The pair had approached the gnoll tribe without warning or ceremony. They appeared on the horizon at first light, the scouts having mistook them for boulders during their nightly patrol. Once they rose, their thick silhouettes, swinging trunks, and enormous flapping ears clearly marked them as members of the Indovu tribe, enigmatic elephant-folk that roamed the northeastern plains. Dhryn, the gnoll tribe's healer and spiritual advisor, knew little of the elephantine clans; As far as he knew they were largely peaceful and stoic, caring little for the “petty squabbles” of rival groups and tribes. In Dhryn's mind, they were an aloof, passive race that saw themselves as above all others – quite an easy position to take, he thought, when every other tribe was physically beneath them.


        The gnollish warriors quaked as the pair approached. The two giants were clad lightly yet opulently, wearing scraps of thin leather across their chests, studded with beads and shimmering metal. The male made no attempt to cover his loins, allowing his manhood to swing free, thick as a cub’s arm and probably just as long. The female’s garment allowed one weighty breast to hang free, the areola and nipple barely darker than the rest of her grey, wrinkled skin. She was obviously heavy with child - her midsection ballooned out past her prodigious hips and jutted forward at least a foot from her ample frame. 


The gnolls gripped their spears and bows loosely, looking for instruction from one of the elders. The two hulking Indovu could easily crush half the tribe if angered, but their race had a legendary reputation for non-violence. Never in any elder's memory had an Indovu struck the first blow. 


One young warrior grew impatient and lunged forward, unleashing a war cry to try and steel his nerves before the male visitor abruptly grappled him with his trunk, wrapping the fifth limb around the gnoll’s arm and forcing him out of the way without breaking stride. 


“We did not come to fight!” the male indovu bellowed with a voice that could shake the very earth. He swished his trunk in discontent while Dhryn tended to the embarrassed young warrior. Thankfully, only his pride was injured. The rest of the tribe took a healthy step back. “We seek your spirit-speaker,” he continued. “Which of you-”


“The tribe speaks through me,” An older female interrupted, stepping forward. “I am their matriarch.”


“We did not ask for the matriarch,” the male grumbled before the female pachyderm slid her trunk comfortingly up his shoulder, calming him.


Dhryn patted the fallen warrior on the shoulder and rose to his feet, standing beside the matriarch. Normally he would never think to impose himself on her, but something about these two strange visitors demanded that he make himself known. 


        “You must help us,” the male continued, looking down at the motley tribe of gnolls, “Our coffers are vast and our need is desperate. We offer any reward you demand.”


        They didn't look desperate, Dhryn thought to himself. The pair loomed over the hyena-like gnolls like towers of grey stone, twice as wide as a gnollish matriarch and half again as high. Their limbs were thicker than the acacia trees that dotted the scrublands, their tusks protruded from their strange faces like ivory spears, and their thick trunks dangled from their faces to their chests like a strange fifth limb, obscuring their mouths. The male flapped his ears in frustration, momentarily blocking out the sun from Dhryn's face. “Please,” he repeated, “many lives may depend on it.”


        Yours, or ours? Dhryn through to himself. Even though the enormous creatures were clearly not dressed for battle, he imagined their bare hands could rend half the tribe asunder without much difficulty. “We should at least hear them out,” Dhryn mumbled into the Matriarch’s round ear.


        “You should hear them out,” she spat back bitterly. “The rest of my tribe will have nothing to do with this!”


Dhryn nodded, stepping forward as she turned and left. He knew the matriarch less enough to know that despite her apparent rebuke, she had actually acquiesced to the giants’ proposal. Normally she would have called for the blood of any visitor refusing to pay her the proper respect, but Dhryn could tell she was at least a little curious. A debt from the indovu could propel a tribe to dominance in a generation or less. He stepped forwards and waved the grey visitors away from his tribe’s gathering place. “Follow me,” he ordered, “And speak your plea.”


The female cleared her throat, lumbering alongside the gnoll with ease in spite of the weight bearing down on her frame. “Our ears hear your praises sung across the scrublands, mundunugu,” she commented, “Other tribes speak very highly of you, especially in terms of child-bearing.”


“Usana’s children are very special,” the male interrupted, catching up, “She is carrying Ibeji - the one who is two.”


Dhryn listened silently.


“Indovu spirits are eternal,” Usana explained, “Every two generations, the souls of our dead are reborn again as children. Ibeji is a special soul and carries great power for both good and ill. Such was its power that the other primordial souls grew jealous and cut Ibeji in half, splitting it into two new souls - Taiwo and Kehinde.”


