一小段阴影中的音乐 当你体验过一次精妙绝伦的星界音乐会之后，像BTL和迷幻药之类的小东西再也无法触动你的神经。别问我是怎么知道的——我现在的确挺难继续维持一个“乖乖女”的形象了。当然，当人们试图射爆你的头时，这演唱会会变得有些刺耳。
不过让我们回溯到事件发生之前，否则我说的话的确听起来挺让人摸不着头脑。
当我昨天接到冬鹰（Winterhawk）的电话时我的确魂都惊出来了——我已经数年没有收到过来自他的消息了。数年前，一个朋友替我联系到他，以方便我一个特定的玄妙咒语来应付一份又专又急的活路。在那之后他偶尔也会指导我的工作。但这次可不太一样。首先，他想要和我在悲伤天使（Grieving Angel）见面（当然是在星界里），那可是一个以魔法安保和谨慎而出名的伦敦俱乐部。
冬鹰先我一步到达，带着如往常一样的优雅而让人无法忍受的神情在俱乐部里闲逛。这家伙有着洛菲尔（Lofwyr）一般膨胀的自尊心——但还是那句老话，我们这些会魔法的家伙都差不多。我也不是那种在星界近距离碰面之前不会先把自己那副“在精灵中只算得上平均”的外表花心思装点一番的人。嘿，至少他终于刮掉了他的胡子。
所以，我猜你已经非常想知道，我是怎么从和一个老朋友见面沦落到和五百多个亲爱的朋友们一起在演唱会现场闪躲着子弹，我是说，在新星巫术摇滚歌手伊安·丹砂（ Ian Cinnabar）的个人秘密表演现场上？
劇透 - :
It surprised the hell out of me when I got the call yesterday from Winterhawk—hadn’t heard from him in a couple of years, since a mutual friend put us in touch about a particular esoteric spell I needed to learn in a hurry for a specialized job. Since then, he’s occasionally steered work my way. This time it was different, though. For one thing, he wanted to meet astrally at the Grieving Angel, a London club known for its magical security and discretion.
He was already there when I arrived, lounging around being all elegant and insufferable like usual. Guy has an ego the size of Lofwyr—but then again, lots of us magical types do. It’s not exactly like I don’t put my fairly average-looking-for-an-elf self through the Mental Fabulizer before showing up for my astral close-ups. And hey, at least he’d finally lost the beard.
So, I hear you already wondering, how did I go from catching up with an old friend to tripping out with five hundred or so of my closest chummers and dodging bullets in the middle of an unadvertised, private show by Ian Cinnabar, the latest up-andcoming novahot singer on the mojo-rock scene?
你相信冬鹰他老人家病的太重了以至于不能亲自前去吗？
是的，我也不信。但这的确是事实：他在埃及之类的地方染上了烈性传染病，甚至累到不能亲自前去。于是就有了这次的会面便选在了星界。我提到了自尊心吗？换个说法就是：他不想让我看见他自己那副活像恶魔鼠的猎物的样子。
这一切都不是什么大不了的事情，除了参加这次演出是一次生意而不是一场娱乐。似乎冬鹰通过自己的暗影线人发现那个即将成为超级明星的家伙拥有着某样东西，而他想要在这位新星开始远东巡回演出前把那玩意抓在他颤抖的小手里。冬鹰觉得悄无声息地进去摸走货再出来不过是小事一桩，但他没有料到在演唱会前一天自己竟然会被星界死亡瘟疫撂倒。
所以——开始替身行动吧阿莱妮，轮到你上场了。
这场表演设在索霍（Soho）的一家叫紫绀（Cyanotic）的流行舞蹈俱乐部中。进去很容易：我叽叽喳喳的走过两个肉山一般的巨魔保镖，一点事也没发生，所以我猜想冬鹰轻而易举地在最后一刻把客人名单上的名字换成了我的。我立刻就发现人群几乎全是都是觉醒者，几个矮胖子努力显得自己不那么格格不入，还有几个嗡嗡闹着的毒瘾废物潜藏其中，正在吸食深草（注：深草是一种用加勒比觉醒海草制成的毒品，其主要吸食者都是觉醒者
）。这是那种真正能让魔法师们的引擎发动起来的表演：对于凡人来说它们通常不那么刺激。这就是为什么许多巫术摇滚表演都会把两者结合起来，至少他们能在某一部分人瘫在椅子上模仿死人时让另一部分人站起来闹腾。
在我灵魂深处，我把我的注意投向星界，整个星界都闪烁着灵光：从整齐有序的赫尔墨斯巫师们别致的人造皮夹克和发光纹身，到身着技术-氏族风格服饰，身上光辉狂乱舞蹈着的萨满，甚至是那些看起来像伏都教欧安甘（注：欧安甘，即伏都教祭司）的人们都在酒吧附近角落闲逛，喝着插有小雨伞的超大饮料。精魂们飘来飘去，随着开幕式点燃了房间的气氛。这场地不大——早些时候我已经收集了些许情报，冬鹰的一个碟客朋友送来了这里的平面图，这样我就可以计划出一个快速撤离方案。基本上，这里只有一个小门厅和一个大主楼，一个舞台区，一些浴室，下面还有一些更衣室和办公室。
劇透 - :
