尖齿利器 With Teeth
作者：Graham McNeill
木柴在沙漠里是很珍贵的，但维考拉的烟黑废墟提供了许多焦炭，可以大手大脚地添进篝火。当抽沙帮穿过城墙的断壁，这座城就已是残破废墟，街道荒凉，空无一人。
Firewood was precious in the desert, but the blackened ruins of Vekaura offered a plentiful supply of charred timbers to hurl on bonfires. The city had been a blasted ruin when the Sandthrashers rode through the ruins of its walls, its streets empty, its people vanished.
没人敢说究竟是谁夷平了这里，但他们在髓印商路上劫的俘虏讲述了一些关于那些旧神的故事，说是他们的怒火把这座城市烧成了灰烬和琉璃。
None of them knew for sure who had razed it, but the captives they’d taken on the Marrowmark road told lurid tales of ancient gods whose anger had burned the city to ash and glass.
拉兹•血须并没有相信那些话，只是随便听听。
Raz Bloodmane didn’t believe that, not really.
在恕瑞玛，故事能在绿洲里买东西，能换取篝火边的栖身之位——故事是会成长的活物，每一次讲述都伴随着变化和扭曲。在口口相传的途中，没有哪个故事能免除细枝末节上的添油加醋，因为一个故事稍加夸张，就成了某个说故事人的独创。
Stories in Shurima were the currency of the oasis, the payment of the campfire—living things that grew and twisted with every retelling. No tale could pass from lips to ears without each teller adding some grisly detail, some exaggeration to make it their own.
行走于黄沙之上的，没有神，只有人和怪物。
Gods do not walk the sands, only men and monsters.
抽沙帮既有点像人也有点像怪物。
The Sandthrashers were a little of both.
他们是一群嗜血的战士，骑着巨大的沙虎蜥蜴杀人越货，可哈利塞的条条沙路是他们横行敛财的去处，猎杀吟歌谷中的沙喀尔强盗团是他们的消遣。目前南边开始降温，他们的领骑猎手，苏萨塞，已经带领这支强盗团来到更暖和的北方，他们的猎物是那些前往大漠腹地寻找那座崭新都城的商旅车队。
A reaver band of bloodthirsty warriors mounted on giant sauren lizards, they terrorized the dust roads of the Sai-Kahleek for coin, and hunted Shakkal marauders in the Valley of Song for amusement. With temperatures dropping in the south, their Preystalker, Sai-Surtha, had led the warband into the warmer north to raid the caravans in search of the newly risen capital in the heart of the great desert.
这样的商队全都脂满膏肥，商人、牧师、亡命徒、受骗之人列队待宰。那些都是愚不可及的蠢货，宁愿相信有某位古代皇帝揭棺而起，要夺回遗落的故国，也不愿承认那只是一场地震让一座深埋地下的城市重见天日。
Such caravans were ripe with fat merchants and priests, the desperate, and the gullible. Those foolish enough to believe that an ancient emperor had arisen from his tomb to reclaim his lost empire rather than an earthquake had exposed a buried city.
送上门的肥肉。
Easy pickings.
抽沙帮是擅长埋伏的掠食者，他们借着沙暴的掩护破空而出，在狂咬的利齿和乱刺的长枪中强取劫掠。任何反击的人都会被大卸八块，而束手就擒的人则会被投喂给他们饥肠辘辘的坐骑。
The Sandthrashers were ambush predators, erupting from desert storms to raid in a frenzy of snapping jaws and stabbing spears. Any who fought back were hacked apart, and those that surrendered were fed to their hungry mounts.
拉兹咧嘴笑着看向火光照亮的最远处，那些被拴住的沙虎正在咂嘴、低吼。这种巨大的爬行类走兽满口都是又长又锋利的牙齿，身体两侧披着风吹日晒的坚硬鳞片。它们隆起的肚子几乎垂到地面，饱经风沙侵蚀，一条条尾巴不停地扫来扫去，激起这座诅咒之城中堆积的尘埃。
Raz grinned as the tethered sauren snapped and growled at the edge of the firelight—giant, reptilian beasts with long, razor-toothed jaws and flanks armored in sun-baked scales. Their ridged bellies hung low to the ground, worn hard by the sand, tails thrashing the dust that lay thick in this cursed city.
废墟里到处都潜藏着鬼魂，濒死之人的残响借着冷风飘过四散的碎石，墙上烙印的轮廓如同把影子画在了上面。
Ghosts lurked everywhere in the ruins; echoes of the dying were freighted on the cold wind whistling through shattered stones, and silhouettes burned onto the walls like painted shadows.
这个地方出过事，而且不是好事。
Something had happened here, something bad.
苏萨塞把一段屋顶梁丢进主篝火。一团火星腾上夜空，像一群萤火虫一般，在强盗团首领面前盘旋飞舞。拉兹是个壮汉，但即使是他也很难举起那根木梁。但那个带着骷髅面具的瓦斯塔亚丢木梁就像扔树杈一样，偌大的重量对他非人类的体格来说不值一提。
Sai-Surtha tossed a splintered roof beam onto the main fire. Sparks flew into the night sky, coiling in firefly spirals before the reaver band’s leader. Raz was strong, but even he would have struggled to lift that beam. Yet the skull-masked vastaya hefted the heavy timber like it was a twig, its enormous weight nothing to his inhuman physique.
拉兹望着那团火星，摇曳了片刻后随即消失在黑暗中，似乎有一种压迫感，就悬在不远处。
Raz watched the sparks flicker briefly in the darkness before fading, sensing a significance that hung just out of reach.
“你往天上瞅什么呢？”阿奴塔顺着他的目光看去。
“Why do you look up?” asked Anukta, following his gaze.
她身披厚重的鳞甲片，每迈一步都发出刮擦声，她头上顶着一撮绯红色的长发，双鬓剃得精光，汗珠粒粒可见。映着跳跃的篝火，她脸上的刺青反射出森森白骨般的光。
The scaled plates of her heavy armor rasped together as she moved, and her shaven head, bare but for a crimson mohawk, glistened with sweat. Her facial tattoos gleamed like exposed bone in the firelight.
“飞舞的火星，”他说，“燃烧得如此闪耀，眨眼间就荡然无存。”
“The sparks,” he said. “They burn so bright, then fade to nothing in the blink of an eye.”
“然后呢？”
“So?”
他耸耸肩。“没了。我只是觉得有点壮观。像是在启发我们。”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought it might be significant. Like it meant something.”
“你这是变成贤者啦？跟恩戈齐似的？”
“You are a sage now? Like Ngozi?”
“没，”拉兹说，“我哪能和他比。只是，你看这一团团火星，活了，燃烧了，然后消失了。就像我们，就像生命。我们就是火星。”
“No,” said Raz, “not like him. But the sparks, they live, burn, and then are gone. Like us, like life. We are the sparks.”
阿奴塔放声大笑，两枚象牙耳环摇摆得像两轮醉酒的月亮。“你确实不能和恩戈齐相比。他是真的聪明。你只是个笨蛋话痨。”
Anukta laughed, the ivory hoops punched through her ears shaking like drunken moons. “You are right, not like Ngozi at all. He was truly clever. You are just a loud fool.”
愤怒让拉兹满面红光，阿奴塔的表情显然是知道自己说错话了。她低下头，单膝跪地，双手在胸前交叉，两根拇指贴在掌心。
Anger turned Raz’s features ruddy, and Anukta’s expression showed she knew she’d gone too far. Her head dropped and she fell to one knee, arms crossed over her chest, thumbs snapping to her palms.
“请赎罪，拉兹•血须。”她知道，作为苏萨塞的二把手，拉兹刚才就可以把她扔进沙虎群，面对长牙和巨口。
“Forgive me, Raz Bloodmane,” she said, knowing that as Sai-Surtha’s second-in-command, he could have her thrown into the long, tooth-filled mouths of the sauren pack.
