The Portal
Zahra and Ilham
It was pride that turned angels into devils
As the giant swung his head to meet her demand, the full extent of a nightmarish, despicable impurity (from her perspective), became unsettlingly apparent; Zahra swallowed hard, but not for the sake of fear… nay.
He was one among many, struck by incurable disease, six-times horned, unfortunately disfigured, and the golden-bellied girl couldn’t help but cast her narrow-minded judgement upon him - staring superfluously down the bridge of her pale nose.
There was no doubting his enormity though (perhaps the reason audible condemnation was unusually withheld), and the slump of white, water-logged forelock framing that red-tattooed face, did little to mask his imposing presence. In fact, the arachnopile felt uncomfortably small, pale, in his shadow and smartly sought a less - challenging - facade to adopt.
Interesting…
Gauging, guiltless glare slides from one piece of flesh to the next, until they have covered every available surface and she smiles reservedly, as though to banish the twinge of concern.
"Excellent..." she croons broodingly, both touched and surprised by the smooth, mellow, masculine tone. Gullible also, stood amid that first impression. Wet tendrils licked about the bony points of each hock as the preoccupied spider-mare flicked her long, thin tail.
Perceptive and shrewd, she had noticed quickly that those plunging through the portal had come from the same place as she - Helovia; yet, she could only presume that one as, imposing, as he, shouldn’t seem so unfamiliar if he had, in fact, fallen from there too. Dipping her chin in a feigned show of politeness, she queried calmly - "from around here are you, sir?”
Indeed it would be handy to find allegiance among the natives - even if there were stupid looking and cursed ‘bone-heads’… An overly warm smile curled her lips, and dwarfed hooves (in comparison), slid a little closer, tempting his reaction. All the while, her wings, legs, sinew stood coiled and ready to draw back.
