知道是你。”泽拉斯的声音如同蘸了蜜，与他还是凡人的时候一样。“还有哪个懦夫，会把我锁在地下千年之久呢？”

“Of course it would be you,” said Xerath, his voice as honeyed as it had been when he walked as a mortal. “Who else but the coward who sealed me beneath the world for millennia?”

“我会让你回到地下的。”内瑟斯保证道。

“I will put you back there,” promised Nasus.

拉斯的身体燃烧得更明亮了。“当时你有挚爱的手足兄弟帮忙。而现在，告诉我，自从我们共同的监狱牢门大开以来，你可曾见过雷克顿呢？”

Xerath’s form burned brighter. “You had your beloved brother to help you then. Tell me, have you seen Renekton since our shared prison was broken open?”

“不许提他的名字。”内瑟斯低吼。

“Do not speak his name,” snarled Nasus.

“你看到他现在的模样了吗？”

“Have you seen what he has become?”

内瑟斯没有说话，但泽拉斯大笑起来，笑声有如火灵交战时的尖啸。

Nasus said nothing, and Xerath laughed, the sound like warring fire spirits.

“你当然没看到了。”泽拉斯体内的火翕动着阴险的笑意。“他一见到你就会杀了你。”

“Of course you haven’t,” continued Xerath, the trapped flame of his being pulsing with dark amusement. “He would have killed you on sight.”

泽拉斯飘下了破碎的神庙外墙，四肢涌动着火舌，不断地像萤火虫一样散逸出去。士兵们仍然像雕像一般站定不动。这场对决本就不是为凡人而设的。

Xerath drifted down the crumbling walls of the temple, flames licking along his limbs and drifting away like fireflies. The dominated soldiers stood as still as statues. This confrontation was not for mortals.

“你的力量原本该属于阿兹尔。”内瑟斯缓缓走向泽拉斯。“你不是太阳选中的人。”

“The power within you was meant for Azir,” said Nasus, taking slow steps toward Xerath. “You were not chosen by the sun.”

“雷克顿也不是，而他也飞升了。”

“Neither was Renekton, and he was raised up.”

“不许提他的名字。”内瑟斯咬牙切齿地说。

“Do not say his name,” said Nasus through gritted fangs.

“你的兄弟很弱，哦，当然，你应该早就知道了。”泽拉斯飘近了。“他比我想象中崩溃得还要快。我只是告诉他，你把他丢在了黑暗里。你把他和他的敌人困在一起，让他自生自灭。”

“Your brother was weak, but you knew that already, didn’t you?” said Xerath, drifting closer. “He broke more easily than I could have imagined. All it took was telling him how you abandoned him to the darkness. How you trapped him with his enemy and left him to die.”

内瑟斯知道巫灵想要激怒他，但他的恨意让他只想撕碎泽拉斯身上的锁链——巫灵的可怕力量正因这些锁链得以存续。他们在城市的中心面对着彼此，两名超越了时间本身的飞升者：一个是武士之王，一个是巫能之首。

Nasus knew the magus was goading him, but his hate blinded him to all else but sundering the chains that kept the unimaginable power of Xerath’s body contained. They faced each other in the center of the city, two Ascended beings out of time; a warrior king and magus of living magic.

内瑟斯先动手了。只一个心跳的功夫，他的身影便从一动不动变成了看不清的残影。他屈腿跃上半空，斧头向下斩出一道长弧。锋刃当胸命中，锁链的铁环在冲力下炸开。

Nasus attacked first, his body going from motionless to blinding speed in the space between heartbeats. His legs pistoned him into the air, his axe swinging overhead in a downward arc. The blade smashed into Xerath’s chest. Chain links exploded from the impact.

泽拉斯被甩到了神庙的墙壁上。石墙被撞开，地底墓穴的尘土顺着裂缝汹涌而出。巨大的石板从顶上砸下来。泽拉斯冲向前，劈啪作响的四肢射出了炽热的光线。火焰灼痛了内瑟斯，让他忍不住吼叫起来，然后两人裹挟着毁天灭地的能量撞到了一起。

Xerath was hurled back into the walls of the temple. The stonework split apart and dust from the tomb far below billowed from zigzagging cracks. Vast panels of stone fell from the building. The magus hurled himself forward, searing beams of energy blazing from his crackling limbs. Nasus howled as Xerath’s fire burned him, and they slammed together with ferocious power.