“It is rare that Ibeji visits our tribe,” The male interrupted, “and their arrival is a delicate affair. Kehinde will send Taiwo to the mortal plain as a newborn to see if the world is good and the time is right to arrive. If Taiwo approves by crying out, Kehinde will follow.”


“If Taiwo sees that the world is not good, Then one or both of them will return to the spirit world.”


“You mean they’ll die,” Dhryn clarified.


“No,” the male corrected sharply, “Ibeji is immortal. Taiwo and Kehinde may travel as they like, but they are never truly dead. If Taiwo sees that the world is not well and good, we grieve not for them, but for ourselves, that we were not worthy to welcome them into our family.”


“So why do you need my help?” Dhryn pressed. Couldn’t the Indovu handle this among themselves?


“Our Babalawo,” Usana explained, “our spirit-speaker, says Taiwo and Kehende are fighting. One of the calves is sideways, and blocks the way for the other. One of the two must be convinced to move, and our tribe has tried everything. The babalawo tried to bribe them with fine food, Boulo even scolded them, threatening to punish them if they didn’t put their feud aside.”


Dhryn was silent for a few moments, still walking towards the stand of trees. “I will help,” he replied eventually, “Conditionally. First, the twins must be delivered into my care. Second, you must apologize to the matriarch - your hostess - for refusing her graces.”


        The male snorted through his trunk in annoyance, opening his mouth to speak before his mate planted a thick hand on his chest to stop him. “Boulo, please,” she pleaded, “We came here for his help. We can either trust him with our babies, or we can start the journey back home.” The male seemed unmoved, but his partner lowered her hand and covered his. He scoffed again.


        “Think of it this way,” the smaller gnoll pressed, “If Taiwo and Kehinde are fighting, the least you can do is show them how you resolve differences out here. Maybe they’ll do the same.”


        Boulo scowled. “Work your magic, babalawo,” he sighed, flapping his ears again in annoyance. Usana beamed behind her trunk, wrapping it around her mate and kissing him on the cheek.


        That evening, after Boulo had appropriately humbled himself, the gnolls formally welcomed their large guests through song and dance. Dhryn probed them for information on Ibeji, Taiwo, Kehinde, the spirit world, anything he thought would help. He found it very interesting how even though Kehinde was always born last, he or she would be considered the older of the two, as it was always Kehinde that ordered Taiwo to go first and taste the world.


 Later, Dhryn returned to his wigwam and poured over old scrolls, most of them left from his predecessor. Sticks of incense smoldered while he worked, signalling to the outside world that he was not to be disturbed. If the two Indovu had been gnolls instead, it would have been a more simple matter. But these strange creatures abhorred blades and all things metal – cutting the calves out would be sacrilege. There had to be a way to move them around in such away that a normal delivery would be possible. If it were one baby, moving it from without would have been doable. But twins required something above and beyond his normal approach. He closed his eyes and focused, trying to draw the intention of the congregating spirits, or even Ibeji itself if it was as powerful as the indovu claimed.


        Eventually, through providence or persistance, he found something promising. An old ragged scroll, barely legible through dust and mould. It was a technique his mentors never taught him and from what he could discern, it was extremely dangerous. The reagents and components were all either extremely rare or incredibly toxic, to say nothing of the consequences if the rite failed. 


        It took Dhryn the better part of a day to prepare. There were components that needed to be processed, inks that needed to be distilled, and rituals to be observed. In addition, his guests' rather large stature required a special place to deliver. Lying down in his wigwam was apparently not enough, Usana’s culture demanded that she deliver her calves standing up, and Dhryn's hovel was nowhere near tall enough to accommodate her. His guests were dismayed at the delay, but again the female reiterated that it was their only hope. By the time he was ready, the sun was beginning to set. In spite of his summons, it was only Usana that arrived, her footsteps felt and heard long before she could be seen through the trees.


        “Where's Boulo?” Dhryn wondered aloud.


        “In our tribe, the father spends the days before birth in a state of celebration, as praise for his part in the creation of the calf. Difficult labours and large babies are a sign of virility, so the ceremony lasts for the duration of labour . . . sometimes several days. He started late this afternoon with some of your rangers. I'm surprised you didn't hear, they were making quite the ruckus back there! Now what's all this?” She motioned to the array of inks and pots and oils scattered about. The gnoll himself was anointed quite thoroughly, streaks of white accenting his jawline, the backs of his hands, and his lower stomach. There was a good deal more on and around his genitalia, but those were covered by a thick, ornate loincloth fashioned from a lion's mane and made specially for the occasion.


