斩断 Severed

作者：Michael Yichao

那个孩子死命飞奔，恐惧在追赶他。

The boy ran at a dead sprint, driven by terror.

在月牙的银色微光下，黑暗吞没了他周围的一切，只有最微弱的星光给雾蒙蒙的黑夜投下一层银灰色。树影飞速掠过。孩子手里的灯笼跳动摇曳，随时可能熄灭。但他害怕的并不是黑暗。

Under the sliver of a waning moon, darkness swallowed his surroundings with only the faintest starlight giving a silver sheen to the misty night. Silhouettes of trees flashed by. The lantern in the boy’s hand flickered and sputtered, in danger of snuffing out. But it was not the darkness he feared.

而是黑暗中尾随他的东西。

It was the thing that stalked him in the darkness.

孩子最初感觉到它，是一股夏夜中的唐突凉气，一阵缓缓爬上来的夺心恐慌。这种感觉可能只是入夜以后的正常现象，如果换做其他时候，他一定会咒骂自己想象力太丰富。他已经十三岁了，这么大的孩子不应该再害怕飞窜的黑影和无害的灵魂。

The boy had felt it first—a sudden chill in the summer air, a creeping dread that clutched at his heart. Sensations that he might have dismissed as symptoms of the late hour and a long night. On any other occasion, he would have chastised himself for indulging in his imagination. He was thirteen now, too old to be afraid of darting shadows and harmless spirits.

不过这个灵魂睁开了一双发蓝光的眼睛，直接看进他的灵魂。这道黑影轻声说出了他的名字。

But this spirit had opened glowing blue eyes and stared into his soul. This shadow had whispered his name.

小孩子斗胆向后瞄了一眼，看它有没有继续跟随，结果撞到了什么东西。他躺倒在地，喘不过气来，灯笼掉到他身边，微弱的灯光剧烈跳动。惊讶和疼痛很快都变成了恐惧，他见到那个人影飘到自己上方。

The boy risked a glance behind to see if it still followed, and promptly slammed into something. He fell back, the breath knocked from his lungs, and his lantern clattered to his side, its weak light fluttering wildly. Surprise and pain shifted quickly to fear as he saw the figure looming over him.

一个瘦高、轻盈的人影，赤裸上身，对这寒冷的夜不为所动。从腰迹往下，一件宽松、破损的罩袍正在风中拍打。一条精致的绳带系在他腰间，上面挂着可怕的石膏面孔。他双臂都缠着绷带，双手中各握着一把刀剑——其中一把的精钢映着月光，另一把则泛着凶恶的红色。

A man, tall and lithe, stood with a bare torso, unfazed by the unusually chilly night. From the waist down, loose robes billowed in the wind, frayed from wear. An intricate belt of woven rope tied strange masks across his waist, monstrous visages trapped in alabaster. Bandages bound both his arms, and each hand grasped a blade—one of tempered steel, shimmering in the moonlight, the other shining an ominous red.

但最让这个孩子惊呆的是这个人的脸。

Yet it was the man’s face that left the boy frozen.

那双冰冷的蓝眼睛躲在一副残酷的面具下，而他的面具和他手上的刀剑一样散发着怪异的红色。面具牢牢附在那个人的脸上，几乎遮挡住了他紧锁的眉头。

Those cold blue eyes peered down through a cruel mask that radiated the same strange red as the man’s blade. The mask grasped the man’s face, nearly devouring his stern frown.

“别，别过来！”男孩沙哑地说。

“S-stay back!” the boy croaked.

“你要害怕的不是我，”那个人开口说道，他的声音低沉清淡，眼神看着男孩身后的某个地方。

“It is not me you should fear,” the man spoke, his voice a soft growl, eyes fixed on some point beyond the boy.

男孩目光疑惑，他顺着那个人的目光看过去。看到的东西让他慌乱地爬了起来。

Confusion knit the boy’s brow as he followed the man’s gaze. What he saw sent him scrambling to his feet.

一个模糊的形体悬浮在迷雾中。如果不是这个陌生人提醒他，男孩可能根本不会注意到。迷雾扭曲着变成一双瞪大的眼睛和狭长的瞳孔，随后巨大的身体凭空出现挤走了雾气，留下黑暗阴晦的空间。男孩仔细看去，雾气之中还有别的东西在发光，像是……牙齿？

A vague shape hovered in the mists. If the stranger hadn’t pointed it out, the boy might have missed it altogether. The mist twisted into wide eyes and slitted pupils, and the outline of a lumbering body took form, visible where it pushed the fog away to leave a negative space. The boy squinted. Something else glistened in the foggy night… Teeth?