一股魔法的冲击波爆发开来，狂风扫落叶般卷走了人群。最近的建筑也被地表的震动推倒。维考拉人四散逃跑，徒劳地想在两名斗神的搏杀中存活下来。泽拉斯的控制力也消散了，他的武士们惊醒过来，开始朝着城市边缘逃去。泽拉斯的胸口生出了奥术之火，毫无目的的散射出去。

A shockwave of magical energy exploded outward, spinning people away like leaves in a hurricane. The nearest buildings collapsed as the seismic force shattered their walls. Vekaura’s people fled, trying to find safety in the midst of these brawling gods of ancient days. His hold upon them broken, Xerath’s warriors scattered and ran for the edges of the city. Flames erupted as Xerath called arcane fire from the heart of his being and unleashed it indiscriminately.

内瑟斯滚到一旁，躲过了一连串耀眼的彗星。它们虽然带着冷焰，却一样可以灼烧。他及时地站起来，挥动斧头撇开了又一串尖啸而来的白光法球。泽拉斯飘在他面前，不停地甩出闪电，一边放肆地大笑。内瑟斯刺出一斧，放出了使人枯萎的力量。泽拉斯又痛又怒，心口的火焰跳动起来，但并没有黯淡的迹象。

Nasus rolled aside as a series of glittering comets slammed down. Their fire was cold, but burned just the same. He rose to his feet in time to use his spinning axe blade to deflect a series of screeching orbs of white light. Xerath floated in the air above him, laughing as forking lightning blazed around him. Nasus thrust his blade at the magus to unleash a burst of withering power. Xerath roared in pain and anger, the fire at his heart flickering, but undimmed.

内瑟斯一个箭步跃向泽拉斯。两人在空中缠斗在一起，又撞进了太阳神庙里。巨大的撞击摧毁了外墙，顶端的巨石也滚落下来。他们撞到地面上，像是古代陵墓守卫的重拳一样，砸裂了地板露出神庙暗藏的地穴。屋顶的太阳圆盘翻滚着掉下来，有如巨人抛出的一枚铜币。圆盘摔在地上，迸裂成锋利的碎片四射开来。其中一片插进了内瑟斯的大腿。他用力拔出尖块，闪着微光的鲜血从伤口流下来。

Nasus leapt toward Xerath. They grappled in mid-air to smash into the sun temple once again. The impact shattered the outer wall and huge blocks of stone toppled from the summit. They slammed down like the fists of ancient tomb guardians, cracking the earth and exposing the temple’s shadowed crypts. The remains of the sun disc fell from the roof, tumbling downward like the flipped coin of a giant. It shattered as it hit the ground, sending gleaming metal scything in all directions. A shard buried itself in the meat of Nasus’s thigh. He wrenched it clear, and shimmering blood ran down his leg.

泽拉斯从石堆里爬起来，甩出一道灼热的白火，击中了内瑟斯的胸口。他闷哼一声，向后踉跄了几步。泽拉斯放出了又一波来势汹汹的魔能法球，这一次则命中了内瑟斯的心脏位置。难以承受的剧痛让他跪在了地上，他的身上已经满是伤口。内瑟斯可以一手挑下整支凡人的军队，但泽拉斯不是普通的敌人。他是一个偷窃了太阳神力的飞升者，同时也掌握了黑暗魔法的精髓。

Xerath rose from the wreckage of shattered stone and a searing bolt of pale fire struck Nasus in the chest. He grunted and staggered backward. Xerath unleashed another torrent of glittering magical energy and this time it hammered Nasus’s heart. The pain was all-consuming and he fell to his knees, his skin scorched and raw. Nasus could fight a mortal army single-handed, but Xerath was no ordinary foe. He was an Ascended being who wielded the stolen strength of the sun and the power of dark magic.

他抬起头，整座城市在他们周围熊熊燃烧。“你要找的人不在这里了，现在已经藏起来了，你根本不会看见 。”

He lifted his head as the city burned around them. “The one you seek is not here and is now hidden beyond your sight.”

“阿兹尔最后的血脉，不可能永远躲藏下去。我会找到他们，永远抹除这毫无意义的血统。”

“The last of Azir’s brood cannot hide from me forever,” said Xerath. “I will find them and end that worthless bloodline.”

内瑟斯平举起斧头，上面的宝石在巨力的挥击下已经布满了裂纹。

Nasus held his axe out, the gemstone upon its blade throwing off crackling lines of force.

“我将拼死阻止。”

“I will die before I allow that to happen.”

“你会如愿的。”泽拉斯的手臂伸向背后，一次次地放出光芒耀眼的法术。内瑟斯尽力奋战，却不能挡下全部。

“As you wish,” said Xerath, his arms pulling back again and again to hurl arcing traceries of light. Nasus did what he could, but couldn’t stop them all.

