Elei's Chronicles (Books 1-3)
Page 77
“Sudden emotional stress can also result in severe but reversible heart muscle weakness that mimics a classic heart attack. Patients with this condition, called stress cardiomyopathy but known colloquially as “broken heart” syndrome, are often misdiagnosed with a massive heart attack when, indeed, they have suffered from a days-long surge in adrenalin (epinephrine) and other stress hormones that temporarily “stun” the heart.” (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press_releases/2005/02_10_05.html)
Let’s have a look at what happened in Elei’s case: Because his life is so often in danger, Rex constantly floods his system with catecholamines (notably adrenalin and noradrenalin) which cause tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), which (if it goes on for too long) in its turn may cause shortness of breath, chest discomfort, dizziness or lightheadedness and fainting or feeling faint. All these are symptoms Elei experiences.
As the adrenaline (well, adrenalin and noradrenalin) rush continues unabated for hours or days, it can trigger sudden, reversible heart failure. It looks like a classic heart attack but it isn’t. Apparently, in such cases, there is no blockage in the arteries of the heart and no damaged heart muscle, and recovery rates are much faster than with heart attacks, sometimes only taking a few days. (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press_releases/2005/02_10_05.html)
Just type “Broken Heart Syndrome” in a search engine and you will find many sites.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following authors for being such great critiquers and friends, for offering support and help with brainstorming, and for their critical comments: Marion Sipe, Jeffrey K. Hill, Claire Bugler Hewitt, Arlene Webb, Harlow Fallon, Jean Davis, Cindy Borgne, J. A. Beard, Randall Bird, Cyrus Keith, Katie Salidas, and Anita Siraki.
A big thank you also goes to my group ‘Writers Cubed’ for their constant support.
Any errors in the manuscript are mine.
GLOSSARY
General terms:
Agaric mushrooms: enormous mushrooms, large as trees, growing in groves. Sometimes they are phosphorescent.
Aircar: hovercraft (useful for unstable terrain such as the Seven Islands which contain many swamps)
Biotransmitter: small transmitter inserted in the body (partly made of human tissue so the body won’t reject it)
Camo: camouflage tarp (to cover aircars not to be detected from the air)
Dakron: from ‘Dakru’ (see below in the Seven Islands) – solid, high-energy fuel mined in the mountains of Dakru
Em hotep: greetings (ancient Egyptian)
Gultur: Indo-European for ‘vulture’ – the ‘all-women race ruling the Seven Islands (originally their name had been: Gwen Gultur – the Women-Vultures)
Hatha: holy (from the name of the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, whose name means “House of Horus”) – used for the elite Gultur line of “Echo” Princesses to which Hera belongs (they have the original strain of the parasite Regina, hence are considered purer than other Gultur and sacred)
Heavenway: a raised highway
Hoverbarge: a large sort of aircar (hovercraft) for transport
Imeyer ra: what is your business?
Info-pole: a pillar with a screen where you insert coins and can look up information, like geographical locations
Longgun: semi-automatic gun with long barrel (like a machine gun but requiring the user to reload each time) – favored by the Gultur
Nepheline: a semi-transparent form of plastic. From ancient Greek ‘nephele’ (‘cloud’) – used in making everything from chairs to boats.
Polyesthene: a fabric similar to spandex (flexible fabric made of synthetic fibers) – made-up word from the Greek ‘poly’ (‘many’) and ‘esthene’ (‘feel’ and ending -ene) – used in creating close-fitting uniforms for the Gultur
Rasmus: a brand of an antique semi-automatic pistol, such as the one Elei carries
Saew: custodian (‘guard’ in ancient Egyptian)
Seleukids: diamond-shaped, military aircrafts (airplanes) forming the Gultur air fleet. They also carry drones they can send to track down people on the ground.
Senet: ‘sister’ in ancient Egyptian – used among Gultur as a greeting
Surin: isolating film used wrapped around dakron cubes when used in gadgets such as guns (dakron has some toxicity)
T’e: yes/all right (ancient Egyptian)
Telespeak: old-fashioned telephone where you have to call the operator to connect
Tel-marks (also called “snakeskin”): marks left by the parasite telmion (hence: ‘tel’) on the skin of the infected person.
