“Gurat biravh, gurat deaavh!”
- Orcish proverb, literally “hard birth, hard death”

    Dhryn hushed his footsteps as he entered the dense woods of Pulath. Tall, dark trees loomed over the gnoll, making him appear small and insignificant. He disliked these woods. He was used to the bright, endless plains of is homeland. Here it was dim, even at midday, and the trees gave endless places for an assailant to hide.

    The forest was dominated by dozens of small orcish tribes forever locked in territorial disputes, as well as pockets of peaceful cervines and porcines. Unfortunately, these traditionally more pacifist races often got pinched between enemy orc tribes and became collateral damage as the orcs not only slaughtered indiscriminately, but ravaged the land itself to build barricades and primitive war machines.

    Dhryn, being the scavenger that he was, capitalized on their losses as much as he could, taking payment for aiding some tribes while looting the remains of others. It was this reason that brought him into Pulath this day.

    The spirits had warned him of a mighty battle in Pulath, one that left scores dead and hundreds wounded. Should he wade in, they prophesied, the rewards would be great. So into the forest he went, carrying as many clay vials and leather carrying bags as he possibly could.

    He didn’t get far before he was disturbed by a loud crash and a shrill, child-like shriek. He quickly ducked behind a tree and peeked over a massive root to see a young, naked orc with oily black hair grappling with a feral boar. The gnoll watched with interest as the orclet grabbed the boar by the tusks and flipped the beast over with a mighty shriek, then kicked it while it was down. But to the gnoll’s surprise, the orc waited until the beast could rise, then allowed it to flee!

    The little orc crossed her arms triumphantly. If Dhryn had to guess, the little one had barely entered her breeding years, but she already had a massive belly hanging off her lean frame, and her small breasts were too full for a girl so young. In addition, there was a large tattoo on her leg that caught the gnoll’s eyes. Orcs were fond of body modifications – shaving, tattooing, scarring, and piercing were all signs of status across clan boundaries. The tattoo marked the girl as a member of the ox totem clan. Had he gone this deep into their territory already?

    As the gnoll wondered, the orclet caught sight of him. She let loose another primal shout and ran right at him, vaulting a fallen tree with surprising speed before plowing into him, arms outstretched.

    The pair tumbled to the ground and Dhryn threw the orclet off of him, quickly rolling to his feet. Before he could so much as speak the tenacious girl was on him again, wrapping her arms around his waist and plowing her head into his gut.

    Winded, Dhryn fell to the ground. He wasn’t sure what this orc was trying to prove. He expected her to hit him while he was down, but she just stood over him, barely able to see over her colossal belly. Her eyes were wide and bright, and she had an impish grin punctuated by a broken tusk on her left side.

    “Gnoll!” She proclaimed, stepping lightly on his groin, “Gnoll wunka! Wunka gnoll jaauv!”

    Dhryn’s grasp of orcish was shaky, especially the oxen dialect, but that look on her face transcended races. She was asking him to play! From any other race it would have been an unusual request given her condition, but the orcs were notorious for craving fights and rough play even more than gnolls were. What could Dhryn do but oblige?

“Tulag!” she declared, slapping her chest above her belly before pointing at Dhryn. “Tulag,” she repeated when he didn’t get it, slapping her chest before slapping his.

“Dhryn?” he answered, still unsure. 

“Dhryn!” She shouted, “Dhryn jaauv!” She playfully stepped on his chest again. “Dhryn jaauv Tulag!”
    
Dhryn grinned back and swept out the the orclet’s legs. If she wanted to play rough, he was going to give her what she craved! The child let out a yelp and hit the ground on her back, giggling before rolling over and taking up a low stance a few paces away, her upper body swaying over her enormous midsection. It looked like the Dhryn guessed right!

    The two grappled and tousled, rolling on the forest floor. Dhryn held back at first, not wanting to hurt the orclet or her unborn babe, but she quickly proved able to hold her own, landing several solid hits against Dhryn’s ribs and sinking her teeth into his forearm. But the more experienced gnoll took the fight out of her after tricking her into headbutting a tree, resulting in a bloody nose, a black eye, and a cut on her forehead.

    When she hit the ground and rolled over, she was still smiling, but clutching her belly. “Gnoll dor,” she announced with a wince, “gnoll naarfeek dor!” She pointed between her legs. There was a stain of wetness there that wasn’t before, and a strong odor wafted towards the gnoll’s nostrils when she spread her thighs. There was amniotic fluid there, but it was dark and tainted. Maybe that’s why she wanted to grapple, Dhryn thought, to get that baby out?

    “Something is wrong,” Dhryn said slowly, crouching down between her legs. Tulag quickly responded by wrapping her legs around his head and twisting, throwing him down onto his side. Dhryn snarled. 

‘    “Something is wrong,” he repeated insistently, pointing between her legs from a safer distance. Tulag nodded like she knew, but rolled to her feet away from him. Did she even understand that she was in labour? Dhryn thought she looked young enough that this had to be her first - did she know how to give birth?

