Chapter 43: The Trail of Stone and Shadow （石与影之踪）

　　Dawn in the valley was a gentle, muted affair, the sun's rays struggling to pierce the high canopy of pines. Leon awoke to the smell of herbal tea brewing over the fire. Iris was already up, her movements quiet and purposeful as she packed a small, efficient kit. She handed him a wooden cup filled with a steaming, fragrant liquid. "Drink. It will ease the cold in your lungs."

　　山谷里的黎明是柔和而朦胧的，阳光艰难地穿透高处的松树树冠。里昂在草药茶煮开的香气中醒来。艾莉丝已经起来了，她动作轻缓而利落地收拾着一个精简的装备包。她递给他一个木杯，里面盛着热气腾腾、香气四溢的液体。“喝吧。能驱走你肺里的寒气。”

　　The tea was bitter but warming, spreading a comforting heat through his core. As he drank, he watched her. In the clear light of day, the changes in her were more apparent. The girlish softness was gone, replaced by a lean, wiry strength. Her eyes, while still holding their starlight, were now the eyes of a hunter—constantly assessing, missing nothing. She had not just endured their separation; she had been honed by it.

　　茶很苦，但很暖，一股慰藉的热流扩散到他全身。他一边喝茶，一边看着她。在晴朗的日光下，她身上的变化更加明显。少女的柔美已然消失，取而代之的是一种精干、坚韧的力量。她的眼睛虽然仍含着星光，但现在是一双猎人的眼睛——时刻在观察，不放过任何细节。她不仅熬过了分别的时光，更是在其中被磨砺得更加锋利。

　　"Can you travel?" she asked, her tone practical.

　　Leon nodded, stretching his sore muscles. He felt weak, but the food, rest, and her presence had worked a minor miracle. "I can keep up."

　　"Good." She shouldered her pack. "The tauren's trail is faint, but the land remembers its passing. The stones whisper it. We must listen."

　　“你能赶路吗？”她问道，语气很务实。

　　里昂点点头，伸展着酸痛的肌肉。他感觉虚弱，但食物、休息和她的存在带来了小小的奇迹。“我能跟上。”

　　“很好。”她背起背包。“那牛头人的踪迹很淡，但土地记得它经过。石头在低语。我们必须仔细听。”

　　They set off, Iris taking the lead. She moved through the forest with an uncanny grace, her feet making no sound on the bed of pine needles. Leon did his best to mimic her, calling upon the skills he had learned in his own solitary journey. They did not follow a visible path. Instead, Iris would pause, her fingers brushing against a moss-covered rock, or she would kneel to examine the faintest disturbance in the lichen. She read the wilderness like a book, and Leon was her attentive student.

　　他们出发了，艾莉丝走在前面。她以一种不可思议的优雅穿行于林间，脚下在松针铺成的地毯上悄无声息。里昂尽力模仿她，运用自己在独行旅途中学到的技能。他们并不沿着可见的小径走。相反，艾莉丝会停下来，手指拂过一块长满青苔的岩石，或者跪下检查地衣上最细微的扰动。她像读一本书一样解读着荒野，而里昂是她专注的学生。

　　"The shan'do moves with the land, not against it," she explained softly, pointing to a patch of moss that was slightly less vibrant than its surroundings. "The weight of its passage compresses the earth, steals the sun from the plants for a moment. A human, an orc, they crash through. A druid... glides."

　　“导师（shan'do）的行动顺应土地，而非对抗它，”她轻声解释道，指着一片比周围略显暗淡的苔藓。“它经过的重量压紧了土壤，暂时夺走了植物的阳光。人类、兽人，他们是横冲直撞。而德鲁伊……是滑行而过。”

　　They climbed out of the valley and back into the high, rocky passes. The air grew thin again, but Leon found the going easier with Iris beside him. Her calm confidence was a shield against the oppressive grandeur of the mountains. They shared the last of her waybread as they walked, and she pointed out edible roots and berries he had never seen before.

　　他们爬出山谷，回到高处的岩石隘口。空气又变得稀薄，但里昂发现艾莉丝在身边，路途变得轻松了些。她沉静的自信像一面盾牌，抵御着山脉令人压抑的雄伟。他们边走边分食了她最后一点旅行面包，她还指给他看一些他从未见过的可食用根茎和浆果。

　　As the sun reached its zenith, they came to a place where the trail, according to Iris, grew stronger. They stood at the mouth of a narrow gorge, a deep crack in the mountain that seemed to swallow the light. The air here was still and cold, and the usual sounds of the high mountains—the wind, the distant cries of eagles—were absent. It was unnaturally quiet.