或者更惨，单独喂给马卡拉——苏萨塞专属的头领坐骑。
Or worse, fed to Ma’kara, the apex mount of Sai-Surtha.
那只沙虎是个庞然大物，身长四十尺，从三个头到一条尾巴全都覆盖着边缘锋利的鳞片。巨颅长吻，满口弯钩尖牙，能一口吞下一匹马。
The sauren was a colossal beast, forty feet long and ridged with razored scales from its tail to its three enormous heads. Each elongated jaw was large enough to swallow a horse and teeming with hooked teeth stained rust-brown with blood.
“明天要狩猎。”拉兹说，“所以今晚，只死一些走肉就够了。别让我改掉这个习俗。”
“This is the night before a hunt,” said Raz. “On such a night, only road-meat dies. Don’t make me change that custom.”
阿奴卡点点头站起身，转身走向一座谷仓的残骸，他们最新抓的俘虏正蜷缩在里面。他们都是从北通肯内瑟的沙丘路上抓的，里面男女老少什么人都有，说是要去南边朝圣，去拜见新皇帝。其中四个人已经被沙虎吃了，剩下五个人都骨瘦如柴，只够给那些大家伙塞牙缝的。准确的说，其中四个人骨瘦如柴，而第五个老头儿皮肤光洁，满口白牙，一副城市居民的模样，看腰围就知道，他一顿饭都没落下过。
Anukta nodded and rose, turning to where the latest captives huddled in the smashed remains of a grain store. They’d taken them on the northern dune roads from Kenethet, men and women claiming they were on a pilgrimage south to see the new emperor. Four had already been devoured by the sauren, and the five that remained were scrawny-looking things, hardly a morsel for the beasts. Well, four of them were—the fifth was an older man with a city dweller’s skin, a full set of teeth, and a girth that told Raz he’d never gone hungry.
“那边那个。”他说道，于是阿奴塔提着那个老人站起来。他面无血色，拉兹看到其他俘虏似乎毫不介意他被挑走。
“That one,” he said, and Anukta hauled the man to his feet. His face was pale with fear, and Raz saw none of the other captives seemed to mind him being taken.
“饶命，别杀我。”那个人操着北方沿海地区的口音，一点也不硬气。“我有钱。我可以帮你们弄到很多钱。求你了，神啊，别把我喂给沙虎！”
“Please, don’t kill me,” said the man, with the boneless accent of the northern coasts. “I have money. I can get you much money. Please, gods, don’t feed me to the beasts!”
“你吃的这么肥，肯定不是去朝圣的。”拉兹说着，戳了戳他圆滚滚的肚子。
“You’re too well fed to be a pilgrim,” said Raz, poking the man’s ample belly.
“朝圣？不是，不是，我……我是……”
“A pilgrim? No, no, I... I am...”
阿奴塔把枪尖抵在他后背，“你是干什么的？赶紧说！”
Anukta jabbed the tip of her spear into his back. “You’re what? Out with it, fool!”
“我是奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦，卑尔居恩歌鹰神殿的大牧首。”那个人在剧烈的喘息间隙说道，“你们想要什么我都能给。求你们饶命，别杀我。”
“I am Ordan Stilava, Arch-Patriarch of the Melierax Temple of Bel’zhun,” said the man between heaving breaths. “I’ll get you anything you want. Just, please don’t kill me.”
“牧师，啊？”拉兹说着，凑近身品尝那个人散发出的恐惧气浪。“我听说牧师都是神的仆从。特别高尚。可你，奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦，看着一点也不高尚。”
“A priest, huh?” said Raz, leaning in close and relishing the smell of fear washing off the man in waves. “I heard priests were pious servants of the gods. People to admire. You do not look like a man to admire, Ordan Stilava.”
“杀了他，”其中一个俘虏说，“一定要让他慢点死。”
“Kill him,” said one of the remaining captives. “And make it slow.”
拉兹耸耸肩，“看来你的同伴也不喜欢你。”
Raz shrugged. “It looks like your companions don’t much like you either.”
“他就是头肥猪，收了我们的钱，说要带我们去南方找阿兹尔！”那个女人喷着唾沫说道，“他吃的五饱六足，看我们挨饿。我们朝他乞食，他的护卫就打我们。说不定哪天他就会把我们扔下，留在塞里等死。”
“He is a fat pig who took our money and said he would lead us south to Azir!” spat the woman. “He feasted while we went hungry. When we begged for food, his guards beat us. Another day and he would have left us to starve to death in the Sai.”
拉兹蹲到那个女人身旁——她体态精壮，夕阳色的皮肤，烧着火的双眼。
Raz knelt by the woman—wolf-lean with skin the color of dusk and fire in her eyes.
“你又是谁？”
“And who are you?”
“我是黛莉娅，黄沙与太阳的女儿。”
“I am Dalia, proud daughter of sand and sun.”
“黛莉娅，予你水和荫凉。”拉兹说，“让我看看你手掌。”
“Water and shade to you, Dalia,” said Raz. “Show me your palms.”
她伸出双手，粗麻绳依然栓着她的手腕。
She held out her hands, bound at the wrist by rough ropes.
他用指尖掠过她掌上斑驳的茧块，划过拇指的边缘。
He ran his fingertips around hardened patches of skin on her palm and along the edges of her thumb.
“你也不是什么朝圣者，”拉兹说，“你这是拿剑的手。”
“You’re no pilgrim either,” said Raz. “These are sword calluses.”
她缩回双手。
She pulled her hands back.
“你是干什么的？商队护卫，盗墓贼，还是佣兵？”
“What were you? Caravan guard, tomb-robber, mercenary?”
“这三样我都干过。”
“All three in my time.”
拉兹用拇指戳向自己身后，“你说我要不要把他喂给沙虎？”
Raz jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “You think I should feed him to the sauren?”
“喂。先喂脚。”
“Yes. Feet first.”
拉兹笑着抽出自己的小刀，一把骨制开膛刀，是他用可赫苏的断牙打磨而成的。虽然他的沙虎不像玛卡拉那么巨大，也只有一个脑袋，但它牙齿的长度和锋度可毫不逊色。
Raz laughed and drew his knife, a bone-bladed gutter he’d carved from one of Khesu’s splintered teeth. His sauren wasn’t nearly as big as Ma’kara and only had one head, but its teeth were just as long and just as sharp.
“我喜欢这个家伙。”他对阿奴塔说，同时用小刀的锯齿割断了黛莉娅的绳子。“跟我来。”
“I like this one,” he said to Anukta, sawing the serrated edge of his blade through Dalia’s bindings. “Come.”
她站起来，而拉兹则拖着奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦，无视他的挣扎往外走。
She rose to her feet as Raz turned and dragged the protesting Ordan Stilava away.
“照他说的做，没准你能活下去。”阿奴塔歪着嘴笑着说。
“Do as he says and you might live,” said Anukta with a lopsided grin.
沙虎群看到他走过去，喉咙深处的轰隆声渐渐暴躁起来，因为它们看到一大块肉。拴着它们的铁链绷直了，但他们拖拽得越用力，项圈内侧的针尖就越是刺入他们咽喉部的嫩肉。可赫苏看着自己的主人，长大了嘴巴盼望着投喂。
The sauren saw him coming, and the rumbling in their throats intensified as they saw he brought them more meat. They strained at their chain-leashes, inward-facing spikes driving into the softer skin at their throats the harder they pulled. Khesu watched him and opened its jaws wide in expectation of feeding.
“别着急，伙计。”拉兹说，“别着急。”
“Soon, my friend,” said Raz. “Soon.”
