At length Tars Tarkas laughed softly, after the manner of his strange kind when in the presence of the horrible or terrifying. It is not an hysterical3 laugh, but rather the genuine expression of the pleasure they derive4 from the things that move Earth men to loathing5 or to tears.
Often and again have I seen them roll upon the ground in mad fits of uncontrollable mirth when witnessing the death agonies of women and little children beneath the torture of that hellish green Martian fete—the Great Games.
I looked up at the Thark, a smile upon my own lips, for here in truth was greater need for a smiling face than a trembling chin.
"What do you make of it all?" I asked. "Where in the deuce are we?"
He looked at me in surprise.
"Where are we?" he repeated. "Do you tell me, John Carter, that you know not where you be?"
"That I am upon Barsoom is all that I can guess, and but for you and the great white apes I should not even guess that, for the sights I have seen this day are as unlike the things of my beloved Barsoom as I knew it ten long years ago as they are unlike the world of my birth.
"No, Tars Tarkas, I know not where we be."
"Where have you been since you opened the mighty6 portals of the atmosphere plant years ago, after the keeper had died and the engines stopped and all Barsoom was dying, that had not already died, of asphyxiation7? Your body even was never found, though the men of a whole world sought after it for years, though the Jeddak of Helium and his granddaughter, your princess, offered such fabulous8 rewards that even princes of royal blood joined in the search.
"There was but one conclusion to reach when all efforts to locate you had failed, and that, that you had taken the long, last pilgrimage down the mysterious River Iss, to await in the Valley Dor upon the shores of the Lost Sea of Korus the beautiful Dejah Thoris, your princess.
"Why you had gone none could guess, for your princess still lived—"
"Thank God," I interrupted him. "I did not dare to ask you, for I feared I might have been too late to save her—she was very low when I left her in the royal gardens of Tardos Mors that long-gone night; so very low that I scarcely hoped even then to reach the atmosphere plant ere her dear spirit had fled from me for ever. And she lives yet?"
"She lives, John Carter."
"You have not told me where we are," I reminded him.
"We are where I expected to find you, John Carter—and another. Many years ago you heard the story of the woman who taught me the thing that green Martians are reared to hate, the woman who taught me to love. You know the cruel tortures and the awful death her love won for her at the hands of the beast, Tal Hajus.
"She, I thought, awaited me by the Lost Sea of Korus.
"You know that it was left for a man from another world, for yourself, John Carter, to teach this cruel Thark what friendship is; and you, I thought, also roamed the care-free Valley Dor.
"Thus were the two I most longed for at the end of the long pilgrimage I must take some day, and so as the time had elapsed which Dejah Thoris had hoped might bring you once more to her side, for she has always tried to believe that you had but temporarily returned to your own planet, I at last gave way to my great yearning9 and a month since I started upon the journey, the end of which you have this day witnessed. Do you understand now where you be, John Carter?"
"And that was the River Iss, emptying into the Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor?" I asked.
"This is the valley of love and peace and rest to which every Barsoomian since time immemorial has longed to pilgrimage at the end of a life of hate and strife10 and bloodshed," he replied. "This, John Carter, is Heaven."
His tone was cold and ironical11; its bitterness but reflecting the terrible disappointment he had suffered. Such a fearful disillusionment, such a blasting of life-long hopes and aspirations12, such an uprooting13 of age-old tradition might have excused a vastly greater demonstration14 on the part of the Thark.
I laid my hand upon his shoulder.
"I am sorry," I said, nor did there seem aught else to say.
"Think, John Carter, of the countless15 billions of Barsoomians who have taken the voluntary pilgrimage down this cruel river since the beginning of time, only to fall into the ferocious16 clutches of the terrible creatures that to-day assailed17 us.
"There is an ancient legend that once a red man returned from the banks of the Lost Sea of Korus, returned from the Valley Dor, back through the mysterious River Iss, and the legend has it that he narrated18 a fearful blasphemy19 of horrid20 brutes21 that inhabited a valley of wondrous22 loveliness, brutes that pounced23 upon each Barsoomian as he terminated his pilgrimage and devoured24 him upon the banks of the Lost Sea where he had looked to find love and peace and happiness; but the ancients killed the blasphemer, as tradition has ordained25 that any shall be killed who return from the bosom26 of the River of Mystery.
"But now we know that it was no blasphemy, that the legend is a true one, and that the man told only of what he saw; but what does it profit us, John Carter, since even should we escape, we also would be treated as blasphemers? We are between the wild thoat of certainty and the mad zitidar of fact—we can escape neither."