        “Ceremony,” he answered quickly. “Have the pains already started?” Dhryn asked, rising from his seat as Usana shed her hide cloak and revealed her luscious, pregnant curves. “There's no time to waste. Eat this,” he commanded, handing her a bundle of strange leaves, “To help agitate the calves.”
        
        Usana wrapped her trunk around the bundle, stuffing the whole thing in her mouth without using her hands. She winced – the leaves were extremely bitter. Dhryn stuffed a handful in his own mouth, gagged, and covered his mouth with the back of his wrist. He used his other hand to point to the ropes hanging down from the trees above. “Grab on to those,” he coughed, “And get ready. This could take all night.”


        The Indovu female did as she was asked, reaching up for the ropes. The trees bent like longbows as she pulled down until they were bent over her head like an arch. She tested them, not quite trusting them to support her weight. Amazingly, they held. She took a stance with her legs wide and her arms gripping the trees for support while the gnoll began smearing her grey midsection with the same sort of pungent dye that coated his fur. She touched one of the marks with her trunk and recoiled in disgust. The gnoll's small hands scribed a series of intricate patterns around her heavy belly and pendulous breasts, all seeming to surround a crude, 3-eyed canine figure with the third eye on Usana's popped-out navel. It was all very strange to her, but she didn't have any other options.


        When the paint dried on the living canvas, Dhryn started feeling and listening around her belly with his hands and ears, waiting until another contraction tensed the skin. Usana grunted through the pain, not ready to push yet.


        The shaman felt all sorts of limbs in the wrong places. He felt something hard at the very front of her belly, and a kick further up when he pushed against it. As far as he could tell he was feeling the back and buttocks of one of the calves, meaning at least one was head-down. There had to have been another calf behind it, but where? He poked and prodded at Usana's thick flesh, the Indovu following him with her trunk the whole time, resting on his head, his shoulder, or following his hands to see what he was up to. He pressed quite firmly, more than enough to cause pain to a “lesser” creature, but eventually he was rewarded with a reaction from inside – almost inside her armpit? Dhryn shook his head and thought that couldn't be right. He felt again, wrapping his arms wide around her enormous gut as high and as far as they could go. There was a hard lump on one side, and a repeated kick on the other. The second calf was lying across and was still very high up. This was what he needed to fix.


        “Found the stubborn one,” Dhryn grinned, looking up under Usana's trunk, “I'll set'em straight, don't worry.” He tried to sound more confident than he actually was. He'd never tried this spell before. To his knowledge, no one ever had.


        Usana grimaced through another contraction. The babies could be seen shifting inside her even through her thick flesh. “Hurry, gnoll,” she snorted, patting the top of his head with her trunk. Dhryn playfully grabbed it and pushed it aside.


        “We have time,” he reassured her, hoping he was right. He kneeled down and placed his head to her inverted navel, the third eye of the Mother of Monsters. He put a hand on either side of her titanic belly and tried to “aim” his focus at the higher of the two calves and prayed silently for both the guidance of the surrounding spirits as well as the blessing of the Great Mother. With his spiritual awareness raised to new heights by the aid of the rare herbs, he began to feel the presence of the twins inside her, shining like distant fires through a smoky haze of grey flesh. He couldn't say how, but one of the twin souls felt somehow more “familiar” than the other. Curiosity drew his mind closer. He wanted to discover why and how.


        It was hard to stay focused. Dhryn's mind started to spin and drift away from the urgent matter at hand. Usana's trumpeting sounded muffled, distant, like a call to arms on some far-off battlefield, but her heartbeat somehow sounded closer, more present. It filled his ears and brought him a strange comfort. Even though he was staring at the grass between his legs he was finding it harder and harder to hold on. His vision blurred and he began slipping away . . .


        As suddenly as the feeling of falling started, it was over. He thrashed his arms out, instinctively reaching for something to grab on to and finding only the familiar edge of his tiny little world. He quickly found that he had hardly any room to move at all – he was trapped, cradled on all sides and surrounded by fluid. Not only that, but he wasn't falling; he was safe, surrounded by the comforting swoosh-swoosh of his mother's heartbeat. He was overcome with a strange feeling – he knew he was in a familiar place, but at the same time he didn't remember where he was, or how he got here.


