Intense Frustration

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When Xander came to, he found the dalhari watching him in amusement. He picked himself up off the floor, rubbing at the spot on his elbow where he’d hit it on his way down. Just when he was sure his life couldn’t get any worse, any more sticky and complicated and sour, he started hallucinating about old nemeses. He was determined, though, to regain his composure and make an at least somewhat graceful exit.

“I hope that you heal with great speed,” Xander said formally as he backed out of the room. Maybe they wouldn’t mention the whole fainting episode.

“What about Spike? Don’t you want to talk about him?” Vaishi asked curiously.

Xander whimpered. Why couldn’t life just leave him alone? Vaishi and Fain looked at each other in confusion. What was wrong with Xander?

“Were you human in your world? Because Laio’s been here for over a century, and you’ve only been here eleven years, but you don’t seem very old,” Fain questioned.

“Um, yeah. Me, I was just a normal, run of the mill human over there. Unlike Spike, who was an insane, bloodthirsty vampire,” Xander said, propping himself on a chair. He knew he should leave, get some sleep, and forget about this little fantasy, but he just didn’t have the strength for it.

“Yes, he told us all about that,” Fain replied. “Of course, he’s not quite so…violent now.”

Xander smirked. “Hard to see that, when most of the people here are fair game, since they’re not human.”

Vaishi frowned. “Laio’s rather calm most of the time these days, particularly since he and Del moved back to Na’alha with Rali. She keeps them quite busy.”

“Huh?” Xander murmured. He was beginning to get used to the ‘Laio’ thing, but who were these other people? “Who’s Del and Rali?”

Fain grinned widely. “Del’s his bonded mate and Rali is their daughter. I’m her favorite uncle.”

Vaishi rolled his eyes. “Only because you give her candy all the time. Cheater.”

Now seemed like a good time to sit down. “Spike’s got a kid?” Why did that seem so damned wrong? Oh, yeah, it was that bloodthirsty, homicidal vampire thing. It boggled the mind. Spike was married? He had a sudden mental image of the vampire in an apron, scrubbing a stove. The picture made him laugh, it was so preposterous.

The dalhari began to worry when Xander started giggling maniacally. Most of the time such behavior was the signal of serious emotional problems. “Xander? Are you ok?”

Xander cackled. “Oh, me? I’m dandy. I mean, I just found out that the least thoughtful, caring and responsible thing I know has a kid. What could possibly be wrong?”

Vaishi scowled. “Laio is none of those things, Xander, and it’s an insult for you to say so. Remember, much has changed for him in the past hundred years—and you’ve not been there to witness it. Have you not changed during your time here? Grown, perhaps?”

Xander stopped laughing. It was true that he’d changed. Hells, he had spouses—note the plural—and kids. And it was a bit difficult to ignore the striking physical changes that he’d undergone. “Yeah, it’s just that…”

“A shock?” Vaishi finished for him. “Just imagine what Laio would say if he knew you were here.”

Xander grinned. “It wouldn’t be pretty. We didn’t get along well.” He looked out the window, noting how late it was getting. “I need to get home now, but I’ll try to stop by later sometime.” He made his formal exits, and then ran straight home. He really didn’t want to get in trouble for hanging out with the dalhari.

···•••·•••·•••·•••···

When he got there, Yark was waiting, obviously upset. “Xander, where have y’been?”

Xander wasn’t in the mood to deal with Yark. “I was visiting the diplomats, extending further apologies for the accident. Ask them if y’don’t believe me.” Yark stared hard at him, but said nothing and clambered off toward his own house.

“Don’t y’just want to strangle him?” He said to no one in particular.

“All the time,” Saelen said from above him. The red siv dropped down onto the platform where Xander was crouched. “He’s so annoying and full of himself.”

Xander smiled over at Saelen. He wondered what his mates would say when he told them about Spike. “Where’s Pairdra?”

“On his way back. He had to stop and argue with one of the elders. He’s no happier with this punishment than y’are,” Saelen replied. “What’s got y’so excited?”

“Oh, I stopped by to talk to the diplomats today; that’s what kept me so late and had Yark all upset,” Xander replied. “We had a very…revelatory conversation.”