The show was at a trendy dance club called Cyanotic in Soho. Getting in was easy: I schmoozed my way past the two meatwalls posing as troll bouncers at the door without a glitch, so I guess Winterhawk didn’t have any trouble getting the name on the guest list switched at the last minute. I noticed right away that the crowd was almost all Awakened, with a few groggies trying hard to look like they fit in and a couple of droning wastoids strung out on deepweed. That’s the thing about the kind of shows that really get magicians’ motors running: They’re often not much of a thrill for the mundanes. That’s why a lot of mojo-rock acts go for a mix of the two, so they can at least get part of the crowd on its feet while the other part lolls around in their chairs and does their best imitations of the Sleeping Dead.
Inside, I shifted my perceptions to the astral, and the world blazed bright with auras: everything from the ordered patterns of hermetics with their trés chic synthleather jackets and bioluminescent tattoos to the wild dancing brilliance of shamans in techno-tribal garb, and even the strange intensity of what looked like a couple of voodoo houngans hanging out in a corner near the bar nursing oversized drinks with umbrellas in them. Spirits flitted around everywhere, getting off on the vibes as the opening act lit up the room. It wasn’t a huge venue— I’d done some legwork earlier today and a decker friend of Winterhawk’s had sent over some floorplans so I could plan a quick exit. Basically there was just a small lobby along with the big main floor, the stage area, bathrooms, and some dressing rooms and offices down below.
哦，我忘了提弗雷迪了。
弗雷迪是一个被缚的气精魂，冬鹰派他来跟进自己的投资。我当然不是真的需要一个暴躁元素老哥跟我四处走动，还一直在安全的星界里就我的技术提出批评。“如果陷入困境他会帮上你的。”冬鹰告诉我，“至少我可以。只是千万别送他去拿饮料，他讨厌这活。”“啥？名字？谁知道呢？他的确和这名字一样很怪异。你该习惯了。”
啊对了，还有这个东西。法师们总是需要巫术仪式的试剂——例如召唤精魂，造些增强他们能力的物品，甚至酿造药水之类的东西。试剂可以是任何东西，只要它们符合规则：旧木头，骨头，珠宝，建筑物碎片等等。这些全都得足够古老或者充分地被魔力浸润才能派的上用场。当你做超级特殊的巫术仪式时，偶尔会用得上超级特殊的试剂。根据冬鹰的线人的说法，虽然没几个人知道，但是丹砂有一个吉他拨片，它曾经属于黑杰特。我并不是一个音乐历史学家，但即便如此我仍然认出了这个名字。一位忧郁的魅力明星，在生涯早期就失踪不见，然后人们花了几十年的时间谈论他是怎么隐居生活着，又是怎么把未发行的录音秘密地藏在哪里，或者这样那样的传言。如果你是他的粉丝，这种交感能量会给你的仪式带来一些沉重的影响。唯一的问题是，丹砂在旅行时一直带着它。这家伙认为这是一个好运的象征，喜欢把它放在身边。这意味着唯一的把它偷走的时机只有在他表演的时候，那时丹砂会把它放在更衣室里。我之所以想得到它，唯一的原因没多少人知道，只有两种人会对它感兴趣：黑杰特的硬核粉丝和真真正正热爱音乐的魔法师。
劇透 - :
So yeah—the item. Magicians are always needing reagents for all sorts of magical rituals—conjuring spirits, building items to augment their abilities, even brewing up potions and stuff like that. These reagents can be anything, as long as they go with the right tradition: old wood, bones, jewelry, pieces of buildings, and so on. All they have to be is old enough or exposed to magic enough to make them useful. When you’re doing an extra-special ritual, it sometimes calls for extra-special reagents. According to Winterhawk’s associate, it wasn’t common knowledge, but Cinnabar had a guitar pick that used to belong to JetBlack. Now, I’m not much of a musical historian, but even I recognized that