        He seemed to know he was lying down on something, his belly facing a direction he instinctively recognized as “down”. He seemed to recall that sometimes the world around him changed and he would be lying on his side, but not this time. He felt his arms crossed against his chest, squished between his own body and that of someone else. Someone whom he'd never met but was somehow intimately familiar with, like he'd known them all his life. This other body seemed curled into a large ball below him, and he was curled around its back, like lovers spooning. He knew there was no room to expand his arms but he tried just the same, quickly encountering the resistance of the stretchy membrane that stuck to him like a cocoon. Beyond that was a second surface, far less pliable and far more resistant. It responded to his touch, flinching and shifting.


        The slippery surface of the membrane made it hard to push against anything without sliding away. His trunk – a strange, prehensile nose-limb – floated serenely against his body. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to move it where he wanted it to go. He could wriggle it from side to side, or slide it against the same membrane, but – wait, what was that? His trunk ran into something else ropy as it slid down his torso. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it, touching his trunk and connected to his belly. It was warm, and throbbed alongside the sound of his mother's heart. He knew they were physically connected somehow, and sure enough he could follow it with his trunk until it looped behind him and reached the wall of his tiny world.


        Further down, below the cord, he felt something else. He moved his thick legs and felt a tingling between them as skin rubbed on sensitive skin. It was something he'd never done before, never felt before, but at the same time the sensation was familiar and somehow important. It sparked a strange sort of fire in him, a need for more. He rubbed again, his trunk slithering down his chest and clumsily fondling the strange protrusion between his legs. He could feel it getting larger and stiffer with each throb of his heart. Touching it wasn't enough, he needed something . . . more. He tried to find the muscles to move his lower body, but nothing seemed to work right! He knew in his head how to move, but it was a strange sort of trial-and-error processes finding out which muscles did what. He kicked his thick leg out by accident, scraping against the body in front of him. His sudden movement stressed the clear sac around him to the breaking point, and he felt his flat, three-toed foot punch through.


        Immediately, his little world reacted. There was suddenly pressure on all sides, and the fluid that surrounded him began to drain away, leaving him enrobed in the same clear membrane that stuck to him on all sides. The body below him shifted, rolling in place against his belly and chest. He squirmed, trying to uncross his arms and grab on. He didn't want the other body to go. He didn't remember feeling that way before, the urge just swept over him – He knew there was something desperately important that needed to be done before she went away.


        More fluid drained, and he could feel his own body sliding down alongside the other one. The pressure on his back and sides seemed to be coming in waves – he felt his world tighten and press against his body for several seconds and then slowly ease for just as long before the cycle repeated itself. Each time the world closed in, the body below him rotated, grinding and sliding against his sensitive flesh. With the irritating membrane out of the way, he could feel the other body with his trunk in more detail. He felt a smooth, curved surface with protrusions branching off on either side on the end furthest away from him. The side closer to him was harder to feel, given that he couldn't use his trunk or his crossed arms to investigate. He could feel something pressing against his gut and groin, probably curled around itself just like he was curled around it. Each time the walls around him contracted, he could feel himself getting pressed closer against the other body. He could feel his heartbeat pounding between his legs each time the other body shifted. He was being driven mad with need, so close to something but not knowing what!


        The next contraction came sooner and harder than he expected. Pressure quickly built on all sides, enough that he thought he would have been folded in half if not for the body in front of him. He felt the other body pivoting in place, his hard member rubbing against rubbery skin until something slipped. The tip of his erect member found the edge of a crevice and sank deep inside. The other body kicked in surprise while he took a shocked gasp, his lungs filling with the fluid that still surrounded him.


        He was in ecstasy. Warm, tight flesh surrounded his member on all sides as the other body squirmed and struggled, immobilized by the contracting walls. The motion only fuelled his arousal, and each rhythmic contraction squished them closer together, pushing him deeper inside the heavenly cleft as the other body slipped further and further down until their hips touched. Each time the other body turned or slipped a little further away, his member tingled. He had nothing to compare the sensation to, but at the same time it was somehow familiar to him. He could feel something building up in his loins, growing bigger and bigger each time one of them moved.


        The walls closed in again, tighter than ever before. There was a sudden jolt as the lower body shifted, squished down into some small gap that he couldn't see. His member slid partially out of the slit it was nestled into until the contraction forced it back in again and sent shivers up his spine. This was the feeling he'd been craving, the path to whatever sweet release his body was demanding!


