Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Spell Light

Dry, his mouth is dry.Not only did he eat sand in his mouth, but his lips were also covered in sand. Since you are lying on the floor, you can watch a shadow play without looking up: a few huge black shadows are moving or bending over, or expanding or shrinking; there are a few blurred shadows running around on the wall and ceiling Go, as if mocking them.There were two other shadows, one in the corner and one on the floor, but they didn't move. At the same time he felt the pain in the back of his head, the scene before him that he had just understood froze at that moment: in a corner, Hall's head slammed into his knee with a bang, and Sparrowhawk was lying on his back.One man then kneeled astride the Sparrowhawk, a second filled a bag with gold nuggets, and a third stood watching.The third man held a lamp in one hand and a sword in the other—Arren's short sword.

If these men spoke, Arren did not hear him, but only heard his own thoughts telling him eagerly and clearly how to act.He did so immediately: crawling forward two feet slowly, quickly reached out his left hand to grab the loot bag, then jumped up, roaring, rushed to the stairs, and sprinted down.Although he couldn't see his fingers on the ladder, he didn't step on it, and he didn't even feel his feet stepping on the ladder as if he was flying.He broke into the street and ran at full speed into the darkness. The houses on both sides looked like huge black blocks with the starry sky as the background, and the stream surface on the right hand faintly reflected the starlight.Although he didn't know where the street led here, he could make out the intersection, so he turned a corner and quickened his pace.He heard someone chasing after him, not very far away.The pursuers were all barefoot, so the sound of chaotic footsteps was very light, but the sound of panting was very loud.If he had time, Arren would stop and laugh, for he finally knew what it was like to be chased.In the past, he had always been the stalker—the leader in the hunt.Now he finally knows what the chased person thinks: he wants to be alone, to be free.He ran to the right and onto a bridge with high walls, slipped dodgingly into a side street, and after rounding a street corner, he saw the river again.He ran along the bank of the stream for a while before crossing another bridge.His shoes made a lot of noise on the cobblestones—the only noise in town.He paused at the pier, trying to untie the laces and take off his shoes, but the tangle of laces stuck for a moment, and he was not yet free from his pursuers.A light flickered on the other side of the river, and the sound of footsteps of varying severity continued.But he could not get rid of them, but ran as fast as he could, and kept ahead, to get them as far away from the dusty room as possible—his coat had already been taken off, and the robber, by the way, He also took away his dagger. Even though he is wearing short-sleeved clothes and defecating lightly, he still feels hot.Sweating profusely, the pain in the back of his head kept getting worse with every step he ran, but he ran and kept running...the swag bag got in the way of running fast, so he threw it away.An unpacked gold nugget flew out in response, and fell on the stone on the ground, making a crisp crashing sound. "Here's your money!" he yelled, his voice hoarse and panting, but he kept running.

The street suddenly lost its way.There is no fork in the road ahead, and there are no stars, it is a dead end!Without hesitation, he immediately turned his head and ran towards the pursuer.The light of the lantern flickered in his eyes.He rushed over, yelling provocatively. The light of a lantern fluttered before him, a faint point of light caught in a great swirling grayness.He stared at it for a while, watching it grow fainter and fainter until it was covered by a dark shadow.When the shadow that covered it was removed, the light disappeared too.He was a little sorry—maybe for himself, because he knew: he had to wake up.

The extinguished lantern was still hanging from the fixed mast.The surrounding ocean is gradually illuminated by the rising sun.There was the sound of drumming, the heavy and monotonous shaking of the oars, and the creaking of the ship's wood, like thousands of small voices.A man in the bow shouted to the sailors behind him.The men chained near the stern with Arren were silent.They all have iron rings around their waists and handcuffs around their wrists. Each person's iron rings and handcuffs are connected with the next neighbor's chain by short and heavy iron chains. The waist iron rings are still tied to the deck. People in shackles can sit and squat, but they can't stand up straight; and because they are chained too tightly, they can't lie down, they can only be huddled together like cargo.Arren was chained in the forward port corner, so that with his head up his eyes could just see the deck between the cabin and the rail, which was about two feet wide.

