"Gone?" Ingtar demanded of the air. "And my guards saw nothing. Nothing! They cannot just be gone!"
Listening, Perrin hunched2 his shoulders and looked at Mat, who stood a little way off frowning and muttering to himself. Arguing with himself was how Perrin saw it. The sun was peeking3 over the horizon, past time for them to have been riding. Shadows lay long across the hollow, stretched out and thinned, but still like the trees that made them. The packhorses, loaded and on their lead line, stamped impatiently, but everyone stood by his mount and waited.
Uno came striding up. "Not a goat-kissing track, my Lord." He sounded offended; failure touched on his skill. "Burn me, not so much as a flaming hoof4 scrape. They just bloody5 vanished."
"Three men and three horses do not just vanish," Ingtar growled6. "Go over the ground again, Uno. If anyone can find where they went, it's you."
"Maybe they just ran away," Mat said. Uno stopped and glared at him. Like he'd cursed an Aes Sedai, Perrin thought wonderingly.
"Why would they run away?" Ingtar's voice was dangerously soft. "Rand, the Builder, my sniffer - my sniffer! - why would any of them run, much less all three?"
Mat shrugged7. "I don't know. Rand was . . . ." Perrin wanted to throw something at him, hit him, anything to stop him, but Ingtar and Uno were watching. He felt a flood of relief when Mat hesitated, then spread his hands and muttered, "I don't know why. I just thought maybe they had."
Ingtar grimaced8. "Ran away," he growled as if he did not believe it for an instant. "The Builder can go as he will, but Hurin would not run away. And neither would Rand al'Thor. He would not; he knows his duty, now. Go on, Uno. Search the ground again." Uno gave a half bow and hurried away, sword hilt bobbing over his shoulder. Ingtar grumbled10, "Why would Hurin leave like that, in the middle of the night, without a word? He knows what we're about. How am I to track this Shadow-spawned filth11 without him? I would give a thousand gold crowns for a pack of trail hounds. If I did not know better, I would say the Darkfriends managed this so they can slip east or west without me knowing. Peace, I don't know if I do know better." He stumped12 off after Uno.
Perrin shifted uneasily. The Darkfriends were doubtless getting further away with every minute. Getting further away, and with them the Horn of Valere-and the dagger13 from Shadar Logoth. He did not think that Rand, whatever he had become, whatever had happened to him, would abandon that chase. But where did he go, and why? Loial might go with Rand for friendship - but why Hurin?
"Maybe he did run away," he muttered, then looked around. No one appeared to have heard; even Mat was not paying him any mind. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. If Aes Sedai had been after him to be a false Dragon, he would have run, too. But worrying about Rand was doing nothing to help track the Darkfriends.
There was a way, perhaps, if he was willing to take it. He did not want to take it. He had been running away from it, but perhaps, now, he could no longer run. Serves me right for what I told Rand. I wish I could run. Even knowing what he could do to help - what he had to do - he hesitated.
No one was looking at him. No one would know what they were seeing even if they did look. Finally, reluctantly, he closed his eyes and let himself drift, let his thoughts drift, out, away from him.
He had tried denying it from the first, long before his eyes began to change from dark brown to burnished14 golden yellow. At that first meeting, that first instant of recognition, he had refused to believe, and he had run from the recognition ever since. He still wanted to run.
His thoughts drifted, feeling for what must be out there, what was always out there in country where men were few or far between, feeling for his brothers. He did not like to think of them that way, but they were.
In the beginning he had been afraid that what he did had some taint15 of the Dark One, or of the One Power - equally bad for a man who wanted nothing more than to be a blacksmith and live his life in the Light, and in peace. From that time, he knew something of how Rand felt, afraid of himself, feeling unclean. He was still not past that entirely16. This thing he did was older than humans using the One Power, though, something from the birth of Time. Not the Power, Moiraine had told him. Something long vanished, now come again. Egwene knew, too, though he wished she did not. He wished no one did. He hoped she had not told anyone.
Contact. He felt them, felt other minds. Felt his brothers, the wolves.
Their thoughts came to him as a whirlpool blend of images and emotions. At first he had not been able to make out anything except the raw emotion, but now his mind put words to them. Wolfbrother. Surprise. Two-legs that talks. A faded image, dim with time, old beyond old, of men running with wolves, two packs hunting together. We have heard this comes again. You are Long Tooth?
