Chapter 13: The Ashen Taste of Fear （恐惧的灰烬之味）

　　Dawn in the root den was a gradual lightening from absolute black to a deep, root-choked grey. They doused their tiny fire, the last wisp of smoke carrying the scent of security away. The remains of the stag were a silent testament to the forest's laws, and the memory of the worg's savage efficiency hung over them like a shroud. They ate a few mouthfuls of waybread, the dry crumbs like dust in their mouths, and drank sparingly from their skins.

　　根须洞穴里的黎明是从彻底漆黑逐渐变为根须盘绕的深灰色。他们熄灭了微弱的火堆，最后一缕青烟带着安全的气息飘散。雄鹿的残骸无声地印证着森林的法则，而座狼凶残高效的记忆像裹尸布一样笼罩着他们。他们吃了几口旅行面包，干燥的面包屑在嘴里如同尘土，又节省地喝了几口水袋里的水。

　　Iris was even more cautious as they set out. The forest felt different—tense, waiting. The normal sounds of awakening birds were muted. She led them not along the game trails, but directly up the steepening slope, where the pines grew thinner and the ground was a treacherous carpet of loose shale and exposed rock. It was hard, ankle-twisting work, but Iris was right: no large creature would choose this path. They were trading speed for secrecy.

　　出发时，艾莉丝更加谨慎。森林感觉不同了——紧张，仿佛在等待着什么。鸟儿苏醒的寻常声响变得微弱。她没有沿着兽径走，而是直接带领他们攀爬越来越陡的斜坡，那里松树变得稀疏，地面是危险遍布的松散页岩和裸露岩石。这是艰苦的、容易扭伤脚踝的行程，但艾莉丝是对的：没有大型生物会选择这条路。他们用速度换取隐蔽。

　　They had been climbing for perhaps an hour when the wind shifted. It blew from behind them, down the slope they had just ascended. And on the wind came a sound that froze the blood in their veins: the deep, baying howl of a wolf, answered immediately by another, closer howl from their left flank. It was not the solitary cry of a hunter. It was a chorus. A pack. And they were upwind.

　　他们爬了大概一个小时，风转向了。风从他们背后吹来，沿着他们刚爬上的山坡向下。风中传来一个让他们血液冻结的声音：一声低沉的、拖长音的狼嚎，立刻得到了左翼另一声更近的狼嚎回应。这不是孤独猎手的嗥叫。这是合唱。一个狼群。而他们处于上风向。

　　Iris froze, her body rigid. "They have our scent," she breathed, her voice thick with a fear Leon had never heard in her before. "The worg pack. They are hunting as a group."

　　艾莉丝僵住了，身体紧绷。"它们闻到我们的气味了，"她低声道，声音里带着里昂从未听过的恐惧。"是那个座狼群。它们在集体狩猎。"

　　Panic, cold and sharp, lanced through Leon. He looked back the way they had come. Through the trees, far below, he saw movement—grey, loping shapes flowing through the undergrowth with terrifying speed. They were being flanked, herded. The pack was driving them upwards, towards the rocky cliffs that crowned the ridge.

　　冰冷尖锐的恐慌刺穿了里昂。他回头望去。透过树林，在很远的下方，他看到了动静——灰色的、跳跃的身影以可怕的速度穿过下层灌木。他们被包抄了，被驱赶着。狼群正把他们往上赶，赶向山脊顶部的岩石峭壁。

　　"Run!" Iris gasped, no longer caring about silence. They scrambled upwards, their boots skidding on the loose stones. The howls echoed around them, disorienting, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Leon's heart hammered against his ribs, his breath coming in ragged sobs. This was not like the gnoll. This was organized, intelligent, and utterly relentless.

　　"跑！"艾莉丝喘着气说，不再顾及隐蔽。他们向上狂奔，靴子在松动的石头上打滑。狼嚎在他们周围回荡，令人晕头转向，仿佛从四面八方传来。里昂的心脏狂跳着撞击肋骨，呼吸变成了急促的抽泣。这不像面对豺狼人。这是有组织的、聪明的、完全无情的追杀。

　　They burst out of the treeline onto a bare, rocky shoulder of the mountain. The view was vast and terrifying. They were exposed. And ahead, the slope ended in a sheer cliff face, dropping away into a mist-filled chasm. They were trapped.