He didn't quite remember the chase last night and what happened after he encountered a dead end.It is only vaguely known that he once fought, was knocked down, was tied up, and was carried to an unknown place.He could vaguely hear the voice of a man speaking in a strange whisper, and he could also see that it was a place like a forge, with the flashes of forging fires—he couldn't recall the truth.However, he knew very well that this was a slave ship in front of him. He was captured and was about to be sold. He didn't think the situation mattered because he was so thirsty and his whole body, including his head, ached everywhere.After the sun rose, the sunlight hurt his eyes even more.

Between morning and noon, each of them finally ate a quarter of a piece of bread, and drank a large mouthful of water from the animal skin jug.The man who gave them water had a sharp, grim visage, and around his neck was a wide leash with gold studs shaped like a puppy's collar.Listening to him, Arren recognized that it was the voice of the man who whispered strangely last night. The water and food not only relieved his miserable state of body, but also cleared his mind, so for the first time he turned his eyes to his fellow slaves for a closer look.Three people were chained in the same row as him, and four more were chained behind him.Some of these people had their heads buried in their arched knees, and one of them hung his head from time to time, probably sick or on drugs.The one next to Arren was about twenty, with a broad, flat face. "Where are they taking us?" Arren asked him.

The neighbor watched him, grinned and shrugged—their heads were less than a foot apart.Arren thought he meant "don't know."But then, he twisted his handcuffed arm, gestured, and opened his still grinning mouth—but in the mouth where there should be a tongue, there was only a dark tongue root. "Should be going to Shaw!" someone behind Arren replied.Then another said, "Or go to Amran's bazaar." At this moment, the man wearing a collar who seemed to be everywhere came over, leaned over the hatch and hissed: "If you don't want to be used as shark bait, Just shut up." So everyone shut up.

Arren tried to imagine a slave-trading place like Shaw's, Amran's bazaar.A slave trader would let his slaves go out and stand in front of the buyer, as surely as bulls or rams were sold in the market at home in Berilla.Then he would have to stand in chains in the marketplace, and someone would buy him home and give him orders, and he would refuse to obey them, or obey and then try to escape.Either way, he's going to be killed in the end.This conclusion is not because he resists with all his heart at the thought of being enslaved, he is too weak and confused at the moment, and has no strength to resist at all; it is simply because he knows that he cannot obey orders, so within a week or two, he will definitely will die or be killed.Although he understands that this is an inevitable fact and accepts it, this fact still scares him, and he dare not think about it any further.He stared down at the dirty planking between his feet, feeling the heat of the sun on his bare shoulders, his mouth growing thirsty and his throat slowly constricting again.

The sun went down, and the night continued, clear and cold, and the bright stars showed their faces.Because there is no wind, the drumming to maintain the oars sounds like a slow heartbeat.Now, "cold" has become the most uncomfortable thing.Arren's back got a little warmth from the tight-knit legs of the man behind him, and some on the left from the mute.The mute sat hunched over, humming a monophonic rhythm all the way.After the oarsmen's shift, the drum beats again.All day Arren had been looking forward to night, but when night came, he could not sleep, his bones ached, and he could not change his position. He sat aching and shaking and thirsty and stared at the stars.Those stars seem to follow every movement of the oarsman, and they also swipe across the sky, then slide back to their original positions and stay still; swipe again, slide back, and stay still...

The man in the collar stood with the other between the stern and the mast, and the little swinging lantern on the mast cast a dim light between them and projected their heads and shoulders in profile. "Fuck it, it's foggy," said the man wearing the collar in a thin, hateful voice. "What kind of fog is there in the southern seas at this time of year? Fuck his bad luck!" The drumming continued.The star slides, slides back, and stops.The tongueless man next to Arren suddenly shuddered all over, and raised his head to let out an invisible trombone like a nightmare. "Over there, be quiet!" the man by the mast yelled.The mute shuddered again and then fell silent, only rubbing his upper and lower jaws in a chewing motion.