name. Brooding, charismatic star, disappeared young, then people spent decades talking about how he’s still alive and in hiding, how there are secret, unreleased recordings out there—that whole kind of thing. If you were a fan, that type of sympathetic energy would contribute some pretty heavy lifting to the right flavor of ritual. Only problem was, Cinnabar took it with him when he toured. He considered it a good-luck charm and liked to keep it near him. Which meant that the only way to get it away from him was during a show, when he usually left it in his dressing room. The only reason I had any kind of shot at getting my hands on it at all was that not many people knew about it—that, and it would only be interesting to two types of people: hardcore JetBlack fans and magicians who were really into music.
开幕式结束了。人们成群结队离开舞台，然后涌向酒吧去弄一杯饮料，等待着丹砂继续他的演出。“嘿，弗雷迪，”我想着，“去侦查一圈让我知道他们在更衣室布置了多少安保人员。别被发现，好吗？”
我几乎能看到这精魂在翻着白眼。“没必要侮辱我。”他的回答通过心电感应传了回来。但他还是按照我说的做了。
他直到节目准备要开始的时候才回来。“那里有两个似乎不是给会场配备的持械装甲警卫。一个在更衣室里面，另一个守在外面。”
装甲？有趣。通常这类娱乐明星应该受到更隐秘地保护。我想知道丹砂在害怕什么——或者他预感到有什么事会发生。不过这安保水平对于保护一个吉他拨片来说还是过于强大了。“更衣室有结界吗？”
“没有。”精魂继续以无趣的语气回应道，“还有，虽然没有问我，但会场周围的安保似乎也比预计的更多，鉴于这会场的规模和小众性。”
这让好奇的我更加感到好奇了。“谢谢你啦，弗雷迪。”
“我毕竟生来就该做这些事情。”
这反话让我感觉就像是冬鹰在我边上陪着我一样。我觉得我最好暂时别让弗雷迪再替我做事，毕竟要是服务次数用尽，当我最需要他的时候他在一旁眨眼可一点都不好玩。
劇透 - :
The opening act wound down. I joined in the applause as they trooped offstage, then headed over to the bar to grab a drink and wait for Cinnabar to go on. Hey, Freddie, I thought, Go take a look around and let me know what kind of security they’ve got around the dressing room. And don’t get spotted, okay?
I could almost see the spirit rolling his eyes. There’s no need to insult me, his telepathic reply came back. But he did as he was told.
He didn’t return until there were signs that the show was about to start. There are two armed and visibly armored guards who don’t seem to be attached to the venue, he said. One is inside the dressing room, and the other is outside.
Visibly armored? Interesting. Usually entertainment types went with a bit more subtle security. I wondered what Cinnabar was afraid of—or whether he’d gotten intel that something was up. Still, that was a lot of security for protecting a guitar pick. Is the dressing room warded?
No. Also, the spirit continued in a bored tone, you didn’t ask me about this, but there seems to be rather more of a security presence around the venue than one might expect given its size and exclusivity.
Curiouser and curiouser. Thanks, Freddie.
I live to serve.
The sarcasm made it seem as though a little bit of Winterhawk was right there with me. I figured I’d better lay off asking Freddie for any more favors now, since he only owed me a couple more services, and it wouldn’t be fun to have him wink out on me right when I needed him most.