“Really?” Saelen inquired. “About what?”

Xander flopped onto his back, staring up at the canopy. “Remember those stories I told y’about a guy named Spike?”

“The evil guy?” Saelen asked.

“Yeah, him. Well, turns out he didn’t leave town eleven years ago…he came over here.”

Saelen dropped back beside Xander. “What? I thought that the Anya girl sent y’over here. Why would she send Spike?”

Xander shook his head. “I dunno; I’m not sure if she sent him over here. The other weird thing is that he’s been here for more than a hundred years, even though he disappeared just six months before I got here.”

Saelen hummed. “Are y’sure it’s the same guy?”

“Pretty sure. They know things about him and recognize the way he talks. What’s really weird is that he was never a vampire here—he showed up as a human, and got changed into a dalhari. He even has a kid now!” Xander finished.

“I’m sure that was a shock for y’,” Saelen murmured. Actually, it was a shock for him as well. While it was possible for people to cross dimensions, as proven by Xander’s appearance, what was the likelihood of another person coming over within their age, much less a person from the same place and time as Xander?

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Pairdra, accompanied by Mai’zi and Hainien. The kids looked none too happy, and Pairdra had a stony expression on his face. “Something wrong?” Xander asked as the threesome threw themselves on the platform.

“Yark,” Mai’zi spat.

Xander grimaced. The elder was taking his job a bit too seriously, it seemed. “What did he do?”

“He stopped class today to take us out onto the platform and lecture us—right before lunch! The entire school watched us getting yelled at!” Hainien moaned.

“It was so humiliating! I mean, everyone already knows what we did, so why rub it in like that? Before, the other kids usually ignored us. Now, though, they stare and point, and nobody will talk to us at all,” Mai’zi added.

Xander swore. This was getting out of hand. It was one thing to sanction the family for the children’s behavior—which the elders had done quite handily. It was another thing, though, to put the kids in such a situation. He all too well remembered what it was like being picked on all the time in school, and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. “I’m sorry, guys. I’ll ask Yark about it tomorrow, ok?”

“Xander has a neat story to tell us, though,” Saelen stated. Maybe Xander’s story about Spike would cheer everyone up. The kids had been weaned on stories of Xander’s exciting youth in his world—stories that at first Saelen and Pairdra had just laughed at as stories, until he explained the reality of them. They were still funny now, but they held greater wisdom when they were known to be true.

Xander looked over at Saelen and shrugged. Why not? “Why don’t we have some dinner while I tell it?” Mai’zi and Hainien hopped up and retrieved some fruit from the front room.

Once everyone had settled down at the edge of the platform, where dripping juice could fall over the side, Xander began. “Y’remember all the stories I told about Spike?”

“The vampire guy?” Hainien asked.

Xander nodded. “Yeah, him. Well, I stopped by to talk to the diplomats today, and as it turns out, Spike is here in this world!”

Mai’zi frowned. “Y’mean he crossed over like y’did?”

“I don’t know how he got over here, but he did. Only here he’s not a vampire. He started out as a human, but now he’s a dalhari—and has been for about a century!”

“Do y’wonder what he’s like now?” Hainien asked his father. “I mean, it has been a century.”

“Yeah, I do sort of wonder. They said he has a kid, but I just can’t picture Spike with children,” Xander replied.

The family finished their dinner in silence, listening to the forest go to sleep. Before long it was time for the kids to go to bed, an activity they no longer complained about. Actually, they didn’t complain about much anymore, now that the elders were watching them so closely.

···•••·•••·•••·•••···

By the time a month had passed, Xander’s family was about ready to just call it quits. No matter how hard Xander tried, nothing he did satisfied Yark. The elder just kept shaking his head sadly and making allusions to sending the kids to his house to be raised. Xander really wondered what made Yark act that way. He knew the elder appreciated his, Saelen’s and Pairda’s roles as warriors in the hold. Why, then, was he being so hard on them?

