黑火药之谋 The Black Powder Plot

作者： David Slagle

战术会议开始前一刻他才抵达营地。身边跟着寥寥几名荣誉侍卫，每一个都遴选自崔法利军团。侍卫们停在入口处，我看着他走进来。

He arrived at the camp only moments before the strategy council was to begin, flanked by a small honor guard, each handpicked from the Trifarian Legion. They remained at the entrance as I watched him approach.

有些人投下的阴影比自己的身躯更为庞大，但很少有人能带来这样的黑暗。这黑暗在我们头顶盘旋，发出饥饿的鸦鸣。那些渡鸦似乎是在跟随着他，无情地提醒着每个战士的命运。鸟喙挂着的残布恰似我们颓丧的军旗。不过当他走进破烂不堪的战地帐篷，我发现我终究还是没有料到，他的外表如此接近凡人。

Some men cast a shadow greater than themselves, but few could bring a darkness such as this, one that circled above us and hungrily cawed. In a way, the ravens that seemed to follow him around the camp were a grim reminder of every warrior’s fate, the tattered cloth in their beaks a match for the state of our own banners. Yet, as he strode into the remains of the war tent, I realized I had not prepared myself for how truly mortal he looked.

他的发际掺着灰丝，在尘土飞扬的血色天空映衬下十分明显。饱经战斗洗礼的护甲外面披了一件朴实的外套，两只手都紧紧收在衣摆内——正如我想象中的显贵做派。我露出微笑，因为他的内心依然还是一位绅士。他没有佩戴任何军衔的标志，唯一的标志就是那些见证一位士兵浴血经历的伤疤。这次会议所召集的人之中，有许多都渴望获得更大的敬畏，所以纷纷拉着自己的军团耀武扬威。这些人里随便哪一个看上去都能轻而易举地击垮我们面前这个人，

There was grey in his hair, framed by a crimson sky choking on ash. His battle-worn armor gave way to a functional coat, and he kept his arms tightly within its folds—as I imagined one of his lineage might. I smiled, for he was still, at his heart, a gentleman. He wore no signs of rank beyond the telltale scars of a soldier who had seen his share of bloodshed. There were many gathered now for the council who demanded more fear and respect, swaying their warhosts with powerful displays of strength. Each of them seemed more than capable of breaking the man before us.

但是，我们所有人都要听命于这个人。诺克萨斯统领。

But, somehow, this was the man who led us all. The Grand General of Noxus.

我看着他的同时，可以感到某种莫可名状的东西，但无论多么细心观察，都看不出端倪。或许这就是某种真正的未知？或许正是因为这种不可名状，才让这么多人召之即来。无论这次抽到什么签，杰里柯·斯维因现在已经站在我们面前，而我已经无法回头。

Looking at him, I could feel there was something I could not place, no matter how closely I looked. Something truly unknowable, perhaps? Perhaps it was because there was something unknowable about this man, that so many flocked to his side. Whatever the draw, Jericho Swain stood before us now, and it was far too late for me to turn back.

五个军团已经开进了洛克隆德平原，但没过几周，当地人就冲垮了我们的阵地。我们仓促修建的护堤被他们的火药轻易炸开，而火药就开采于这片比我们的老家还要贫瘠的丘陵之下。兵败如山倒，直到斯维因不得不选择亲自前来干涉。这是我的精心设计。

Five warhosts had marched onto the Rokrund Plain, but it had been only a matter of weeks before the locals had shattered our positions. They blasted through our hastily-constructed berms with explosive powder, mined from hills that seemed even more barren than those of home. Disaster had built upon disaster, until Swain himself had no choice but to intervene. I had made sure of that.

数月来，我一直在准备。我派战争石匠深入矿洞。我详细考量了所有细节，每块土地的细微起伏转折……还有诺克萨斯如立针尖般的命运，以及有关各个时刻的低声预言……

For months, I had prepared. I had sent warmasons deep into the mines. I had mapped every detail, every conceivable twist of the land… and the fates upon which Noxus now balanced, the whispers that gave each moment shape…

我的耳朵一阵刺痒，我回想起了那位苍白女士的话语。回想起她第一次命令我的时候，第一次讲述我们的密谋。

My ear itched at the memory of the pale woman’s words. Of the moment she first commanded me, and gave voice to our plot.

