~ The Border ~

Brock advanced toward me as Bhuto sighed. Much to my dismay, he didn’t stop until he was nearly touching me.
”What do you call this road here?”
My eyes were watering. I blinked rapidly and focused on the question. “Ahh. Vayland. Vayland Road.” The problem with people telling you to breath through your mouth when around a stench is that instead of smelling it, you taste it.
He smiled up at me and I was glad for the darkness that largely hid his teeth. “Why is that?”
”Why is what?”
”Why do they call it that?”
”Because…” I thought about it. “I don’t know why.”
His smile broadened and I had to take a step back. “Let me tell you why.” He turned away from me and threw out his arms. “This place is a border between realms. The very first people who lived here and named things called the people on the other side wa`rii we because they didn’t understand. Others came and gave different names. When my people came,” he thumped his chest “they took the names it had already and translated the words and the idea. They called it a fae land.” His eyes glinted as he turned back to me. “You know what that is, don’t you?”
I nodded mutely, not bothering to explain why.
He nodded, not waiting for me. “The border to the fae land was marked by those who knew enough about it, and the name stayed on, changing, after they’d all gone to dust.” He spat on the blacktop. “Then some bugger made a road here, since the markings were there. No one remembered that they were meant to show you where not to go.”