来源：http://tinyurl.com/q3zmyu2
说是出包了所以故事还没放上去的样子
Invocation
祝祷
The sword-wife stood amid the burnt out ruin of her home. Everything and
everyone that mattered to her was gone, and she was filled with fathomless
grief... and hate. Hate was now all that compelled her.
女剑士伫立在她只剩灰烬残骸的家中。对她来说曾有过意义的任何事、任何人都已
不复存在，她心中充满了深深的悲伤……和憎恨。现在就剩憎恨在趋使她前进了。
She saw again the smile on his face as he gave the order. He was meant to be
their protector, but he’d spat upon his vows. Hers was not the only family
shattered by the oath-breaker.
她又看见了他发号施令时脸上的微笑。他本应是她们的守护者，却唾弃了自己的誓
约。她的家庭并非唯一遭受背约者支离破碎的受害者。
The desire to go after him was strong. She wanted nothing more than to plant
her sword in his chest and watch the life drain from his eyes... but she knew
she would never be able to get close enough to him. He was guarded day and
night, and she was but one warrior. She would never be able to fight her way
through his battalion alone. Such a death would serve no purpose.
想追杀他的欲望强烈无比。她最渴望的便是将她的剑刺入他的胸口，然后看着生命
在他的眼中渐渐消逝……但她明白她永远不可能接近他的。他被不分日夜地保护着，而
她只是单单一个战士。她永远不可能在他的军营中杀出一条血路。那样死去毫无意义。
She took a shuddering breath, knowing there was no coming back.
她颤抖著吸了一口气，明白不会有回头路。
A crude effigy of a man, formed of sticks and twine, lay upon a
fire-blackened dresser. Its body was wrapped in a scrap of cloth torn from
the cloak of the betrayer. She'd pried it from her husband's dead grasp.
Alongside it was a hammer and three rusted nails.
一具烧黑的衣柜上躺着一只以树枝和麻线制成的简陋人偶。它的身体包覆著一片从
背约者斗篷上撕下来的布料。那是从她死去丈夫的拳头中拔出来的。在它一旁还有把铁
锤和三枚生锈的钉子。
She gathered everything up and moved to the threshold. The door itself was
gone, smashed to splinters in the attack. Beyond, lit by moonlight, lay the
empty, darkened fields.
她收起它们并走向门口。门不见了，在攻击时就被打碎了。在门槛外，月光照亮空
荡的漆黑原野。
Reaching up, the sword-wife pressed the stick-effigy to the hardwood lintel.
女剑士抬起手，将人偶压在硬木门框上。
"I invoke thee, Lady of Vengeance," she said, her voice low, trembling with
the depth of her fury. "From beyond the veil, hear my plea. Come forth. Let
justice be done."
“我呼唤祢，复仇之女，”她的声音低沉，因无比愤怒而颤抖，“在亡者之境，倾
听我的祈求。前来吧，让正义伸张。”
She readied her hammer and the first of the nails.
她拿起铁槌和第一枚钉子。
"I name my betrayer once," she said, and spoke his name aloud. As she did so,
she placed the tip of the first nail to the chest of the stick-figure. With a
single strike, she hammered it in deep, pinning it to the hardwood door frame.
“诉以背叛我人之名。”她说，并大声讲出他的名字。同时，她把第一枚钉子的尖
端放上人偶的胸口。她一下就把它深深锤入，钉在硬木门框上。
The sword-wife shivered. The room had become markedly colder. Or had she
imagined it?
女剑士发抖。屋里突然明显地变冷了。还是只是她的错觉？
"I name him twice," she said, and she did so, hammering the second nail
alongside the first.
“再诉以背叛我人之名。”她道，并再将第二枚钉子刺在前一枚的旁边。
Her gaze dropped, and she jolted in shock. A dark figure stood out in the
moonlit field, a hundred yards in the distance. It was utterly motionless.
Breathing quicker, the sword-wife returned her attention to the unfinished
task.
她低下头，然后吓得打颤。一道黑影站在月光下的原野，不过一百码之外。它完全
没有任何动静。女剑士急促地呼吸，将注意力转回未完成的工作上。
"I name him thrice," she said, speaking again the name of the murderer of her
husband and children, before hammering home the final nail.
“三诉以背叛我人之名。”她讲完，又说出谋杀了她丈夫和孩子的人的名字，再把
最后一枚钉子深深锤入。
An ancient spirit of vengeance stood before her, filling the doorway, and the
sword-wife staggered back, gasping involuntarily.
一位上古的复仇之灵站在她面前，填满了门口。女剑士踉踉跄跄地后退，不禁倒抽
了一口气。
The otherworldly being was clad in archaic armor, her flesh translucent and
glowing with spectral un-light. Black Mist coiled around her like a living
shroud.