        He quickly learned to work with the rhythmic contractions as they increased in speed, duration, and intensity. Each time he felt the push he would push back, flexing his uncooperative muscles and then relaxing again, feeling that bliss as he slid in and out of the body in front of him. He was getting close, but he could tell the other body was slipping further and further away, somehow escaping the confines of this dark, cozy world. Where was it going? Was he next? He didn't know, all he knew was that he had to finish whatever it was he was doing before the other body disappeared!


        When the next contraction came, he was ready. He used every clumsy, aching muscle at his disposal to try and roll his hips back and forth against the steady body before it moved again. But it felt like it was stuck! As the world around him closed tighter and tighter, he pressed against the other body, throbbing and twitching inside as the other body squirmed and the slit clamped down, holding him in place. He could feel the sensation building more and more, almost becoming painful until there was a sudden powerful and dizzying release from his loins into the narrow passage of flesh. It felt like he was exploding!


        A sound quickly drew his attention. It was sharp and focused, unlike the dull, muffled ambience that surrounded him. There was something else too – a bright light that pushed aside the familiar darkness. Shades of green and grey and gold that demanded his attention. But how did he recognize them? He'd never known anything outside the comforting darkness!


        Details rushed back. He was kneeling, feeling the dry grass prickle his fur-covered legs. His hands were placed against warm, rubbery, wrinkled flesh. Ink tickled his forehead. His body rocked and shuddered, and the gnoll realized the sound he heard was the splattering of his own orgasm hitting the inside of his loincloth! Details changed, but the overwhelming feeling carried over. Two bodies, one sacred sensation. A bridge between born and unborn, gnoll to Indovu. Dhryn blinked his eyes. His vision was hazy and his thoughts were muddled, like he was in some feverish dream. He saw Usana's body and the dripping head of a calf protruding beneath her belly, its trunk dangling almost to the ground. Thick gobs of slimy mucus slid down its face – her face. The calf was a her, he was somehow sure of it. But how did he know?


        Grab the calf, Dhryn thought to himself, Grab the calf's head and pull her out. He willed his arms to move, but his movement was slow and sluggish, like he was trying to reach through thick tar. When his hands finally reached the calf's floppy ears, he was amazed at how warm and wet she felt, how smooth her skin was. For a moment he felt the birth-slime not just coating his palms but his entire body, like he was right there with her inside Usana's hot, sticky womb.


        A shoulder and a hand slipped free as Dhryn pulled the calf's head towards him. There was no conscious thought behind his actions, it was as if he was watching someone else work while he observed from afar. He took her dangling, dripping trunk in one hand pushed the end into his mouth, sucking on it to drain the fluid as best he could. He would have loved to explore the strange prehensile organ more, but as soon as the thick fluid hit the back of his throat, he started to choke. He couldn't cough, he couldn't swallow, he couldn't even breathe, but it never crossed his mind to panic. The rest of the calf came easily, sliding out into his arms as Usana trumpeted above him. He quickly bit through the umbilical cord and lowered the calf to the ground, feeling the newborn's prodigious heft squirming in his arms.


        His intuition was right – the calf was definitely a female. Not only that, but her labia were already reddened and slightly swollen. Dhryn smiled. Taiwo, First to Taste the World, had been born. Which meant Kehinde, Last to Fall, was still inside. He remembered vaguely feeling the bottom of the girl-calf against his chest, but the memory was foggy, like he was dredging up a dream or ancient memory. Taiwo quickly drew her thick grey legs up to her chest, like she was showing off . . . or perhaps begging for more. But the gnoll couldn't sate her needs right now. He was still gagging, but instead of panicking like he should have, he began to feel tired and drained. The shade below Usana seemed darker, and the sounds coming from both her and the squealing calf seemed strangely muffled and far away. The sinking sensation deepened, and in only a few seconds the scene before him faded entirely, replaced with a familiar darkness.


        This wasn't right, he thought. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was trapped, stuck in this tiny world that pressed on him from all sides. It was stifling and suffocating. The other body was gone. He was alone. The need to breathe persisted, but when he tried to inhale he was greeted with a lungful of brackish fluid. He gagged and writhed, kicking his stumpy feet impotently as the walls threatened to crush him with more force than he thought possible. He was being shoved downwards, and already he could feel his left foot slip into something, then his whole leg. It was like he was being engulfed, swallowed from the feet up!


        This wasn't how it was supposed to end, he thought. He underestimated to risk of using so-called “old magic” and now he was going to die – or at least the body he inhabited was going to. What would happen to his spirit if the calf suffocated, he wondered? His lungs burned as another contraction crushed inwards, constricting him around the waist. He could feel himself sinking lower and lower and his limbs and trunk began to tingle from lack of oxygen. The last thing he felt before fading out of consciousness was a slight breeze against his rump.