Xander wasn’t the only one feeling put upon. The situation at school had worsened for the kids. Yark had gone so far as to lecture them in front of a class full of their peers. Afterwards, the cold treatment they’d been getting escalated into real aggression. Today had been the last straw, though. Hainien had come home with bruises where he’d been hit by other students. Regardless of what Yark said, his children were not returning to school.

Saelen and Pairdra were trying hard to keep up their training schedules, but it was difficult when the warriors they were training refused to behave. Pairdra had already given up one class to another instructor, and Saelen was almost to that point with another.

So it came as no surprise to Xander when Saelen stormed into the house that night, a murderous scowl on his face. Pairdra was just behind him, looking even angrier. Xander was glad the kids were already asleep. “What happened?”

“Guess,” Saelen replied, hissing.

“Yark?” Xander tried, knowing it was the answer.

“He decided to instruct my class this afternoon, in the fine art of, what was it, Pairdra? Determining if orders were good enough to be followed? That’s it, yes. He told the warriors that they didn’t have to follow orders that didn’t sound reasonable!” Saelen growled.

Xander’s eyes widened. He knew that Yark was no warrior, but that was just plain stupid. Warriors followed orders. That was what kept the siv they were defending alive. “Why?”

“Because he could?” Saelen responded. After a minute more of stomping and growling, he slumped down on a bench. “How went y’r day?”

“The usual,” Xander replied. “Yark lecturing, the kids coming home covered in bruises.”

“WHAT?!?!” Pairdra yelled.

Xander winced at the tone. That was going to wake up the kids. “Some kids got after Hainien today. They left a few bruises.” He closed his eyes and waited for the diatribe coming from both Pairdra and Saelen to stop.

“What are we going to do about this?” Saelen asked finally. “This isn’t going to stop, y’know. They’re just going to keep hurting the kids and interfering with us until we give up and let them go.”

Xander stared up at the ceiling. “Isn’t there anywhere we can go, as a family? Another region, or somewhere in Shaen?”

Pairdra frowned. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Xander. They’d find out, and probably do the same thing.” Saelen nodded his agreement. Xander growled in frustration. It had been his best idea, but he’d been worried as well. People didn’t move as much here as they did in his old world.

“What about a nonsiv region?” Xander queried.

“Huh?” Saelen murmured. A region dominated by another species?

“There are some orth down below us in this region, and humans as well. Aren’t there siv in other regions?” Xander asked.

“Sure, anywhere there are trees,” Pairdra responded. “But not in any great numbers.”

“Do we need great numbers?” Xander asked. “All we need is us, y’know.”

“What about the kids? They’d be alone,” Saelen warned.

“What, other species don’t have kids? I think they’re adaptable enough to live among others,” Xander replied.

Saelen and Pairdra stared at each other. Could they handle living somewhere else? Unlike Xander, they had never lived somewhere were they weren’t the vast majority. Even moving from Ieccra to Shaen had been minor in terms of who they lived with—everyone was still siv, and still from Ieccra. “Did y’have a place in mind?” Pairdra asked slowly.

Xander fidgeted. “La’iv.” Yes, it was where Spike was, but there were more reasons than that. The dalhari were friendly with the siv, and that region was heavily wooded, according to Vaishi. The diplomats were from there and held no ill will toward the kids. It would be an interesting adventure for the family, even if they didn’t stay forever.

“What would we do there?” Pairdra asked. They had some funds stored back, but they would have to have work.

“Y’don’t think we can find work as warriors, teachers, or builders?” Xander inquired. “Y’and Saelen also know a thing or two about growing fruit, y’know.”

“Do the diplomats know y’re thinking about this?” Saelen asked.

Xander grinned. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve been asking a lot of questions.”

“Maybe we should think about this more tomorrow, perhaps?” Pairdra decided. “We all need some rest and a chance to consider all the options.”

···•••·•••·•••·•••···

Unfortunately for the family, the options were even less appealing after the events of the next day. When Mai’zi and Hainien failed to show up for school, Yark stormed over to the house, demanding that they leave with him at once. Xander stopped him from grabbing the kids, explaining that until Yark could think up a way to keep them from being hurt and ostracized, the children would be learning at home.