他从未见过任何类似的东西，但却有种熟悉的感觉，就像是他认识它。它吸引着他，让他止不住向前走。他试探着迈出了一步。

He had never seen anything like it, yet it somehow felt familiar. Like the boy knew this thing. It drew him, compelled him toward it. He took a tentative step forward.

冰冷的感觉刺穿他的胸膛。

Something cold pierced through his chest.

男孩低下头，看到闪亮的红色刀尖穿胸而出。他脑海一片混乱，呼吸的节律惊慌失措，等待着疼痛与鲜血。然而并没有等来。相反，一种奇怪的麻木感扩散到他全身。他听到那个人在身后呢喃，然后他们面前的空中出现了一道奇怪的符印，似乎有一支无形的笔在空中书写。一个词，还是一个名字？那个男孩不认识。

The boy looked down in shock at the tip of a shining red blade. His mind raced as his breath grew choppy from panic, expecting pain and blood. But neither came. Instead, a strange numbness spread through his body. Behind him, he heard the man mutter under his breath, and a strange sigil appeared in the air in front of them, as if painted by an invisible brush. A word—or name?—the boy did not recognize.

“什，什么——”

“W-what—”

那个人没有理睬男孩。“我的刀看到了你的真名，亚扎卡纳。”

The man ignored him. “My blade sees your true name, azakana.”

那个男孩感受到刀剑从自己胸膛中抽出，然后他跪倒在地，挣扎的呼吸。他连忙用双手捂住胸膛，但没有伤口也没有疤痕。更奇怪的是，男孩觉得自己变轻松了，似乎有某种负担从身上剥离。他抬起头，看到一堵巨齿獠牙组成的壁障。

The boy felt the sword pulled from his body, and he fell to his knees, gasping. His hands flew to his chest—but there was no puncture or wound. Even more strange, the boy felt lighter, as if some burden had been excised. He looked up, and a wall of teeth met his gaze.

那个怪物向前猛冲。

The creature lunged.

钢铁碰撞的铿锵声响起。戴面具的陌生人挡在他前面，双剑抵挡住了怪物巨大而惨白的长牙。不——站在那的不是那个人，而是他鬼魅的灵魂。男孩回头看去，那个人依然站在刚才的地方，双眼紧闭，就像在冥想。冷气钻进了他的骨缝，男孩的脊梁发出一阵颤抖，怪物和陌生人之间的每一下争斗，都让他觉得自己的灵魂在动摇、倾覆，他们的存在本身就让他感受到一种力量。男孩只得惊讶地看下去。

A clash of steel rang out. The masked stranger stood before him, blades blocking the creature’s massive, pale fangs. No—it was not the man, but a shadowy spirit in his form. The boy looked behind him where the man himself stood, eyes closed, as if in meditation. A shiver ran down the boy’s spine as the chill in the air now seeped into his bones, and with each motion of the struggling monster and man, he felt his soul lurch and sway, their very existence exerting a palpable force over him. The boy stared in awe.

他是什么？

What is he?

剑客的灵魂击退了怪物，然后散成了几缕烟雾，飘过男孩，回到身体中。凶狠的怪物发出狂怒的吼叫。男孩仔细看去，他看清了怪物的其他身体部分——蓬乱的毛发、利爪、巨大的身躯——但当他想要看清整体的时候，却又看不清刚才的细节。

The spirit swordsman pushed the creature back, then burst into swirling tendrils of smoke, washing over the boy as it returned to the body of the stranger. The hideous creature bellowed in rage. As the boy squinted, he could see other parts of the beast through the mist—matted fur, claws, a huge torso—but when he tried to focus on the whole body, parts would fade out from focus.

你敢夺走属于我的东西？一个不可思议的刺耳声音回荡在男孩的脑海中，刺破他耳畔的怪物乱吼。这孩子已经是我的了。

You dare deny what is already mine? A rasping, impossible voice reverberated in the boy’s mind, cutting through the rattling growls he heard from the monster. The boy belongs to me.

男孩的心中一阵寒意。它能说话？

The boy’s stomach dropped. It can speak?

“这个领域中没有属于你的东西。”那个人的声音依然平静。“畏惧吧，塔亚恩•寇敖！”

“Nothing in this realm belongs to you,” the man said, unfazed. “Cower, Taan Ko’au!”

虽然这些话在男孩听来毫无意义，但蕴含的气势却让他汗毛竖立。而寥寥几字对那个怪兽的作用更为明显，它发出了一声刺耳的尖叫。扭动着的肌肉纤维包裹住惨白的牙齿和利爪。四只猩红的眼睛在可怕的脸上透出狠毒的目光，灰色毛发的庞大身躯闪烁着化为实体，缥缈的鬼火变成血肉和骨骼。

Though the words meant nothing to the boy, their utterance made his skin crawl. Yet their effect was far more pronounced on the creature, which emitted an ear-splitting squeal. Twisting, sinuous muscle wrapped around pale teeth and claws. Four scarlet eyes narrowed on its horrific face, glowering atop a lumbering torso of gray hair that shimmered into existence, ephemeral wisps turned to flesh and bone.