维考拉的木柴熊熊燃烧，大漠的天边是血色的落日余晖，这是明早动身的好兆头。火光照出了抽沙帮的众人，二十三名战士懒散地躺坐在杂物堆上、碎石块上、还有从废墟里拽出来的长椅上，一条条长椅围成松散的圆圈，以篝火为中心，组成临时的角斗场。他们着装杂乱，有轻便的布衣，有皮草，也有用沙虎鳞糅熟后做的盔甲，上一次劫掠所剩的最后一点战利品，此刻正供他们敞开了吃喝：盐渍斯卡拉什肉和发酵酿制的伊卡苏尔奶酒。
The wood of Vekaura burned with the blood-red glow of a desert sunset, a good omen for tomorrow’s ride. Its light illuminated the rest of the Sandthrashers, twenty-three warriors lounging on stacked debris, blocks of stone, and benches dragged from the ruins to form a makeshift arena around the fire. Clad in a mix of light fabrics, furs, and boiled sauren-scale armor, they feasted on the last of the plunder from their most recent raid: salted skallashi meat and strong liquor made from fermented Eka’Sul milk.
这群手握细弯刀和骨齿长矛的人，让塞漠沙路上的商队闻风丧胆。经年累月、风沙无阻的抢掠和杀戮，令他们变得坚韧无情，任性狂妄，尤为其甚者，当属苏萨塞。
Armed with curved tulwars and tooth-bladed spears, they were men and women whose names were a terror to caravans snaking across the dust roads of the Sai. Years of plunder and killing in the harshest of climes had made them tough and merciless, capricious and boastful, and none more so than Sai-Surtha.
这位领骑猎手现在正坐在一张王座上，那是在某种不可想象的高温下烧出的琉璃砖块堆砌成的座位。他们的首领是一个来自东方的瓦斯塔亚，个头比拉兹高出半截身子，块头硕大，狮子模样的脑袋如同一块巨石，浑身都是隆起的肌肉。他留着长长的鬃毛，每股辫子都装饰着钢索和护符，据他自己说，每一样都附有魔法。
The Preystalker sat atop a throne of stacked blocks burned to glass by some unimaginable heat. Half again as tall as Raz, their war-chief was a vastaya from the east, massively built with a boulder-like leonine head and a body swollen with muscle. He wore his thick mane long, each braid woven with steel cords and talismans he claimed were magic.
苏萨塞看到拉兹走过来，黄色的瞳孔竖成了一条线。
Sai-Surtha’s yellow-slitted eyes narrowed as he saw Raz approaching.
“你给我带什么来了，拉兹•血须？”领骑猎手问道。
“What do you bring me, Raz Bloodmane?” said the Preystalker.
“新鲜的生肉。”拉兹高喊着，从阿奴塔手里接过奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦。“一个饱满肥腻的灵魂，一肚子谎话，渗到骨子里的嚣张。”
“Fresh meat,” cried Raz, taking Ordan Stilava from Anukta. “A soul rich with deceit and ripe with arrogance.”
“玛卡拉最喜欢的味儿。”苏萨塞说着，伸出一只手爪，抚摸他坐骑距离他最近的一颗头。那头沙虎发出嘶吼和低鸣，三张嘴全都张到最大。一排排泛黄的尖牙缝隙中挂着许多腐肉，粉红色的咽喉湿漉漉地映着火光。它所有的眼睛都放出饥饿的光，就像一潭潭漆黑的沥青。这头巨兽已经吃了相当多的俘虏，但它的胃口永远都那么好。
“Ma’kara’s favorite,” said Sai-Surtha, reaching out and running a clawed hand across his mount’s nearest head. The sauren grumbled and hissed, its three jaws opening wide. Raz saw scraps of rotten meat between yellowed fangs, gullets pink and glistening in the firelight. Its many eyes, like pits of tar, flashed in hunger. The beast had devoured the lion’s share of the captives already, but its appetite was never-ending.
玛卡拉是顶级掠食者，其余的所有沙虎都必须等它先吃饱。
Ma’kara was an apex predator, and all other beasts must wait until its hunger was sated.
拉兹把奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦推到篝火旁边的竞技场里。他们用骷髅摆出了圆形的边界，界内的沙土已经变得鲜红而泥泞。奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦拍到地上，手脚并用爬到苏萨塞面前跪下，随后将沾满血污的双手在胸前合十，像是祈祷的样子。
Raz pushed Ordan Stilava into the battle circle beside the bonfire. Its edges were marked with skulls, and the sand within was red and sticky. Ordan Stilava fell hard, scrambling to his knees before Sai-Surtha with his bloodied hands clasped before him as if in prayer.
“请饶命，神勇的大王，别杀我！”他哭喊道。
“Please, mighty lord, don’t kill me!” he wailed.
抽沙帮的众人哄笑起来，玛卡拉拉紧了缰绳，等不及要把这块鲜美的生肉撕开。苏萨塞扯了一把铁链，但巨兽的饥饿丝毫不减，依然盯着这名牧首流涎。
The Sandthrashers laughed and Ma’kara pulled taut, eager to rip open this fulsome sweetmeat. Sai-Surtha pulled it back with a jerk of the chain-leash, but the beast’s hunger to feast on the patriarch was undimmed.
“跟他玩玩，拉兹•血须！”苏萨塞命令道，“给我们找个乐！”
“Make sport of him, Raz Bloodmane!” ordered Sai-Surtha. “Entertain us!”
奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦想要站起身，但拉兹对着他后背踹了一脚。拉兹举起双臂，慢慢环顾四周，脸上挂着夸张的笑容。
Ordan Stilava tried to rise, but Raz kicked him in the back. Raz lifted his arms high, slowly turning in a circle with a wide grin plastered across his face.
“兄弟们，姐妹们！”他高呼，“大漠给的赏金已经花光！又到了我们狩猎的时候！”
“Brothers and sisters!” he cried. “Our desert bounty is all but spent. The time is upon us to hunt!”
欢呼声回荡在城市的残垣断壁间。拳头和长枪刺向天空，伴着沙虎的吼叫。
Cheers echoed from the blasted walls of the city. Fists and spears punched the air, accompanied by the bellows of the sauren.
“从东边和北边来的商队已经上路，他们要寻找水和荫凉！”他叫喊着，大摇大摆地绕着场边走，“可是他们要找到的是什么？”
“Caravans from the east and north ply the dust roads in search of water and shade!” he yelled, strutting around the circle. “But what shall they find?”
“死路一条！”抽沙帮嚎叫着说。
“Death!” roared the Sandthrashers.
拉兹把手搭在耳朵后面上身前倾。
Raz cupped a hand to his ear and leaned forward.
“什么？”
“What?”
“死路一条！”
“Death!”
“听不见！”拉兹喊道。
“Again!” demanded Raz.
“死路一条！死路一条！死路一条！”
“Death! Death! Death!”
拉兹笑着伸出一只手，示意安静下来。维考拉渐渐静止了，只听得到噼啪的篝火和啜泣的奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦。
Raz grinned and held up a hand for quiet. A stillness fell across Vekaura, broken only by the heavy crackle of the bonfire and the heaving sobs of Ordan Stilava.
“没错，”他说，“他们只有死路一条，我们也迟早得死。但要想让豺狗把我们带进无光之地，先得让我们把敌人的血放干，把他们拥有的一切夺走。这是个弱肉强食的世界，而这滴血是我献给你们所有人的！”
“Yes,” he said. “Death comes to them, as it comes to us all. But before the Jackal takes us into the Sunless Lands, we will spill the blood of our enemies and take what was once theirs. This world demands strength and punishes weakness, so I offer this blood to you all!”
人们喊叫着，拉兹走过场地来到奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦面前，割断了他手腕上的绳子。
They roared as Raz crossed to Ordan Stilava and cut the rope at his wrists.
那个人感激涕零，但他的笑容马上消失了，因为拉兹把锯齿小刀塞进了他手中。
The man sobbed in gratitude, but the smile fell from his face when Raz pressed the serrated knife into his hands.