Although he thought he’d handled that well, he found out otherwise when Saelen got home—without a job. Apparently Yark had stopped by to ‘lecture’ the warriors again. Saelen had lost his temper and screamed at the elder. Yark had, like any good elder, gone off in search of an Avrel mak warrior elder to deal with the situation. The Avrel mak elder was sympathetic to Saelen’s situation, but had to relieve him of his position. There were too many political forces at play.

Only Pairdra had a quiet day, but it wasn’t very satisfying either. He had asked around and finally found out why Yark was being so hard on them. The elder was the one in charge of the delegates when they arrived, and he took a lot of the immediate blame for the incident that had injured them. Now that he had another scapegoat, he was taking all his frustrations and anger out on them. In the beginning it had been nothing more than trying to mete out fair punishment—the kids did do something wrong, after all. That effort soon ballooned into a series of humiliating and extreme actions that were making the five of them miserable.

“When are Fain and Vaishi leaving?” Pairdra asked Xander.

Xander looked up in surprise. They hadn’t touched the topic of leaving the hold since the night he’d brought it up. “Within the week, I believe. They haven’t decided on a day, but it’s soon.”

Saelen nodded. “Do y’think they’d mind company?”

When Xander picked his jaw up, he replied. “No, not at all! I think they know I was thinking about it.”

Pairdra frowned. “Who’s going to tell the kids?”

“We all will,” Saelen insisted. “Although I don’t think they’re going to be unhappy.”

Xander called the kids down. “What did Yark do this time?” Mai’zi asked tiredly.

“Nothing more or less than what he’s been doing all along,” Pairdra replied. “We have something we want to discuss with y’.”

“What?” Hainien asked.

“What would y’two think about moving?” Saelen inquired.

“To another house?” Mai’zi asked, frowning. What was wrong with this one?

“To another region—not a siv region,” Xander added.

Hainien looked over at Mai’zi. Another region? Wow. “Um…”

“Which one?” Mai’zi asked.

“La’iv,” Xander said.

“Dalhari?” Hainien asked. Xander nodded.

“Isn’t it cold there?” Mai’zi asked.

“Probably, but y’d just have to wear more clothes,” Saelen replied.

“Would Yark be there?” Hainien asked.

“No, but Spike would,” Xander said in return.

The kids looked at each other. Actually, it sounded like fun—a real adventure! “Sure,” Mai’zi said for both of them. “When do we leave?”

The adults stared at the kids. That hadn’t taken near as much convincing as they’d thought it would. “Whenever the delegates leave. We’ll be accompanying them,” Xander said.

“When is that?” Hainien pressed. If they were going, he wanted to go as soon as possible.

Xander shrugged. “I can go ask them now, if y’d like.”

Saelen nodded. It was probably a good idea, since the kids wouldn’t sleep without knowing. Xander waved and ran out the door, heading toward Yark’s house. He hoped that the elder would be doing anything but hanging around his domicile. Actually, the probability that he was somewhere else was fairly high. After all these weeks, he was beginning to tire of having the dalhari in his house. They didn’t really like the siv, and the feeling was mutual.

Xander nearly shouted with relief when he saw through the window that Yark wasn’t in the main room. The dalhari were standing around the table, eating dinner. They were completely healed now, but they remained in Yark’s house at his request. He didn’t like them, but he was still a gracious host.

At his knock, Fain let Xander in with a smile. “Hiya! We didn’t expect to see you here.”

Xander shrugged. “It’s just a short visit. I have a question or two for you.”

Vaishi gestured for him to sit. “What are they?”

Xander sat down at the table. “First, were you serious when you said that the dalhari in La’iv wouldn’t mind if we went there?”

Fain and Vaishi looked at each other. “Yes, we were serious.”

Xander nodded. “Good. When are you leaving for home?”

Vaishi frowned at the siv. “Tomorrow morning. We haven’t told Yark yet.”

“Can we come with you?” Xander asked.

It took the dalhari a moment to find their voices. “Are you sure you want to?” Vaishi asked.

