Heartlines and Bloodlines

   CHAPTER ONE   

Adeline felt exposed and anxious as she looked for the lost sheep with her younger sister, Evelyn. Adeline’s amber eyes squinted into the distance, trying to locate her herd of sheep. The summer sun scorched everything up this high on the ridge of the plateau. Because of the deadly heat on the ridge, the sheep needed to be moved into the valley this time every year. The two sisters were working to protect the innocent herd under their care. Interestingly enough, the fifteen-year-old and thirteen-year-old were responsible for finding all one hundred sheep and bringing them off the plateau down to the family’s barn for tagging and shearing. Roundup work was not easy due to the topography of the planet and the time of year.

The sisters were acutely in tune with the environmental cycles of their home world, Sonora. Round and separated by an energy field called Cheolli Jangseong, Sonora orbits twin suns. Intense heat radiates in the middle of the day when the suns are directly overhead, and a longer twilight period brings a soothing coolness to the realm. Such an environment makes it too hot and dry for much of anything to survive on the desert plateau. Sunburned skin let Adeline know that the two suns had almost reached their peaks in the sky, which made the heat unbearably overpowering. The protective energy wall known as Cheolli Jangseong discharged a slight rainbow haze of static electricity in the air around it. Electrical current added to the oppressive heat. Cheolli Jangseong stretched the length of the desert, down to the hills and valleys, up through the Dwarkins’ mountains, and back down the coast. This topography created a barrier between the elf realm and the realm of the Dark Lord with its deadly electricity.

On one side of the energy field Cheolli Jangseong, the land changed from south to north. The southern desert plateau gave way to more livable terrain, complete with large underground water sources that run all the way through to the mountainous region in the west and the eastern coastal area. On the other side of the energy wall, a large amount of toxic gas remained trapped. Dehydrating gasses created a barren wasteland on that side of the wall. The southern pole was unmapped due to the massive electrical cloud cover. The northern pole was uninhabitable because of the harsh temperatures and icy ground.

Just then, the wall erupted with a sizzling sound. An unfortunate animal found out the hard way about the impenetrability of the Cheolli Jangseong wall. Shaking her head at the absolute stupidity of some creatures, Adeline urged her horse along the path to escape the smell of burning flesh. A twinge of pity tugged at her heart. Apparently, some would always try to find a way across the Cheolli Jangseong wall. Reflecting on the tragic end of the poor creature made Adeline smile with ironic amusement. Her family actually did find a way across a long time ago.

The story of Adeline’s cultural heritage was complicated and shrouded in mystery. Her own family history was directly linked to the larger story. The elf race was recorded in large books called the histories. Not very imaginative, thought Adeline. According to the histories, a long time ago there was an immense disturbance in the balance of positive and negative molecules in the air around the center of Sonora. No one in the kingdom knew why the energy had become so unbalanced, but what was clear was that the magnetic pull of the two powers created tremendous pressure on the core of the planet. So the core broke in two halves, and Cheolli Jangseong grew from the split. On one side of Cheolli Jangseong, methane gas and other negative energies poisoned the water sources and polluted the terrain. Trapped with poison and diminishing resources, a tyrant known as the Dark Lord emerged to enslave them all. Three tribes of elves set out to cross the planet to escape imprisonment by the Dark Lord, as well as the pollution. The elf tribes included the Highland elves, the Druid elves, and the Thar elves. They started their crossing at the most southern region of the planet. History books claimed that only one tribe, the Highlands, made it across the desert. The desert plateau created a natural barrier between the elf realm and the Dark Lord’s realm, known as Golgotha. And Cheolli Jangseong created a chemical barrier. The elves believed that they were safe from the pollutants and the bloodlust of the Dark Lord because of these two barriers.

Exhausted and almost starved to death, the Highland elf tribe thought they had found the promised land when they came to live along the Great River that ran the length of their realm. In the mountains to the west of the Great River lived a smaller species, known as Dwarkins. Their physical appearance was quite different from the slender appearance of the elves. Dwarkins where shaped like boulders with massive amounts of body hair, poor eyesight, and curled horns coming out of their heads. These indigenous inhabitants preferred to keep to themselves and lived deep in the mountains. The Highland elves and Dwarkins lived in harmony and balance for centuries, believing they were protected from the dark energy on the other side of the wall.