“什么？我不……”
“What? I don’t...”
“你可以走了。”拉兹说。
“You are free to go,” said Raz.
“走？”斯蒂莱瓦的眼中突然充满希望。“真的吗？”
“Free?” said Stilava, sudden hope in his eyes. “Really?”
“我对沙发誓。只要你一只脚迈出这个大圈，我就放你走。”
“Upon my oath. All you have to do is step out of the circle and I will let you go.”
拉兹露出不怀好意的笑，他看到斯蒂莱瓦渐渐意识到自己的处境。他走到一旁张开双臂，背对着这个浑身颤抖的俘虏。
Raz grinned as he saw the understanding of what was on offer dawn on Stilava. He stepped away and spread his arms wide, turning his back on the trembling captive.
斯蒂莱瓦知道自己不可能再有第二次偷袭的机会，他高举小刀冲向拉兹。
Knowing he would never get another chance, Stilava ran at Raz with the dagger upraised.
就在最后一瞬，拉兹躲开了刀刃，原地转过身，轰雷般的拳头正中斯蒂莱瓦的面门。那个人像残废的动物一样瘫倒在地，手里的小刀也甩飞了。
At the last instant, Raz swayed aside from the blade, spinning and thundering his fist into Stilava’s face. The man went down like a hamstrung beast, the dagger flying from his grip.
“起来。”拉兹把小刀踢回到他身边。
“Up,” said Raz, kicking it across the sand to him.
“饶命。”斯蒂莱瓦没有拿起武器，“你都说我可以走了。”他满脸鼻涕和眼泪，鼻孔流出的血淌遍了嘴和下巴。
“Please,” said Stilava, ignoring the weapon. “You said I was free.” His face was wet with tears and snot, blood pouring over his lips from his broken nose.
拉兹提着斯蒂莱瓦站起来，把小刀塞进他手里，探身在他耳边轻声说，“现在是你在这个世界上的最后时刻，”他悄悄说，“神明都在看着呢，你就这么去见他们？灰头土脸，哭哭啼啼的？拿出点骨气，没准神能对你刮目相看呢！”
Raz lifted Stilava to his feet and again pressed the knife into his hands. He leaned in and whispered in his ear. “These are your last moments in this world,” he hissed. “The gods are watching—is this how you want to meet them? Weeping and soiled? Give them a show and they might look kindly upon your soul!”
斯蒂莱瓦眼中的憎恨变得强烈，用小刀刺向拉兹的肚子，拉兹向后跳开。
Hate hardened in Stilava’s eyes, and Raz leapt back as the priest stabbed the blade for his belly.
随后是对准咽喉的突刺。拉兹徒手架开了攻击，扭身拉开距离，而斯蒂莱瓦则像个疯子一样胡乱挥砍。那个人的攻击毫无章法，显然唯一用过的锐器就只有切精肉的餐刀。
Another thrust, high for his throat. Raz batted the strike aside with his bare hands, spinning away as Stilava slashed wildly like a maniac. The man had no skill and had clearly never handled a knife beyond slicing fine cuts of meat on his plate.
“这就对了！”拉兹大笑着，轻松躲开他笨拙的攻击。“来啊，攮死我！”
“That’s it!” laughed Raz, easily dodging the clumsy attacks. “Come on, gut me!”
在斯蒂莱瓦的身后，拉兹看到可赫苏昂起了头，听到它喉咙里常鸣的轰隆声逐渐高亢，变成了完全另一种声音。他举起手用护臂挡下了一记奋力纵劈，另一只拳头杵到斯蒂莱瓦的肚子上。
Behind Stilava, Raz saw Khesu’s head come up and heard the constant rumbling in the beast’s throat rise to something else entirely. He blocked an overhand cut with his armored forearm, and sent a pumping jab into Stilava’s belly.
那个人疼得直不起身，但这一次他握住了小刀。
The man hinged at the waist, winded, but he held on to the knife this time.
拉兹冒险看了一眼苏萨塞，只见这位领骑猎手从王座上站了起来，正在回头望城门的方向看。拉兹转过身，看到在篝火亮光所及的范围之外有个影子在动。黑暗中有金光闪烁，虽然那个影子有点像人，但肯定比任何人类都更巨大。
Raz risked a glance over at Sai-Surtha, and saw the Preystalker on his feet, looking back toward the city gates. Raz turned and saw something move in the shadows beyond the light of the bonfire. The sheen of gold glittered in the darkness, and though the shape moved like a man, it was surely too large for anything human.
然后空中划过一个东西。
Then something was arcing through the air.
拉兹的目光跟着那个东西，看着它从头顶飞过，落在篝火边缘。
Raz followed the object as it sailed overhead and landed at the edge of the fire.
圆环周围的强盗们警觉地大叫，纷纷握住武器，而沙虎群则嗅到了血味，狂乱地拉扯铁链缰绳。
The warriors around the circle shouted in alarm and reached for their weapons as the sauren pack scented blood and yanked at their chain-leashes in a frenzy.
拉兹张大了嘴，他认出眼前的正是他派去值守西城门的战士。尤瑟姆•穿心箭。
Raz’s mouth fell open as he recognized the warrior he’d tasked with watching the city’s western gate. Uksem Heartsplitter.
准确的说，是他的上半截。
Or, rather, half of him.
尤瑟姆躺在地上，鲜血如注，躯体断裂处是被啃咬的切口。听上去似乎不可能，但他依然还在不停眨眼，手指在沙中搔扒，似乎不肯接受自己的死亡。
Uksem lay in a rapidly expanding pool of blood as catastrophic amounts pumped from where his body had been bitten in two. Impossibly, his eyes blinked and his fingers clawed the sand, as if he hadn’t accepted he was dead.
拉兹走向尤瑟姆，只觉得身体侧面一阵炽热的疼痛，不禁喊了出来。
Raz took a step toward Uksem, then cried out as pain flared in his side.
奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦！
Ordan Stilava!
一不留神，拉兹成了活靶子，只不过这一刀毫无杀伤力，没有瞄准要害也没有多大力道。刀子没有刺到要命的内脏，只是划开了他侧胯的表皮。
Distracted, Raz had made for an easy target, but it was a poor strike, ill-aimed and with no strength behind it. Instead of penetrating a vital organ, it had sliced over the skin of his hip.
拉兹迅速转身，看到那个人正向后步步倒退，退出了圈外，脸上笑得狰狞，手里还举着拉兹的刀。
Raz spun to see the man stumble backward beyond the edges of the battle circle with a wild grin on his face and Raz’s knife held out before him.
“我能走了！”斯蒂莱瓦说，“我出到圈外了，你必须放我走！你说的！”
“I’m free!” said Stilava. “I got out of the circle—you have to let me go! You said!”
拉兹摇摇头，他没空跟这瞎胡闹。现在可是要紧时候。
Raz shook his head. He didn’t have time for this foolishness. Not now.
“可赫苏。给我杀。”
“Khesu. Kill.”
奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦转过身，刚好看到巨大的沙虎张开大嘴向他冲过来。一口咬过去，大牧首就没了。只剩下沙子上的一串脚印和空中的一团血雾，证明他曾存在过。
Ordan Stilava turned around in time to see the giant sauren surge forward with its fanged jaws spread wide. They snapped shut and the Arch-Patriarch was no more. Only his footprints in the sand and the mist of blood in the air remained to mark his presence.
拉兹彻底将那个人抛在脑后，城市边缘的那个影子走进了篝火的光亮。他的呼吸梗在了咽喉。
Raz put the man from his mind as the shadow at the edge of the city advanced into the firelight. The breath caught in his throat.
行走于黄沙之上的，没有神，只有人和怪物……
Gods do not walk the sands, only men and monsters...
他真是大错特错——从根本上就错的离谱。
How wrong he had been—how fundamentally, entirely wrong.
它像人一样直立行走，但除此以外再无半点像人的地方。
It walked upright like a man, but there the similarities ended.
弯着腰驼着背，却依然比苏萨塞还高出半头，一条厚重的尾巴托在身后。
Hunched, yet still half a head taller than Sai-Surtha, with a thick tail dragging behind it.
一身斑驳的铠甲，板结的泥垢盖住了黯淡的黄金和锈蚀的青铜
Clad in dust-caked armor of dull gold and rusted bronze.
黄疸的双眼，赭绿色的皮肤上褶皱纵横。
Eyes of jaundiced yellow, rugose flesh of green and ochre.
刀子一样的牙齿密密麻麻，牙缝之间淌的血浆像一条条红绳。
Blood drooling between dagger-like teeth in red ropes.
鳄鱼样的口鼻低垂着，嗅探生肉的气味。
Its mighty head was bowed, the crocodilian snout sniffing for fresh meat.
拉兹认识这个生物。他曾在沙底神庙的墙上看到过这个模样的壁雕，还把这个图案刻在他自己的长矛尖刃的侧面。
Raz knew this creature. He’d seen his likeness carved into sunken temple walls, had etched it into the blade of his own spear.
他曾在绿洲的各处听到过人们悄悄说出他的名字。
He’d heard his name spoken in hushed whispers around the oases.
无眼的麻可鲁，号称能与先祖之灵交流的流浪真言者，曾经讲述过关于这个神明的事迹，警示人们不加控制的进犯与强取有多危险。
The eyeless makhru, the wandering true-speakers who were said to talk with the spirits of the ancients, told cautionary tales of this god’s exploits to warn against unchecked aggression.
“阿兹尔的先锋……”阿奴塔仰起头，发出惊恐的嗟叹。
“The herald of Azir...” said Anukta, her head held high in awed wonder.
“雷克顿……”黛莉娅说。
“Renekton...” said Dalia.
那头巨兽听到了自己的名字，突然扭头望向她，从身后抽出一把弯月刀斧。这样一把武器甚至能把一只斯卡拉什切成两半。
The giant snapped his head toward her at the name, sliding a huge crescent blade from his back. Such a weapon could cleave a skallashi in two.
“他。在。哪？”那位神发问了。
“Where. Is. He?” demanded the god.
他的声音干燥嘶哑，千万年的尖叫已经把喉咙喊破。
His voice was rasping and dry, raw from an eternity of screaming.
神威浩荡，如崇山压顶，但黛莉娅却没有低头，在他不可估量的力量面前丝毫不露怯色。
Despite the sheer power of the god’s presence, Dalia remained unbowed, defiant in the face of his unimaginable power.
相比之下，所有沙虎都把肚皮贴到了地上，眼睛翻白，服软示弱，就连嗓子眼的轰鸣声都没了。甚至三颗头的玛卡拉也都趴到了地面，这是拉兹做梦都不敢想的场面。
In contrast, the sauren pressed their bellies to the sand, eyes rolled back in submission and the low rumbling in their throats stilled. Even Ma’kara lowered its three-headed body to the ground, something Raz never dreamed he’d see.
他忘记了侧身的疼痛，控制住身体的冲动，没有和它们一起敬畏地附身。他的嘴角轻蔑地上扬，因为他看到角斗场边的抽沙帮众全都跪下了。
He forgot the pain in his side as he resisted the urge to drop in awe alongside them. His lip curled in contempt as he saw the Sandthrashers gathered around the battle circle were kneeling.
投降是软弱的行为，要想让人正眼相看就要敢流血。
Submission was for the weak; respect was only ever earned in blood.
那个东西一步步往前走，对这群强盗视而不见。当苏萨塞从王座上走下来的时候，他总算是抬头看了一眼，回应了强盗团的存在。
The creature stalked forward as though oblivious to the warriors’ presence. Only when Sai-Surtha descended from his throne did he deign to look up and acknowledge them.
“我是苏萨塞，抽沙帮的领骑猎手。”这名瓦斯塔亚说着，从玛卡拉的鞍座上取下自己的沙虎鳞盾。“你胆敢闯入我的城，还杀了吾血之血，不想活了？”
“I am Sai-Surtha, Preystalker of the Sandthrashers,” said the vastaya, unhooking his sauren-scale shield from Ma’kara’s saddle. “How is it you dare to enter my city and kill blood of my blood?”
雷克顿环顾这座废墟，眨了眨眼，似乎这才注意到城市已经荒废。
Renekton looked around at the ruins, blinking, as if only now seeing its devastation.
“这是你的城？”他问道。
“This is your city?” he said.
“今晚，它就是我的城。”苏萨塞说着，抽出他的反曲砍刀。这把武器几乎可以媲美那位神的兵刃。他大步走进了角斗场。
“For tonight it is,” said Sai-Surtha, drawing his falcata, a blade almost the equal of the god’s weapon, and stepping into the battle circle.
“那你一定知道他在哪。”雷克顿说着，也走进了圆环，似乎在进行着某种命中注定的仪式。“统治者必须知晓一切，明察一切！那么多奸邪毒劣。谗言诡诈。我听到了。没人理睬。从来都没人理睬雷克顿……”
“Then you must know where he is,” said Renekton, joining Sai-Surtha in the circle as though this were some pre-ordained rite. “Rulers must know all, see all! All the whispering liars. Honeyed words and falsehoods. I heard them. No one listened. No one ever listens to Renekton...”
拉兹向后退，来到阿奴塔和黛莉娅身边，给那两位踱步的战士留出充足的空间。雷克顿在胡言乱语，如果没有绝对的必要，他可不想靠近这两个庞然大物。
Raz backed away, joining Anukta and Dalia beyond the reach of the circling warriors. Renekton’s words made no sense, and he had no desire to be nearer to these giants than was necessary.
“你找的是谁？”苏萨塞问道，反曲砍刀在他手中流转飞旋。
“Who is it you seek?” asked Sai-Surtha, the falcata spinning in his grip.
“那个叛徒！”雷克顿怒吼道，脖颈处的肌束一阵抽搐。“我那个背信弃义的兄长！告诉我他在哪，否则有你苦头吃。”
“The betrayer!” bellowed Renekton, the corded muscles at his neck spasming. “My faithless brother! Tell me where he is or you will know agony.”
苏萨塞大笑一声，洪亮的响动回荡在维考拉坍塌的城墙中。这位领骑猎手的胃口大得出奇，而且绝不放过任何作战取乐的机会。拉兹看到他正在上下打量雷克顿的体态，用猎手的目光搜寻弱点和要害。
Sai-Surtha laughed, a booming sound that echoed from the toppled walls of Vekaura. The Preystalker was a being of colossal appetites, and took his pleasures wherever he found them. Raz saw him eyeing Renekton’s physique, his hunter’s eye seeking out weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
“你说的是豺狗？”苏萨塞问，“内瑟斯？”
“The Jackal?” said Sai-Surtha. “Nasus?”
传说中他的兄长的名讳让雷克顿退缩了一下，似乎只是听到这个发音就让他痛苦不已。他握着弯月刀斧的手稍稍打滑，一直手爪按在眉弓上，迫于某种不可知的疯狂。
Renekton flinched at the name of his legendary brother, as though the sound of it caused him great pain. His grip on his crescent blade slipped and he pressed a clawed hand to his brow at some unknowable madness.
“莫念他的大名。”雷克顿发出警告，刺耳的嗓音就像即将滚滚而来的沙暴。“他来过这里，我知道。飞升者的魔法踪迹在这里散落满地，但却突然中断。他们在这里打过仗，我的兄长，和那个在黑暗中窃窃私语的人。荒漠的黄沙召唤了我，呢喃的风对我描述了他的到来。立刻告诉我他在哪，不然受死！”
“Do not speak his name,” warned Renekton, the dry rasp of his voice low and dangerous like the threat of an approaching sandstorm. “He was here, I know it. The magical spoor of the Ascended lies across this place, but goes no farther. They made war here, my brother and he who whispered in the darkness. The desert sands called to me, and the muttering winds told me of his coming. Now tell me where he is or die!”