人们被吸引到舞台方向去，会魔法的家伙们懒洋洋地躺在舒适的椅子上，这样音乐一响他们就能进入星界。我找到了一个座位，准备做同样的事——我想等到丹砂完全进入状态再行动会稳妥一些。除此之外，我不可能参加了这种音乐会，却连一点演出都不听。这可能是个可以讲给我的孙子辈听的故事。如果我能活到那个时候的话。
丹砂没有辜负他的宣传。他和他的乐队开始唱第一首歌，用魔法的振动编织他们乐器的物理声响，点亮了整个星界。一场好的巫术表演可以像其它乐器表演一般操纵观众的情绪，而这已经是一场很出色的巫术表演了。我离开星界一小会儿后，惊奇地发现他们居然没有忘记凡人：神秘的角色，从穿着光滑长袍的美丽女子，到神奇生物，再到一头弯弯绕绕的东方巨龙，都在音乐家们身旁扭动摇摆，还闪烁着神秘的能量。这给我留下了很深的印象：那种咒语很容易施放，但很难做好。简单明了地说，这就是艺术。
我又等了几首歌，在观看星界秀、世俗秀和人群之间切换，接下来就轮到我表演了。幸运的是，浴室和更衣室的方向大致相同，我正好能找个借口过去。并非每个人都在关注着我。走出主楼，走下楼梯，走过洗手间和“禁止游客通行”的标志，我已经想好了怎么对付这两个警卫。
劇透 - :
People were gravitating toward the stage, the magical types lounging into comfortable chairs so they could get their astral on as soon as the music started. I found a seat and prepared to do the same for awhile—I figured waiting until Cinnabar got fully into his set would be safer. And besides, there was no way I was going to be at a concert like this and not experience at least some of the show. This might be one to tell the grandkids about. Assuming I lived long enough to have any.
Cinnabar lived up to his hype. He and his band launched into their first song, weaving the physical sounds of their instruments with magical vibrations that lit up the astral plane. A really good magical act could manipulate the emotions of the audience like another instrument, and this was a really good magical act. I shifted out of astral for a moment and was amazed to see that they’d even kept the mundanes in mind: mystical figures from beautiful women in flowing gowns to magical critters to a sinuous pint-sized Eastern dragon writhed and danced among the musicians, glowing with arcane energy. I was impressed: That kind of spell was easy to cast but really hard to do well. It was art, plain and simple.
I waited a couple more songs, switching between watching the astral show, the mundane show, and the crowd, and then it was time for my show. Fortunately the bathrooms were in the same general direction as the dressing rooms, so I had an excuse. Not that anyone was paying any attention to me. Off the main floor, down the stairs and past the bathrooms and the “No Guests Beyond This Point” sign, I was already deciding how I wanted to deal with the two guards.
可他们竟然不在那里。至少走廊里那位不在。
然后门开了。
我脖子上的汗毛竖了起来。我很担心，但嘿，如果他们真的让我的行动如此轻松，我也不会抱怨的。我只是需要格外小心以防这是某种设计好的陷阱。我摸着口袋里的一个小护身符，喃喃自语了几句，然后我的身影渐渐消失不见。如果那里有人隐形着而且在进行星界侦查，他们马上就会发现我。但我必须要抓住这次机会。我现在开始后悔自己为什么从来没有学习过透视咒语了。
我一眼就看到了其中的一个警卫，他昏倒在地面上。另一个家伙也不见了踪影。我迅速瞟了一眼，确认房间里没有任何人，然后喊来我晚上早些时候召唤的监视灵。一只打理得很干净的幽灵猫闪烁着出现在空中。我给它描述了冬鹰所说的小盒子的样子，然后在它搜查房间的时候紧张地盯着门口。我相信他能找到拨片——监视灵们并不很聪明，但他们擅长寻找魔法物品。
几分钟后这小家伙跳上了我的肩膀。“对不起，老大。那东西不在这里。”
“艹！”我大骂一声。这意味着要么丹砂随身带着它，要么已经有别的家伙捷足先登了。
这已经是我在枪声和尖叫声撕碎营造环境的节拍声，把我思维搅得一团乱之前能做的所有事情了。
“我艹——？”
我躲回走廊里，把门关上。我可绝对不能在这一切发生的时候在伊安·丹砂的更衣室里被抓住。撤销隐身咒，我急忙返回舞台。我的所有直觉都告诉我这是个糟糕的主意：我应该趁我还有机会出去的时候赶紧出去。但工作毕竟是工作，而且我非常了解冬鹰，如果我他妈把这份工作搞砸了，他就再也不会给我另一份了。而且这也不是我第一次掺和武装冲突了。