It was a faint picture of a man dressed in clothes made of hides, with a long knife in his hand, but overlaid on the image, more central, was a shaggy wolf with one tooth longer than the rest, a steel tooth gleaming in the sunlight as the wolf led the pack in a desperate charge through deep snow toward the deer that would mean life instead of slow death by starvation, and the deer thrashing to run in powder to their bellies17, and the sun glinting on the white until it hurt the eyes, and the wind howling down the passes, swirling18 the fine snow like mist, and . . . . Wolves' names were always complex images.
Perrin recognized the man. Elyas Machera, who had first introduced him to wolves. Sometimes he wished he had never met Elyas.
No, he thought, and tried to picture himself in his mind.
Yes. We have heard of you.
It was not the image he had made, a young man with heavy shoulders and shaggy, brown curls, a young man with an axe19 at his belt, who others thought moved and thought slowly. That man was there, somewhere in the mind picture that came from the wolves, but stronger by far was a massive, wild bull with curved horns of shining metal, running through the night with the speed and exuberance20 of youth, curly-haired coat gleaming in the moonlight, flinging himself in among Whitecloaks on their horses, with the air crisp and cold and dark, and blood so red on the horns, and . . . .
Young Bull.
For a moment Perrin lost the contact in his shock. He had not dreamed they had given him a name. He wished he could not remember how he had earned it. He touched the axe at his belt, with its gleaming, half-moon blade. Light help me, I killed two men. They would have killed me even quicker, and Egwene, hut . . . .
Pushing all that aside - it was done and behind him; he had no wish to remember any of it - he gave the wolves the smell of Rand, of Loial and Hurin, and asked if they had scented21 the three. It was one of the things that had come to him with the change in his eyes; he could identify people by their smell even when he could not see them. He could see more sharply, too, see in anything but pitch-darkness. He was always careful to light lamps or candles, now, sometimes before anyone else thought they were needed.
From the wolves came a view of men on horses approaching the hollow in late day. That was the last they had seen or smelled of Rand or the other two.
Perrin hesitated. The next step would be useless unless he told Ingtar.
And Mat will die if we don't find that dagger. Burn you, Rand, why did you take the sniffer?
The one time he had gone to the dungeon23, with Egwene, the smell of Fain had made his hair stand on end; not even Trollocs smelled so foul24. He had wanted to rip through the bars of the cell and tear the man apart, and finding that inside himself had frightened him more than Fain did. To mask Fain's smell in his own mind, he added the scent22 of Trollocs before he howled aloud.
From the distance came the cries of a wolfpack, and in the hollow horses stamped and whickered fearfully. Some of the soldiers fingered their longbladed lances and eyed the rim9 of the hollow uneasily. Inside Perrin's head, it was much worse. He felt the rage of the wolves, the hate. There were only two things wolves hated. All else they merely endured, but fire and Trollocs they hated, and they would go through fire to kill Trollocs.
Even more than the Trollocs, Fain's scent had put them into a frenzy25, as if they smelled something that made Trollocs seem natural and right.
Where?
The sky rolled in his head; the land spun26. East and west, wolves did not know. They knew the movements of sun and moon, the shift of seasons, the contours of the land. Perrin puzzled it out. South. And something more. An eagerness to kill the Trollocs. The wolves would let Young Bull share in the killing27. He could bring the two-legs with their hard skins if he wanted, but Young Bull, and Smoke, and Two Deer, and Winter Dawn, and all the rest of the pack would hunt down the Twisted Ones who had dared come into their land. The inedible28 flesh and bitter blood would burn the tongue, but they must be killed. Kill them. Kill the Twisted Ones.
Their fury infected him. His lips peeled back in a snarl29, and he took a step, to join them, run with them in the hunt, in the killing.
With an effort he broke the contact except for a thin sense that the wolves were there. He could have pointed30 to them across the intervening distance. He felt cold inside. I'm a man, not a wolf. Light help me, I am a man!
"Are you well, Perrin?" Mat said, moving closer. He sounded the way he always did, flippant - and bitter under it, too, of late - but he looked worried. "That is all I need. Rand run off, and then you get sick. I don't know where I'll find a Wisdom to look after you out here. I think I have some willowbark in my saddlebags. I can make you some willowbark tea, if Ingtar lets us stay that long. Serve you right if I make it too strong."
"I . . . I'm all right, Mat." Shaking off his friend, he went to find Ingtar. The Shienaran lord was scanning the ground on the rim with Uno, and Ragan, and Masema. The others frowned at him as he drew Ingtar aside. He made sure Uno and the rest were too far away to hear before he spoke31. "I don't know where Rand or the others went, Ingtar, but Padan Fain and the Trollocs - and I guess the rest of the Darkfriends - are still heading south."