泽拉斯飘近他，说：“我跟你的兄弟一遍遍地讲起你的背叛，还有你藏在心底的嫉妒。他诅咒着你的名字，哭泣着向我发誓，要把你的四肢一根一根地扯下来。”

Xerath drifted toward him, and said, “I told your brother over and over again of your betrayal and the jealousy you kept hidden from him. He cursed your name and wept as he told me how he would rend you limb from limb.”

内瑟斯大吼着重新站了起来。一根火柱从泽拉斯脚下腾起。巫灵狂叫着，让千万个太阳般的烈火吞没了他。

Nasus roared and surged to his feet. A volcanic pillar of fire erupted beneath Xerath, and the magus bellowed as the shimmering fire of the Many Suns engulfed him.

但还不够，永远都不够。上一次他们对决时，内瑟斯和雷克顿正值两人力量的巅峰。现在的内瑟斯只是过往荣光的一个影子而已，而泽拉斯的力量已经成长了无数个世纪。

But it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. The last time they had fought, Nasus and Renekton had been at the height of their powers. Now Nasus was a shadow of his former glory, and Xerath’s power had been growing for centuries.

巫灵扔出了最后的全力一击，而内瑟斯已经无力抵抗了。泽拉斯的魔法把他举上高空，然后砸进了神庙的废墟里。巨石砸在他身上，他感觉自己烈日锻造的筋骨如同朽木一般轻易地折断了。

The magus shrugged off this last, desperate attack, and Nasus had nothing left to give. Xerath’s magic lifted him and swung him around, hurling him into the crumbling ruins of the temple. Stonework shattered around him and he felt his sun-fused bones snap like tinderwood.

内瑟斯在一地碎石中喘息着。他的腿已经断了，左臂无力地垂在身旁，从肩膀到手腕都碎了。他努力地想用另一只手撑起自己，但从他脊柱的断口传来了白热般的疼痛。如果假以时间，他的身体是可以恢复的，但他没有时间了。

Nasus came to a halt in the midst of the rubble, his legs broken and twisted beneath him. His left arm hung uselessly at his side, shattered from shoulder to wrist. He tried to push himself upright with his good arm, but white hot pain surged up his spine where his back had broken. His body could heal these wounds in time, but he had no time left.

“你堕落得太深了，内瑟斯。”泽拉斯靠近他，指尖不停地滴落着液态的火焰。“如果不是因为你曾对我做过的事，我会可怜你的。在你流浪自责的时光里，你的精神早已崩坏了。”

“How far you have fallen, Nasus,” said Xerath drifting toward him with gobbets of liquid fire dripping from his fingertips like cinders. “I would pity you if I didn’t hate you for what you did to me. Your spirit has broken in the long years you wandered alone and burdened.”

“被人毁灭，也好过背信弃义。”内瑟斯咳出一大口血。“就算你现在神力加身，你仍然是个叛徒，是个奴隶。”

“Better to be broken and burdened than an oathbreaker,” coughed Nasus through a mouthful of blood. “Even with all your newfound power, you are still a betrayer and a slave.”

他感到了泽拉斯的怒火，这让他无比快意。他也只能做到这样了。

He felt Xerath’s fury and reveled in it. It was all he had left.

“我不是奴隶。阿兹尔最后的命令就是还我自由。”

“I am no slave,” said Xerath. “Azir’s last act was to free me.”

内瑟斯惊住了。泽拉斯自由了？这毫无道理……

Nasus was stunned. Xerath a free man? It made no sense…

“那为什么……为什么背叛阿兹尔？”

“Then why all this? Why betray Azir?”

“阿兹尔是个蠢货，他的恩典来得太迟了。”

“Azir was a fool and his gift was offered too late,” said Xerath.

内瑟斯痛苦地低嚎着。肩膀里的碎骨开始重新聚拢到一起。他感到力量开始回到手臂的肌肉里，但他假装手臂仍然形同废肢。

Nasus grunted in pain. The splintered bones in his shoulder ground together as they began reknitting. He felt strength returning to his arm, but kept it limp and useless looking.

“我死了你要做什么？”内瑟斯想起了泽拉斯是多么地喜爱在人面前滔滔不绝。“要是你做了皇帝，恕瑞玛会变成什么样？”

“What will you do when I am dead?” said Nasus, remembering how much Xerath had loved the sound of his own voice. “What will become of Shurima with you as its emperor?”

