Chapter 34: The Glimmer in the Depths （深渊微光）

　　Leon awoke to the sound of rain and a deep, bone-chilling cold. The meager shelter under the rock had done little to keep them dry. Kaelen was shivering violently, his skin clammy to the touch. His breathing was shallow and rapid. Infection and exposure were setting in. The meager waybread and water Leon had shared were not enough. Despair threatened to swallow Leon whole. He had saved Kaelen from the tower only to watch him die slowly in this wet, miserable ditch.

　　里昂在雨声和刺骨的寒冷中醒来。岩石下的简陋遮蔽处几乎没能让他们保持干燥。凯伦在剧烈颤抖，皮肤摸起来湿冷。他呼吸浅而急促。感染和风寒正在发作。里昂分享的少量旅行面包和水远远不够。绝望几乎要将里昂整个吞没。他把凯伦从塔里救出来，却要眼睁睁看着他在这潮湿悲惨的沟壑里慢慢死去。

　　He had to find help. Real help. He remembered Kaelen mentioning Lakeshire. It was a town on the shores of Lake Everstill, somewhere to the east, deeper into the Redridge Mountains. It was their only hope.

　　他必须寻求帮助。真正的帮助。他记得凯伦提到过湖畔镇。那是座落在止水湖岸边的城镇，在东边某个地方，更深入赤脊山。这是他们唯一的希望。

　　Leaving Kaelen hidden as best he could under the ferns, Leon climbed the ridge once more, scanning the misty landscape. The rain made visibility poor, but to the east, he thought he could make out a glimmer of reflected light—the lake? He had no map, no compass. He would have to trust his instincts.

　　把凯伦尽可能藏在蕨类植物下后，里昂再次爬上石脊，扫视雾蒙蒙的地形。雨使能见度很差，但在东边，他觉得自己能辨认出一丝反光——是湖吗？他没有地图，没有指南针。他只能相信自己的直觉。

　　The journey that followed was a blur of agony and determination. Dragging the litter through the muddy, uneven terrain was back-breaking work. Thorns tore at his clothes and skin. More than once, the litter caught on a root or rock, jolting Kaelen and eliciting a groan of pain that tore at Leon's heart. He moved in a near-trance, his world reduced to the next step, the next pull. He lost all sense of time. The rain never ceased.

　　接下来的旅程是痛苦和决心的模糊交织。在泥泞不平的地形上拖行担架是极其繁重的工作。荆棘撕扯着他的衣服和皮肤。担架不止一次被树根或岩石卡住，颠簸着凯伦，引发他痛苦的呻吟，这声音撕扯着里昂的心。他近乎恍惚地移动着，他的世界缩小到下一步，下一次拖拽。他完全失去了时间感。雨从未停过。

　　Just as his strength was about to give out completely, he stumbled into a clearing—and froze. The ground was churned up by heavy footprints, too large to be human. Gnoll tracks. Fresh ones. And they led directly towards the east, the direction he was heading. Panic surged through him. He was leading Kaelen straight into a hunting ground.

　　就在他的力气即将耗尽时，他跌跌撞撞地走进一片林间空地——然后僵住了。地面被沉重的脚印搅乱，太大，不可能是人类的。是豺狼人的足迹。新鲜的足迹。而且它们直接通向东方，他前进的方向。恐慌涌遍全身。他正把凯伦直接带进猎场。

　　He backtracked quickly, pulling Kaelen into the densest part of the undergrowth. He had to find another way. Circling south would take longer, but it might be safer. As he crouched, trying to quiet his breathing, he heard it—a sound that was not rain, nor wind, nor animal. It was a voice. Muffled, distant, but unmistakably human. And it was singing.

　　他迅速后退，把凯伦拉进灌木丛最茂密的地方。他必须找另一条路。向南绕行会花更长时间，但可能更安全。当他蹲下，试图平息呼吸时，他听到了——一个声音，不是雨声，不是风声，也不是动物声。是人的声音。低沉，遥远，但无疑是人的声音。而且在唱歌。

　　A low, rhythmic chant, carrying through the rain. It was not a song of joy, but one of purpose, of steady labor. It was coming from the south, from a narrow, rocky defile he had avoided earlier, thinking it a dead end. Hope, fragile and desperate, flickered anew. Where there were people singing, there might be shelter, fire, medicine.

　　低沉、有节奏的吟唱，穿透雨幕传来。这不是欢乐的歌，而是带着目的、稳定劳作的歌。声音来自南边，从一个狭窄、多石的峡谷传来，他之前以为那是死路而避开了。脆弱而绝望的希望再次闪烁。有人唱歌的地方，可能有庇护所、火、药品。

　　With renewed vigor born of sheer necessity, Leon changed course, dragging Kaelen towards the sound. The defile was steep and treacherous, but the singing grew louder, guiding him. He rounded a bend in the rock face and stopped, his breath catching.

　　出于纯粹的必要性，里昂重新振作起来，改变路线，拖着凯伦朝声音方向前进。峡谷陡峭而危险，但歌声越来越响，引导着他。他转过岩壁的一个弯，停了下来，屏住了呼吸。

　　Nestled in a deep, sheltered crevice in the mountain was a camp. Not a military outpost, but a miner's camp. A small, smoky fire burned under a crude rock overhang, sheltered from the rain. Several rough tents were pitched nearby. A handful of men, dressed in thick, waterproofed leathers, were working at the entrance of a mine shaft, their picks striking the rock in time with their chant. Dwarves.