"As Earth men say, we are between the devil and the deep sea, Tars Tarkas," I replied, nor could I help but smile at our dilemma27.
"There is naught28 that we can do but take things as they come, and at least have the satisfaction of knowing that whoever slays29 us eventually will have far greater numbers of their own dead to count than they will get in return. White ape or plant man, green Barsoomian or red man, whosoever it shall be that takes the last toll30 from us will know that it is costly31 in lives to wipe out John Carter, Prince of the House of Tardos Mors, and Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, at the same time."
I could not help but laugh at his grim humour, and he joined in with me in one of those rare laughs of real enjoyment32 which was one of the attributes of this fierce Tharkian chief which marked him from the others of his kind.
"But about yourself, John Carter," he cried at last. "If you have not been here all these years where indeed have you been, and how is it that I find you here to-day?"
"I have been back to Earth," I replied. "For ten long Earth years I have been praying and hoping for the day that would carry me once more to this grim old planet of yours, for which, with all its cruel and terrible customs, I feel a bond of sympathy and love even greater than for the world that gave me birth.
"For ten years have I been enduring a living death of uncertainty33 and doubt as to whether Dejah Thoris lived, and now that for the first time in all these years my prayers have been answered and my doubt relieved I find myself, through a cruel whim34 of fate, hurled35 into the one tiny spot of all Barsoom from which there is apparently36 no escape, and if there were, at a price which would put out for ever the last flickering37 hope which I may cling to of seeing my princess again in this life—and you have seen to-day with what pitiful futility38 man yearns39 toward a material hereafter.
"Only a bare half-hour before I saw you battling with the plant men I was standing40 in the moonlight upon the banks of a broad river that taps the eastern shore of Earth's most blessed land. I have answered you, my friend. Do you believe?"
"I believe," replied Tars Tarkas, "though I cannot understand."
As we talked I had been searching the interior of the chamber41 with my eyes. It was, perhaps, two hundred feet in length and half as broad, with what appeared to be a doorway42 in the centre of the wall directly opposite that through which we had entered.
The apartment was hewn from the material of the cliff, showing mostly dull gold in the dim light which a single minute radium illuminator43 in the centre of the roof diffused44 throughout its great dimensions. Here and there polished surfaces of ruby45, emerald, and diamond patched the golden walls and ceiling. The floor was of another material, very hard, and worn by much use to the smoothness of glass. Aside from the two doors I could discern no sign of other aperture46, and as one we knew to be locked against us I approached the other.
As I extended my hand to search for the controlling button, that cruel and mocking laugh rang out once more, so close to me this time that I involuntarily shrank back, tightening47 my grip upon the hilt of my great sword.
And then from the far corner of the great chamber a hollow voice chanted: "There is no hope, there is no hope; the dead return not, the dead return not; nor is there any resurrection. Hope not, for there is no hope."
Though our eyes instantly turned toward the spot from which the voice seemed to emanate48, there was no one in sight, and I must admit that cold shivers played along my spine49 and the short hairs at the base of my head stiffened50 and rose up, as do those upon a hound's neck when in the night his eyes see those uncanny things which are hidden from the sight of man.
Quickly I walked toward the mournful voice, but it had ceased ere I reached the further wall, and then from the other end of the chamber came another voice, shrill51 and piercing:
"Fools! Fools!" it shrieked53. "Thinkest thou to defeat the eternal laws of life and death? Wouldst cheat the mysterious Issus, Goddess of Death, of her just dues? Did not her mighty messenger, the ancient Iss, bear you upon her leaden bosom at your own behest to the Valley Dor?
"Thinkest thou, O fools, that Issus wilt54 give up her own? Thinkest thou to escape from whence in all the countless ages but a single soul has fled?
"Go back the way thou camest, to the merciful maws of the children of the Tree of Life or the gleaming fangs55 of the great white apes, for there lies speedy surcease from suffering; but insist in your rash purpose to thread the mazes56 of the Golden Cliffs of the Mountains of Otz, past the ramparts of the impregnable fortresses57 of the Holy Therns, and upon your way Death in its most frightful58 form will overtake you—a death so horrible that even the Holy Therns themselves, who conceived both Life and Death, avert59 their eyes from its fiendishness and close their ears against the hideous60 shrieks61 of its victims.
"Go back, O fools, the way thou camest."
And then the awful laugh broke out from another part of the chamber.
