Chapter 37: The Shore of Stillness （寂静之岸）

　　The Slaughtered Lamb Inn was a world unto itself. The air inside was thick with the smells of roasting meat, spilled ale, and pipe smoke. The common room was crowded and loud, filled with the boisterous chatter of miners, the low grumbles of merchants, and the occasional burst of song from a group of off-duty guards. After the stark silence of the wilderness, the cacophony was overwhelming. Leon felt like a ghost drifting through the throng, invisible and disconnected.

　　“被宰羔羊”旅店本身就是一个世界。里面的空气混杂着烤肉、泼洒的麦酒和烟斗的味道。公共休息室拥挤喧闹，充斥着矿工们的高谈阔论、商人们的低声抱怨和一队休班卫兵偶尔爆发的歌声。经历了荒野的绝对寂静后，这片嘈杂令人难以承受。里昂感觉自己像个幽灵在人群中飘荡，无形且疏离。

　　Kaelen was settled in a small, clean room upstairs, under the care of the innkeeper's wife and the promised surgeon. His gratitude to Leon was deep and sincere, but it was the gratitude of a man at the end of his ordeal. His path now led to recovery, to his family in Lakeshire. Leon's path remained shrouded in mist.

　　凯伦被安顿在楼上一个干净的小房间里，由老板娘和承诺的外科医生照料。他对里昂的感激深切而真诚，但这是一个历经磨难之人劫后余生的感激。他的路现在通向康复，通向他在湖畔镇的家人。而里昂的路依然笼罩在迷雾中。

　　Baelgun and his dwarves, their business concluded, clapped Leon on the back, wished him well, and melted back into the life of the town, their part in his story over. Leon was alone again, standing in the bustling common room with the leather pouch of coins in his hand, feeling more lost than he had in the deepest part of the forest.

　　巴尔贡和他的矮人们办完事，拍了拍里昂的背，祝他好运，然后融入了镇上的生活，他们在他故事中的部分结束了。里昂又孤身一人，站在喧闹的公共休息室里，手里握着那袋钱币，感觉比在森林最深处时更加迷茫。

　　He paid for a night's lodging in a cramped attic room barely larger than a closet. The coin felt foreign in his hand, a relic of a life he had left behind. The room had a narrow bed and a small window overlooking the inn's muddy courtyard. It was shelter, but it felt like a cage. The sounds of laughter and conversation from below only emphasized his isolation.

　　他付钱住进一间比壁橱大不了多少的阁楼房间。硬币在他手中感觉陌生，是他抛弃生活的遗物。房间有一张窄床和一扇小窗，俯瞰着旅店的泥泞院子。这是个栖身之所，但感觉像个笼子。楼下传来的笑声和谈话声更凸显了他的孤独。

　　He couldn't stay inside. He needed air. He slipped out of the inn and walked down to the shore of Lake Everstill. The water was vast and calm, reflecting the grey of the evening sky and the dark, brooding shapes of the mountains beyond. The noise of the town faded behind him, replaced by the gentle lap of water against the wooden piers and the distant cry of a waterbird. Here, at last, was a silence he could breathe.

　　他无法待在屋里。他需要空气。他溜出旅店，走到止水湖岸边。湖水广阔平静，映着傍晚灰暗的天空和远处山脉幽暗的轮廓。镇上的喧嚣在身后渐渐消失，取而代之的是湖水轻拍木码头的声响和远处水鸟的鸣叫。在这里，终于有了他能呼吸的寂静。

　　He sat on a weathered log, pulling the smooth antler from his pocket. The familiar weight of it was a comfort. He traced its contours with his thumb, his mind drifting north, across the lake, beyond the mountains. Where was she? Was she standing under the same twilight, looking at a different stretch of water? Was she thinking of him?

　　他坐在一根风化的原木上，从口袋里掏出光滑的鹿角。熟悉的重量是一种慰藉。他用拇指描摹着它的轮廓，思绪飘向北方，越过湖水，越过山脉。她在哪里？她是否也站在同样的暮色下，望着另一片水域？她是否在想他？

　　A voice, soft and hesitant, broke his reverie. "Excuse me? Are you... are you the boy who came with the dwarves? The one who brought Guardsman Kaelen back?"

　　一个轻柔而犹豫的声音打断了他的沉思。“打扰一下？你是……你是跟矮人一起来的那个男孩吗？把卫兵凯伦带回来的那个？”

　　Leon turned. A young woman, perhaps a few years older than him, stood there. She was dressed in a simple, homespun dress, her face pale and etched with worry. In her arms, she held a toddler who was chewing on a wooden toy.