“Dhryn yonk jaauv! Atish-jaauv!”

    It didn’t look like she was in the market for help, Dhryn thought to himself, but that baby needed a way out and fast. There were any number of spells the gnoll could use to try and assess the baby’s condition, but the odds of this scrappy orclet giving him time and space to cast them was slim to none. The gnoll licked his lips and readied his hands, trying to figure out a way to still ‘play’ like she wanted, but also make sure her progeny came earthside in one piece.

    Tulag backed up and leaned against a tree, a slight twinge of pain streaking across her face. Dhryn took the opening and pushed into her upper belly with both hands, causing another spray of befouled fluid to splash around her feet. She cried out, but playfully kicked up to try and push him away. Dhryn grabbed the stray foot and pulled up, keeping her pinned against the tree with his body weight and leaving her precariously balanced on leg before he grabbed that one too. The pregnant orc let out a squeal of delight at this, and grabbed onto Dhryn’s coarse fur to keep from sliding down. She was so close, he could smell her sweat, feel the smoothness of her green skin. It was tantalizing. 

    “Foshan grush,” she nodded downwards, “Foshan nargzab-skaat. Dhryn fhok-foshan!”

    Dhryn had no idea what she was saying, but the way she was pointing down gave him a few ideas. He pushed his groin against hers, feeling his heart beat down in his loins. The sticky fluid smeared against his fur and he could feel his member beginning to swell, rubbing against her slippery labia. That was certainly one way to feel where the baby was, he thought!

    The gnoll dug his teeth lightly into Tulag’s shoulder to keep her still and pushed his hips forwards, his member jabbing between her lower lips and ramming into something just out of sight. That baby was close, and it didn’t give him much room to work with. He lightly let one of Tulag’s legs go, and as he hoped she wrapped it around his body instead of trying to escape. This gave him a chance to pull out quickly and replace the member between her labia with his fingers. If he used them right, he could keep ‘distracting’ her while figuring out exactly where this baby was and how he was going to get it out!

    Dhryn let his member rest against Tulag’s tight little pucker while he jammed two fingers up into her birth canal without warning. The orclet squealed but gripped her legs tighter, and the gnoll took that as a sign to keep going. His claws ran into something soft just out of sight. It didn’t feel like a head - more investigation would be required!

    In order to get the baby further down, Dhryn had to make Tulag push. He knew she had the strength, it was just a matter of channeling it to the right place! With his hands still between her legs he aimed his length right up between her buttcheeks, prompting another porcine squeal. She pushed out, he pushed up, making more and more progress with each thrust until he was firmly embedded in the orc’s backside.

    It worked like a charm. When he pushed up with his hips she instinctively pushed back, forcing the baby further down her birth canal. Her high-pitched shrieks turning into pushy-sounding grunts and more fluid spilled out of her. He tried to time his thrusting to her contractions - when her abdomen clenched, the gnoll pushed up and she pushed out. The baby inside began to stretch her before the gnoll could see it, but each time he felt inside, it felt less and less like a head. He used his thumbs to pry her lips open, pressing the heels of his hands against her flesh, massaging the tissue to help stretch it just that little bit more.

    “That’s right, push!” Dhryn snarled, “Push me out!” It was difficult to remember through the haze of lust that he still had a job to do, that their sexual play had a higher purpose. He had to keep his thrusting under control, otherwise he risked seeding her too soon, and then how would he help her?

    Tulag was still fighting the urge to push. It must have been terrible for her, Dhryn thought, the little orclet experiencing these terrible contractions and not knowing what to do about them.

    During a particularly painful-sounding contraction, Dhryn finally caught sight of the baby - or at least part of it. The baby was in a full breech position, barreling down Tulag’s birth canal rump-first. The baby was also female, her swollen labia pushed out so far that the gnoll almost mistook it for a scrotum at first. He had to grab it, he thought, he had to get it out. But there was nothing to grab, just a round, slippery buttcheek! 

    Unless . . .

    Dhryn pushed his hips forwards and slammed Tulag’s back against the tree, making her shudder. While she was distracted, the gnoll hooked a claw right into the baby’s private parts and yanked, pushing against Tulag’s stomach with his other hand. Not the way he intended to take the little one’s feyrn, but judging by the little one’s bluish colour he didn’t have much of a choice. He plan worked, almost, and the little warrior was pulled out until her legs unfurled and she kicked Dhryn right in the nose. The gnoll recoiled and Tulag took the opportunity to unwrap her legs and push him away, suddenly exposing the gnoll’s slick shaft to the cool air.

    Tulag cackled with glee, the inexhaustible orc seemingly oblivious to the baby hanging half-out of her vagina. Dhryn was livid. Not only had his coitus been interrupted, but now he had to chase Tulag down again and rescue her baby.

    “Foshan guth tul,” Tulag teased, wobbling a few steps away from him and leaning forwards, resting her hands on her thighs and bending over.  She rocked her hips from side to side, making the halfborn baby sway. “Skaat-Dhryn,” she beckoned, looking over her shoulder,  “Nork-foshan! Nork-foshan!” 