        Dhryn awoke to Usana trumpeting in his ear. He yelped and rolled over, fingers clutching at the dry grass as he gasped for air. He was alive – quite a revelation considering what he had just been through.


        “Shaman . . .” Usana groaned, her trunk snaking over the gnoll's body. Dhryn rolled over onto his side and saw something that made his stomach turn. Usana had collapsed onto all fours, covering her firstborn protectively. A severed, bloody umbilical cord dangled between her legs, and her hindquarters bulged with the second calf, barely visible beneath her sagging belly. It was just as Dhryn’s vision foretold – which meant he didn't have much time. He scrambled to his feet and rushed around behind her, stealing another glance at her newborn daughter. To his surprise, she lashed out at him with her hind leg when he reached out to assist, nearly crushing the infant below her.


        “No!” She grunted insistently, “Taiwo must be appeased first, or Kehinde will return to the heavens!” She rocked back on her strong legs, swishing her trunk as her voice trailed off into a low, primal rumbling. Kehinde's legs dangled back and forth, almost touching the ground.


        “Appeased how?” Dhryn pressed, shuffling back around to the front of the hulking mother.
        
        “It doesn’t matter!” Usana shrieked mid-contraction. She grit her teeth and grunted again before beginning to pant, leaning on her hands. She heaved in and out to try and keep the boy calf inside, but it was a losing battle. He was slipping out inch by painful inch.


        Dhryn gingerly reached out for the mewling, fidgeting calf, afraid of being kicked. The umbilical cord had snapped, leaving the long ragged rope attached to her fat baby belly. He pulled her closer by her legs, spreading her thick thighs wide to expose her reddened pachyderm pussy as soon as the two of them were out of harm’s way behind Usana’s rear. He covered the mound with his palm and began rubbing up and down, feeling the plump labia beneath his hand. He certainly knew one to appease her!


        He pushed his nose into her folds and inhaled luxuriously. She had a sharp, pungent scent, vaguely reminiscent of wet flint. He dragged his tongue across her lower body, feeling every dip and valley on her naked form. The calf whined in protest but the gnoll calmed her with a touch, his coarsely-furred hand caressing her upper chest while he continued slowly eating her out. Each pass of his tongue dug deeper and deeper into her folds, dredging up more and more of that tangy flavour.


        Taiwo's cries lessened after only a few moments, the newborn relaxing under the older male's soothing touch. She would be tired, Dhryn thought to himself, the little calf's life was only just beginning and already her body was getting quite the workout! Her legs clenched, holding the gnoll's neck in a soft lock. Dhryn smiled at the gesture – it felt like she didn't want him to leave!


        Dhryn rubbed both his tongue and his nose up and down the calf's cleft in long, firm motions, dragging his entire muzzle across her sensitive flesh over and over again. The calf's knees clenched and loosened in a rhythmic pattern as he picked up speed. In a few moments Taiwo's mouth opened and her crying returned, this time in wails of ecstasy as the gnoll's talented tongue lapped and slurped against her most sensitive parts. But the gnoll didn't stop. The calf's tiny birth canal clenched and kissed at the invading tongue as Taiwo came again and again, each lusty screech inviting her brother closer and closer to the mortal world.


        Another low, frustrated rumble announced that Usana was losing control. The bulge widened and it was clear Kehinde was emerging backwards, the calf seeming quite content to sit on his mother’s pelvis for the time being. If the two calves were indeed divine avatars as Usana seemed to believe, they seemed to be weighing their options. Dhryn shuffled and turned to face Usana’s rump, sitting cross-legged on the dry grass with Taiwo nestled in his lap. 


        “There’s your brother,” he whispered in her enormous ear, turning her to face the breech calf. He pushed one hand back between her thick legs and held her trunk with the other, coaxing the uncoordinated fifth limb towards the second calf’s flat feet. He slipped a finger inside her thighs easily, her holes already quite slick from earlier. He curled his finger inside her, keeping her wet and ready as his own erection rapidly filled his loincloth. “Aren’t you going to ask him to come out?” he coaxed, rubbing his finger back and forth. 


        It seemed the two of them were at least having some effect. Kehinde’s bottom dropped, his tail and phallus sliding out along with a gob of thick, clear fluid. Dhryn noted with a grin that the boy-calf still seemed at least partially aroused, his chubby shaft bouncing in the breeze. He urged Taiwo closer, allowing the newborn to feel her brother with her trunk before her head was pushed forward right into the emerging groin. Reflexively, she began to suckle.