来自他世的存在包覆著古老的铠甲，她的身体透明，发出幽灵般的无光。黑雾在她
身边缠绕，宛如一件活生生的寿衣。
With a squeal of tortured metal, the spectral figure drew forth the blackened
spear protruding from her breastplate — the ancient weapon that had ended
her life.
幽灵将她胸甲前突出的黑矛──曾经终结她生命的武器──拔出来，发出尖锐的金
属声响。
She threw it to the ground before the sword-wife. No words were spoken; there
was no need. The sword-wife knew what was being offered to her — vengeance —
and knew its terrible cost: her soul.
她将它丢在女剑士面前。没有言语，亦不需言语。女剑士明白在她面前的是什么──
复仇──，也明白其可怕的代价：她的灵魂。
The spirit watched on, her face impassive and her eyes burning with an
unrelenting cold fury, as the sword-wife picked up the treacherous weapon.
圣灵继续看着，神情冷漠，双眼熊燃著无情而冰冷的怒火，而女剑士捡起了那危险的
武器。
* 注：treacherous 同时可做“背信弃义的”之意
"I pledge myself to vengeance," said the sword-wife, her voice quivering. She
reversed the spear, aiming the tip inward, towards her heart. "I pledge it
with my blood. I pledge it with my soul."
“我将自身许予复仇，”女剑士说，声音颤抖。她反转过矛，将矛头指向自己，指向
自己的心脏，“以我的鲜血相许。以我的灵魂相许。”
She paused. Her husband would have pleaded for her to turn away from this
path. He would have begged her not to condemn her soul with this course of
action. A moment of doubt gnawed at her. The undying specter watched on.
她停下来。她的丈夫会希望她回头的。他会乞求她不要如此折磨自己的灵魂。一瞬的
疑惑折磨着她。不死的幽魂依然观望。
The sword-wife's eyes narrowed as she thought of her husband lying dead, cut
down by swords and axes. She thought again of her children, sprawled upon the
ground, and her resolve hardened like a cold stone in her heart. Her grip
tightened upon the spear.
女剑士想起死于刀剑与斧头之下的丈夫，双眼瞇起。她又想起横尸于地的孩子，她的
决心如冰冷的岩石般坚定起来。她的双拳紧握矛身。
"Help me," she implored, her decision made. "Please, help me kill him."
“帮我，”她哀求，决定已成，“请帮我杀了他。”
She rammed the spear into her chest, driving it in deep.
她将矛猛然刺进胸口，更往深处插入。
The sword-wife's eyes widened and she dropped to her knees. She tried to
speak, but only blood bubbled from her lips.
女剑士双眼圆睁，双膝跪下。她试着说话，但口中吐出的只有鲜血。
The ghostly apparition watched her die, her expression impassive.
幽灵看着她死去，神情冷漠。
As the last of the lifeblood ran from her body, the shade of the sword-wife
climbed to her feet. She looked down at her insubstantial hands in wonder,
then at her own corpse lying dead-eyed in a growing pool of blood upon the
floor. The shade’s expression hardened, and a ghostly sword appeared in her
hand.
当最后一滴鲜血自她身体流尽，女剑士的影子爬起了身。她不明所以地望着自己的
透明双手，然后看见地上，自己的尸体双眼无神地倒在泊泊依然的血池中。影子的表情
变得坚定，一把幻影之剑出现在她的手中。
An ethereal tether, little more than a wisp of light, linked the newly formed
shade to the avenging spirit she had summoned. Through their bond, the
sword-wife saw her differently, glimpsing the noble warrior she had been in
life: tall and proud, her armor gleaming. Her posture was confident, yet
without arrogance; a born leader, a born soldier. This was a commander that
the sword-wife would have willingly bled for.
一道比丝缕光线更细微的空灵锁链将这道新生的影子和她所召唤出的复仇圣灵相连
起来。透过她们之间的连结，女剑士看见了不同的她，生前曾是一位崇尊的战士──高
大而自豪，铠甲烁烁发光。她姿态自信，却不显傲慢；一位天生的领导者，一位天生的
士兵。她会是位女剑士愿意为其洒热血的指挥官。
Behind the spirit's anger, she sensed her empathy — recognition of their
shared pain of betrayal.
在灵魂的愤怒深处，她注意到了她的同情──对她们由于背叛而生的共有痛苦的承
认。
"Your cause is our cause," said Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance. Her voice
was grave cold. "We walk the path of vengeance as one, now."
“妳的愿望就是我们的愿望。”“复仇之矛”克黎思妲说。她的声音冰冷至极。“
现在，我们一同踏上复仇之路。”
The sword-wife nodded.
女剑士点头。
With that, the avenging spirit and the shade of the sword-wife stepped into
the darkness and were gone.
于是，复仇圣灵和女剑士的影子踏入黑暗，再无踪影。