"How do you know this?" Ingtar said.
Perrin drew a deep breath. "Wolves told me." He waited, for what he was not sure. Laughter, scorn, an accusation32 of being a Darkfriend, of being mad. Deliberately33, he tucked his thumbs behind his belt, away from the axe. I will not kill. Not again. If he tries to kill me for a Darkfriend, I'II run, but I won't kill anybody else.
"I have heard of things like this," Ingtar said slowly, after a moment. "Rumors34. There was a Warder, a man called Elyas Machera, who some said could talk to wolves. He disappeared years ago." He seemed to catch something in Perrin's eyes. "You know him?"
"I know him," Perrin said flatly. "He's the one . . . . I don't want to talk about it. I didn't ask for it." That's what Rand said. Light, I wish I were home working Master Luhhan's forge.
"These wolves," Ingtar said, "they will track the Darkfriends and Trollocs for us?" Perrin nodded. "Good. I will have the Horn, whatever it takes." The Shienaran glanced around at Uno and the others still searching for tracks. "Better not to tell anyone else, though. Wolves are considered good luck in the Borderlands. Trollocs fear them. But still, better to keep this between us for the time. Some of them might not understand."
"I would as soon nobody else ever found out," Perrin said.
"I will tell them you think you have Hurin's talent. They know about that; they're easy with it. Some of them saw you wrinkling your nose back in that village, and at the ferry. I've heard jokes about your delicate nose. Yes. You keep us on the trail today, Uno will see enough of their tracks to confirm it is the trail, and before nightfall every last man will be sure you are a sniffer. I will have the Horn." He glanced at the sky, and raised his voice. "Daylight is wasting! To horse!"
To Perrin's surprise, the Shienarans seemed to accept Ingtar's story. A few of them looked skeptical35 - Masema went so far as to spit - but Uno nodded thoughtfully, and that was enough for most. Mat was the hardest to convince.
"A sniffer! You? You're going to track murderers by smell? Perrin, you are as crazy as Rand. I am the only sane36 one left from Emond's Field, with Egwene and Nynaeve trotting38 off to Tar1 Valon to become - " He cut himself short with an uneasy glance for the Shienarans.
Perrin took Hurin's place beside Ingtar as the small column rode south. Mat kept up a string of disparaging39 remarks, until Uno found the first tracks left by Trollocs and by men on horses, but Perrin paid him little mind. It was all he could do to keep the wolves from dashing on ahead to kill the Trollocs. The wolves cared only about killing the Twisted Ones; to them, Darkfriends were no different from any other two-legs. Perrin could almost see the Darkfriends scattering40 in a dozen directions while the wolves slew41 Trollocs, running away with the Horn of Valere. Running away with the dagger. And once the Trollocs were dead, he did not think he could interest the wolves in tracking the humans even if he had any idea which of them to track. He had a running argument with them, and sweat covered his forehead long before he got the first flash of images that turned his stomach.
He drew rein42, stopping his horse dead. The others did the same, looking at him, waiting. He stared straight ahead and cursed softly, bitterly.
Wolves would kill men, but men were not a preferred prey43. Wolves remembered the old hunting together, for one thing, and two-legs tasted bad, for another. Wolves were more particular about their food than he would have believed. They would not eat carrion44, unless they were starving, and few would kill more than they could eat. What Perrin felt from the wolves could best be described as disgust. And there were the images. He could see them much more clearly than he wished. Bodies, men and women and children, heaped and tumbled about. Blood-soaked earth churned by hooves and frenzied45 attempts to escape. Torn flesh. Heads severed46. Vultures flapping, their white wings stained red; bloody, featherless heads tearing and gorging47. He broke loose before his stomach emptied itself.
Above some trees in the far distance he could just make out black specks49 whirling low, dropping then rising again. Vultures fighting over their meal.
"There's something bad up there." He swallowed, meeting Ingtar's gaze.
How could he fit telling them into the story of being a sniffer? I don't want to get close enough to look at that. But they'll want to investigate once they can see the vultures. I have to tell them enough so they'll circle around. "The people from that village . . . . I think the Trollocs killed them."
Uno began cursing quietly, and some of the other Shienarans muttered to themselves. None of them seemed to take his announcement as odd, though. Lord Ingtar said he was a sniffer, and sniffers could smell killing.
"And there is someone following us," Ingtar said.
Mat turned his horse eagerly. "Maybe it's Rand. I knew he wouldn't run out on me."