        Dhryn suddenly jolted upright, feeling a strange, warm sensation in his own loins as well. Currents of ecstasy traversed his body, crashing like waves against the surf. He and Kehinde were still connected somehow! Each time Taiwo’s inexperienced lips and tongue tenderly caressed the boy calf’s member it felt like she was nursing on him as well! 


        “Good girl,” Dhryn cooed, rubbing his finger against Taiwo’s lower lips again, watching as she sucked off her half-born brother. “Easy does it . . . just like that . . .” The feeling in his loins was both familiar and strange all at once - his own arousal seemed magnified by Kehinde’s inexperience! He pushed the girl calf forward, sliding his hand down the back of her head. She resisted a little, but quickly wrapped her lips around the other calf’s protruding stiffy and began to suck noisily, fluid and slobber dripping from her tender mouth.


        “Shaman!” Usana groaned, trying to turn her head and pin her ears back to see, “What are you doing back there?”


        “I’m doing what you asked,” he replied vaguely, trying to mask his breathlessness, “Taiwo is convincing her brother to join us!”


        “Convincing” indeed, Dhryn thought to himself. Taiwo was presenting a rather convincing argument, gagging and slurping on her brother’s shaft. She probably would have protested if the gnoll had given her room to do so, but after the first taste of this amazing feeling, he wasn’t about to let her go. His own gnollhood felt like it was aflame with desire, like his first time all over again!


        Usana let out an earthy moan and leaned forwards. Dhryn watched the drum-like skin of her belly tighten, the bulge of the calf visibly shifting under her tail as one thick leg emerged followed quickly by the other. One of them landed on Taiwo’s shoulder, as if Kehinde was sitting on her. Dhryn grimaced and shifted again, thrusting upwards against the Taiwo’s slippery smooth backside. She gagged almost immediately - as soon as Dhryn thrusted upwards, Kehinde rolled his hips forward and kicked, driving his baby dick to the back of his sister’s throat. Dhryn had to stop and pull back, it was too much!


        Taiwo coughed and drooled while Dhryn held her, wiping the drool away with his arm. He was already covered, he thought, why did one more smear matter? Kehinde’s fat member twitched and throbbed in the breeze, wordlessly begging for more attention. More of his body slid slowly out, dripping with amniotic fluid as rolls of baby fat were squeezed through Usana’s straining birth canal. His belly was fully exposed, as was his glistening chest. Just the arms and the head remained. The shoulders would be difficult, but Dhyrn could see that the emerging boy’s umbilical cord was still throbbing with fresh, oxygenated blood. He had plenty of time.


        After a few moments of recovery, the gnoll shaman shuffled closer to Usana’s butt and the dangling, erect Kehinde. He placed Taiwo on his legs again and slowly guided her mouth to the tip of her brother’s penis, waiting for her to latch on again. Shivers descended along his spine as soon as she began to suckle, and he returned his hand to its rightful place between the calf’s legs. He had an idea. He pushed Taiwo further into his lap and squeezed his erection between her fat, slippery thighs. He pumped upwards and as he suspected, Kehinde twitched his hips, ramming his sister again. He could feel it, the tiny hot mouth engulfing his own member as well. Taiwo tried to pull away but Dhryn put a firm hand on the back of her head, keeping her in place while the two males bucked away. She gagged and raised her arms, clearly not amicable to being face-fucked by her unconventional midwife and her half-born brother.


        “Shaman!” Usana grunted, beginning to rock back and forth herself, “What are you d-doooing-ah! The calf is . . .rubbing . . .” 
        
Dhryn could hear the wince in her voice. Each time he pushed up and Kehinde pushed forward, a little more of him slid out, his smooth back rubbing against Usana’s engorged clitoris. Not only was it serving to help the boy out into the world, but it sounded like mommy wasn’t exactly having a bad time, either.


He began thrusting harder, unconsciously beginning to grip the back of Taiwo’s head and dig his fingers into her crotch again. Stars above, she was so wet and slippery and warm in there, and he could FEEL her sloppy mouth as well as her cushioned thighs . . . he wasn’t just humping anymore, he was outright fucking her thighs while Kehinde was going wild just in front of him, practically flailing and kicking his legs while Usana began to groan louder and louder, an animalistic grunt that climaxed into a bestial trumpeting as one of Kehinde’s arms flopped out, followed by the other. 