有趣的是，普罗大众认为所有的法师都是无法无天的战斗法师，总是准备着因为最小的分歧向对方扔火球术、腐蚀流以及中型车辆。事实上，我们中有很多人甚至不知道任何战斗法术或者即便知道也没种去用。尤其是在英国，那群家伙把官僚主义简直升华为了一种艺术形式。你说我为什么要告诉你这事？因为这将有助于解释这样一个事实，即尽管俱乐部里挤满了觉醒者，但当我赶回舞台时，他们中大多数人已经畏缩着趴在了地上，或者一边祈求不要被射杀一边向出口跑去。我是说，那些还没有被枪杀或者被践踏的人。
人群中又爆发了枪声，我的心怦怦直跳，我快速瞥了一眼舞台。合成器和播放器被击倒或者被打歪。吉他手蜷缩在一堆放大器后面，鼓手蹲在他的工具包后面，我差点没看见他。“弗雷迪，你能找到丹砂吗？他死了没？”
我感觉精魂服从我的命令开始行动。音乐停止了，但是人群的尖叫声，放大器的反馈声，警报的啸鸣声汇聚成了一个令人分心的音墙。我躲在吧台后面，冒着风险四处张望：观众席上的两个持枪歹徒正在向各个方向威胁地挥舞着SMG——这会儿他们并没有开火，而是有效地清理着他们周围的大片空间。他们穿着合身的帮派夹克，大喊着我听不懂的话，但我想我记住了“操蛋的吃蒲公英的家伙（注：此处是对精灵的侮辱性词语——很多人认为他们将花花草草作为唯一的食品。）”这个词。所有的保安都去哪儿了？那些理应保护着舞台的人——
就在这时，我脑海中的线索碎片开始汇聚。在演出开始时我看到的那些场地安保人员现在都不见了。要么他们都死了，要么比被偷得吉他拨片重要很多的东西现在更加危急。
弗雷迪的声音在星界戳了戳我的脑筋：丹砂先生正在以有失体面的迅捷赶往他的更衣室。
劇透 - :
It’s funny how the general public thinks that all magicians are badass combat spellslingers, ready to fling fireballs and streams of acid and mid-sized vehicles at each other over the smallest disagreement. Truth is, a lot of us don’t even know any combat-type spells and wouldn’t have the balls to use them if we did. Especially in Britain, where they’ve elevated bureaucracy to an art form. Why am I telling you this? Because it’ll help explain the fact that despite the club being full to bursting with the Awakened, by the time I made it back to the stage area most of them had hit the ground cowering, or were running for the exits and begging not to be shot. The ones who hadn’t already been shot or trampled, that is.
Another burst of gunfire erupted from the crowd. Heart pounding, I snatched a fast look at the stage. The synth player was down and writhing. The guitar player was huddled behind a stack of amps, and the drummer crouched low in back of his kit where I could barely see him. But where was Cinnabar? Freddie—can you find Cinnabar? Is he dead?
I sensed the spirit moving off to follow my order. The music had stopped, but the crowd’s screams, the amp feedback and the shrill shriek of an alarm did a great job of creating a distracting wall of sound. I ducked behind the bar and risked another look around: the two gunmen in the audience were waving SMGs threateningly in every direction—not firing at the moment, but doing a good job clearing out a big space around them. They wore matching gang jackets and were yelling something I couldn’t make out, but I thought I caught the words “fuckin’ dandelion eater.” Where were all the security guards? The ones who were supposed to be protecting the stage—
It was right about then that the pieces started coming together. The venue security people I’d seen ringing the front of the stage at the beginning of the show were nowhere to be seen now. Either they were all dead, or something a lot bigger than a stolen guitar pick was at stake here.