The stars slipped forward and disappeared. After the mast was shaken, it was also invisible.Arren felt as though a cool gray blanket had fallen across his spine.The drumming faded and resumed, but at a slower pace. "This fog is as thick as curdled milk." Somewhere above his head, Arren heard the man with a husky voice say, "Hey, keep paddling! There is no sandbar within twenty miles of this place!" In the dense fog, a rough, scarred foot stepped over, appeared in front of Arren at close range, stopped for a moment, and then moved away. In the fog, you can't feel the boat moving, you can only feel it swaying and hear the pushing and pulling of the oars.The regular drumming seems to have disappeared, and the surroundings are sticky and cold.The mist that gathered on Arren's hair condensed into water droplets and flowed into his eyes. He tried to catch the water droplets with the tip of his tongue, and opened his mouth to breathe in the moist air, hoping to quench his thirst, but his teeth chattered uncontrollably.A cold metal chain hit his thigh, and the touch felt like fire.Drum ding dong ding dong, and then stop. There was silence. "Keep drumming! What's the matter?" The man's voice was hoarse and whispered from the bow, but no one answered. The boat advanced a little further on the still sea, and beyond the indistinct railings, nothing could be seen, it was empty, but something seemed to rub against the hull.In this eerie dead silence, the sound of grinding was very clear. "We're on the rocks!" whispered one of the prisoners, but his voice was drowned in the dead silence. The dense fog became brighter, as if there were lights radiating from the fog.And Arren could see clearly the faces of the slaves who were chained together, their hair gleaming with moisture.The ship swayed again, and he took the opportunity to twist the chains and stretch his neck desperately so as to see the situation on the ship ahead: the thick fog on the deck was like a bright moon behind thin clouds, emitting a cold light.The oarsmen sat like statues, and several of the crew stood at the waist of the boat, with twinkling eyes.A man stood alone by the hatch, and the light emanated from him, his face, his hands, and a staff that shone like molten silver. At the feet of the glowing man, a dark figure crouched. Arren tried to speak, but could not.The archmage, covered in light, walked towards him, then knelt on the deck.Arren felt the Archmage reaching out to touch him, and heard the Archmage opening his mouth to speak, and then felt the shackles around his waist and wrists disappear, and there was a rattle of chains in the stern of the boat, but no one moved, only Arren tried to stand up But he couldn't stand up - because he was restrained for too long and didn't move.Aided by the archmage's strong hand on his arm, Arren managed to climb out of the hold and lay on his stomach on the deck. The Archmage stepped away, and the foggy light fell on the faces of the still oarsmen as he walked.He walked up to the man crouching beside the rail and stopped. "Egg, I never punish," the speaker's firm and clear voice was as cold as the cold spell light in the fog. "But for the sake of fairness and justice, I put this on your account: From today onwards, you will be dumb until you find a word or phrase worth saying." He turned and walked back to Arren, reaching out to help Arren to his feet. "Come on, boy." With his help, Arren staggered on.Then half climbed and half fell, and stepped on the small boat "Zhanyuan" rocking beside the slave ship.Seen through the fog, her sails were like moth wings. The light died away in the same dead silence, and the boat turned away from the ship's side.The great ship, with its dim mast lanterns, its motionless oarsmen, and its bulky black hull, seemed to have vanished in an instant.Arren seemed to hear a few cries bursting through the air, but the voices were weak and died away quickly.Soon the fog began to thin and part, blowing away in darkness.They sailed out of the dense fog and entered under the starry sky. "Zhanyuan" was as quiet as a moth shuttled in the clear night of the ocean. Sparrowhawk covered Arren with blankets and gave him water to drink.When Arren suddenly felt like crying, Sparrowhawk put his hand on the boy's shoulder, but said nothing.But his touch had a gentle, firm power of its own, and the comforting feeling slowly spread through Arren, warming him, and the gentle rocking of the boat eased his heart. Arren looked up to his companion.His dark face had lost all unearthly brilliance, but it was almost impossible for Arren to see it against the starry sky. The boat continued to fly under the guidance of the spell, and the waves on both sides of the boat seemed to be frightened and whispered. "Who is that man with the collar?" "Lie still. He's a pirate named Egg. He wears that collar to hide his old knife cuts. Looks like he's gone from piracy to the slave trade. But this time He's under selling pressure." There was a hint of satisfaction in the speaker's mocking calm voice. "how did you find