Wavebreaker: here, the term is used by the Gultur to refer to their patrol boats – a go-fast boat (I imagine it like a 2010 Hacker-Craft Triple cockpit Runabout)
Parasites (all are made-up but based on real-life parasites)
Cronion: a protozoan parasite that can be deadly if not kept in check by another parasite (like telmion), it infects the brain, controls certain hormones (which enables it to cause strong adrenaline rushes) and controls one eye, giving infrared vision.
Palantin: like telmion, it is a pathogenic fungal infection. Not as strong as telmion, it can be controlled with suppressants, but if left unchecked, usually proves lethal. On the surface, it manifests as white spiderweb-like patterns on the skin.
Regina: ‘queen’ in Latin (here: name of the parasite which has created the race of the Gultur)
Rex: a relative of cronion, it is even stronger, able to control nerve endings and act almost as an intelligent being to ensure the survival of its host.
Telmion: a pathogenic fungal infection, causing snakeskin, and with the side effects of vomiting and fever which in most cases lead to dehydration
Trieter: like with the bot-fly, the egg of trieter is deposited in an open lesion by a fly, and the larva grows in the skin until it bursts out as a fly – unless a doctor suffocates it and takes it out.
Urion: fluke-lie worms
Names of persons and places
Afia: corruption of the Greek name “Sophia” (‘wisdom’)
Albi: from Latin ‘albus’ (‘white’) – the woman who raised Elei
Alendra: short form of Alexandra (Greek for: the one who fights men)
Bestret: corruption of the Egyptian name Betrest, meaning “may Bata be favorably disposed” (a common title for queen consorts in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt).
Elei (Eles): Indo-European root meaning ‘bend’. Eles is derived (independently from Elei) from the ancient Greek word ‘Eleos’ (‘mercy’)
Fia: short form of ‘Sophia’ (Greek for ‘wisdom’)
Hecate: ancient Greek goddess of the underworld
Hera: ancient Greek goddess whose name means ‘the lady’
Iliathan: made-up name inspired from the word ‘Iliad’
Jek: as with most names of street kids, this is a corruption of the name “Jake”
Iset: Egyptian name meaning “She of the Throne”
Kalaes: another form of writing the name ‘Calais’, brother of Zetes, a winged god of the wind in the ancient Greek mythology. Name possibly derived from ‘kalos’ (‘good’) but this is not certain.
Kein: made-up name
Kesh: made-up name
Leisa: made-up name
Maera: an ancient Greek nymph. Her name means ‘teacher, guide’
Nekut: Indo-European for ‘hanged’ – she is the Commander of the Gultur Police
Nunet: ancient Egyptian goddess (form of Naunet, one of the gods of chaos and water) – the Gultur tend to worship an Egyptian Pantheon, unlike mortals who only believe in an ancient Greek one.
Pelia: Indo-European for ‘dove’ – she was Elei’s boss
Poena: ancient Greek goddess of vengeance and retribution – here a little girl visiting Elei’s dreams
Sacmis: ancient Egyptian name which means ‘she has power’
Shof: made-up name - she is a girl who meets Elei early in the story
Sobek: ancient Egyptian god (god of water who has the
form of a crocodile)
Tau: short for ‘Taurius’ (‘of the bull’) – also the letter ‘T’ in the Greek alphabet – he is a street-boy who meets Elei early in the story
Tefnut: ancient Egyptian goddess tfnt (tefenet) of moisture, moist air, dew and rain – here she is Hera’s mother
Timmy: nickname for Timmus (made-up name)
Verne: a tribute to Jules Verne, one of my favorite authors
Zag: short for Zagres (derived from Zagreus, an epithet of Dionysus, possibly meaning “Great Hunter”), Kalaes’ brother
Zea: made-up name
The Seven islands:
Dakru: Indo-European for ‘teardrop’ (same word in Greek)
Aue: Indo-European for ‘water’
Ert: Indo-European for ‘earth’
Ker: Indo-European for ‘head’
Kukno: Indo-European for ‘swan’ (same word in Greek)
Ost: Indo-European for ‘bone’ (same word in Greek)
Torq: Indo-European for ‘turn’
All town names are ancient Greek town names and their origin is not really known (Gortyn, Teos, Olous, Tisis, Akmon, Krisia, Sestos, Baris, Pydna), except for:
Artemisia (town of Artemis – the Greek version of the goddess Diana)
Bone Tower (because of its white towers)
Dakru City (capital of Dakru)
Aerica: airy (from ‘aer’ ancient Greek for ‘air’)