Freddie’s voice poked me in the brain from the astral plane: Mr. Cinnabar is heading toward his dressing room. With undignified haste.
没有暂停下来问问题，我直接向那个方向飞奔。我不知道他是否在这里还有自己人，但如果那些家伙催促他去某处开车离开，我就再也没有机会了。我在走廊上摔了一跤，紧靠着墙，留意着其他枪手，但是除了遇到几个试图找到出口而惊慌失措的顾客外，我没有遇到任何人。
当他打开更衣室的门溜进去时，我发现了他。于是我又开了一次隐身咒，在门关上之前，我正好跟在他身后溜了进去。
除了地上失去知觉的兽人之外，这地方还是蛮空的。丹砂停在房间的正中，弯下身子，汗流浃背。我从他惊慌的呼吸中看到他的背部在上下起伏。他的皮裤，被风吹开的外套，还有神秘的身体彩印，那些在舞台上看起来如此引人瞩目的东西此刻在服装架和塑料杯中看起来多少显得有些荒谬。
当他从梳妆台拿起通讯设备时，他狂躁的目光从兽人瞟向关上的门。“盖棱（Galen）？玛丽莎（Marissa）？有人吗？”他的声音又高又尖，几乎发出尖叫声。“你们他妈的都在哪里？他们他妈的在朝我开枪！”
劇透 - :
I didn’t pause for questions—I just took off in that direction. I didn’t know if he still had any of his own people here, but if they hustled him off to a car somewhere I’d never have another chance to pull this off. I pounded down the hallway, staying close to the wall and keeping an eye out for any other gunmen, but aside from a few panicked patrons trying to find an exit, I encountered nobody.
I spotted him just as he flung open the dressing room door and slipped inside. Summoning up an invisibility spell again, I slid through right behind him before the door closed.
The place was still empty save for the unconscious ork on the floor. Cinnabar stopped in the middle of the room, bent over, dripping with sweat. I could see his back heaving from his panicked breathing. His leather pants, flowing open coat, and mystical body paint that had looked so dramatic on stage were somehow ridiculous here among the costume racks and plastic cups. His wild-eyed gaze darted from the ork to the closed door as he snatched up his comm from the dressing table. “Galen? Marissa? Anybody?” His voice pitched high, almost shrieking. “Where the fuck are you people? They’re fuckin’ shooting at me!”
那正是事件发生的一刻。如果我没有朝着正确的方向看，我就来不及阻止它了。白驹过隙间，突然那名“昏迷”的警卫跳了起来，用手指着丹砂，喊出了一些神秘的咒语。
我来不及思考就动了起来。向前冲跃，仍然是隐形的我撞向了丹砂的腿然后把他撞倒在地。脑内的齿轮开始旋转，我撤销掉了隐形咒，取而代之的是法术屏障，伴随着闪烁的光芒它如圆顶一般出现在我和倒下的音乐家四周。我双手举起，拳头紧握，颤抖着，竭力维持着这个魔法，以抵挡闪电轰击屏障那强大的力量。灿烂的光芒向四面八方迸发，照亮了这小小更衣室的黑暗角落。
丹砂正在叫喊，但我没有时间去注意他。我知道我撑不了多久——我一直在给它注入大量的额外能量，但为了付出这种努力我很快就迎来了代价。我的前额已经开始飚汗，视线也越来越模糊。兽人发出了一声怒吼，改变了策略，一手在空中做了一系列手势，另一只手拔出手枪。如果事情没有转机的话这就得完蛋了。“快来帮我！”我对着畏缩着的丹砂喊道。“干掉他，或者做点什么！”
“他他妈的想杀了我！”他尖叫起来。至少我觉得他是这样的。在那一刻，这家伙非常语无伦次。
劇透 - :
And then everything happened at once. If I hadn’t been looking in the right direction, I would have been too late to stop it. A flash of movement, and suddenly the “unconscious” ork security guy leaped up, pointed his hands at Cinnabar, and barked out some arcane command.