"Most uncanny," I remarked, turning to Tars Tarkas.
"What shall we do?" he asked. "We cannot fight empty air; I would almost sooner return and face foes63 into whose flesh I may feel my blade bite and know that I am selling my carcass dearly before I go down to that eternal oblivion which is evidently the fairest and most desirable eternity64 that mortal man has the right to hope for."
"If, as you say, we cannot fight empty air, Tars Tarkas," I replied, "neither, on the other hand, can empty air fight us. I, who have faced and conquered in my time thousands of sinewy65 warriors66 and tempered blades, shall not be turned back by wind; nor no more shall you, Thark."
"But unseen voices may emanate from unseen and unseeable creatures who wield68 invisible blades," answered the green warrior67.
"Rot, Tars Tarkas," I cried, "those voices come from beings as real as you or as I. In their veins69 flows lifeblood that may be let as easily as ours, and the fact that they remain invisible to us is the best proof to my mind that they are mortal; nor overly courageous70 mortals at that. Think you, Tars Tarkas, that John Carter will fly at the first shriek52 of a cowardly foe62 who dare not come out into the open and face a good blade?"
I had spoken in a loud voice that there might be no question that our would-be terrorizers should hear me, for I was tiring of this nerve-racking fiasco. It had occurred to me, too, that the whole business was but a plan to frighten us back into the valley of death from which we had escaped, that we might be quickly disposed of by the savage72 creatures there.
For a long period there was silence, then of a sudden a soft, stealthy sound behind me caused me to turn suddenly to behold73 a great many-legged banth creeping sinuously74 upon me.
The banth is a fierce beast of prey75 that roams the low hills surrounding the dead seas of ancient Mars. Like nearly all Martian animals it is almost hairless, having only a great bristly mane about its thick neck.
Its long, lithe76 body is supported by ten powerful legs, its enormous jaws77 are equipped, like those of the calot, or Martian hound, with several rows of long needle-like fangs; its mouth reaches to a point far back of its tiny ears, while its enormous, protruding78 eyes of green add the last touch of terror to its awful aspect.
As it crept toward me it lashed79 its powerful tail against its yellow sides, and when it saw that it was discovered it emitted the terrifying roar which often freezes its prey into momentary80 paralysis81 in the instant that it makes its spring.
And so it launched its great bulk toward me, but its mighty voice had held no paralysing terrors for me, and it met cold steel instead of the tender flesh its cruel jaws gaped82 so widely to engulf83.
An instant later I drew my blade from the still heart of this great Barsoomian lion, and turning toward Tars Tarkas was surprised to see him facing a similar monster.
No sooner had he dispatched his than I, turning, as though drawn84 by the instinct of my guardian85 subconscious86 mind, beheld87 another of the savage denizens88 of the Martian wilds leaping across the chamber toward me.
From then on for the better part of an hour one hideous creature after another was launched upon us, springing apparently from the empty air about us.
Tars Tarkas was satisfied; here was something tangible89 that he could cut and slash90 with his great blade, while I, for my part, may say that the diversion was a marked improvement over the uncanny voices from unseen lips.
That there was nothing supernatural about our new foes was well evidenced by their howls of rage and pain as they felt the sharp steel at their vitals, and the very real blood which flowed from their severed91 arteries92 as they died the real death.
I noticed during the period of this new persecution93 that the beasts appeared only when our backs were turned; we never saw one really materialize from thin air, nor did I for an instant sufficiently94 lose my excellent reasoning faculties95 to be once deluded96 into the belief that the beasts came into the room other than through some concealed97 and well-contrived doorway.
Among the ornaments98 of Tars Tarkas' leather harness, which is the only manner of clothing worn by Martians other than silk capes99 and robes of silk and fur for protection from the cold after dark, was a small mirror, about the bigness of a lady's hand glass, which hung midway between his shoulders and his waist against his broad back.
Once as he stood looking down at a newly fallen antagonist100 my eyes happened to fall upon this mirror and in its shiny surface I saw pictured a sight that caused me to whisper:
"Move not, Tars Tarkas! Move not a muscle!"
He did not ask why, but stood like a graven image while my eyes watched the strange thing that meant so much to us.
What I saw was the quick movement of a section of the wall behind me. It was turning upon pivots101, and with it a section of the floor directly in front of it was turning. It was as though you placed a visiting-card upon end on a silver dollar that you had laid flat upon a table, so that the edge of the card perfectly102 bisected the surface of the coin.