“如果我有你要的消息，你有什么谢礼呢？”
“And if I had that knowledge, what would you offer in return?”
“没有。不过我可能会留你一命。”
“Nothing at all, but maybe I won’t rip you apart.”
苏萨塞摇摇头，侧过身，把反曲砍刀举过右肩，展开盾牌挡在身前。
Sai-Surtha shook his head and made a quarter turn, drawing his falcata back over his right shoulder and extending his shield before him.
雷克顿大笑起来，笑声既恐怖又忧伤。
Renekton laughed, the sound terrible and melancholy all in one.
“你觉得你能挡住我？我是飞升者。我是你们的神！”
“You think you can stand against me? I am Ascended. A god to your kind!”
“我一直都想杀个神试试呢，”领骑猎手说着，舞起兵刃，炫耀上面印刻的符文徽记和悬挂的骸骨战利品。“如果一定要来个疯狂错乱的神，我也不挑剔。”他用刀背重重拍打自己鲜红的胸甲，“这把刀是我在无尽平原中的古墓里找到的，持有这把刀的古代战士骨头架子上就穿着这身铠甲，也让我扒下来了。他的个头和你差不多。我会用你们的兵器杀了你。”
“I’ve always wanted to kill a god,” said the Preystalker, brandishing a blade engraved with runic sigils and hung with fetishes cut from the dead. “And if it must be a maddened, broken one, then so be it.” He hammered the blade against the vivid crimson of his breastplate and said, “I took this sword from a tomb in the Endless Plain and prised this armor from the skeleton of the ancient warrior who bore it. He was about your size. I will kill you with the craft of your own kind.”
雷克顿发出狂怒咆哮，冲向苏萨塞。他抡起弯月刀斧，砍在领骑猎手的盾上，溅出几块碎裂的鳞片。
Renekton roared in fury and launched himself at Sai-Surtha. He lashed his crescent blade into the Preystalker’s shield, drawing splintered scales.
苏萨塞的回击浇灭了他的怒火。雷克顿脚下一个趔趄，领骑猎手将反曲砍刀刺入他的肋间隙，油黑的血流了出来。雷克顿再次出刀，但依然只砍在盾上。
Sai-Surtha’s return strike knocked the fury from his attack. Renekton stumbled and the Preystalker ripped his falcata into his ribs, drawing oil-black blood. Renekton struck back, but carved only shield again.
“你阻止我复仇，你还霸占他制造出的废墟！”他咆哮着说。
“You deny my vengeance while you squat in this ruin of his making!” he roared.
又一记痛击。雷克顿脚步蹒跚，随后转身一周，低下头，拉开一段距离。
Another blow. Renekton staggered, then spun, head lowered. Keeping his distance.
拉兹看得出，这位神正在重新正视面前的对手。
Raz saw a newfound respect in the god’s eyes.
他刚才出手鲁莽，以为能轻取一条命，但苏萨塞是一位力量与技巧同样高超的战士，兵器和盔甲也足以和雷克顿抗衡。抽沙帮众人不再继续跪在地上，他们把武器戳向天空，齐声呼喊着首领的名字。
He’d struck expecting an easy kill, but Sai-Surtha was a fighter of incredible power and skill, with weapons and armor to match Renekton’s. The Sandthrashers were no longer on their knees, but punching the air with their weapons and chanting the name of their war-leader.
苏萨塞猛冲过去，用他镶齿的盾牌撞到雷克顿的肩膀和脸上。雷克顿把他推开，跳向一旁，速度远远超过他庞大身躯应有的极限。他甩出尾巴，但苏萨塞弯腰躲开，乘胜追击。他用盾牌打破雷克顿的招架，用全身的重量向前施压。
Sai-Surtha lunged, driving his toothed shield into Renekton’s shoulder and face. Renekton threw him off, and leapt aside, faster than ought to have been possible for a being his size. His tail lashed out, but Sai-Surtha ducked and pressed his advantage. He broke Renekton’s guard with his shield and body-slammed him across the battle circle.
雷克顿跌进篝火中，在地上翻滚。火焰舔黑了他的皮肉，火星飞进黑暗。他摇了摇头，啐了一口，尖牙之间淌着血。
Renekton fell into the fire and rolled. Flames licked his flesh black and sparks flew into the darkness. He shook his crocodilian head and spat, blood dripping from his fangs.
“你知道他在哪！”雷克顿咆哮道，“我能在你的眼中看到他那骗人的嘴脸。告诉我！”
“You know where he is!” Renekton bellowed. “I see his liar’s face looking out through your eyes. Tell me!”
苏萨塞再次猛冲向他，从雷克顿的侧身剜下一块金色的护甲片。雷克顿没有后撤，而是对着苏萨塞连番猛砍。领骑猎手挡住了第一下，但第二和第三下全都命中了他覆盖着长毛的身躯。两名战士辗转腾挪，化作两团白银和青铜色的影子，在夺命的圆舞中铿锵地碰撞。
Sai-Surtha came at him again with another lunge, carving a chunk of golden armor from Renekton’s flank. Instead of retreating, Renekton surged and hammered a series of rapid slashes down on Sai-Surtha. The Preystalker blocked the first, but the second and third tore into his furred flesh. The fighters’ blades spun and swooped, a blur of silver and bronze ringing against each other in a lethal dance.
雷克顿往左迂回。苏萨塞往右踱步。二人全都见了血，喘着粗气。
Renekton circled left. Sai-Surtha went right. Both were bloodied and winded.
领骑猎手先出手，直冲下盘的横扫。雷克顿挡开了，随后旋转蓄力，一记锐利的劈砍，从对手的肩甲上切下一块金色的护甲片。
The Preystalker struck first, a low, ankle-slicing blow—Renekton parried, then spun around to deliver a stinging cut that splintered the golden plates of his opponent’s shoulder guards.
“传说中的你，是伟大的战神。”苏萨塞在呼吸的间歇说道，“里面讲你如何从艾卡西亚国王的尸身上夺得这把刀斧。讲你如何把长柄折断，同时也挫败了他的军队。”苏萨塞摇了摇头，“还讲你如何陨落，如何变得罔怅迷茫。”
“The legends speak of you as a mighty war-god,” said Sai-Surtha between heaving gulps of air. “They tell how you took that blade from a dead king of Icathia. How you broke its haft as you broke his army.” Sai-Surtha shook his head. “How low you have fallen, how lost you have become.”
雷克顿怒吼一声冲过来。苏萨塞用盾挡住第一击，用砍刀迎上第二击。格挡了第三击，挑开第四击，远古的钢材在与刀刃的摩擦中发出翠绿的火花。
Renekton growled and charged. Sai-Surtha met his first strike with his shield, and countered his second with his falcata. A third he parried, a fourth he turned aside in a squealing slide of ancient steel that threw off jade sparks.
苏萨塞的肩膀被一口咬住，领骑猎手仰天发出痛苦的嚎叫。一记鞭尾抽得他前胸皮开肉绽。两个战士同时后退，浑身伤痕累累。
A tearing bite ripped into Sai-Surtha’s shoulder, and the Preystalker threw back his head with a howl of pain. A tail lash drew blood from his chest. Both fighters backed off, bleeding from their many wounds.
雷克顿咧嘴发笑，他的牙齿上沾满了苏萨塞的血。“你全靠偷来的魔法才活到现在。不然你已经死了。”
Renekton grinned, his teeth red with Sai-Surtha’s blood. “All that keeps you alive are stolen magics. Without them, you would be dead already.”
