The dust blows from my hand towards a far horizon. I watch it turn on the wind. My mind can feel every particle of it, can taste the bone, metal and flesh that it once was. I can hear the dead in the dust’s soft touch. For a second I think I recognise a voice, but then it becomes just the soft rattle of dust against my armour. The sun is setting. The sky is a pyre of molten colour. The wind shivers close to my skin. It has a voice of thirst and whispers. I look down to where the dust has heaped against the charred remnants of a building. This is the place where everything began, and everything ended. I thought I would never return here, but here I stand and wait and watch the dust dancing on the wind and I remember. I am Ahzek Ahriman, exiled son of Magnus the Red, destroyer of my Legion, and I remember.

風吹走了我手中的塵沙，將它們帶往遠方的地平線處。我看著它們在風中飄轉。我的意識能感受到其中的每一粒塵埃，體味出它們曾經的味道——骨骼、鋼鐵與血肉。我能在塵土輕柔的相互碰撞中聽到逝者的低語。有那么一秒，我感覺自己是聽到了某個聲音，但它緊接著就變成了塵埃輕輕撞上我動力甲的聲音。太陽落山了，晚霞將天空映出熔融金屬般的火紅。風緊貼著我的皮膚吹過，它述說著渴望，絮絮地低語著。我低頭看去，見到一座被燒焦的建筑，它的斷壁殘垣上積滿了灰塵。一切始于此地，亦終于此地。我曾以為自己永遠不會再回到這里，但我現在就站在這里，等待著，看著塵沙在風中起舞。我記得，我是阿澤克 阿里曼，赤紅者馬格努斯被流放的子嗣，千子軍團的毀滅。我還記得往昔的光景。

I remember red. The red was the blood gloss of armour under the high sun. A warrior crouched before me on the polished, white stone. Ivory edged his armour and symbols curled in silver on the polished plates. He was trembling as though from a chill.

我記得那一抹赤紅——那是動力甲被烈日映照出的血色光澤。一位戰(zhàn)士蹲在我面前锃亮潔白的巖石地面上。他的動力甲上鑲著象牙飾邊，光潔的甲面上盤繞著白銀的符號。他仿佛是因為寒冷而顫抖著。

‘Helekphon?’ I said slowly. He did not move.

“赫洛豐？”我緩緩問道。他并未動彈。

I shifted half a pace forward. Deep, laboured breaths buzzed from the vox-link.

我向前挪了半步。音頻通訊器中傳來低沉而吃力的呼吸聲。

‘Brother?’ I tried again. Nothing. Just the trembling and the hiss-sigh of breath and static.

“兄弟？”我又試了一次。但他仍然沒有回答，只是在顫抖。通訊器中只有呼吸和靜電的嘶嘶聲。

+Helekphon?+ I sent.

+赫洛豐？+我將意識傳給了他。

His head snapped up. Blank eye pieces met mine. The trembling stopped. He had gone very still. I shifted my grip on my boltgun. I could feel his eyes follow the movement.

他的頭猛然抬起，空白的雙眼與我的相對，顫抖也停止了。他一動不動了。我握緊了爆彈槍，我也能感覺到他的雙眼跟著我移動。

+Ahriman?+ he sent, his voice a crushed whisper of thought.

+阿里曼？+他傳出了意識，他發(fā)出的是一陣破碎的思維低語。

+I am here.+

+我在這里。+

+Please…+ The thought was a moan. It tasted of desperation, of the last breath of life. +You have never… seen this before… have you? You were not on Bezant… or Clorphor.+

+求你…+他的想法是一陣呻吟。這想法帶著絕望的味道，有生命最后一息的感覺。+你之前…從未…見過…是嗎？你沒去過Bezant… 或Clorphor.+

He paused and I felt the dull echo of his panic as his will slipped.

他停住了，當他的意志動搖時，我感到了他恐慌情緒的沉悶回聲。

+You have heard… but have not seen.This is our curse, boy. This is our fate. You should have killed me when it began. Do it now, before…+

+你聽過…但沒見過。這就是我們的詛咒，小子。這是我們的命運。你得在開始時殺了我?，F在就動手，別等到…+

His thought drained away, and the hiss of his breath rose in my ears again.

他的思想消失了，呼吸的嘶嘶聲又在我耳邊響起。

+Brother I cann–+ I began, but never finished the thought.