me?" "Witchcraft, plus bribes... I wasted my time. Originally, I didn't want people to know that the archmage and guardian of Roke Academy were actually looking for visits in a place full of dragons and snakes in Huot Town, so I really hoped to keep my disguise , but in the end I had to track this person and that person. And when I finally found out that the slave ship had sailed before dawn, I was so annoyed that I moved away from "Zhan Yuan", because the sea was calm and windless , had no choice but to inject magic wind into her sails, and quickly fixed the oars of all the ships in the harbor with oar bolts temporarily—if they claimed that the spells were all lies and pretentiousness, then the oars were fixed by the spell so that they could not move , how to explain that is their problem. But, in my haste and indignation, I missed Egg's ship, which was sailing southeast out of the harbor in order to avoid the reef. All day, where I Bad luck in everything I do. There's no such thing as good luck in Holt...well, I ended up using the search technique to get on their boat in the dark anyway. You shouldn't be sleeping, be good rest?" "I'm all right, feeling better." Arren's coldness was replaced by a mild fever, but he did feel better, though his body was weak, and his thoughts danced lightly to and fro. "How long did it take you to be sober? What happened to Hall?" "I woke up with Daylight. Luckily my head was still hard, but there was a lump and a cut behind my ear like a split cucumber. As for Hal, I left him in 'drug sleep'. " "It's all my fault for not guarding well..." "But it's not because of napping." "Yes." Arren hesitated. "It's all because... I was..." "You're in front of me, I see you," Sparrowhawk said strangely, "they crept up and knocked us down like lambs to be slaughtered, and took away gold and fine clothing and a sellable slave, And ran away. They want you, boy. Take you to the Amran market and sell you for a farm." "They didn't knock very hard, so I woke up later. I did let them run for a while before they cornered me, and scattered their loot in the street." Arren rolled his eyes. shine. "While they were still there, you woke up and ran away? Why?" "Turn them away, don't let them harm you," the surprise in Sparrowhawk's words instantly dampened Arren's pride, and he added annoyedly, "I thought it was you they were going to capture, I thought They could kill you, so that's why they took their loot bags so they could run after me. And I ran and yelled so they could follow." "Ah, that's right, they followed!" Sparrowhawk just said so, without expressing appreciation at all.Instead, he sat and pondered for a while before saying, "Didn't you think that I might be dead?" "No." "It's safer to murder first and then rob." "I didn't think about it that way. I just wanted to lure them away from you." "why?" "By distracting them and giving you time to wake up, you might be able to defend yourself and get the two of us out of danger, or at least you can escape alone anyway. Defense, I want to make amends. You are the object of my guard, you are a person of great importance, and I should protect it. Or at least take the necessary action according to your needs, because you will lead us. No matter where we go in the future, You are the one who leads, and the one who sets things right." "Really?" said the Archmage, "I've been thinking the same thing until last night. I thought I had a follower, but I'm following you, boy." His voice was calm, but perhaps a little sarcastic. .Arren didn't know how to talk, he was really utterly bewildered.He had always thought that he could hardly make up for the mistake he made by falling asleep or being in a trance and neglecting to guard by distracting the robbers, but now it is obvious that it is foolish to lure the robbers away from Sparrowhawk. Instead, going into a trance at the wrong moment is a wonderfully clever move. "Master, I've let you down, I'm really sorry." He finally spoke, his lips were a little stiff, and the feeling of crying was uncontrollable again, "Thank you for saving my life..." "And you may have saved my life too—" said the mage curtly. "Who knows? They might have slit my throat when they managed to bring us down. Stop crying, Arren, be glad." Now you join me again." After speaking, he walked to the storage box, lit the small charcoal stove, and started to get busy.Arren lay down and watched the stars, his mood gradually calmed down, and his mind gradually became more stable.It dawned on him that no matter what he did or didn't do, Sparrowhawk wouldn't judge him.Whatever he has done, Sparrowhawk accepts as fact. "I never punish." He had already made it clear to Egg, speaking calmly.It seems that he is not rewarded either.But after all he had crossed the sea at great speed to rescue Arren, and cast his spells for Arren's sake.In the future, he will do this again when necessary.He's a solid guy. Sparrowhawk deserved all of Arren's love and trust in him.In fact, Sparrowhawk trusted Arren too.What Arren had done earlier was right. The mage came back now, and