　　里昂转过身。一个年轻女子，可能比他大几岁，站在那里。她穿着简单的家纺裙子，脸色苍白，布满忧虑。她怀里抱着一个正在啃木制玩具的幼儿。

　　"I am," Leon said, standing up.

　　Tears welled in the woman's eyes. "I'm Elara. Kaelen's my husband. The surgeon says... he says you saved his life. That you dragged him through the wilds..." Her voice broke. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She shifted the child in her arms. "This is his son. He... he hasn't seen his father in months."

　　“是我，”里昂站起来说。

　　女子眼中涌出泪水。“我是艾拉。凯伦是我丈夫。外科医生说……说你救了他的命。说你拖着他穿过荒野……”她的声音哽咽了。“谢谢你。真的非常感谢你。”她换手抱了抱孩子。“这是他的儿子。他……他好几个月没见到父亲了。”

　　Leon looked at the boy, who stared back at him with wide, curious eyes. A family. A home. This was the life he had helped preserve. The abstract concept of "saving a life" suddenly had a face, a name, a weight that settled deep in his chest. It was a good weight.

　　里昂看着男孩，男孩也睁大好奇的眼睛回望着他。一个家庭。一个家。这是他帮助保全的生活。“拯救生命”这个抽象概念突然有了面孔、名字和沉甸甸的分量，深深落在他胸口。这是一种美好的沉重。

　　"I... I just did what I had to do," he mumbled, suddenly embarrassed.

　　Elara smiled through her tears. "Kaelen said you were heading north. That you're looking for someone." She didn't press for details, but her eyes were kind. "There's a ferry that crosses the lake to the north shore. It leaves tomorrow at dawn. From there... the road leads into the mountains. It's a dangerous road. But if you're determined..." She reached into a small pouch at her belt and pressed a small, woven charm into his hand—a simple thing of braided grass, a local token for safe travels. "For luck. From our family to yours."

　　“我……我只是做了必须做的事，”他咕哝着，突然有些尴尬。

　　艾拉泪中带笑。“凯伦说你要去北方。说你在找人。”她没有追问细节，但眼神很和善。“有渡船过湖到北岸。明天黎明出发。从那里……路通向山里。那条路很危险。但如果你下定决心……”她伸手从腰带上的小袋里掏出一个编织的小护身符塞进他手里——一个简单的草编物，是当地祝一路平安的信物。“祝你好运。从我们家给你的。”

　　Leon clutched the charm, the simple gesture of kindness warming him more than the inn's fire had. "Thank you," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

　　里昂握紧护身符，这简单的善意比旅店的炉火更让他温暖。“谢谢你，”他说，声音因激动而哽咽。

　　After Elara left, Leon remained by the lake as darkness fell. The stars began to appear, reflected in the still water. The mountains were a black wall against the sky. Tomorrow, he would cross the lake. Tomorrow, he would enter the true wilderness of the Redridge Mountains, a place of ogres, orcs, and who knew what else. It was a fool's errand. He had no map, no real plan, only a desperate hope and a direction.

　　艾拉走后，里昂在湖边待到夜幕降临。星星开始出现，倒映在静止的水中。山脉是天空下一道黑色的墙。明天，他将渡湖。明天，他将进入赤脊山真正的荒野，一个食人魔、兽人和天知道还有什么的地方。这是徒劳的任务。他没有地图，没有真正的计划，只有绝望的希望和一个方向。

　　But as he looked at the antler in one hand and the woven charm in the other, he felt a strange sense of calm. He was not the same boy who had fled Goldshire. He had faced gnolls and worgs, navigated by starlight, dragged a wounded man to safety. He had earned the respect of dwarves and the gratitude of a family. He was a survivor.

　　但当他看着一手握着的鹿角和另一只手里的编织护身符时，他感到一种奇怪的平静。他不再是那个逃离闪金镇的男孩了。他面对过豺狼人和座狼，靠星光导航，拖着伤员到安全地方。他赢得了矮人的尊重和一个家庭的感激。他是一个幸存者。

　　The road north was no longer just a path to Iris. It was his path. A path he would carve with his own resolve, his own courage. He stood up, his decision made. The shore of stillness had given him not answers, but something more important: resolve.

　　北上的路不再只是通向艾莉丝的路。这是他的路。一条他将用自己的决心和勇气开辟的路。他站起来，做出了决定。寂静的岸边没有给他答案，但给了他更重要的东西：决心。

　　He turned his back on the lights of Lakeshire and walked towards the inn. He had a ferry to catch at dawn.

　　他背对湖畔镇的灯火，向旅店走去。黎明时，他还要赶渡船。