闷燃之炭 A Smoldering Coal

作者：Roy Graham

在如此偏远的北地，长夜如墨。在艾希和她血盟眷侣的大厅中，影子被拉得很长。火盆里的炭正在闷燃。看上去似乎是熄了，死气沉沉。但哪怕是傻子也知道不能直接用手摸。哪怕是傻子。

This far north, the nights are dark. The shadows grow long in the hall of Ashe and her bloodsworn groom. The braziers burn down to smoldering coals. They may seem extinguished, dead—but even a fool knows not to grasp one with a naked hand. Even a fool.

他看上去没什么特别，真的。虽说他个子的确很高，身体也很壮，但披肩的黑发中掺杂着缕缕灰丝。他一点也不像是神话传说中的人物。坐在桌前的泰达米尔，看上去就是个普通人。他的瞳孔是灰绿色的。暗淡，如同野兽。

He isn’t much to look at, in truth. Tall, yes, and strong, but that dark hair that falls around his shoulders is flecked with gray. He does not look like a figure of myth and legend. Seated at the head of his table, Tryndamere looks like a man. His eyes are a flat green. Dull, like an animal’s.

但我却不能与那双眼睛对视很久。我曾见证它们背后隐藏的怒火，而且那次我差一点就像干草碰上了闷燃的木炭。

And yet I cannot meet them for long. I witnessed the rage they conceal, and it nearly took me as the ember takes the straw.

那是我成为艾希战祭以后的第一冬。当时的我年轻气盛、百无聊赖——因为我的新生活并不是我曾经梦想的冒险。艾希前去对抗北方的强盗，就把我留在大厅里，盯住她的血盟。泰达米尔并没有训练战士，也没有发出渴望战斗的嚎叫，他正在会见一群当地氏族派来的使节。甚至不是族长也不是战母，而是一群渺小的普通人。他们个个都觉得全世界都盯上了自己牧场中为数不多的牲畜。当时正好是一个最最沉闷的家伙在讲话，一个走路都发颤的灰胡子老头。

It happened in my first winter as battlemaiden to Ashe. I was young, brash, and very bored—my new life was not the adventure I once dreamed it might be. When she went to fight the northern raiders, Ashe had left me in the great hall, to watch over her bloodsworn. Tryndamere wasn’t mustering war parties or howling with battle-lust, he was holding audience with a collection of envoys from local clans. Not even thanes or warmothers, but little men and women who believed the world turned on the precise numbers of cattle ranging in their pastures. The dullest of the lot happened to be talking just then, a doddering graybeard.

“艾希战母抽走了我们三分之一的战士，带去北方抵御凛冬之爪的强盗。这就相当于翻土的人手三中少一，照看牧群的眼睛三中少一。我也知道你们的人从来都不种庄稼也不放牧，但是在更加文明的土地上……”

“Warmother Ashe has taken one in three of our warriors north to throw back the raiders of the Winter’s Claw. That is one in three hands not tilling the earth, one in three eyes not watching the flock. I understand your people never raised crops or herded animals, but in more civilized lands…”

我真想看到这个老者身首异处的样子。他可是正在对战母的血盟讲话！我一言不发地站在泰达米尔身后，瞟了他一眼。我希望在那副冷漠的面具下面看到一丝愤怒，但我早就知道，我会失望的。诸神作证，我真想看他展示一下传说中的脾气。

I wanted to see the elder’s head parted from his shoulders. This was the warmother’s bloodsworn he was addressing! From my silent post behind Tryndamere I glared up at him, hoping to see a flicker of anger under that passive mask; I already knew, though, that I would be disappointed. By the gods, I wanted him to show some of his legendary temper.

实在是太年轻，也太傻。我从来都没忘记当时的自己，居然想看那种事。

So young, and so foolish. I have never forgotten that: I wanted to see it.