Then, two centuries after the crossing, new elves started appearing from the desert and called themselves Druids. Hailing from the waterfall region at the edge of the desert and the most southern part of the planet, the Druids claimed they were under attack from the Dark Lord. And this was the cause of their sudden migration. The Druids had a vast knowledge of the world and the energy wall, as well as impressive magic skills. Believing deeply in conservation of the planet’s resources nearly brought them to war with the Highland elves. Certain Highland elves believed their Druid cousins were sent as spies from the Dark Lord, who was determined to see the modernization of the Highland elves stopped. The peak of the conflict saw casualties on both sides. Chancellor Kindar, ruler of the Highland elves, called for a truce and a managed assimilation of the Druids into the Highland’s minor kingdoms. From that time forward, the two tribes lived in an uneasy impasse. Adeline and Evelyn were byproducts of these two species of elves and had experienced the complications arising from the two competing belief systems of the Highlands and the Druids.

Adeline pushed her thick dark brown hair up into her wide-brimmed straw hat for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Her hair had a way of sliding out of her ponytail and into her amber, almond-shaped eyes, obstructing her view. She had the keen eyesight of an elf, but her coloring came from her Druid mother, Angelica. Sweat trickled down her muscular shoulder blades, causing her purple work shirt to stick to her uncomfortably. Adeline favored her father, Prince Sang, in appearance, with his muscular build, short stature, and thick straight hair. Breathing deeply the clean plateau air reminded her how dry it was up this high. Adeline took a swig of water from her bottle and motioned for her sister to do the same. Evelyn was sweating profusely; the moisture caused the younger girl’s hair to curl into light brown ringlets and stick to her neck. Evelyn had her mother’s curly hair and had acquired her height from a distant relative from their mother’s past that neither of the girls had met.

The girls were summer twins, so close in age and appearance that people not only recognized they were sisters but often mistook them for twins. Adeline possessed a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones and expressive eyes. Evelyn had a round face that always displayed a pleasant smile. Her wide apple cheeks maintained their childhood glow. Both girls had their mother’s almond-shaped eyes that glowed with a yellow-gold tint, not like the blues and greens of the other elves around them. To a casual observer, their eye color could be classified as amber, but depending on their moods, the sisters could use their eyes to convey profound insight. Both of the girls had perfectly arched eyebrows. They also had their mother’s dark brown hair. Their complexions were the color of honey; both were the perfect mixture of the two races, Highlands and Druids. The sisters had bow-shaped lips and angular noses that established their royal pedigree to any onlooker. They had their father’s pointed ears, his easy laugh, and rounded face. They were a striking pair to look at, and many a wandering eye would follow after them.

Being the older of the two, Adeline had always taken a protective role with her sister. Usually, Evelyn appreciated her sister’s strength and willingness to stand up for her younger sister. Evelyn gave Adeline the nickname Addi to illustrate how the older girl could be severe with others, but she acted familiarly soft with her sister. Adeline, in turn, repaid the favor and nicknamed her sister Evi. Adeline coined this nickname to show Evi that she did not have to get diverted by pretenses and rules. Adeline worried that her sister always forgot the basics of survival in the desert when under stress. Feeling parched and burned reminded Adeline she needed to make sure her sister stayed hydrated. Evelyn ignored her older sister’s offer of water. Accepting rebuke was not something Adeline tolerated. She sat up straighter in the saddle and squared her shoulders with determination to make sure her sister drank.

Other elves often overlooked Adeline due to her slight frame. They would inaccurately label her as weak and timid. But once she started moving, there was no mistaking her determined spirit and courage to speak her mind. Evelyn’s demeanor seemed more subdued, quiet, and often reflective. Adeline pulled her horse alongside her sister and again motioned for her to drink water, this time, adding, We need to stay hydrated. You should drink. Are you out of water? Would you like some of mine?

Evelyn seemed relieved that Adeline had offered nicely and replied, No thank you. I still have some. Evelyn drank deeply. Both girls returned to their hunt for the lost sheep in silence.

Usually, the girls loved the amplified feeling of the Cheolli Jangseong Energy Wall and practiced their wishsongs on the elements in the ridge. The wishsong was a magical song that they had learned from their