Aleksa01: переводы

→Nothing happened during my inaugural shift. It was simple to guard a single door. However, the few hours alone, breathing in the crisp night air and watching the snow sparkle in the moonlight, was a much-needed respite from the pressure. Even when no one talked about Ryne, I felt their gazes on me and their hopes weighed on my conscience. Worry for Noelle clung to me as well, but out here in the quiet stillness, I could pretend for a little while that all was right with the world.

→I offered to take a turn on watch. Kerrick laughed at first, but when he realized I was serious, he allowed me to man the first shift.

→“The forest doesn’t like the wind snapping its limbs and branches. During a storm, it reacts as if being invaded by an army of intruders. But now, I’m pretty confident no one is nearby.”

→“What happened to ‘no back door’?” I asked Kerrick.

→“It’s too hard to sense intruders in the forest during storms,” he said.

→“What does—”

→“It’s not snowing.”

→That night, we camped at the foot of the stairs, so our small campfire could vent and we remained close to the exit.

→We reached the Healer Guild’s ruined buildings in the afternoon. About a foot of snow had collected in front of the slab holding the door closed. It didn’t take long for all of us to clear it. Belen moved the slab with ease. While Kerrick scouted the area, the rest of us descended into the record room with torches to search for more information.

→“Not much we can do,” Kerrick said.

→“What about our tracks?” I asked, puffing from the exertion.

→We skirted the deeper drifts and kept to the bare spots when possible. At times, the snow was knee-deep, and others it reached as high as our waists. The snow might appear to be fluffy, but it felt quite dense as I trudged through it, reminding me of the air and how Jael had been able to thicken it so much it had stopped my knife in midair. Worried she might send another storm, I glanced at the sky. Nothing but blue.

→“And over two hundred miles to travel. Let’s go.”

→“We have at least thirty days until the passes open,” Belen said.

→Kerrick frowned at the drifts. “This is going to slow us down.”

→The storm blew for the next two days. We emerged from the cave on the third morning, squinting in the bright white sunlight. The forest had been transformed. It looked as if the clouds in the sky had descended to the earth. Piles of fluffy snow mounded on the lee side of trees and bushes, while open areas were bare.

→Despite his claim, Kerrick knew enough strategy. He had linked my newfound interest in Ryne with the crate of documents we had uncovered. The best strategy would be to go back and look for more. Perhaps we would discover another box that would convince me to heal Ryne.

→“If it’s safe and not buried under tons of snow, we can stay there a couple days before heading north.”

→I tried to keep it neutral as I asked Kerrick, “After the snowstorm, can we return to the Guild’s record room?”

→Everyone watched my expression.