“不介意的话，血盟，请让我来教教你如何经管白丘陵西侧的土地……”那个灰胡子老者继续道。

“Allow me, bloodsworn, to educate you on the proper management of the lands west of the White Hills…” the graybeard went on.

我意识到自己的手握在了缠剑柄的皮带上。

I found my hand curling around the leather wrapping of my sword.

但还没等我做出什么鲁莽的事，大厅入口的巨大木门轰然洞开。火盆被闯进来的风雪吹出一串火星。随风雪一起近来的还有许多人影，五六人的样子。带头的是个高个子的女人，罩帽斗篷外盖了一层白霜，两条银色的辫子从侧面伸出来。她摘下罩帽的同时，我认出了横亘在那张脸上的一道泛白的扭曲伤疤。

Before I could act on my rashness, the great wooden doors of the hall swept open. The braziers sputtered and hissed as wind and snow pushed their way inside—and with them came figures, half a dozen of them. At their head was a tall woman, silver braids peeking out from a traveling hood dusted with frost. As she pushed it back, I recognized the jagged white scar that crossed her face.

“海尔德蕾？”

“Heldred?”

我部族的战母，正用冷峻的目光盯着我。那时我才注意到她带着的人，他们都穿着毛皮和厚革和铠甲。大门被关上了。来人全都是战士，武器拿在手上，上面还沾着血。来者不善。

The warmother of my tribe fixed me with a cold stare. It was then that I noticed her followers, wrapped in furs and leathers and armor, pushing the great doors shut. Warriors, one and all, with weapons drawn and blooded. A war party.

大厅四周，使节们全都闭嘴了，紧张地盯着这群后进来的人。泰达米尔也在望着他们，在大厅里明晃晃地亮出武器是否让他觉得不顺眼，我不好说。

Around the hall, the envoys had gone silent, staring nervously at the new arrivals. Tryndamere watched them, too, though if the presence of bare weapons in his hall irked him, I could not tell.

海尔德蕾没理我，只盯着泰达米尔。我走到她面前。“不准靠近，战母。”

Heldred ignored me, starting for Tryndamere. I stepped in front of her. “Go no further, warmother.”

“西格拉，”她的声音冷冰冰，和冬天一样冷。“算你识相，还叫我一声战母。看来你还没有忘记最初的誓言。”

“Sigra,” she said, her voice ice. Cold as winter. “You do me honor, to still call me by that title. I am glad you haven’t forgotten your first oaths.”

“你来这干什么，海尔德蕾？”

“Why are you here, Heldred?”

“让开，孩子。如果你的新战母让我逮到，我要用她的血洗刷我的战斧。既然她不在，那就用她的副手凑合吧。”

“Step aside, child. If your new warmother was within my grasp, I would wet my axe with her blood. But blood must be shed, so her second will have to do.”

“来自三河之滨的海尔德蕾，”大厅的黑暗角落里回荡起一个声音。是泰达米尔。“你远道而来。为什么要寻求争斗？”

“Heldred of Three Rivers,” a voice echoed in the darker corners of the hall. Tryndamere. “You have come a very long way. Why do you seek battle?”

“别来无恙，血盟。”她开口说道，“我来告诉你。五天前，天刚一亮，一群人就伴着曙光一起来到我们的村子。劫掠者。强盗。杀人狂。”

“Hail, bloodsworn,” she said. “I will tell you. Five days past, as the sun rose over our village, something else rode in with it. Raiders. Reavers. Killers.”

每个字都像一把刀子插到我身上。“凛冬之爪。”我轻声说。

The words sunk into me like knives. “Winter’s Claw,” I whispered.

“是！”她大叫一声，“凛冬之爪。他们来的时候，你所保护的那些人就坐在厚墙深屋里，皮懒膘肥，可凛冬之爪从来都不会留情。你可要知道，从前我们是有可能把他们赶走的。但现在艾希征走了战士！但凡是拿得动刀剑的，三个人里就被征走一个。”

“Aye!” she barked. “Winter’s Claw. They came while the man you defend sat behind his stout walls, growing fat and slow, and did to us what the Winter’s Claw always does. Now, there was a time when we might have driven them off. But that was before Ashe called for warriors! Before she took one out of every three hands strong enough to swing a blade.”