It wouldn’t take much more. Knowing his own climax was fast approaching, Dhryn grabbed Kehinde’s dripping ankles and pulled them hard, pushing his groin right into Taiwo’s face and thrusting up at the same time, gasping as his seed shot upwards in a high arc, landing on Taiwo’s belly. He watched the breech calf’s loins quake and throb, and he knew that the boy calf felt exactly as he did, awash in a sea of ecstasy. It was easily the most powerful orgasm he had ever felt - feeling Kehinde’s arousal as well as his own. It was like his first time all over again, but a thousand times more intense. Each tingle, each little shiver was an entirely new sensation.


Taiwo turned her head away, coughing and gagging. Dhryn instinctively followed mid-orgasm, shielding his face as Kehinde’s cock popped free and sprayed clear urine everywhere, dripping down the calf’s body and matting the gnoll’s fur. Usana let out a final exhausted trumpet and the whole body came gushing out, bouncing off Dhryn’s lap and onto the grass. 


Kehinde cried immediately, curling up into a little ball while Usana took in big gulps of air and searched under her body for the second twin with her prehensile trunk. The newborn’s member twitched, the last of the urine spurting out in time with the remainder of the older male’s fertile cum. Loathe to waste such precious seed, Dhryn began to smear it between Taiwo’s legs and rubbed his fingers against her exposed pearl in small circles, curious to see if he could get her to cum once more before Usana collected herself. He slid his fingers along her mouth, feeling her clamp down on his digits like she did with her brother’s private parts. With a sly smile he slowly switched hands, feeling her suck the mixture of gnoll cum and calf juices off his claws as if she were nursing a breast. 


“Kehinde . . .” Usana sighed blissfully, collapsing onto her side with a heavy thud and pulling the second-born up to her bare chest, “You’re finally here!” 


As if on cue, Taiwo let go of Dhryn’s fingers let let out a cry of release, her hips bucking up into the air as a messy stream of urine splattered everywhere. “Let’s not forget who invited him,” Dhryn reminded her, removing his hands and nudging the firstborn over beside her brother. Usana saw nothing, and Taiwo’s timely voiding removed any other evidence of the gnoll’s molestation.


        “Last time the Twins visited our tribe,” Usana explained, “Both Taiwo and Kehinde were male, but only Taiwo chose to stay. Interesting how Taiwo chose a female body this time while Kehinde stayed male.”


“Being male isn’t so bad,” Dhryn jested with a toothy grin, “Even as a gnoll it has its perks.”
“Many more so with the Indovu in your debt,” Usana grinned behind her trunk as she scooped Taiwo into her massive arms alongside her brother. “And I don’t mean your tribe,” she clarified, “just yours. The Indovu recognize individual merit over that of the group. So if you ever need something from us . . .” She smiled, leaving the invitation open to interpretation. Dhryn smiled back. He had just delivered a god-child - two of them, even! There would be songs sung and stories written about this day, and knowing the Indovu’s lifespan and impeccable memory, he could milk his new status for a lifetime!


“It’s an incredible offer,” Dhryn replied, “In the meantime, I insist you stay as long as you like. The rest of my tribe will be eager to meet the twins and I would be honoured to publically bless them and welcome them to our tribe.”


Kehinde began to feed noisily on Usana’s leaking breast, and Dhryn felt an instant, overpowering sense of calm wash over him. He could almost feel Usana’s warmth enveloping him as the first warm breast milk flowed down his throat. It was as if he himself were no more than a small cub again.


That night, the tribe danced and sung as the gnolls welcomed Ibeji into their fold. One by one the gnolls praised Taiwo and her older brother Kehinde, anointing them with the same sacred dyes that marked gnoll cubs during naming rituals. Dhryn retired before sundown, exhausted by the day’s events. He slept, but was awakened numerous times by phantom voices, sensations, punctuated by dreams - visions, perhaps - of his tribe and visitors. They appeared both strange and familiar all at once, and he vaguely recalled feeling small and safe. It was if he was enrobed in a maternal, ethereal embrace. He tucked his hands and knees into his chest and rolled in his hammock, as if he were back in the womb.


Inevitably, the sun rose. After the festivities had subsided and the bonfire had long been reduced to warm cinders, he saw the sun burn through the hide flap on the front of his wigwam. It grew brighter and brighter, signalling the inevitable birth of a new day. In the back of his mind, he could almost hear Taiwo crying, letting him know that the world was good.