I acted before I thought. Diving forward, still invisible, I launched myself at Cinnabar’s legs and knocked him off his feet. Shifting mental gears I let the invisibility go and replaced it with a barrier that flared up in a shimmering dome around me and the fallen musician. My hands rose and my fists clenched, shaking, as I struggled to maintain the spell against the potent force of the crackling sheet of lightning battering against it. Brilliant light exploded out in all directions, blazing into the dark corners of the small dressing room.
Cinnabar was yelling but I didn’t have time to pay attention. I knew I couldn’t hold the barrier long—I was pumping a lot of extra power into it, but that kind of effort took its toll fast. Already sweat was beading up on my forehead, and my vision was getting swimmy. The ork let out a roar of rage and changed tactics, making a series of gestures in the air with one hand and pulling out a pistol with the other. This wasn’t going to end well if something didn’t change soon. “Help me!” I yelled to the cowering Cinnabar. “Frag it, do something!”
“He’s trying to fucking kill me!” he screamed. At least I think that was what it was. At that point he was pretty much incoherent.
很好，他帮不上忙了。“弗雷迪！”
幸运的是，弗雷迪比起丹砂来说更擅长战斗，更幸运的是我还没用光所有服务次数。兽人周围的空气不停地旋转，吸走了周围的一切：杯子、衣服、盒子、鞋子还有灰尘——就像那家伙突然有了自己的私人龙卷风似的。他迷惑了起来，举起双手想要挣脱，对着天花板开火射出一发子弹，被龙卷风拽得手舞足蹈。随着一声巨响，门挣脱铰链倒了下来，两个巨魔保镖冲进房间，把兽人压在身下。那是我整晚看到的最美的画面——我立刻把在前门时对他们不友好的想法都收了起来。我撤销了屏障，但我还是小心翼翼地观察着巨魔，以防他们吓唬我。我跪在丹砂旁边，尽力不晕过去。
劇透 - :
Fine, no help there. Freddie!
Fortunately Freddie was better in a fight than Cinnabar, and even more fortunately I hadn’t used up all his services. The air around the ork whirled and spun, snatching up everything in its vicinity: cups, clothes, boxes, shoes, dust—it was like the guy suddenly had his own personal tornado whizzing around him. Confused, he flung his hands up to fend it off and fired a round into the ceiling, flailing wildly. Then a loud bang as the door collapsed off its hinges and the two troll bouncers came storming into the room and piled on top of him. They were the most beautiful sights I’d seen all night—I instantly took back all the unkind thoughts I’d had about them back at the front door. Dropping the barrier but keeping a wary eye out in case the trolls were bluffing, I sank to my knees next to Cinnabar and did my best not to pass out.
————分割线————
在那之后，我真的不想待的很久，但是丹砂约我出去闲逛一会，这样他就能在他的人催促他走掉之前好好谢谢我。我四处闲逛，在我等待的时候听着他的手下嘟嘟囔囔地说话，等我们开始聊天的时候我已经大致知道了大部分的故事。“那么，”在听完他的感谢准备离开时我说道，“这事真的很有趣。说真的。但帮我们一个忙好吗？下次你再计划跳过你的老制作人单飞时，记得雇佣一个真正的暗影狂奔者来进行正规的跳槽撤离行动。可别再一个人拍拍屁股就要离开。在没有后援的时候惹恼别人可对生命安全没什么好处。明白了吗？别忘了，你可还因此欠了我一个人情。”
————分割线————
我猜冬鹰在拿到我第二天寄来的包裹时一定非常惊讶。“我听说发生了什么事。”他打电话来说。我注意到他那边没有画面。“报道传遍了新闻网络。如果你脱身而出的话我也不会责怪你的。”
“什么，错过所有乐子？”我咧嘴笑笑。“而且，如果我走了，我就没机会问他要他的好运魔法道具了。当然他选的那个也似乎没给他带来幸运。”我笑得更开心了。“或许你下一次会给我一个真正算得上挑战的任务？”
“那你要当心了，这可是你自己要求的。”他说。当他断开连接时，我能听到他的轻笑声。
特别谢谢Bellicose大佬的校对【
很高兴能参与到翻译工作里【
这里是复旦跑团社的新人【
请多关照【