“但我还没倒下呢。”苏萨塞嘲弄地鞠了一躬。
“And yet still I stand,” said Sai-Surtha with a mocking bow.
雷克顿左右手交替挥舞着弯月刀斧，随后双手同时握紧，向着苏萨塞纵劈下来。领骑猎手用盾挡住了刀，但劈砍的力道让他双膝跪地。
Renekton spun his crescent blade from hand to hand, then seized it in a double-handed grip to hack down at Sai-Surtha. The Preystalker blocked the blade with his shield, driven to his knees by the force of the blow.
他翻滚到雷克顿身后，用反曲砍刀砍在他的大腿上。
He rolled past Renekton and raked his falcata across his thigh.
那位神踉跄着挑开，鲜血顺着腿流下来。
The god stumbled away, blood pouring down his leg.
站在圆环外侧的拉兹见状，暗暗呼喊让苏萨塞结束战斗，上前完成致命一击。
Watching from beyond the circle, Raz willed Sai-Surtha to finish the fight, to step in and deliver the killing blow.
两个战士又交锋了，刀刃铿锵如同丧钟奏鸣。苏萨塞的盾碎裂了，雷克顿的铠甲只剩下凌乱的黄金条索垂在身上。雷克顿迈起沉重的步伐直撞过来，他的远古刀锋深深割开了苏萨塞的脸颊。
The fighters closed again, blades ringing like funeral bells. Sai-Surtha’s shield broke apart and Renekton’s armor hung from him in tattered strips of gold. Renekton stomped in, and the tip of his ancient blade sliced deep into Sai-Surtha’s cheek.
抽沙帮的首领吐出几颗牙，双手合力猛击，打断了雷克顿几根肋骨。
The leader of the Sandthrashers spat teeth and fractured Renekton’s ribs with a two-handed hammerblow.
这股狠劲让雷克顿停住了，这是他的族类几百年来未曾知晓过的疼痛。他体态摇晃，黄色的双眼变得浑浊，就像是在重新经历断断续续的回忆、无数次凯旋与战死的景象、以及那些早已尘封于历史的往事。
Renekton was staggered by its ferocity, by pain one of his kind had likely not known in centuries. His stance faltered and his yellowed eyes clouded as though reliving jagged memories and visions of triumphs and deaths long since consigned to the dust of history.
“救命！”雷克顿吼道，“哥哥！他太强了！我必须赢！”
“Please!” bellowed Renekton. “Brother! He is too strong! It must be done!”
他所说的话毫无意义，但苏萨塞察觉到了破绽，挥刀砍向雷克顿的咽喉。弯月刀斧提到空中格挡，但太迟也太慢了。反曲砍刀直奔雷克顿面门，从下巴到颞窝豁开一道口子。他痛苦地吭哧一声，狂乱地挥舞刀斧。
The words were meaningless, but, sensing an opening, Sai-Surtha swung for Renekton’s throat. The crescent blade lifted to parry, too late and too slow. The falcata tore Renekton’s face open from jaw to temple. He grunted in pain and swung wildly with his blade.
虽然是胡乱的攻击，不过却割裂了盔甲，划破了苏萨塞的侧身。
A clumsy blow, but it split armor and lacerated Sai-Surtha’s side.
受了伤的瓦斯塔亚并没有胆怯，再次出击，砍刀斩断了雷克顿的手腕，只剩下一根筋膜相连。
Undaunted by the injury, the vastaya struck again, hacking his blade through Renekton’s wrist, leaving it hanging by a shred of sinew.
雷克顿仰天咆哮，苏萨塞贴近身，把刀尖深深刺进对手的心脏。
Renekton threw his head back and roared as Sai-Surtha pulled him in tight and drove the length of his blade through his foe’s heart.
抽沙帮众人欢呼，拉兹也振臂庆祝胜利。
The Sandthrashers cheered, and Raz threw his arms up in triumph.
两个人定在原地停住片刻，如同漫长的拥抱。苏萨塞的反曲砍刀从雷克顿的后背贯穿而出。黑色的血顺着刀往下流，落在地上发出嘶唦声，把细沙熔成琉璃。
The two fighters stood for a moment as though embracing, the tip of Sai-Surtha’s falcata jutting from Renekton’s spine. Dark blood streamed from the blade, hissing as it turned the sand beneath to glass.
雷克顿被豁开口子的脑袋搭在苏萨塞的肩上。
Renekton rested his torn cheek on Sai-Surtha’s shoulder.
“本来你只需要说出我兄长在哪就可以了，”他说，“可现在已经迟了。”
“All you had to do was tell me where my brother was,” he said. “But now it is too late.”
“什么迟了？”苏萨塞说着，抽出刀，迈步走开。
“Too late for what?” said Sai-Surtha, ripping his blade clear and stepping away.
“你想活命已经迟了。”雷克顿说。
“For you to live,” said Renekton.
翡翠色的微光开始在这位神的体内积累，炙热的光沿着分叉的脉络流过他的身躯。角斗场地面的沙土升到空中，环绕着雷克顿飞旋，而他自己则渐渐挺拔，展露真正的体态。
A pale emerald glow built within the god, running through his flesh in forking lines of searing light. The sand lifted from the battle circle, surrounding Renekton in spinning loops of dust as he rose to his full height.
他不再是那个走进维考拉的驼背身影，拉兹看到了这位古神的真正面目，遗忘已久的魔法在他身体中盈溢，直接来自太阳的魔法强化了他的各个维度。他的伤口愈合了，重构的皮肤看不到伤疤，散发着闪耀的活力。鳞片撕脱处的鲜血从黑色变成耀眼的鲜红，然后浮到了空中，变成红宝石般的液滴。他的伤手顺着筋膜扭转归位，一束束纤维重新接合，把骨头缝到一起。而黄金和青铜的铠甲则在半空中流动，像光洁的蜜蜡一样焕然一新。
This was not the hunched figure who’d entered Vekaura, and Raz saw the true face of the ancient god as his form swelled with long-forgotten magic, his dimensions stretching with power harnessed from the sun itself. His wounds sealed, the skin reforming without scar and pulsing with radiant vitality. The blood spilling from his torn scales turned from black to vivid red before lifting from his body in floating ruby droplets. His clawed hand, twisting on its sinewed thread, re-fused to knitting bone as the gold and bronze of his torn armor flowed like lustrous wax to renew itself and regain its luster.
原本黄疸色的双眼现在燃烧着新星的光芒，曾经因疯狂而浑浊的地方变得清澈。周围的强盗又跪了下去，虔心祈祷。就连谁都不跪的拉兹，也觉得跪在此等存在的面前并不可耻。
Eyes that were once jaundiced yellow now burned with the light of newborn stars, clear where before they had been clouded with madness. Every warrior around the battle dropped back to their knees in willing supplication. Even Raz, who knelt to no man, felt no shame in bowing before such a being.
他感觉到，制造出这个生物的神秘能量正在像波浪一样涌动。
He felt the power that had wrought this creature pulsing in searing waves.
这样的生命存在本身就是一种震慑，任何传说中的描绘刻画都无法准确记录这位天神战士的真正力量与伟岸。
This was a being that demanded awe, a god-warrior of such potency that no legend could ever hope to capture his true majesty.
苏萨塞扔掉了手中的反曲砍刀，在这个魁梧的怪物面前，武器是没用的。
The falcata fell from Sai-Surtha’s grip, useless against this towering monster.
雷克顿复原的手伸向前，把苏萨塞提到空中，就像一个人拽着后脖颈提起一只小畜生。
Renekton’s restored hand reached out and hoisted Sai-Surtha from the ground, lifting him like a man holding the runt of the litter by the scruff of its neck.