　　日当正午时，他们来到一处据艾莉丝说痕迹变得更强的地方。他们站在一个狭窄峡谷的入口，那仿佛是山体上一道吞噬光线的深深裂缝。这里的空气凝滞冰冷，高山常有的声音——风声、远处鹰唳——都消失了。这是一种不自然的寂静。

　　"Here," Iris whispered, her hand resting on the stone wall of the gorge. "The corruption is stronger. The land is... wounded." She closed her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. "It is an old pain. A poison in the stone itself."

　　“在这里，”艾莉丝低语道，手放在峡谷的石壁上。“腐化更强了。这片土地……受伤了。”她闭上眼睛，眉头紧锁，集中精神。“是一种古老的痛苦。石头本身中了毒。”

　　Leon felt it too, a subtle wrongness that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It was the same feeling he'd had near the Sepulcher, but older, deeper, less about death and more about a fundamental violation of nature.

　　里昂也感觉到了，一种细微的异常感让他颈后汗毛倒竖。这感觉与他在瑟伯切尔附近感受到的相似，但更古老、更深邃，少了几分死亡的气息，更多是一种对自然的根本性亵渎。

　　They ventured into the gorge. The path was narrow, the rock walls streaked with strange, blackish veins that seemed to pulse with a faint, malevolent energy. The air smelled of ozone and damp decay. Then, they rounded a bend and stopped.

　　他们冒险进入峡谷。小路狭窄，岩壁上布满奇怪的黑色脉状纹路，仿佛带着一丝微弱而恶意的能量在搏动。空气中有臭氧和潮湿腐朽的气味。接着，他们转过一个弯，停住了脚步。

　　Ahead, the gorge opened into a small, circular canyon. And in the center of the canyon stood the tauren druid. But it was not performing a ritual. It stood motionless, its head bowed, its staff planted firmly in the ground. Surrounding it, emerging from the shadows of the canyon walls, were figures—tall, slender, their skin a pale, sickly green, their eyes glowing with a faint, sinister light. They were not orcs, nor undead. They moved with a silent, predatory grace, and they were slowly encircling the druid. Their forms seemed to flicker, half-substantial, as if woven from shadow and nightmare.

　　前方，峡谷通向一个小的圆形山谷。而在山谷中央，站着那个牛头人德鲁伊。但它并非在举行仪式。它一动不动地站着，头低垂，法杖牢牢插在地上。围绕着它，从谷壁的阴影中浮现出一些身影——高大、纤细，皮肤是病态的淡绿色，眼睛闪烁着微弱而邪恶的光芒。它们不是兽人，也不是亡灵。它们行动带着一种无声的、掠食者的优雅，正慢慢包围了德鲁伊。它们的形体似乎在闪烁，半实半虚，仿佛由阴影和噩梦编织而成。

　　Iris sucked in a sharp breath, her hand flying to her mouth. Her eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and recognition. "By the Emerald Dream... Satyrs," she breathed, her voice trembling with a dread Leon had never heard in her before. "The children of Xavius. The ancient corruption."

　　艾莉丝倒吸一口冷气，手捂住了嘴。她睁大的眼睛里混杂着恐惧和认出的神情。“以翡翠梦境之名……是萨特（Satyrs），”她低语道，声音因一种里昂从未在她身上听到过的恐惧而颤抖。“萨维斯的子嗣。古老的腐化。”

　　Leon stared at the scene, his blood running cold. The satyrs were closing in, their intent clearly hostile. The tauren druid was outnumbered, trapped. Their quest to find a guide had led them straight into an ambush. The peaceful reunion was over. The danger was immediate, and it was unlike anything they had faced before.

　　里昂盯着眼前的景象，血都凉了。萨特们正在逼近，意图明显是敌对的。牛头人德鲁伊寡不敌众，被困住了。他们寻找向导的 quest（任务/追寻）直接把他们引向了一场伏击。和平的重逢结束了。危险迫在眉睫，而且与他们之前面对过的任何情况都不同。