handed Arren a mug of steaming wine. "This thing might help you fall asleep. Be careful, it burns your tongue." "Where did this wine come from? I have never seen a wine bag on a ship..." "There are more things on the boat of 'Zhan Yuan' than eyes can see." Sparrowhawk said as he sat down beside him.Arren heard him laughing in the dark, so short and barely audible. Arren sat up and drank.The wine is delicious and refreshing."Where are we going now?" he asked. "Sail west." "Where did you and Hall go yesterday?" "Into the realm of darkness. I have not been lost, but he himself has lost himself. He wanders in the endless wilderness of confusion and nightmares outside the realm of darkness. His soul is in that terrible place, like a bird chirping, It's also like the crowing of seagulls far away from the ocean. He is not a guide at all, he has lost his way long ago. He has no magic skills, but he never looks at the road ahead, only looking at himself." Arren could not understand the meaning of the words, but he did not want to understand them at the moment.He had more or less the experience of being dragged into what the wizard called the "black realm", but he really didn't want to think about that experience, it had nothing to do with him.To be honest, he didn't want to fall asleep, lest he see that black field again in his dream, that dark figure—a dark figure with a pearly light sticking out and whispering "Come on." "Master," his mind suddenly turned to another topic: "Why..." "Sleep!" Sparrowhawk said slightly displeased. "Master, I can't sleep. I can't figure out why you didn't free those slaves." "I have freed them. The shackles on that ship have been lifted." "But Egg's got weapons. If you tie 'em up..." "Oh, what if I tie them up? There are only six of them, and the oarsmen are chained slaves just like you. At this time, Egger and his men are probably dead, or they will be killed. Chained up and ready to be sold as slaves. Anyway, I leave them free to fight, or negotiate. I will never be a slave-buyer." "But you know they're bad guys—" "Knowing that they are doing evil, do you have to be with them? Let them influence my behavior? I don't intend to make decisions for them, nor do I intend to let them make decisions for me!" Arren was speechless, and fell into deep thought.Presently the mage said softly, "Do you understand, Arren? An action is not what a young man thinks it is. It is like a stone picked up and thrown. It either hits the mark or misses it, and then It's over. When a stone is picked up, the ground becomes lighter, and the hand holding the stone becomes heavier. When the stone is thrown out, the stars in the sky circle in response. When the stone hits or falls, the universe changes. The overall Balance depends on every single action. The wind, the sea, the water, the earth, and the power of light, as well as the animals and plants, are all in perfect harmony. All these actions are included in "One in Balance". A hurricane, a whale's horn, a dead leaf blowing down, a gnat flying, all actions are within the scope of the overall balance. We, as beings who have the power to control the world and control each other, must learn to Act according to the nature of fallen leaves, whales, and wind. We must learn to maintain that balance. Since we have intelligence, we must not act rashly; since we have choice, we must not act rashly. Although I have the power to punish or reward, Who am I, how can I play with the fate of others at will?" "But," the boy said, frowning at Xingdou, "so the equilibrium is achieved by doing nothing? When an action must be taken, even if the result of the action is not known, the person concerned should act Bar?" "Never fear. It's easier to act than to hold back. We humans will continue to do good and evil... But if our Inner Isles had kings again as before, and if that king went to a mage for advice , and I am the mage, I would say to him: 'My lord, do not do something because it is just, laudable, or noble. Do not do a thing because it seems good; do only what you have to do. , and there is no other way.”” There was something in his voice that made Arren turn to look at him.He thought the mage's face glow again, looking at the hooked nose, the scarred cheek, the piercing black eyes, and Arren watched him with love and fear.He thought, "He has surpassed me so much." But, as Arren gazed up, he saw at last that the man's face had neither the light nor the icy brilliance of magic, lying between every line and plane. What is in it is nothing but the light itself--the ordinary light of the morning sky.In fact, there is a power greater than the power of the mage in the world.Years treat Sparrowhawk no more kindly than anyone else. The lines on his face are the marks of time; and when the sun gets stronger, he still looks tired and yawns... Arren stared, dreamed, and thought, and finally fell asleep.Sparrowhawk sat beside him, watching the dawn and the sunrise, like a man who explores the flaws of treasures, trying to find out what is wrong in this flawed gem, in this sick child.