她的声音变成了充满懊恼的嘶吼。“我们怎么守啊。”

Her voice became a bitter hiss. “We couldn’t hold.”

我不知该说什么。我本来应该在她身边，我暗自心想。如果我没有许下另一个誓言，我就能去应战。“伤亡呢？有多少伤亡？”

Speech would not come to me. I should have been there, I thought. If I hadn’t oathed myself to another, I could have. I could have fought. “How many? How many lost?”

“你家老人们都及时藏起来了，西格拉。这是我唯一感到欣慰的。但许多人都没来得及。太多了。”

“Your elders hid in time, Sigra. For that, I am grateful. But many did not. Too many.”

泰达米尔缓缓站起来。“节哀顺变，战母，你受苦了。我……知道带领一群走投无路之人是什么感觉。把你们的幸存者带过来吧。你们可以分享我们的粮食和城墙。欢迎你们。”

Slowly, Tryndamere pushed himself to his feet. “I am sorry, warmother, for your loss. I… know what it is like to lead a desperate people. Bring your survivors here. They can share our food, our walls. You are welcome.”

这份邀请可谓高尚。

It was a noble offer.

海尔德蕾冲地面啐了一口。她从腰间抽出战斧。“我不要你的城墙，也不要你的粮食，血盟。我要的是血债血偿。按照老规矩，我可以发出决斗的挑战，所以，我就是来提出挑战的。”

Heldred only spat on the floor. From her belt, the warmother pulled her axe. “I do not want your walls or your food, bloodsworn. I want blood for blood. The old ways say I am due a challenge, and so a challenge I make.”

“别傻了，”我说，“想想我们的族人”想想我家老人，我没说出口。

“This is foolishness,” I said. “Think of our kin.” Think of my elders, I did not say.

“你别忘了自己的位置，孩子。我最后说一遍——让开。”

“You forget your place, child. I will not say it again—step aside.”

怒火让我握紧了剑柄。我一把抽出剑，钢刃映着橘红色的火光。“不行，海尔德蕾。我什么都不忘。我是战祭，曾经发誓要守卫这个大厅。那么我将遵照誓言，接受你的挑战。”

Fury tightened my hand around the hilt of my sword. In one motion I drew it, the steel glowing orange in the firelight. “No, Heldred. I have forgotten nothing. I am a battlemaiden, sworn to defend this hall. On my oath, I accept your challenge.”

“那就来吧。如果你这么着急送死，我就给你个痛快。”

“So be it. If you are in such a hurry to die, I’ll make it quick.”

“够了！”泰达米尔吼道，“我不会允许阿瓦罗萨人的血洒在这团炉火前。我们已经有那么多敌人，哪来心思自相残杀！”

“Enough!” bellowed Tryndamere. “I will have no Avarosan blood spilled around this hearth. We have enemies enough without killing each other!”

他的声音震撼着大厅的楹梁。我从未见过他这样说话——我的感觉不会有错，某种危险的东西马上就要破土而出。但海尔德蕾只是冷笑一声。“我不怕你，血盟。躲在城墙里的生活已经磨钝了你的刀锋。而我的斧头可是被鲜血擦得锋利。”

The echo of his words shook the very timbers of the hall. Never had I heard him speak like this—I could not miss something dangerous just under the surface. But Heldred only sneered. “I do not fear you, bloodsworn. Life behind these walls has dulled your edge. Mine is still killing-sharp.”