一切都已经就位，如我所料。此处，开裂的大地构成一座无法逃脱的迷宫，我，只有我，才能决定帝国的未来。

Everything was in place. I had accounted for it all. Here, where the earth opened into a maze of canyons impossible to escape, I and I alone would determine the future of the empire.

毕竟，斯维因召开这次会议的目的，不正在于此吗？

After all, was that not what Swain had called upon this council to do?

“我信赖的将军们，”斯维因终于开口了，铿锵的声音如同刀剑出鞘。他稍作停顿，似乎是在给我们时间适应这尖锐的刀锋。“和我说说诺克萨斯会如何得胜。”

“My trusted generals,” Swain said finally. The power in his voice rang out like the drawing of a blade. He paused, as if giving us a moment to test ourselves against its keen edge. “Tell me how Noxus may prevail.”

“这有十二条陆行舰，在山里。”勒托手指着地图上的一个位置最先开口。这块地图被他翻弄得已经褪色泛白。“每条都由一头龙蜥牵引，在战团前面领路，我们就将踏过敌人的死尸。只要一声令下，那些野兽就能用破铜烂铁把这里犁成耕地。”

“There are twelve war-barques here, in the hills,” Leto began, pointing to a spot on the map already worn white by his attention, “each drawn by a basilisk. Send them before the warbands, and we’ll be marching over the enemy dead. Those beasts would rut with a hedge of rusty spears if we let them.”

他面露微笑，对自己的计谋洋洋得意。但斯维因更在意的是自己的杯子——有人正在为他斟酒。

He smiled, pleased at his own cunning, but Swain was more concerned with the wine being poured into his glass.

有毒吗？他的眼神扫视着桌边众人，似乎在质问他们。我盯着自己在他盔甲上的倒影。我绝不会暴露自己的意图。

Will it be poison? his eyes seemed to ask, as he peered around the table. I stared at my reflection in his armor. I would betray nothing of my intent.

“我们自己想控制住龙蜥都很难，“斯维因终于低声说道，一边盯着杯子里的上等艾欧尼亚葡萄酒。“设想一下，随便一个坑道佬扔出炸药，只要一声爆炸——请告诉我，在你的想象中，谁会先跑——是夹着尾巴的龙蜥，还是你吓破胆的军团？

“We can scarcely control the basilisks ourselves,” Swain finally murmured, carefully regarding the fine Ionian vintage. “Imagine even a single explosive, dropped by a sapper within earshot of the beasts. And then tell me, in your imagination, who runs first—the basilisks with their tails between their legs? Or your vaunted warhost?”

“那我们就把这里烧成一片焦土，”梅拉抢在勒托开口之前提出了自己的计划，信口开河地说。“进军之前放火烧了他们藏身的坑洞。把他们从该死的矿坑里赶出来。”

“We scorch the earth then,” Maela petitioned before Leto could respond, the words flying wildly from her mouth. “Set fire to the pitch they’ve laid to burn on our advance. Drive them out of those damn mines.”

斯维因叹了一口气。“我们到这儿来，就是为了拿到你要烧掉的这片土地。不过似乎我高估了你对硝石性质的了解。”他摇晃着杯中的酒，流露出一丝失望。“你在亲手给自己的手下送葬。”

Swain sighed. “We came here for the very earth you would burn. Though I suppose it is too much to expect you to know the uses of saltpetre.” He swirled the wine in his glass, betraying a hint of disappointment. “All you have done so far is bury your own men with it.”

“赤刃依然锋利，”藏在阴影中的约纳特不耐烦地说道，在他恕瑞玛皮肤的对比下，周围的阴影反而显得明亮。“我们日落后就潜入矿洞，解决他们的首领。干不干净，漂不漂亮，无所谓。”

“The redblades are still sharp,” Jonat spat impatiently from the shadows where he lurked, the darkness seeming almost bright against his Shuriman skin. “We’ll enter the mines after dusk, take out their leaders. Clean or messy. Doesn’t matter.”

“值得钦佩的战术，”斯维因大声笑了出来。“但是那些带头的也不是当兵的。现在还不是。我们的敌人只是在追随叫喊声最大的人。杀了一个，第二天一早就会站出来三个嗓门更大的。”

“An admirable strategy,” Swain laughed. “But those leaders are not soldiers. Not yet. Our enemy here merely follows whomever bellows the loudest. Kill one, and there will be three bellowing by morning.”

我笑了出来，对眉头紧锁的赤刃首领点了点头。“我刚才确实担心了一小会儿，怕你真找到了取胜的办法，约纳特。”

I laughed, nodding to the frowning leader of the redblades. “For a moment, I was afraid you’d find a way for us to actually win, Jonat.”

会议桌上突然一片死寂。地图旁边的蜡烛已经快烧到了底。

Silence fell around the table. The candles were burning low beside the maps.

这是属于我的时刻。苍白女士将为此大悦。我把统领送向湮灭的同时将会高呼她的名字。

This was my moment. The pale woman would be pleased. I would say her name as I sent our Grand General to oblivion.

“事实是，这场仗你赢不了。”我继续说。“你不可能和死神对抗。即使是诺克萨斯的统治者也不例外。达克威尔已经证明过了。”

“The truth is, you cannot win this battle,” I continued. “No one can fight death. Not even the ruler of Noxus. Darkwill showed us that.”

斯维因和其他人静静地看着，我小心地从外衣中掏出燧石，另一只手里已经握好了导火索。芬拉斯攻城战的老英雄勒托勃然大怒。

Swain and the others watched as I carefully drew the flint striker from my tunic. The fuse line was already in my other hand. Leto, aging hero of the Siege of Fenrath, bristled.

“古兰斯，你要干什么？”他怒吼着，这才瞥到我一小时前堆在会议桌下的炸药。“你要威胁统领大人吗？你这是叛国。”

“Granth, what are you doing?” he growled, glancing down at the crude demolition charge I had carefully positioned under the table, barely an hour before. “You would threaten the Grand General? This is treason.”

但是，他们之中没人敢接近我。我将燧石放在引线上，一切就绪。

Still, none of them dared approach me. I held the striker over the fuse, ready.

不过……有人在笑。我过了一会儿才意识到是谁在笑。

Except… someone was laughing. It took me a moment to realize who it was.

“看看，古兰斯将军是唯一一个明事理的人，”斯维因轻笑着，抚平外套上的褶皱。“只有他一人懂了。你们其余所有人，你们在战斗来临的时候问的是如何不被打败。但有一些战斗是无法取得胜利的。有时候，唯一的战术只有赴汤蹈火。抱着必死的信念冲进烈焰，但在你身后会有上万人前赴后继。而在他们身后，就是一种更强大的力量。”

“And there, General Granth is the only one who has the right of it,” Swain chuckled, smoothing the wrinkles from his coat. “He alone understands. The rest of you, you see a battle and ask what you must do to avoid defeat. But some battles cannot be won. Sometimes, the only strategy is to burn. To charge into the flames, knowing full well you will die, but that twenty thousand march behind you. And that behind them, there is a greater power.”

他敞开了自己的外套，露出了……露出了……

He let his coat fall open, to reveal… To… reveal…

“古兰斯和我，”他面带残酷的微笑，“我们一直在寻找着，到底需要牺牲什么东西，才能获得胜利。”

“Granth and I,” he said with a cruel smile, “we always look for what must be sacrificed in order to win.”

梅拉冲向我颤抖的双手。勒托也是。但扼住我咽喉的却是斯维因非人一般的握力，把我举了起来，双脚离地，一触即发的引线已被遗忘。

Maela lunged for my trembling hands. Leto too. But it was Swain’s inhuman grip that clamped around my throat, hefting me from the ground, the unlit fuse forgotten.

“但愿你能亲自向她转述你的失败。”统领对我低声说道。他的声音里透着永世不灭的愤怒。“但愿她，也能听得到死者的悔悟。”

“If only you could tell her yourself how you failed,” the Grand General whispered, his voice rumbling with the wrath of eons. “If only she, too, could heed the wisdom of the dead.”

我想用力尖叫，供认一切。无望地乞求原谅。

I tried to scream then, to confess it all. To somehow beg for forgiveness.

但现在已一无所有，只有轻柔的低语声。我吐露了我的秘密。这个故事，说与你听。如同轻拍的羽翼渐渐远去，食腐渡鸦正发出阵阵哀鸣……

But there is nothing now, save for the soft murmur of whispers. I spill my secrets, this tale, into your ears. Fading like the rustling of wings, as the raven cries its carrion caw…