The card might represent the section of the wall that turned and the silver dollar the section of the floor. Both were so nicely fitted into the adjacent portions of the floor and wall that no crack had been noticeable in the dim light of the chamber.
As the turn was half completed a great beast was revealed sitting upon its haunches upon that part of the revolving103 floor that had been on the opposite side before the wall commenced to move; when the section stopped, the beast was facing toward me on our side of the partition—it was very simple.
But what had interested me most was the sight that the half-turned section had presented through the opening that it had made. A great chamber, well lighted, in which were several men and women chained to the wall, and in front of them, evidently directing and operating the movement of the secret doorway, a wicked-faced man, neither red as are the red men of Mars, nor green as are the green men, but white, like myself, with a great mass of flowing yellow hair.
The prisoners behind him were red Martians. Chained with them were a number of fierce beasts, such as had been turned upon us, and others equally as ferocious.
As I turned to meet my new foe it was with a heart considerably104 lightened.
"Watch the wall at your end of the chamber, Tars Tarkas," I cautioned, "it is through secret doorways105 in the wall that the brutes are loosed upon us." I was very close to him and spoke71 in a low whisper that my knowledge of their secret might not be disclosed to our tormentors.
As long as we remained each facing an opposite end of the apartment no further attacks were made upon us, so it was quite clear to me that the partitions were in some way pierced that our actions might be observed from without.
At length a plan of action occurred to me, and backing quite close to Tars Tarkas I unfolded my scheme in a low whisper, keeping my eyes still glued upon my end of the room.
The great Thark grunted106 his assent107 to my proposition when I had done, and in accordance with my plan commenced backing toward the wall which I faced while I advanced slowly ahead of him.
When we had reached a point some ten feet from the secret doorway I halted my companion, and cautioning him to remain absolutely motionless until I gave the prearranged signal I quickly turned my back to the door through which I could almost feel the burning and baleful eyes of our would be executioner.
Instantly my own eyes sought the mirror upon Tars Tarkas' back and in another second I was closely watching the section of the wall which had been disgorging its savage terrors upon us.
I had not long to wait, for presently the golden surface commenced to move rapidly. Scarcely had it started than I gave the signal to Tars Tarkas, simultaneously108 springing for the receding109 half of the pivoting110 door. In like manner the Thark wheeled and leaped for the opening being made by the inswinging section.
A single bound carried me completely through into the adjoining room and brought me face to face with the fellow whose cruel face I had seen before. He was about my own height and well muscled and in every outward detail moulded precisely111 as are Earth men.
At his side hung a long-sword, a short-sword, a dagger112, and one of the destructive radium revolvers that are common upon Mars.
The fact that I was armed only with a long-sword, and so according to the laws and ethics113 of battle everywhere upon Barsoom should only have been met with a similar or lesser114 weapon, seemed to have no effect upon the moral sense of my enemy, for he whipped out his revolver ere I scarce had touched the floor by his side, but an uppercut from my long-sword sent it flying from his grasp before he could discharge it.
Instantly he drew his long-sword, and thus evenly armed we set to in earnest for one of the closest battles I ever have fought.
The fellow was a marvellous swordsman and evidently in practice, while I had not gripped the hilt of a sword for ten long years before that morning.
But it did not take me long to fall easily into my fighting stride, so that in a few minutes the man began to realize that he had at last met his match.
His face became livid with rage as he found my guard impregnable, while blood flowed from a dozen minor115 wounds upon his face and body.
"Who are you, white man?" he hissed116. "That you are no Barsoomian from the outer world is evident from your colour. And you are not of us."
His last statement was almost a question.
"What if I were from the Temple of Issus?" I hazarded on a wild guess.
"Fate forfend!" he exclaimed, his face going white under the blood that now nearly covered it.
I did not know how to follow up my lead, but I carefully laid the idea away for future use should circumstances require it. His answer indicated that for all he KNEW I might be from the Temple of Issus and in it were men like unto myself, and either this man feared the inmates117 of the temple or else he held their persons or their power in such reverence118 that he trembled to think of the harm and indignities119 he had heaped upon one of them.
But my present business with him was of a different nature than that which requires any considerable abstract reasoning; it was to get my sword between his ribs120, and this I succeeded in doing within the next few seconds, nor was I an instant too soon.
The chained prisoners had been watching the combat in tense silence; not a sound had fallen in the room other than the clashing of our contending blades, the soft shuffling121 of our naked feet and the few whispered words we had hissed at each other through clenched122 teeth the while we continued our mortal duel123.
