Locum Tenens

~~~ Chapter Notes ~~~

Loki, his wives, his daughters, and the little dragon have sent the hill giants packing. Now, it's time to deal with the orcs. All chapters in this tale are complete and have been submitted. With any luck, the admins will release a new episode every day or so.

~~~ Brant's Kingdom ~~~

We studied the wide river as we ate breakfast.

"Hatch says there's something living in the river that she wants to hunt and eat," Hanna reported.

"Hatch?" I asked.

"She needs a name," my youngest complained.

"Just don't call her that in front of her mother," I warned my younger daughter.

She nodded and said, "Got it."

"Let's have Hatch ferry us across," Kira suggested. "Once we're across, we could let her hunt but I'd hate for her to get into trouble and us not be able to intervene."

"She's confident that the fight will be over quickly," Hanna informed us.

In the end, we had Hatch hunt close enough to the shore that we could offer her support. She was right. She didn't need it - but - like Kira - I'd been worried about having to explain a dead or wounded cub to an angry mother.

We gave Hatch time to eat her breakfast and then we took off again. It was slightly after midday when we found Brant's forces. We left Kira and Rilla to hand over Brant's written orders. Meanwhile, Hatch took the girls and me up for a bird's-eye look at what we were dealing with.

This was far less of a meeting of two armies and much more of squads running into enemy teams and battling it out without support. Brant's forces had formed small units that seemed to be holding their own - but there were far more groups of orcs running around. Any of Brant's squads that ended up getting double-teamed were struggling just to survive.

"Here's what I'm thinking," I told Hanna. "You and Hatch are our spotters. Your sister and Rilla will work together. Kira and I will go solo. That gives us three teams of fighters. You direct each of us to either support, intervene, or strike wherever we can be the most effective with the highest likelihood of finishing quickly and moving on to the next group of orcs."

"Figured that all out on your own, did you?" Hanna asked with a smirk.

"Smartassed kid," I complained.

I grabbed the sassy 10-year-old, turned her upside down, and tickled her until she cried out that she was going to pee herself. I flipped her back over, hugged her tightly, and gave her kisses until she pushed me away, giggling and panting for air. Hatch brought us down next to my wives and we quickly updated them and Brant's field commander on the plan.

Two squads of Brant's fighters got annihilated before we could reach them. A couple others lost a member or two but we were able to intervene before they were completely wiped out. They weren't sure that we were delivering an official order when we told them to regroup on their commander but they obeyed anyway. It wasn't like they had a lot of choice. For one, they were understrength. Secondly, we'd already wiped out everything around them and they really weren't in a position to go looking for more trouble when they were dragging a teammate's corpse with them.

Rilla and Zima had a couple tense moments but they pulled out a win. Hanna had shifted Kira and me closer - just in case they needed backup - but they were able to manage it on their own so we stayed back so that they wouldn't think we were babysitting them. We weren't; Hanna was. Although I shouldn't call it 'babysitting'. Essentially, she was handling the overwatch. She had basically done the same thing with me when I was dealing with the giants. As long as she managed us properly, we were freed up to worry about only one thing - killing whatever was in front of us.

By dusk, all of Brant's teams had safely returned to their camp. We set up our own campsite between Brant's forces and where we estimated the orcs were coming from - although we warned the commander that he might not be able to locate us if he sent scouts to try to find us.

Kira had carved a couple orcs up for roasting. I asked her if orcs were intelligent. I didn't want to eat anything that might be classified as sentient. She explained that their fighters often ate them. I decided to opt out. In the end, she gave the orc meat to Hatch. She loved it - especially since Kira had already roasted it for her. She was starting to get used to eating what we ate.

Hatch took Rilla hunting and they came back with several rabbit-like creatures. Kira showed us how to dress them and cut them up. The little dragon and the huntress had also foraged some herbs that we added to the meat. We each got a long stick, stretched out our meat strips, and roasted them. Zima and Hanna were giddy about having free food cooked over the campfire - rather than stuff that Mila had prepared - or trail food.

I got greedy and didn't wait long enough for the meat to cool. The spices that we had added had my mouth watering. The girls made fun of me as I puffed air through my lips to try to keep from scalding my tongue.

The six of us (counting Hatch) had a terrific time, sitting around the fire, talking about the battles that we had been in, the land that we'd seen, and what we wanted to do when we got back home.

At one point, I tried to describe s'mores to them but they had no point of reference for any of the three ingredients so I kind of felt like a dope for even bringing it up. Of course, that didn't keep me from wishing that I had graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars ...

The girls finally drifted off to sleep and we got the bedrolls cozied up beside Hatch and left them softly snoring.

Once Rilla had sealed us behind a soundproof wall, Kira pushed her onto her back and started licking and sucking her pussy. With the princess' tight little ass sticking up in the air, I was soon kneeling behind her and sliding my cock into her as she gobbled her sister-wife's cunny and made her writhe and moan. I gripped the dark-headed princesses' ass in my fist and slammed into her - hampering her performance. Rilla complained and grabbed Kira by the hair to keep her lips and tongue hard at work.

Rilla got a small orgasm before Kira cried out with her own - which triggered mine. We all ended up on our backs with Rilla complaining that she wasn't satisfied. Her kisses moved south and - after sucking some of my cream from Kira's cunny - she got me hard enough to ride.

She gyrated on my prick and slid me in and out of her gripping tightness until I was aching with need again. I flipped her onto her back and plowed her hard and fast - reaching for my second climax. I got there before she did but - with having already cum once - I was able to hold off until she finally got her release.

Kira tormented her by kissing her while she was trying to get air back in her lungs after her climactic orgasm. When Rilla finally recovered, she flipped Kira onto her back and bit and kissed her repeatedly as the princess giggled and tried to push her away.

I finally dragged them apart, laid down between them, and wrapped an arm around each of them to pull them against my sides so that we could get to sleep.

~~~

The following morning, we met with the commander to let him know that we were going to push into orc territory to - hopefully - wipe out enough of them to stabilize the border once again. Brant's head man informed us that he was going to start loading up and heading back to the capitol city. We told him that we'd catch up to them there.

We spent the rest of the day sweeping up stray units and tracing incoming groups of orcs back to figure out where they were coming from.

We found the massive congregation of orcs in a large valley just before dusk. We located a place to tuck Rilla, Hatch, and my girls away and got them secured. Once that was done, the princess and I explored a bit further. Kira and I went invisible and moved through the huge collection of tents and hastily-constructed shelters.

{"Do they always live like nomads?"}I asked Kira.

{"That's not what I was led to believe,"}she replied.{"Their cities are not as sophisticated as ours but they're more organized than this. It almost looks like they've been displaced."}

It took us until after dark to find where they had posted guards further to the east of where they were settled. There was a small outpost constructed by a well-worn path. As we watched the group of a dozen warriors, zombie-looking orcs and humans came down the path one or two at a time and shambled towards the settlement. The guards killed them easily enough but ten minutes later, there was another one - and then another - and then another.

We returned to the girls and set up camp. Rilla and Hatch were the only ones that were still awake. The girls had eaten rations and crashed. As soon as the little dragon saw that we were back, she closed her eyes and fell asleep as well.

The girls lay side-by-side and we discussed our plans while I slowly fucked my dick in and out of Rilla's pussy. When she got close, I rabbit-fucked her until she climaxed. When she recovered, I switched to Kira. By the time she was ready to cum, we had decided to trace the undead back down the path to see if - as we suspected - they were coming from where the orcs used to live. With that resolved, Rilla and I sucked Kira's tits while I pounded her cunt. She came hard and we snuggled together to fall asleep.

~~~

After showers and breakfast, we broke camp and made our way around the giant orc camp. Hatch flew whenever possible while Kira and I moved along invisibly, taking care of any pop-up scouts or wandering orcs that would cause us problems.

We passed the outpost around mid-morning and followed the road. We let the little dragon take care of the undead. They showed up intermittently enough that she just pounced on them when they arrived.

About two hours later - around the time we were considering stopping for lunch - we found a massive abandoned city that Kira said was probably where the orcs had come from.

There were undead randomly wandering the streets. Pairs of undead were infrequent - with most walking around by themselves. We destroyed all that we found. We worked our way towards the tallest and largest structure in the middle of the huge (if crude) metropolis. The widely-sprawled city filled a whole valley and the central building was easy to pick out. It also seemed to be the source of the undead - with new ones appearing every so often.

We had spent over an hour cleansing the streets of the shambling undead when Kira advised that we should take a break and get food and drink into our bodies. Hatch ate quickly and went back to killing the skeletons and zombie-like creatures again. The rest of us enjoyed our break - and spent a little time guessing what we would find in the central structure.

Once we had gotten a quick recharge, we cleared the undead from the immediate area around the big structure and then began moving inside what appeared to be the main entrance.

We had not ventured very far before I started feeling queasy. There were rooms to the left and right of the main passageway and we were taking time to clear each - to make sure we weren't going to end up with an angry mob at our backs if and when we found the source of the undead. By the time we cleared a half-dozen rooms, Zima and Hanna were complaining of nausea. I tried healing them but it only made them feel better for a minute or so and then the ill-feeling returned - and somehow seemed worse.

Rilla was struggling as well so Kira walked the three of them back to the front doors to see if they started feeling better. Hatch remained with me. The young dragon and I were feeling a little of it - but not nearly like the others. Kira felt it too but (so far at least) wasn't too adversely affected.