“渺小的凡人，”雷克顿的声音回荡在残破的城墙之间，“我是飞升者。我曾冲破万军，撼倒城池，锁上大门再放火焚烧。我在无数个岁月之前践踏这个世界，你却以为你能挡我？”
“Little mortal,” said Renekton, his voice echoing from the shattered walls of the city. “I am an Ascended being. I have crushed armies, torn down cities, sealed the gates and set them to flame. I laid waste to the world uncounted ages ago, and you thought to stand against me?”
雷克顿手腕轻轻一抖，随后把苏萨塞的尸体扔给玛卡拉。那只沙虎上前用嘴一口咬下。
With a dismissive flick of his wrist, Renekton tossed the body of Sai-Surtha toward Ma’kara. The great sauren’s heads came up and their jaws snapped shut.
骨骼碎裂和血肉绞压的声音让拉兹龇牙咧嘴，沙虎的三颗头分食了它曾经的主人。
Raz winced at the sound of crunching bone and ripping flesh as the three heads tore their former master to scraps.
雷克顿弯腰捡起领骑猎手的反曲砍刀，这把武器在他巨大的手中如同玩具。
Renekton bent to retrieve the Preystalker’s falcata, its impressive size like a toy sword in his hands.
“这把刀现在归谁？”
“Who claims this blade now?”
拉兹感觉所有目光都在看他，抽沙帮把他看成是苏萨塞的二把手。他浑身的血液变得冰冷粘稠，就像是遇固的肥油阻塞了血管。他颤抖着呼出一口气，他很清楚，接过那把砍刀就等于受死。
Raz felt every eye upon him, the Sandthrashers looking to him as Sai-Surtha’s second in command. The blood felt cold and sluggish in his body, like cooled fat clogging his veins. He let out a shuddering breath, knowing that to take the falcata would be death.
他站起来向前走去，昔日统领抽沙帮的梦想如今变得难以下咽。
He rose to his feet and stepped forward, his dreams of one day leading the Sandthrashers now ashes in his mouth.
“苏萨塞是你杀的。”他说，“这把刀归你了。你现在是抽沙帮的领骑猎手。”
“Sai-Surtha is dead by your hands,” he said. “The blade is yours. You are now the Preystalker of the Sandthrashers.”
“我统领刀斧队的日子早已远去。”雷克顿说道。拉兹似乎在他熊熊燃烧的眼神中看出一种浅浅的忧郁。“我不想要部下，不想要追随者，我只追寻逃出了这座城的兄长。而当我找到他的时候，你们最好离这片土地远一点。”
“My time of leading blade-hosts is long passed,” said Renekton, and Raz thought he saw a depthless well of melancholy flicker within the fire of his eyes. “I desire no army, nor crave followers as I will seek the scent of my brother beyond these walls. You would do well to be far from these lands when I find him.”
天神战士把苏萨塞的反曲砍刀扔向拉兹。刀尖插到沙中，刀身轻轻颤动。
The god-warrior threw Sai-Surtha’s falcata toward Raz. It landed, point first, in the sand, quivering slightly.
“你们的头领，”雷克顿说着，向他迈步走来，“他知道关于我兄长的事吗？还是说他枉死一回？”
“Your leader,” said Renekton, stepping from the circle towards him. “Did he know anything of my brother or did he die for nothing?”
“我不知道他有什么消息。”拉兹说着，从沙中抽出砍刀，举到面前发出挑战。
“I know not what he knew,” said Raz, pulling the sword from the sand and holding it out before him in offered challenge.
“你这是干什么？”雷克顿问道。
“What are you doing?” asked Renekton.
“如果你要杀我，那我就让你开开眼。”拉兹说，“你得费一番功夫才能夺走我的灵魂。”
“If you are going to kill me, then I will give a show you won’t soon forget,” said Raz. “I will make you work to claim my soul.”
雷克顿大笑起来，摇了摇巨大的头。
Renekton laughed and shook his mighty head.
“你根本不足挂齿，”他说，“我要的是一个神的心脏。我把刀给你，是升格你为，叫什么来着？领骑猎手，对，就是它。你现在是领骑猎手了。”
“You are less than nothing to me,” he said. “I seek the heart of a god. I merely pass this blade to you as a sign of your ascension to, what did you call it? Preystalker, yes, that was it. You are now the Preystalker.”
拉兹放下刀，眼神在刀刃和身边的一众战士之间来回跳跃。
Raz lowered the sword, looking from its blade to the warriors gathered around him.
来自这位神明的赠言，没有什么是比这更祥瑞的天兆了。
He could ask for no greater sign of favor than the word of this god.
“神主雷克顿，”一个声音传来，拉兹回头发现黛莉娅正在从阿奴塔身边缓缓站起来，“我们在南下的旅途中，奴役我们的人说起过一个抄写书籍的社团，他们在寻找一座沉没于沙底的书库。据说密藏的地点在泽瑞玛附近的悬崖峭壁下。我不清楚这个消息的真假，但如果传说的故事属实，您的学者兄长可能也在寻找这种地方……”
“Lord Renekton,” said a voice, and Raz turned to see Dalia slowly rising to her feet beside Anukta. “On our journey south, the man who enslaved us spoke of an order of scribes who sought a sunken library. It is said to be hidden in the cliffs beyond Zirima. I do not know if there is any truth to this, but if the tales of your learned brother are true, then perhaps he too might seek out such a place...”
雷克顿叹了口气，他目光涣散，像是在苦涩的回忆中迷失。
Renekton sighed, his eyes taking on the faraway look of a mind lost in bitter memories.
“他总是热衷于知识。”他说，“有一次我们差点自相残杀，就是因为我要毁掉一座敌城里的大书库。”
“Knowledge was ever his passion,” he said. “Once we almost shed blood over my thirst to destroy a great library of an enemy city...”
雷克顿转身回到他来时的路，再次进入黑影中。
Renekton turned and strode back the way he had come, passing once again to shadow.
黑暗吞没了这位古神，他的身形似乎不再魁梧闪耀，又变回了那个弯腰驼背、孤苦凄凉的流浪者，就像刚才进入维考拉时的样子。
As darkness swallowed the ancient being, it seemed his form diminished from its towering, lustrous god-form, returning to the hunched and forlorn wanderer lost to madness who had first entered Vekaura.
雷克顿走了，拉兹转身面向黛莉娅和阿奴塔。
With Renekton gone, Raz turned to Dalia and Anukta.
“想活命吗？”他向黛莉娅问道，走到奥丹•斯蒂莱瓦被吞食的地方，弯腰从染血的沙地上捡起自己的骨刀。
“You want to live?” he asked Dalia, bending to retrieve his tooth-bladed knife from the blood-drenched ground where Ordan Stilava had been devoured.
“想。”她答道。
“I do,” she said.
拉兹把小刀交给她，对着轻声嘶鸣的沙虎可赫苏努努嘴。
Raz handed her the weapon and nodded toward the hissing, reptilian form of Khesu.
“这把刀是用它的牙做的，”他说，“如果它让你骑，你就是我们的人了。”
“I made this from one of its teeth,” he said. “If it lets you ride it, you’re one of us.”
她点点头，拉兹没有觉察到恐惧，称心如意。
She nodded, and Raz was pleased at the lack of fear he saw.
“那你骑什么？”阿奴塔问。
“So what are you going to ride?” said Anukta.
拉兹把苏萨塞的反曲砍刀收入他后背的皮鞘中。
Raz sheathed Sai-Surtha’s falcata in a leather loop at his back.
他与玛卡拉中间的那颗头目光相对，活动了一下肩膀。沙虎的森森利齿之间还挂着肉块，它用敌对的眼神看着他步步接近。
He locked eyes with the middle head of Ma’kara and rolled his shoulders. Ragged scraps of flesh dangled from the creature’s barbed teeth, and it watched him approach with hostile eyes.
“好的，”拉兹说，“咱们可以来软的，也可以来硬的……”
“Right,” said Raz, “we can do this the easy way or the hard way...”
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