+兄弟我—+但我來不及傳遞完自己的想法。

Helekphon’s head wrenched back and he screamed to the noon sky. His shape distorted. Armour shrieked as it tore apart. Wet flesh expanded out of the cracks. Blind eyes rolled in the branching mass of blood-slicked flesh. Claws and hands reached down, slapping on the stone floor as the flesh that had been Helekphon pulled itself from the cracked shell of his armour.

赫洛豐的腦袋向后扭曲，他對著中午的晴空嘶吼著。他的形體扭曲變形。動力甲被撕裂時發(fā)出了尖銳的破裂聲，濕漉漉的肉體從裂縫中漲了出來。他鮮血橫飛的軀體成了一具各處延伸的肉團，失明的眼睛在其中轉動著。爪子和手伸下下方，拍打著石頭地板，那團曾是赫洛豐的肉體從破裂的動力甲中掙脫出來。

I fired. I fired again and again, until the firing pin clacked on an empty chamber. Then I stood for a long time, looking at the blood and pulped flesh glinting red under the sun.

我開火射擊了。我一再地射擊著，直到打空了的彈夾。之后我在那里站了許久，看著那灘鮮血和碎肉在太陽下被映出紅色的光澤。

The memory slides away with the dust, becoming small and distant as I watch. I breathe. I can still smell the blood. The wind and the dust rise from my hand.

這段記憶隨著塵沙溜走了，當我看去時，那片場景變得渺小而遙遠。我在風中嗅了嗅，仍能聞到血的氣味。我手中的塵沙扶風而起。

I remember water. The water was black and still, like a mirror waiting for light. The still surface shattered as my hand scooped up a palm of water to my mouth. It tasted of pollution and chemicals, and life allowed to rot out of the sight of the sun. I took another mouthful and gulped it down. My mouth was still dry.

我記得水，那水面黑暗而靜謐，宛如等待光明照亮的鏡子。我用手掌舀起一捧水要送到嘴邊，碰碎了平靜的水面。水中有股污染物和化學物的味道，帶帶著一股令生命在太陽下腐爛的氣味。我又喝了一口，一飲而盡。但我仍舊口干舌燥。

Where am I?

我在哪兒？

I thought, as though the question alone would bring an answer. I looked up. There were stars in the sky, but their light did not reflect from the water’s mirror. A swirl of colour lay across the blackness like a stain of rot blossoming on a bandaged wound.

我思索著，仿佛這種問題本身就能給我一個答案。我抬頭仰望，蒼穹中掛著群星，但那如鏡的水面并未映出星光。黑色的水中橫著一道（各種）顏色的漩渦，仿佛被包扎好的傷口上綻放出了腐爛的斑點。

‘The Eye of Terror still holds me then,’ I said to myself as I looked down from the bruised night. A world of leaping flames and broken stone extended away from me on all sides. Somewhere in the distance gunfire chattered and rippling detonations smudged the horizon. My armour hung from me, blackened as though by fire. My shattered staff lay beside me, still smoking. I closed my eyes and saw again the face of Magnus, and felt the roar of the warp as I tumbled away from that face.

“恐懼之眼仍舊掌控著我們?！碑斘覐膫劾劾鄣囊箍罩型蛳路綍r，如是自言自語到。一個由跳躍的火焰和碎石組成的世界從我身邊向四面八方延伸開來。在遠處的某個地方，槍聲噼啪作響，炮火令地平線變得模糊。我身上的動力甲一片焦黑，仿佛是被火焰炙烤過。我的下屬們那破碎的尸身倒在我身邊，仍舊在冒著煙。我閉上雙眼，再次看到馬格努斯的面龐，當我的目光從那張臉上移開時，我感受到了亞空間的咆哮。

Banishment: the last word spoken by my father, the word which followed me as I had fallen through the warp. Seconds had become years and years seconds. I had passed through fire, light and ice so bright it was blinding. All the while the last word spoken to me by my father had followed me, and with it the fact that the Rubric had failed – that I had failed.

放逐，這是父親丟給我的最后一句話。當我落入亞空間時，這句話也如影隨形。數秒鐘延展為數年，數年也縮短為數秒鐘。我穿過了火焰、光亮與寒冰，他們都是如此明亮耀眼，令我雙目發(fā)盲。與此同時，父親對我說的最后一句話始終縈繞在我腦海中，某個事實在伴隨著它在我的意識中回蕩——紅字法術失敗了，我一敗涂地。

Pride – last of sins – it finds us in the end. Always.