Thin, scattered50 puffs51 of dust rose to the north; a horse was running across patches where the grass grew thin. The Shienarans spread out, lances ready, watching in all directions. It was no place to be casual about a stranger.
A speck48 appeared - a horse and rider; a woman, to Perrin's eyes, long before anyone else could discern the rider - and quickly drew closer. She slowed to a trot37 as she came up on them, fanning herself with one hand. A plump, graying woman, with her cloak tied behind her saddle, who blinked at them all vaguely52.
"That's one of the Aes Sedai," Mat said disappointedly. "I recognize her. Verin. "
"Verin Sedai," Ingtar said sharply, then bowed to her from his saddle.
"Moiraine Sedai sent me, Lord Ingtar," Verin announced with a satisfied smile. "She thought you might need me. Such a gallop53 I've had. I thought I might not catch you short of Cairhien. You saw that village, of course? Oh, that was very nasty, wasn't it? And that Myrddraal. There were ravens54 and crows all over the rooftops, but never a one went near it, dead as it was. I had to wave away the Dark One's own weight in flies, though, before I could make out what it was. A shame I did not have time to take it down. I've never had a chance to study a-" Suddenly her eyes narrowed, and the absent manner vanished like smoke. "Where is Rand al'Thor?"
Ingtar grimaced. "Gone, Verin Sedai. Vanished last night, without a trace. Him, the Ogier, and Hurin, one of my men."
"The Ogier, Lord Ingtar? And your sniffer went with him? What would those two have in common with . . . ?" Ingtar gaped55 at her, and she snorted. "Did you think you could keep something like that secret?" She snorted again. "Sniffers. Vanished, you say?"
"Yes, Verin Sedai." Ingtar sounded unsettled. It was never easy discovering Aes Sedai knew the secrets you were trying to keep from them; Perrin hoped Moiraine had not told anyone about him. "But I have - I have a new sniffer." The Shienaran Lord gestured to Perrin. "This man seems to have the ability, also. I will find the Horn of Valere, as I swore to, have no fear. Your company will be welcome, Aes Sedai, if you wish to ride with us." To Perrin's surprise, he did not sound as if he entirely meant it.
Verin glanced at Perrin, and he shifted uneasily. "A new sniffer, just when you lose your old one. How . . . . providential. You found no tracks? No, of course not. You said no trace. Odd. Last night." She twisted in her saddle, looking back north, and for a moment Perrin almost thought she was going to ride back the way she had come.
Ingtar frowned at her. "You think their disappearance56 has something to do with the Horn, Aes Sedai?"
Verin settled back. "The Horn? No. No, I . . . think not. But it is odd. Very odd. I do not like odd things until I can understand them."
"I can have two men escort you back to where they disappeared, Verin Sedai. They will have no trouble taking you right to it."
"No. If you say they vanished without a trace . . . ." For a long moment she studied Ingtar, her face unreadable. "I will ride with you. Perhaps we will find them again, or they will find us. Talk to me as we ride, Lord Ingtar. Tell me everything you can about the young man. Everything he did, everything he said."
They started off in a jingle57 of harness and armor, Verin riding close beside Ingtar and questioning him closely, but too low to be overheard. She gave Perrin a look when he tried to maintain his place, and he fell back.
"It's Rand she's after," Mat murmured, "not the Horn."
Perrin nodded. Wherever you've gotten to, Rand, stay there. It's safer than here.
收听单词发音 |
1
tar
|
|
| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
hunched
|
|
| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
peeking
|
|
| v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
hoof
|
|
| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
grimaced
|
|
| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
filth
|
|
| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
stumped
|
|
| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
dagger
|
|
| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
burnished
|
|
| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
taint
|
|
| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
bellies
|
|
| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
swirling
|
|
| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
exuberance
|
|
| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
scented
|
|
| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dungeon
|
|
| n.地牢，土牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
frenzy
|
|
| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
inedible
|
|
| adj.不能吃的，不宜食用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
rumors
|
|
| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
skeptical
|
|
| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
trot
|
|
| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
trotting
|
|
| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
disparaging
|
|
| adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
scattering
|
|
| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
slew
|
|
| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rein
|
|
| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
prey
|
|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
carrion
|
|
| n.腐肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
frenzied
|
|
| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
severed
|
|
| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
gorging
|
|
| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
speck
|
|
| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
specks
|
|
| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
puffs
|
|
| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
ravens
|
|
| n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
gaped
|
|
| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
jingle
|
|
| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |