Chapter 24: 24. Orc

24. Orc

A scream resounds in my ears as a dozen little Fuzzies burst from the grass at me. I lift my spear tip high to avoid injuring them, and they part around us as they flee something else. The tiny, furred, juvenile humanoids squeak as they pass, jumping and tumbling away when they see us.

Even my human ears can hear the nearby commotion approaching. I wait for the monster to attack us until another high-pitched scream grates at my ears.

Dammit!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

I rush forward blindly, even as Gabby calls at my back to retreat. Entering the clearing ahead, I see the source of the screaming and the cause of the Fuzzies’ terror.

“Got’a!”

A seven-foot-tall female Orc with large tusks, black dreadlocks, drool-worthy washboard abs, grapefruit-sized tits, and muscular limbs thick as tree trunks towers over the scrambling Fuzzies. The looming huntress wears nothing but a loincloth and a fur bikini top. She’s caught the owner of the piercing voice I’ve been hearing, a mouse girl.

“Dura?” Gabby says as she emerges beside me. I shouldn’t be surprised my Goblin wife would know the Orc in question considering they both hail from the Ogre Fen.

“…Dur?”

Gabby had dropped her guard for a moment upon seeing an old—friend?—but quickly resumes her battle stance as we absorb the non-standard reply. “That’s Dura, but it’s like she doesn’t recognize me. Something’s wrong.”

I take a closer look at the Orc woman and notice she’s gone cross-eyed with dilated pupils. Yes, there’s definitely something odd about this Orc. Even wild Orcs that attack humans normally respond to questions.

Dura seemingly dismisses us with a snort and takes a wobbly step in the opposite direction. The captive mouse girl gives a final pathetic, despairing squeak that twists a knife in my heart.

I step forward. “Let her go!”

The Orc ignores me, but Gabby sees me brandishing the spear and nods. “Don’t hurt Dura.”

Ouch, my first fight with an Orc, and I’ve got a handicap!

I flip my spear to point the butt at my opponent and dart forward. I jab Dura in the kidney. The big Orc takes the hit like a brick wall but cries in rage as the sudden pain causes Dura to release her grip.

The mouse girl falls, and I catch her in my arms. She’d curled into a defensive ball in anticipation of hitting the cruel ground before landing in my grasp. She’s beautiful as a doll, even shorter than Gabby at a little over two and a half feet tall. Where my Goblin wife is a shortstack, this girl has the proportions of a slender woman with modest breasts. Her tousled hair is yellow-blond, her eyes an emerald green, and her fur steel grey. She has mouse ears and a tail, with tufts of fur on her wrists and ankles above her rodent feet.

While I’d love nothing more than to properly ravish such a cute monster girl, I have a serious threat on my hands. I lean down, take a deep whiff of her hair with my Wolf Nose, and whisper into her ear, “Run.”

I set the mouse down and dodge aside as Dura summons her club and smashes it where I’d stood. The blond mouse scampers away as I summon a spear to my hands. A small crater at the club’s impact site tells me I can’t afford to take a hit even with my armor.

The next blow leveled against me is a devastating sweep. Wolf Rush! I leap over the club and swing my shaft smack into the side of Dura’s throat. The slap of wood on flesh makes me wince, but the Orc’s heavy musculature absorbs the blow with barely a flinch.

I hop away mere moments before Dura’s grasping hand would’ve closed on my ankle. The Orcess then charges me with a lumbering tackle I narrowly sidestep. Pushing myself for speed, I punish the clumsy move with another jab from the butt of my spear.

Dura doesn’t seem to feel a thing.

“Gabby, I could use a hand…” I say as I dodge another crushing club bash.

“My stock of Pepper Spray is running low. I’m reserving it to save your life; try to win through without it,” my Goblin wife responds.

Shit, when she puts it like that, I feel bad. Gabby doesn’t have all my advantages. She knows to stay away to avoid being a liability, but she’s watching the battle carefully to cover for me in case of a critical mistake. I shouldn’t be asking her to do more; I should be pushing my limits!

An effort of will activates my Earth Magic, and my consciousness reaches into the soil beneath us. I almost take a hit before my senses return for a quick duck and weave. My second attempt bears fruit as my mind grasps and pulls at the dirt beneath Dura’s leading foot.

My opponent’s footing slides from under her, and she lands sprawling in the grass. I pummel Dura with the blunt end and shaft of my spear while the wobbling Orc struggles to her feet. I almost regret laying into her with so many cheap moves, but the Orc’s next craterous blow to the ground disabuses me of that conceit.

I’m prepared for a battle that strains me to the breaking point, testing my mental and physical limits, but this isn’t that. The more I fight Dura, the more I’m reminded of a scene from town several years ago when I saw Orc guards subduing a drunken Minotaur. She has strength in this state, yes, but gone is the battle experience and skill of a trained warrior.

I’m dead the second I make a mistake, but Fast Learner quickly plumbs the depths of what this Dura is capable of. With a few Wolf Rushes to correct for my errors and my newfound Earth Magic to destabilize her footwork, I’m able to land dozens of blunt blows to the sturdy Orcess.

Dura finally collapses supine, wailing in pain from head-to-toe bruises, before I’m able to administer my preferred treatment. I dismiss my armor and grab a tit while standing over the flailing, green-skinned woman. Some squeezing and aiming later, I’m squirting a thin stream of breastmilk into her mouth.

Like a cranky infant, a little Pacifying milk puts Dura down in a minute.

*Orcess Layer – One Goblinoid Mark!*

That mark seems kind of literal… but hopefully ends up being euphemistic.

Gabby is finally able to approach without being swatted away like an annoying fly. The green shortstack plucks a vial from her bandolier of goodies, uncorks it, and waves the bottle under Dura’ nose. The Orcess grunts in distress, sits up, and clutches her head in agony.

Smelling salts?

“Fuck! Dat hurts! Dura feel like ben trampl’d by Centaurs. Gabby? Wat you doin’ here?”

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Gabby replies as she fishes something from another pouch. “Chew on this willow bark for the pain and tell us what happened.”

Dura takes the proffered medicine and sticks it on her back molars. “Thankee, dat better.” Then the Orcess licks her white-flecked lips and smacks them while humming appreciation. “Wat Dura taste so nice?”

“That… would be me,” I say a bit sheepishly. A trickle of milk dribbles from my nipple as evidence. I don’t exactly know how to handle a beautiful stranger complimenting my flavor of all things.

The female Orc turns at the sound of my voice and blinks chestnut brown eyes in shock at my appearance. She looks me up and down, jaw dropping as her gaze lingers on my knockers. Then she excitedly turns to Gabby.

“Gabby got human?!? Since wen?”

“Since yesterday.”

“So luck; congrat! …Gabby share lucky wit Dura?” The large Orcess gives my tiny Goblin wife the pleading eyes of a younger sister who outgrew her cuteness years ago and refuses to acknowledge it.

Gabby bops Dura on the head in admonishment, having no more effect than a paper fan on the Orc’s thick skull.

“Ow! Gabby mean!”

“I’ve no intentions of lending out my human to the whole clan!” Gabby says, and I can’t help picturing it. I have to admit, the thought of getting passed around from Orc to Orc like a smoking pipe is kind of hot… “Sharing my human with a favorite broodmate, however, is another matter.”

“Gabby so kind! Smart! Pretty!”

“Only if you’re good,” Gabby wags a warning finger at the huge warrior. “Help us out today, and I’ll consider it.”

“You two are sisters?” I finally voice the question building in my head. I’d have represented myself earlier if the thought of being offered as a special treat to Gabby’s clansmen wasn’t such a weird and sudden turn-on.

Dura whips her head in my direction when I speak and smiles a wide, tusky Orc smile. Is it weird I find Orcs hot? Especially the female ones?

Wait… I bet this is my Oedipus complex acting up. Legends are still told of the ancient human badass who killed his father and fucked his mother. I don’t plan to follow in his footsteps since I have a great relationship with dear old dad, so what’s the problem if I get turned on by female Orcs that remind me of mom?

“Hi, little human! Me Dura! Don’ be scare; me gen’le hands.”

“I bet you do,” I mumble under my breath as I bite my lip and stare at Dura’s lesbian manicure. She has Goblinoid claws on all her fingers except two on her dominant hand, which are trimmed to the quick.

Gabby goes straight to answering the question. “All Gobbo kids thrown in the same pen are broodmates. That’s thicker than blood to us since we don’t keep track of parentage. It leads to favoritism, you see.”

“But, your mother…?”

“Ah, yes, well.” Sigh. “You see, dear, we may not be raised by them, but some parents don’t forget their spawn as is proper. Mother found me and passed along that ring before she died. It made me stand out among my peers because I couldn’t bear to let it go.”

“Dura bullied too as Gobbo until we together as sisters. Gabby older and smart’r.”

“And Dura is bigger and stronger. We used to look out for one another before I left Ogre Fen.”

“Dura stop by!”

“Yes, I remember. Thanks again for the jerky. I have to admit, Alex, if you actually want to fuck an Orc, you couldn’t do better. She’s a paragon of Orcish virtue on top of being the prettiest Orcess in the Fen.”

“Gabby charm’r! Wat Gabby wan from Dura…?”

The little Goblin shortstack furrows her brow. “Tell us what happened. Also, we could use a hand hunting a certain Dire Wolf.”

“Hmm.” Dura looks up and to the left while screwing up her face with intense concentration. It’s rather cute seeing the great warrior woman like this. Hey, I can’t help if I have a thing for ditzy and dim girls!

“Oh!” the Orcess exclaims. “Dura ate weird fruit. Lot of, all over! Lots of Gobbos and Orcs try fruit and start’d act strange. Then come big tree man. He say feed him mice and bunnies. Sound good at time, but it stupid Dura hunt for tree!”

Gabby nods along with the story until Dura finishes, then turns to me and translates, “A Treefolk strayed from the Forest and used their magic fruit to control Ogre Fen clansmen.”

The combination of bonks to the head, Pacification milk, and smelling salts must have snapped Dura out of the trancelike state.

“We need to stop it,” I say, thinking of the adorable mouse girl who almost got fed to an evil tree. Such a crime must not be allowed!

“I agree,” Gabby says. “An Incursion of this nature may escalate. If several Treefolk follow this example, they may dominate all Ogre Fen and use our clansmen to strip Fuzzy Field bare.”

With no more food, their raiding party and even the wolves may head for the human town next. This could be the inciting incident for a major Incursion!

“How many clansmen does the Treefolk have under its sway?”

“Dura never counting great…” the Orcess acts a little insecure admitting this fact, smoothing her dreadlocks in a nervous gesture as she speaks. Then she brightens as she looks at me. “But do ’er best! Um, let see, lots of Gobbos, few Hobbs, couple Orcs, and Ogre.”

“Bruke?” Gabby’s voice quavers slightly.

“Naw, jus Igrut.”

My Goblin wife sighs, relieved we won’t be fighting the leader of Ogre Fen. “Good, he’s a moron. Can we count on your help, Dura?”

I feel a little bad seeing the conflict in Dura’s face. Even a proud Orcish warrior can tell these are terrible odds.

“Gabby smart… but crazy! Dura smash lots of Gobbos, crush three Hob at once, beat any Orc in Fen! But Dura no fight Ogre, ev’n if Igrut moron.”

“If you’re fast on your feet and I distract him, the two of us could take him, right?” I say.

“No,” Gabby replies. “Though beating Dura—”

“—Not beat Dura!”

“Ahem,” Gabby continues after the interruption, “Putting Dura down in her inebriated state was an impressive feat, to be sure, but an Ogre is a different matter. Alex, you’ve become a competent fighter, true, but you haven’t been getting stronger. Your attacks won’t penetrate Ogre skin, and Dura’s bones will crack beneath a single one of Igrut’s blows.”

As much as I hate to admit it, Gabby is right. Dura took so many spear strikes like they were nothing. Even using the blade and tip instead of the butt, if Ogre skin is as tough as they say, it won’t make a bit of difference. I need another upgrade or a better weapon.

The Orcish warrior nodded solemn agreement, and then her face split into a toothy grin. “Dura no fight Ogre, unless…”

“Unless what, Dura?” Gabby says, eyeing her broodmate’s sly expression with suspicion.

“Unless Dura hunting Gabby human.” The Orcess waggles her eyebrows.

I flinch, and worry must have crept onto my face because Gabby tries to calm me.

“Relax, Alex. ‘Hunting’ is a term from the Book of Monsters I told Dura about. It’s like an ‘Encounter’ except it only ever counts the subject once. Think of it this way. Alex, you have a single ‘Human Token’ to give, a bit like your virginity. The first monster to ‘Hunt’ you gets the supposed token. The Ogre evolution tree is a side-step for Orcs that requires Human Hunter.”

Is that why I ran into an Ogre so close to town on my first day? Huh. At least this explains why the Fen can’t turn all their Orcs into Ogres with a single human.

“Luckily, I’m locked out of that evolutionary branch, and I don’t think Alex has yet been with a monster on the Human Huntress path. But, Dura, you’re that close?”

“Mmhmm! Dura defeated lots and lots of Orcs! Did all things Gabby say ’cept find human.”

“Impressive. Well, Alex, in the Ogre Fen, you’d be mine to share or hoard, but as my wife, you have some bargaining power. What say you?”

Dura looks at me with curiosity, having previously assumed I didn’t have a choice in Gabby’s decision.

“I’ll agree to be ‘Hunted’ on the condition that Dura helps us in battle today and that she bears my child.”

Gabby grins in approval at my cunning.

Meanwhile, Dura ponders the offer with serious thought. “Become Ogre, but preggers. Hmm, yep, dat good deal. But… Alex have cock Dura not see?”

This time, it’s my turn to waggle my eyebrows after a brief check of my marks. “You have a menu selection to choose from: you can be dicked by a Goblin cock, Orc cock, Mermaid Ovipositor, Fishman Cock, Wolf cock, Bunny cock, or Mole-man cock.”

“Hmm, I’ve only had the Goblin cock, Mermaid Ovipositor, and Mole-man cock. All highly recommended, but mostly because it was Alex doing the majority of the fucking. So many choices…” Gabby’s contemplative dick-reviewing expression is such a turn-on.

“Not fuck Dura wit nasty Wolf cock!” the Orcess growls. “Or stinky fish cocks. Dura had plen’y Goblin and Orc dick. Dura want somting new, meaty, and filling.”

“Definitely the Mole-man cock,” Gabby agrees wholeheartedly. “It’s big enough to give even an Orcess a hard dicking.”

“Then let’s get started.”