“There’s nothing for us here, Vaishi. Yark’s running Saelen and Pairdra out of their jobs, the kids can’t stay in school, and we don’t know what else to do. This might be the break we need, even if it’s just temporary,” Xander replied. “Besides, we all want to see Spike.”

Fain shook his head, grinning. “I’m sure you do. Do the kids want to go?”

“They’re why I’m here tonight—they wanted to know exactly when we were leaving. It’s a good thing I came, though, if you’re leaving tomorrow. Which way are you going? We’d better meet you outside the hold, where Yark won’t raise a fuss,” Xander inquired.

Fain withdrew a small scroll from his pack and unrolled it on the table. “We’re leaving north to get on the border road between Dath and Tragith,” he said, pointing to the road. We’ll be in the canopy until then. Once we reach the road, however, we’ll be retrieving the ifnan we left boarded there. You’ll probably want to acquire some for yourselves, since it’s far easier to travel the road that way, particularly once we reach the mountains.”

Xander studied the map. Ifnan were very expensive, but they had the money to purchase them if needed, as long as the kids rode with the adults. Plus, they could be sold later if they no longer needed them. Besides, the dalhari were probably right about the mountains. Once the border road ended at Scal Ysdra, the path they would take looked rather dangerous, even if it was in a dalhari region. “We’ll meet you here,” He said, pointing, “at dawn.” The dalhari nodded, and then cocked their heads. Xander did the same, hearing what had gotten their attention. Yark was arriving back at his house.

Fain moved over to the window and unlatched it. From the direction Yark was coming, he wouldn’t see it at all. “See you tomorrow, Xander,” He whispered as the siv jumped out the window and fell straight down, catching a low hanging branch. Once he had steadied himself, Xander ran back toward his own home, for the last time.

When he got there, everyone was waiting up for him. He filled them in quickly and the house burst into action. There wasn’t much time for them to pack up everything they would want to take—even that wasn’t much at all.

“Y’can’t take all y’r blankets, Mai’zi,” Xander said, looking at the mountain of fabric stacked on the table. “We just can’t carry them all. Leave some for whoever lives here next, ok?”

The girl pouted but nodded her head. She knew that they couldn’t carry everything, but she loved her blankets! It took her another hour to sort through them all, setting aside three to carry. The other ten would stay. She hoped that whoever moved in liked them a lot. It worried her that they wouldn’t get the chance to offer their house to someone, like siv usually did when they moved. Since they couldn’t, they wouldn’t know who lived there, or if they would appreciate all that had gone on there. Oh well, maybe they could next time.

Hainien had problems quite the opposite of Mai’zi. His stack of things to take was so very small, just a few changes of clothes, some practice weapons, scrolls, and pens, along with a few tiny carvings Pairdra had given him. Xander saw his dilemma and shook his head, adding more clothes, two blankets, and Hainien’s favorite sling to the stack. He found it amazing that siblings could be so different—Mai’zi hoarded everything while Hainien was practically an ascetic.

The adults were much busier in their packing. The kids could only carry a little—not even everything of their own that they needed, so the adults had to bear the rest. They would be carrying more than they normally would, since they only had to take it to the border road, and the dalhari had offered to carry some, since their own burdens were light. The ifnan would easily take on the packs once they’d been purchased.

Saelen didn’t like the idea of having to get them, but he understood their uses. He and Pairdra knew how to ride, although they didn’t do so very often. Ifnan were primarily work animals in siv regions, used for plowing and pulling on the ground. Xander had made Saelen promise to teach him how to ride, since he’d never been on an ifnan or a horse back in his old world. The kids simply saw it as an adventure.

“How many bowls?” Pairdra asked, looking at all the stone and wooden bowls stacked up in the cupboard.

“Seven,” Saelen said over his shoulder. He was busy pushing semisolid soap into a sealable container. He was sure that dalhari had soap in their own regions, but this trip would take almost a month, according to Fain. That was a lot of baths.

Eventually everything was packed up and ready to go in five packs lined up in the front room. “Everybody to bed,” Xander ordered. They all trooped wearily to their rooms for a couple of hours of sleep. They’d be up in just a few hours to meet the dalhari and needed what little rest they could get.

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