　　坐落在山体深处一个受遮蔽的裂缝中的是一个营地。不是军事前哨，而是矿工营地。一个简陋的岩石悬挑下生着一堆冒烟的小火，避开了雨。附近搭着几个粗糙的帐篷。几个穿着厚实防水皮衣的人正在一个矿井入口工作，他们的镐头随着吟唱敲击岩石。是矮人。

　　One of the dwarves looked up, his bushy eyebrows rising in surprise as he saw the bedraggled human boy and the makeshift litter. He dropped his pick and shouted something in Khaz Modan, a guttural but not unfriendly sound. The other miners stopped their work and turned. For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the rain and the crackle of the fire.

　　其中一个矮人抬起头，看到这个湿透的人类男孩和临时担架时，他浓密的眉毛惊讶地扬起。他扔下镐，用卡兹莫丹语喊了句什么，声音粗哑但并非不友好。其他矿工停下工作，转过身。一时间，一片寂静，只有雨声和火的噼啪声。

　　Leon stood there, swaying with exhaustion, unable to form words. He simply pointed to Kaelen on the litter.

　　The lead dwarf, a broad-shouldered man with a magnificent red beard braided with iron rings, strode over. He knelt beside Kaelen, his experienced eyes taking in the splint, the pallor, the feverish shivering. He barked an order in Dwarvish, and two of his companions rushed forward, gently lifting Kaelen and carrying him towards the fire.

　　里昂站在那里，因精疲力竭而摇晃，说不出话来。他只是指了指担架上的凯伦。

　　领头的矮人，一个肩膀宽阔、红胡子编着铁环的壮汉，大步走过来。他跪在凯伦身边，经验丰富的眼睛扫过夹板、苍白的脸色、发烧的颤抖。他用矮人语喊了句命令，两个同伴冲上前，轻轻抬起凯伦，把他抬向火堆。

　　The dwarf turned to Leon, placing a heavy, calloused hand on his shoulder. "Easy, lad. Easy. You're safe now. By my beard, what a sight you are." His Common Tongue was heavily accented but clear. "I'm Baelgun. This is my claim. You've brought a Stormwind guardsman to us?"

　　Leon could only nod, the tension draining from his body so suddenly he nearly collapsed. The smell of stew cooking over the fire made his stomach clench with a hunger he had forgotten. He had done it. He had found help.

　　矮人转向里昂，把一只沉重、长满老茧的手放在他肩上。“放松，孩子。放松。你现在安全了。以我的胡子起誓，你这模样可真够瞧的。”他的通用语口音很重，但清晰。“我是巴尔贡。这是我的矿脉。你给我们带来了一个暴风城卫兵？”

　　里昂只能点头，紧张感从他身上突然消散，他几乎瘫倒。火上炖煮的食物的气味让他的胃因一种被遗忘的饥饿而痉挛。他做到了。他找到了帮助。

　　Later, wrapped in a dry, scratchy wool blanket and sipping a bowl of thick, hearty stew, Leon watched as the dwarves tended to Kaelen. They cleaned his wound with a clear, sharp-smelling liquor, applied a poultice of herbs, and forced a bitter-looking tea down his throat. They were rough but efficient, their movements born of a life dealing with rockfalls and accidents.

　　后来，裹着一条干燥粗糙的羊毛毯，喝着一碗浓稠、丰盛的炖菜，里昂看着矮人们照料凯伦。他们用一种清澈、刺鼻的液体清洗他的伤口，敷上草药膏，并灌他喝一种看起来很苦的茶。他们粗犷但高效，动作源于应对塌方和事故的生活。

　　Baelgun sat down beside Leon, handing him a hunk of dark bread. "Your friend's tough. He'll live, thanks to you." He studied Leon with a keen, appraising gaze. "Not many lads your age would drag a full-grown guardsman through gnoll country. You've got the heart of a mountain ram, you have."

　　巴尔贡在里昂身边坐下，递给他一大块黑面包。“你的朋友很坚强。他会活下来的，多亏了你。”他用敏锐、审视的目光打量着里昂。“没几个像你这么大的孩子会拖着个成年卫兵穿过豺狼人的地盘。你有颗高山公羊的心，你有。”

　　The praise should have felt good, but Leon was too tired to feel anything but a numb relief. He had reached an island of safety in a sea of danger. But as he looked towards the mine entrance, a dark hole leading into the heart of the mountain, he knew his journey was far from over. Lakeshire was still his goal. And somewhere beyond these misty peaks, Iris was waiting. The glimmer of hope he had found in the depths of the mountains was real, but it only illuminated the next leg of the long road ahead.

　　赞扬本该感觉良好，但里昂太累了，除了麻木的解脱感什么也感觉不到。他在危险之海中找到了一个安全岛。但当他看向矿井入口，那个通向山心的黑洞时，他知道他的旅程远未结束。湖畔镇仍是他的目标。而在这些雾蒙蒙的山峰之外的某处，艾莉丝在等待。他在深山中发现的那一丝希望是真实的，但它只照亮了前方漫长道路的下一段。