我用剑挡住了她第一下攻击。钢铁的碰撞差点让我肩膀脱臼。我勉强恢复姿态，迎接海尔德蕾的第二次挥砍，但她的经验和力量远胜过我。

I caught her first blow on my sword. The shock of it nearly dislocated my shoulder. I had barely recovered by the time Heldred swung again; I was quick, but she had experience and strength on her side.

海尔德蕾的全力纵劈只差几寸就正中我的脑壳，可是斧头最后嵌进了地面。我向前突刺，她发出一声凶狠的低吼，抽出战斧，反手用钝端击中了我的肋骨。疼痛贯穿我的胸膛，让我单膝跪地，无法站立。

Heldred’s overhead chop missed my skull by inches, and buried the axehead in the floor. I lunged forward, thrusting for her, but with a ferocious grunt she wrenched her axe free, backhanding the flat end into my ribs. Pain shot through my chest and I sagged to one side, unable to keep my footing.

我跪在地上举起剑，无力地指着我曾经的战母。她轻轻一挥，把我的剑打飞。“我会告诉你的家人，你英勇战斗过了，战祭西格拉。”

From the floor I raised my sword, pointing feebly at the woman who had once been my warmother. She struck it from my hand dismissively. “I will tell your kin you fought bravely, Sigra Battlemaiden.”

海尔德蕾举起战斧准备给我致命一击，我紧闭双眼。但斧子一直没有落下。

Heldred raised her axe to deliver the killing stroke, and I squeezed my eyes shut. But it never fell.

我抬起头。泰达米尔抓住了斧子——抓住，用手。血从斧刃顺着他的胳膊向下淌，落在地板上。“我们从不会这样。阿瓦罗萨人应该互相保护彼此。”

I looked up. Tryndamere had caught the axe—caught it, in his open hand. Blood dripped from the blade down his arm, onto the timbers below. “This is not our way. Avarosans protect one another.”

从我的角度看去，他手掌上的伤口自己愈合了。

From the floor, I watched as the open wound on his palm sealed itself shut.

不可能。

Impossible.

他说话的同时正在咬牙切齿，我早些时候感觉到的危险现在在我脑海中尖叫着。快逃，那个声音对我说，快逃，趁还有机会。

He was speaking through gritted teeth, and that lurking danger I had sensed earlier now screamed in my head. Run, it said. Run now, while you can.

那一瞬间，我看得出海尔德蕾也听到了那个声音。可随后，她怒吼一声，再次举起了战斧。双手高过头顶，作势要用一记纵劈把面前的人一分为二。

For a moment, I saw that Heldred heard it, too—but then, with a snarl, she swung her axe again, a mighty two-handed blow meant to cleave the man in half.

泰达米尔一声咆哮。那不是人类的声音，是比山脉的根基更加深沉的怒火，如同无底的渊湖。他咆哮着，向她冲去。

Tryndamere roared. It was an inhuman sound, a fury deeper than the roots of mountains, as bottomless as the deepest lake. He roared, and then he lunged for her.

那是两冬以前。两冬，我始终无法忘记那时的画面。可能我永远都忘不掉。可能我不该忘。

That was two winters ago. Two winters, and I have not forgotten what I saw. Probably I never will. Probably I shouldn’t.

我依然在履行誓约，我必须与他并肩作战。当我在这位野蛮人身边站岗时，会看到海尔德蕾的脸在剧痛中扭曲。当大厅的火光渐渐暗淡，我会听见她的惨叫。我已见过那双平静、灰暗的双眼背后潜藏着什么。

I am oathsworn still, bound to fight by his side. When I stand guard over my barbarian charge, motionless at his long table, I see Heldred’s face twisted in agony. When the fires burn low in the long hall, I hear her screams. I have seen what lurks beneath those placid, dull eyes.

每一夜，我都向我的先祖们祈祷，希望不要让我再看到它。有些东西最好永远留在故事中。

Every night, I pray to my ancestors that I will not see it again. Some things are better left in stories.

有些炭火最好一直闷燃。

Some coals are better left smoldering.