　　他们冲出了树林，来到一片光秃秃的山岩上。视野开阔而骇人。他们暴露无遗。而前方，山坡尽头是陡峭的悬崖，坠入雾气弥漫的深渊。他们被困住了。

　　A snarl to their right made them spin. A massive worg, larger than the one they had seen by the stream, emerged from the last of the stunted pines. Saliva dripped from its jaws, its eyes burning with predatory intelligence. Another appeared to their left, cutting off any retreat along the ridge. They were surrounded.

　　右侧的一声咆哮让他们猛地转身。一头巨大的座狼，比他们在溪边见到的那头更大，从最后一片低矮的松林中现身。唾液从它的巨颚滴落，眼中燃烧着捕食者的智慧。另一头出现在他们左边，切断了沿山脊的任何退路。他们被包围了。

　　Iris shoved Leon backwards, towards the cliff edge. "The antler!" she screamed. "Use it!"

　　Leon fumbled for the sharp tine, his hands shaking so badly he could barely grip it. It was a pathetic weapon against these monsters. The lead worg lunged. It was not the silent leap of the stream-side hunter; this was a full-blooded charge, a battering ram of muscle and fur aimed straight at Iris.

　　艾莉丝把里昂向后推，推向悬崖边缘。"鹿角！"她尖叫道，"用它！"

　　里昂慌乱地摸索着那尖锐的鹿角尖，双手抖得几乎握不住。对抗这些怪物，这是个可怜的武器。为首的座狼猛扑过来。这不是溪边那头猎手悄无声息的跃击；这是全力以赴的冲锋，一具肌肉与毛皮构成的攻城槌直冲向艾莉丝。

　　Time seemed to slow. Leon saw Iris brace herself, her own sharpened stick held like a spear, a futile gesture of defiance. He saw the worg's hot breath misting in the cold air, the gleam of its teeth. And he saw, just beyond the charging beast, a narrow crack in the cliff face—a fissure, dark and narrow, barely visible behind a scrubby bush.

　　时间似乎慢了下来。里昂看到艾莉丝稳住身形，她把自己削尖的木棍像长矛一样握着，一个徒劳的抵抗姿态。他看见座狼灼热的呼吸在冷空气中结成白雾，牙齿闪着寒光。而他看见，就在猛冲的野兽后方，悬崖面上有一道狭窄的裂缝——一道幽暗狭窄的裂隙，在一簇灌木丛后几乎看不见。

　　He didn't think. He acted. As the worg leaped, he didn't try to stab it. Instead, he threw the antler, not at the beast, but at the scrubby bush obscuring the fissure. The white tine flashed through the air and struck the bush with a thud, causing it to shake violently.

　　他没有思考。他行动了。当座狼跃起时，他没有试图刺它。相反，他扔出了鹿角，不是扔向野兽，而是扔向遮蔽裂缝的那簇灌木。白色的鹿角尖划过空中，砰地一声击中灌木，使其剧烈摇晃。

　　The movement, slight as it was, caught the worg's animal attention for a split second. Its charge faltered, its head turning minutely towards the sudden motion. That was all the opening Iris needed. She didn't attack. She grabbed Leon's arm and yanked him with impossible strength, not away from the beast, but directly past it, towards the shaken bush and the dark slit in the rock behind it.

　　这动静虽然轻微，却吸引了座狼野兽般的注意力，哪怕只有一瞬。它的冲锋迟疑了，头微微转向那突然的动作。这就是艾莉丝需要的空档。她没有攻击。她抓住里昂的胳膊，以惊人的力量猛地一拉，不是远离野兽，而是直接从它身边冲过，冲向那摇晃的灌木和其后岩石上的幽暗裂缝。

　　They plunged into the darkness, the worg's snapping jaws catching nothing but air and the torn fabric of Leon's tunic. The fissure was tight, a squeeze for their slender frames, but it went deep. They scrambled backwards into the cold, damp embrace of the rock, as the frustrated snarls of the worgs echoed outside, unable to follow.

　　他们冲进黑暗中，座狼咬合的巨口只咬到了空气和里昂束腰外衣上撕破的布料。裂缝很窄，对他们纤细的身材来说也是勉强挤入，但里面很深。他们向冰冷的、潮湿的岩石深处爬去，外面回荡着座狼挫败的咆哮声，它们无法跟进。

　　They collapsed against the cold stone, gasping, the taste of fear like ashes in their mouths. They were safe, for the moment. But outside, the hunters waited.

　　他们瘫倒在冰冷的石头上，喘着气，恐惧的滋味如同灰烬残留在口中。他们暂时安全了。但在外面，猎手们仍在等待。