傲慢，這項極惡之罪最終還是找上了我。他總歸是要來的。

I reached for more water and saw the figures watching me. I should have sensed them approaching, should have heard their thoughts and read the paths of their next moments before they reached me. But I did not. My mind was a dull stone in my skull.

我伸手去捧更多的水，卻在水中看到有人在注視著我。在他們走近我身邊之前，我本該感知到他們的接近、聽到他們的想法并讀懂他們接下來的行動軌跡。但我沒有，我的意識如頑石般遲鈍。

There were five of them. Their armour was the ochre of dried bone. Their weapons glinted in the light of the Eye above. I stared at them, my hand halfway to my mouth, the water draining between my fingers. They looked at me for a long moment, and then one spoke in a voice like gristle cracking between teeth.

他們有五個人，甲胄是枯骨的赭色?？謶种蹜以谖覀冾^頂的空中，其光亮映在他們的武器上。我凝視著他們，捧著水的手停在了途中，水從指縫間流走。他們看了我很久，之后一個人開口詢問，話音如同牙齒咀嚼軟骨的吱嘎聲。

‘Who are you, who comes to our realm?’

“汝何人也，擅闖吾等領地者？”

Who am I?I thought.

我是誰？我思索到。

I am Ahriman, came a thought that sounded like a distant shout fading into the distance.

我是阿里曼，一個念頭出現在我腦海中，聽起來像是一聲遙遠的喊叫，漸漸消失在遠處。

Banishment. The word rang clear and fresh through my mind. I looked down at my hand. The water had drained away.

放逐。這句話在我腦海中清晰地回響著。我低頭看向雙手，水已經流光了。

I am failure,I thought.

我是失敗者，我想到。

I am the sinner chained to life for his hubris while all he valued became dust.

我是一名罪人，我的傲慢束縛了我的人生，我所珍視的一切都化為了塵沙。

I looked up.

我抬頭看去。

‘I am Horkos,’ I said.

“吾乃負誓者霍爾考斯?！蔽艺f到。

The memory fades. The sun is setting in a final glimmer of red fire.

這段記憶漸漸退去。夕陽在天邊投出了火紅的晚霞。

I am still banished, I am still an exile, but I am no longer broken by the burden of the past.

我仍在被放逐，我仍是一名流放者，但往昔的負擔不再令我心灰意冷。

I see fading light. The last rays of the red sun catch the motes of dust as they spread through the air. I see the future in their dust dance. Possibilities and unborn fates spin before my eyes, each one a universe that shall live, or shall remain unborn. I see worlds burn, and ashes become the beds of the children of humanity. I see all that was, and I see how it may end. I see hope. We will rise again. Salvation will come, even if it takes ten thousand years.

我看著那逐漸暗淡的陽光。塵沙在空中飛散開，被夕陽最后的亮光所映照著。我在塵埃的舞蹈中看見了未來。各種可能性和未誕生的命運在我眼前旋轉，它們中的每一個都是如同宇宙般紛繁復雜，它們或將繼續(xù)存在，或將永不存在。我看見世界在燃燒，灰燼又變?yōu)榱巳祟惡⑼拿叽?。我看到了一切的過往，也看到了一切的結局。我看見了希望。我們將再度崛起。救贖終將到來，哪怕將耗時萬年之久。

The sun has set, and this dead land of ashes and dust is an ocean of black velvet beneath my feet. I let my hand fall, and watch with my mind as the last of the scattered dust settles with the night. I turn. Behind me a sea of eyes glow bright in armoured faces. They wait, silent, watching.

太陽落山了，我腳下這片由灰燼和塵埃構成的死寂之地陷入了黑暗，宛如黑天鵝絨鋪成的海洋。我讓雙手落下，用意識看著最后的散塵隨著黑夜而落。我轉過身去，身后是一張張包裹在甲胄中的面龐，他們的眼睛都閃著光亮。他們一言不發(fā)，等待著，注視著。

‘Come, my brothers,’ I say. ‘It is time’

“來吧，兄弟們，”我說到，“吉時已至?！?/p>