“我已唤出你的真名，”带着破碎面具的人说道，“你已暴露无遗。”

“So you are named,” the man with the broken mask said. “So you are revealed.”

一声肆无忌惮的嚎叫震颤大地。那个人转换姿态，身体低伏，双剑紧握。

A defiant howl shook the ground. The man shifted his stance, crouching low as he brought both swords to bear.

“灭散吧。”

“So you shall perish.”

怪物发起冲锋，但那位剑客向前突刺的速度太快，男孩几乎看不清他。双剑划破了月光，一道是银色的闪钢，一道是血色的轨迹。怪物的身体飞溅出恶水，随后倒在地上。

The beast charged, but the stranger dashed forward so fast that the boy nearly missed him. Swords sliced through the moonlight, one flashing silver, the other leaving a blood-red trail in its wake. Ichor sprayed from the creature as it fell to the ground.

“沉睡吧，亚扎卡纳。已经把你从血肉之躯剥离了。”那个人向前一大步，两把剑同时刺入怪物的身体。它发出咆哮然后渐渐没了声音。

“Slumber, azakana. You are unmoored from flesh.” The man strode forward and plunged both blades deep in the creature. It roared, then wheezed.

男孩看着它的身躯消散成为飘浮的雾气，怪异的面孔歪曲着做出不同的表情，随后缩小、固化，变成了近似人类的脸，最后成为了……一副面具。他恍然大悟。虽然这幅面孔有四只眼睛，而且表情扭曲夸张，但看上去却与他自己的面孔相似得可怕。

The boy stared as its body dissipated into a swirling fog, its monstrous face contorting through a gamut of expressions as it shrank and calcified into an almost human-like appearance, finally assuming the shape of… a mask. His eyes widened in recognition. Though it still possessed the four eyes of the monster in a distorted, exaggerated pose, it looked almost mournful—and eerily close to his own face.

一阵颤抖，面具飘到了那个人的手中。他娴熟地收剑入鞘，把那副面具系在腰间，和其他面具串在一起。然后转身打算离开。

With a shudder, the mask floated upward toward the man’s outstretched hand. With a fluid motion, he sheathed his sword and tied the mask next to the others on his waist. Then he turned to leave.

“你是什么人？”男孩问道。

“What are you?” the boy asked.

“曾经，我能回答。但现在……”陌生人停顿了一下。他用钢铁般的凝视盯着男孩。

“Once, I knew the answer. But now…” The stranger paused. He fixed the boy with a steel gaze.

男孩又吃吃地问道，“那个东西难道是……我？”

A question tumbled from the boy’s lips. “Was that thing… me?”

“只是一个朽败的噩梦，以你的悲伤为食。但你已经不再受到它的挟制了”

“Only a festered nightmare, feasting on your sorrows. But you aren’t defined by it any longer.”

男孩咬了咬嘴唇，“是我的错。我软弱，笨拙。父亲说的没错。”

The boy bit his lip. “It’s my fault. I’m weak—never good enough. My father was right.”

那个人一声不响地转身走来，男孩习惯性地向后退。但陌生人的表情似乎有了一丝温柔。

Without a sound, the man turned as though to approach, and the boy recoiled almost by habit. The stranger’s expression softened ever so slightly.

“我们所爱之人，话语伤我们最深。”那个人从腰间抽出那副面具仔细端详，“绝望吞噬了我们自己的声音，假借理性之名，谎称是我们的真心。但这一切都只代表一个扭曲的自我。”

“Those we love say the things that hurt us most.” The man pulled the mask from his waist, examining it. “Despair devours our own voice, wearing the guise of reason—claiming to show us who we are. But it only shows us a warped version of our true selves.”

他把面具举到男孩面前。它看上去尺寸不大，质地脆弱……上面没有尖牙。

He turned the mask around and held it aloft for the boy to see. It seemed small, fragile… Toothless.

“刺破它的假象，找到真正的你。”那个人的脸上拂过微笑的迹象，“你不会有事的，安杜。”

“Pierce through its falsehoods to find your truth.” The smallest hint of a smile crossed the man’s face. “You’ll be just fine, Andu.”

说完，那个陌生人转身离开，将男孩独自留在黑暗的树林中。

With that, the stranger turned away, leaving the boy alone in the dark woods.