But as the body of my antagonist sank an inert124 mass to the floor a cry of warning broke from one of the female prisoners.
"Turn! Turn! Behind you!" she shrieked, and as I wheeled at the first note of her shrill cry I found myself facing a second man of the same race as he who lay at my feet.
The fellow had crept stealthily from a dark corridor and was almost upon me with raised sword ere I saw him. Tars Tarkas was nowhere in sight and the secret panel in the wall, through which I had come, was closed.
How I wished that he were by my side now! I had fought almost continuously for many hours; I had passed through such experiences and adventures as must sap the vitality125 of man, and with all this I had not eaten for nearly twenty-four hours, nor slept.
I was fagged out, and for the first time in years felt a question as to my ability to cope with an antagonist; but there was naught else for it than to engage my man, and that as quickly and ferociously126 as lay in me, for my only salvation127 was to rush him off his feet by the impetuosity of my attack—I could not hope to win a long-drawn-out battle.
But the fellow was evidently of another mind, for he backed and parried and parried and sidestepped until I was almost completely fagged from the exertion128 of attempting to finish him.
He was a more adroit129 swordsman, if possible, than my previous foe, and I must admit that he led me a pretty chase and in the end came near to making a sorry fool of me—and a dead one into the bargain.
I could feel myself growing weaker and weaker, until at length objects commenced to blur130 before my eyes and I staggered and blundered about more asleep than awake, and then it was that he worked his pretty little coup131 that came near to losing me my life.
He had backed me around so that I stood in front of the corpse132 of his fellow, and then he rushed me suddenly so that I was forced back upon it, and as my heel struck it the impetus133 of my body flung me backward across the dead man.
My head struck the hard pavement with a resounding134 whack135, and to that alone I owe my life, for it cleared my brain and the pain roused my temper, so that I was equal for the moment to tearing my enemy to pieces with my bare hands, and I verily believe that I should have attempted it had not my right hand, in the act of raising my body from the ground, come in contact with a bit of cold metal.
As the eyes of the layman136 so is the hand of the fighting man when it comes in contact with an implement137 of his vocation138, and thus I did not need to look or reason to know that the dead man's revolver, lying where it had fallen when I struck it from his grasp, was at my disposal.
The fellow whose ruse139 had put me down was springing toward me, the point of his gleaming blade directed straight at my heart, and as he came there rang from his lips the cruel and mocking peal140 of laughter that I had heard within the Chamber of Mystery.
And so he died, his thin lips curled in the snarl141 of his hateful laugh, and a bullet from the revolver of his dead companion bursting in his heart.
His body, borne by the impetus of his headlong rush, plunged142 upon me. The hilt of his sword must have struck my head, for with the impact of the corpse I lost consciousness.
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1
reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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asphyxiation
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| n. 窒息 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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uprooting
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| n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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brutes
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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slays
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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34
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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35
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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36
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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37
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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38
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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39
yearns
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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41
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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42
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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43
illuminator
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| n.照明者 | |
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44
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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45
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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46
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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47
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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48
emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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49
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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50
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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51
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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52
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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53
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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55
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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56
mazes
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| 迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图 | |
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57
fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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58
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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59
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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60
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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61
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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63
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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64
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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65
sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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66
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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67
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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68
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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69
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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70
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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71
spoke
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| 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 | |
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72
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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73
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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74
sinuously
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| 弯曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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75
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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76
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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77
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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78
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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79
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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80
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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81
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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82
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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83
engulf
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| vt.吞没，吞食 | |
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84
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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85
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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86
subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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87
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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88
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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89
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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90
slash
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| vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩 | |
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91
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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92
arteries
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| n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道 | |
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93
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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94
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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95
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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96
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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98
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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99
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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100
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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101
pivots
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| n.枢( pivot的名词复数 )；最重要的人（或事物）；中心；核心v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的第三人称单数 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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102
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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103
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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104
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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105
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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106
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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107
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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108
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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109
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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110
pivoting
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| n.绕轴旋转，绕公共法线旋转v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的现在分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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111
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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112
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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113
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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114
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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115
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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116
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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117
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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118
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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119
indignities
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| n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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120
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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121
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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122
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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124
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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125
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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126
ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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127
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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128
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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129
adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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130
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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131
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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132
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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133
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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134
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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135
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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136
layman
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| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
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137
implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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138
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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139
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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140
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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141
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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142
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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