他努力地抑制着体内的痛苦，等待着自己的身体慢慢地修补伤势。

He tried to keep the pain hidden as his transformed flesh worked wonders within his body to undo the damage Xerath had done.

巫灵摇摇头，飘到了远处。

The magus shook his head and lifted out of reach.

“你竟然觉得我看不出你的身体正在自愈吗？”

“Do you think I cannot see your body renewing itself?” he said.

“那就滚下来和我打啊！”内瑟斯大喊。

“Then come down and fight me!” cried Nasus.

“我已经想象过上千次你的死亡。”泽拉斯一边说着，一边升出了神庙。“但从来都不是我亲手做的。”

“I have pictured your death a thousand times,” said Xerath, rising beyond the hollowed temple. “But never by my hand.”

内瑟斯看着他逐渐升高，失去支持的墙壁发出轰隆声，逐渐倾斜，随时就要坍塌。

Nasus watched the magus rise as the unsupported walls of the temple groaned and cracked, leaning in and ready to fall.

“荒漠屠夫会得到自己应得的东西。”泽拉斯的身上发出比太阳圆盘还要猛烈的光芒。岩石和沙土从顶上落下来。“他会用爪子把你身上的每一寸肉剥下来，而我一定会到场观赏。”

“The Butcher of the Sands will have his due,” said Xerath, his form blazing brighter than the sun disc ever had. Rocks and dust tumbled from above. “And I will be there to watch him claw the meat from your bones.”

巫灵激出一串白火，撞上摇摇欲坠的庙墙。“但在那之前，我会把你先埋进黄沙之下，正如你困住我那样。”

The magus hurled chains of white fire into the crumbling walls and said, “But until then, I entomb you beneath the sands as you once trapped me.”

泽拉斯如同新生的星辰一样刺目，他将燃着的锁链收进了体内。碎石如暴雨一般落下，地动山摇，致命的烈火从天而降，覆盖了维考拉的每一寸土地。

Xerath blazed like a newborn star and dragged his fiery chains inward. A thunderous rain of broken stones fell in an avalanche as murderous fire poured from the sky to fill Vekaura.

地面仿佛随时要分崩离析，内瑟斯脚下的岩石旋转起来，化成一股海啸般的流体迎上了碎石的瀑布。神庙的四壁终于倒塌下来，上百吨残骸埋住了内瑟斯。

The ground felt like it was breaking apart, the rock beneath Nasus spinning and rising up to meet the cascade in a deafening tsunami of fluid stone. The walls of the temple crashed down, burying Nasus beneath hundreds of tons of debris.

黑暗之后，有光。

After the darkness, light.

一线热光。阳光吗？

A sliver of hot brightness. Sunlight?

起初，他不敢肯定这是真实还是自己的意识玩弄的把戏，好安抚即将步入死亡的躯体。

At first, he wasn’t sure if it was real or some trick devised by the mind to ease a body into death.

这是飞升者死后的所见吗？

Was this how an Ascended being died?

不，这不是死亡。日光在他的视野里游弋，他感到皮肤变得温热起来。他挪了一下身子，慢慢伸展着腿和肩膀。他的四肢已经完全复原了，这意味着他在黑暗中呆了很久。身体痊愈是很快的，但他不知道自己昏迷了多久。

No. This was not death. The sunlight moved across his field of vision, and he felt it warm his skin. He shifted his weight, extending his legs and rotating his shoulders. His limbs were renewed, which meant he had spent a considerable time in darkness. His body healed fast, but he had no idea how long he had spent unconscious.

无论多久——总之太久了。

However long it was, it was too long.

泽拉斯已经自由了，而且空前地强大。

Xerath was free and stronger than ever.

内瑟斯抬起手，发现头顶的石头形成了一个穹顶，石穹底部的波纹摸起来像玻璃般光滑又温暖。即使是在半明半暗间，他也能感受到上面的纹路洄转曲折，像是画家色板上混了一半的油彩。他一下一下地砸着光线透进来的地方，岩石终于裂开了口子，变成了一块块高温熔融的石块掉落下来。霎时间，光芒如泼似溅，他看到整座神庙如今只剩一堆乱石。内瑟斯弯腰拾起一块曾保护了他的穹顶的碎片，翻过来，发觉熔成一片的材料完全看不出是一块石头。

Nasus reached up, seeing the rock above him formed a perfect dome, its rippled underside glass-smooth and warm to the touch. Even in the half-light, he could make out its patterned surface swirled like paint half-mixed on an artist’s palette. He slammed his fist against the sliver of light again and again until the rock finally split apart in chunks of stone vitrified by intense heat. Light flooded in and he saw the entire temple was now little more than a jumbled heap of smashed blocks. Nasus bent to lift a shard of the broken dome that had protected him. He turned it over in his hands, seeing blended material that had no business being in one piece of rock.

他把这块匕首形状的碎片塞进衣服里，走出了太阳神庙的废墟。一阵哀泣的风叹过，隐隐杂有死者的呢喃。

He slipped the dagger-like shard into his tunic and walked from the smashed sun temple. He surveyed the ruins as a mournful wind sighed, its breath freighted with mutterings of the dead.

城市已经荡然无存，至少是居民们在原本的废墟上建起的部分。内瑟斯看到地下的岩床被崛起来合拢在一起，上面的纹路跟他之前头上的穹顶完全一样。每一处边缘的起伏都像是半路被冻住的浪花。

The city was gone, or at least what its inhabitants had built upon its ruins. Nasus saw that much of the bedrock had buckled upward and had the same rippling texture of the dome that saved his life. The leading edge of every surface undulated like a glazed tidal wave frozen in mid-surge.

在那些波浪下，钻出了一些维考拉的居民，他们在岩石下躲过了泽拉斯的死亡之火。一开始只有一两个，然后是三五成群，在阳光下眨着眼睛，一时间还没能从奇迹般的幸存中回过味儿来。

And from beneath that wave, sheltered from Xerath’s killing fire, came handfuls of Vekaura’s inhabitants. They came in ones and twos at first, then in small groups, blinking in the sunlight and amazed at their miraculous survival.

内瑟斯微微点头，说：“恕瑞玛感谢你，塔莉垭。”然后转身往城外走去。

Nasus gave a small nod and said, “Shurima thanks you, Taliyah,” as he turned and made his way from the city.

维考拉其余的地方又变成了荒芜的空壳，跟内瑟斯曾经的记忆相去无几。坍毁的墙壁，破损的地基。断头的石柱森森而立，彷如一片石化的森林。此情此景，内瑟斯并不陌生：在恕瑞玛陷落那天，他与泽拉斯的战斗过后，一切如在昨日。巨大的内疚让他转过了脸，不敢再面对这个世界，但如今他不会再那样了。

The rest of Vekaura had returned to the desolate shell it had been the last time Nasus had ventured this way. Broken walls, shattered foundations and stumps of columns that stood like dead trees in a petrified forest. He had seen ruins like this before; in the wake of his first battle with Xerath when Shurima fell. Guilt had caused him to turn his face from the world then, but he would not do so now.

泽拉斯提到，雷克顿变成了一头嗜血的野兽，但内瑟斯比巫灵更了解自己的兄弟。泽拉斯只看到雷克顿变成了野兽，却忘记了他体内沉睡着一名高贵的战士。他为了兄长无私地献上了自己的生命。这名战士为了从一个叛徒手中拯救自己的祖国，自愿牺牲了一切。泽拉斯完全忘记了这些事情，但内瑟斯永远不会。

Xerath had spoken of Renekton as a blood-maddened beast, but Nasus knew his brother better than the magus ever had. Xerath saw only the beast Renekton had become; forgetting the noble warrior that lay beneath. The man who had selflessly offered his own life for his brother. The warrior who had willingly sacrificed everything to save his homeland from a betrayer. Xerath had forgotten all of that, but Nasus never would.

如果雷克顿还活着，那么他必然会有一部分会记得自己曾经的英勇。如果内瑟斯能唤醒他心底的这一丝牵挂，也许他能将雷克顿从疯狂的深渊中扯出来。内瑟斯一直相信，总有一天他会面对雷克顿。但在今天之前，他觉得两人的相遇最终必定以其中一人的死亡告终。

If Renekton lived, then a part of him must remember the hero he once was. If Nasus could reach that part of his brother, then he might lift him from the pit of madness. Nasus had long believed he would one day face Renekton, but until now he had always imagined that encounter would end with one of them dead.

现在不一样了。他有了自己的目标。阿兹尔的血脉还在，希望也就还在。

Now he knew differently. Now he had purpose. The bloodline of Azir endured, so there was yet hope.

“我需要你，雷克顿。没有你，我没法杀掉泽拉斯。”

“I need you, Renekton,” he said. “I cannot kill Xerath without you.”

在他身前，沙漠呼唤着他的名字。

Before him, the desert called his name.

在他身后，黄沙重新夺回了维考拉。

Behind him, the sand reclaimed Vekaura.