    Dhryn took the bait. He was so focused on getting himself off and getting that baby out that he didn’t hesitate to charge into the orc and tackle her to the ground before roughly flipping her over onto her back and smothering her with his larger body. He snarled like an animal and then turned himself around, pushing his groin into her face.

    Tulag snarled back, kicking and writhing, the baby’s legs flopping everywhere. She even went so far as to bite and snap at the gnoll’s pubic fur before Dhryn slammed his hips into her nose. That seemed to get her attention. He rolled his hips around, seeking out the orc’s warm, wet maw and then plunged his length deep inside, stuffing her jaws so full she couldn’t hope to bite down. 

    That baby needed to come out now. She was losing colour, the blue tint of asphyxia creeping inexorably towards her buttocks. Dhryn grabbed both legs and pulled, folding the baby over backwards as her hips and back slithered out accompanied by more of the stinking fluid. The arms came down not long after, swept down by an invading gnollish hand. All the while, Dhryn pounded his hips against Tulag’s face, his member slamming against the back of her throat. She flailed mightily but the gnoll squeezed with his thighs, unwilling to let her go or even breathe before that baby was out!

    Only the head of the baby remained inside now, wedged between Tulag’s narrow hips. It was a complication that Dhryn had seen before, especially in younger mothers, and fortunately he knew just how to correct it. Grinding his hips into Tulag’s face he grabbed the baby’s leg in one hand and then reached in with the other under the baby’s head, hooked a finger into its mouth and pulled out - pulling the baby’s head to her chest - and then skyward, flexing the baby’s massive head out with a final gush of rank fluid.

    The baby did not look good. She was limp and off-colour, and her eyes were half open but staring at nothing in particular. Dhryn quickly pulled his finger out of the newborn’s mouth and pushed his lips to hers, sucking the vile slime out of her throat and spitting it into one of the many vials he brought. He’d find a use for it, he was sure. 

Tulag still flailed underneath the gnoll, jabbing her fist into his side. Dhryn didn’t want to show Tulag her baby in its listless state so he kept using her mouth to keep her occupied while he put the baby down on the ground and started lapping between her chubby newborn thighs to stimulate her.

    Aside from her condition, The baby was a fine specimen indeed. She had a head full of brown hair, deep blue eyes, sharp orcish ears and two sizable tusks already protruding through her bottom jaw. She was hefty too, it was hard for Dhryn to believe that a baby so large came out of a orclet so small.

    He grew close to erupting himself as his tongue pushed into her swollen folds and curled around her turgid clitoris. She wasn’t perking up as much as he wanted, though, so he lightly bit down on the tender flesh. That got the baby’s attention. She reacted quickly, letting out a wet cough and tucking her legs and arms into her chest. Dhryn dug deeper, teasing his nose back and forth, being as rough with the newborn as he was with her mother. Fortunately, the former was a lot more sensitive, and it was only a few moments before she clenched up again, gasping in ecstasy at the same time that the gnoll flooded Tulag’s throat with his seed. The new mother choked it down, and Dhryn could feel her throat flexing against his sensitive shaft as he pulled it out and turned around to show off the new arrival.

    “Maath talun-karku,” Tulag smiled as she sat up, looking thoroughly exhausted. Her mop of black hair was stuck to her face, and her midsection sagged. She pointed at her baby. “Ghru foshan, gaa rup foshan?”

    Dhryn opened up the baby’s legs, keeping one hand across the baby’s chest as he pulled one leg and the umbilical cord out of the way to show off her femininity. Tulag smiled. “Rup foshan! Duurfit-lat!”

    Dhryn held the baby out for Tulag to take, but the young orc pushed back. “Nar, nar,” the new mother insisted, “Foshan latu! Nark-foshan!” She didn’t sound like she was teasing this time, but offering?” The gnoll was slightly confused. The words ‘nark-foshan’ were familiar. She taunted the gnoll with them when she was running away with a baby sticking out of her, daring him to take it. Is that what she wanted now? Did she want him to take the baby?
    “Nark . . .foshan?” Dhryn repeated, struggling to pronounce the gutteral words. Tulag’s eyes brightened. 

    “Akh,” she replied over the newborn’s crying, “nark-foshan latu!” The two stared at each other for a few moments. Dhryn casually rubbed the baby’s chest with his clawed hand, wrapping his coarsely-furred arms around it protectively. Tulag grimaced and the placenta started to slide out, still attached to the baby. With one push the meaty organ flopped onto the ground between them.

    Tulag started to shuffle away, leaving baby and placenta behind. Dhryn held the baby out again. “Wait!” he demanded.

    Whether or not the young orc understood, she rolled over to her knees and stood up, the wiry orclet now looming over the sitting gnoll. She picked up the placenta and dropped it into his lap with a smile. “Latu-foshan,” she said, repeated the phrase “duurfit-lat” as she walked away with a surprising spring in her step for someone who just heaved out something so weighty. 

Perhaps this was the ‘reward’ that the spirits prophesied!