{"They're feeling better,"}Kira reported.{"No new spawns out here. I'm going to leave them to guard this location - with orders to holler if they either have incoming - or they start feeling ill again."}

{"Sounds good,"}I answered.{"Hatch and I cleared two more rooms. We'll wait for you in the hall."}

When we got to a big room towards the middle that looked like it had the same purpose as the receiving hall that Kira's dad used, there was a big hole in the middle of the floor. As we watched, a zombified orc crawled over the lip and headed our way - moving faster when it saw or sensed us.

"That's not good," Kira said.

"Do you think we should clear the rooms on the upper floors - or sweep the rest of the building - before we head down?"

"I realize it's going to slow us down but I think ignoring those areas and heading down is just asking for trouble," Kira replied.

"Hatch, can you stay here - right here - and just kill the stuff that comes to attack you?"

{"She understands,"}Hanna reported.{"She will hold there until you and Kira return."}

{"Thanks, kiddo,"}I replied.

"Let's try splitting up," I told Kira. "You head up the stairs. Holler if you hit anything problematic. I'm going to clear out the rest of this floor."

"Sounds good."

"You still feeling okay?"

"It's stronger here," she responded, "but I'm okay so far."

"Alright, let me know if it gets worse. I don't want anybody going down just because of some toxic atmosphere that we didn't take seriously enough."

An hour later, Kira and I declared the building clear except for the unnatural-looking sinkhole in the floor.

I eased over to the edge to see how the undead were climbing up. There was a pile of what was probably once the floor. The skeletons and zombies were clawing their way to the top to get out.

Almost as soon as we climbed down to the next level, Kira complained that whatever was in the air was now bad enough that she was having to focus on not puking. I sent her back to the surface.

{"Hanna, see how Hatch is feeling. It's worse down here and Kira had to bail."}

I waited while my younger daughter checked with the dragon beside me.

{"She's still okay. She says her tummy hurts a little but she's okay so far."}

{"Tell her to let you know as soon as that changes - and then you relay it to me. I don't want her hurt."}

{"I told her. She says she senses that whatever you're looking for isn't far away. She doesn't want to miss out on the big fight."}

{"I need an honest assessment of her condition the whole time. I don't want her to get tunnel-vision - to become so focused on the fight that she's not properly gauging her own health."}

{"I understand. She's a little stubborn but I've tried to get her to comprehend that we'd all be really sad if something happened to her. I told her that I'd convince you to bring the bad guy - or whatever it is - up to where she is - so that she can help you kill it."}

{"Just between you and me, that might not be possible,"}I transmitted to my little girl.

{"I know. I love you."}

{"I love you, too, big brain."}

{"Make sure you're taking care of you too, Daddy. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you so much that it hurts."}

{"Me too, little one."}

{"Zima said to tell you that she loves you too."}

{"Tell her that I love her too. Give her and Rilla kisses. We'll kill whatever this is and the orcs can come home and stop harassing Brant."}

{"Hatch is getting impatient."}

{"Okay. I'm moving."}

There wasn't much to do on the level we were on. There was a crude tunnel dug through the dirt and stone that we followed for probably a quarter-mile. Singles and pairs of undead still showed up - coming down the hallway towards the two of us.

Hatch killed them - picking a different way to kill each one - whether because it was entertaining or because she wanted to try out different attacks to compare. She would stomp one, bash the next against the wall, and flame the next. She was pretty inventive but she was soon going to run out of fresh ideas for killing our past-their-prime foes.

{"Hatch isn't feeling well. I told her to go back to the hole. She's being a pain."}

"Listen to me," I told the hatchling. "Your mother will kick my ever-loving ass if something happens to you. I'm pretty fond of you and my little girl loves you to death. Don't make me whip your ass and drag you back to that hole."

The rhino-sized dragon bared her teeth at me.

"I know," I said. "I know you want to help kill this. I promise to do my best to drag it back to you. That's all I can do ..."

She snarled, charged at me, smashed her snout into my shoulder, and then turned and headed back down the hall. I watched her retreating for a couple minutes - to make sure she wasn't turning around - and then I moved forward.

Probably another half-mile farther, the toxic air - or whatever was affecting us - was beginning to push back against my body's regenerative ability. If I didn't find this thing soon, I was going to have to figure out something else.

{"Hatch thinks you're almost there."}

{"I hope so,"}I said.{"I'm close to having to make a decision."}

The tunnel began to change. It looked less and less like it had been dug or clawed out. It looked more like a natural formation - like a cave or a cavern.

I came to a large room with a pentagram carved into the floor. Every minute or so, the carving flared with magic and an undead creature would materialize from thin air. It immediately headed down the passageway through which I had just arrived.

I described the formation to Kira, Rilla and the girls, asking for suggestions on how to tear the thing up.

{"Hatch is sprinting your way,"}Hanna reported.{"She thinks her fire will destroy it."}

{"Shit! The poison - or whatever - it's really bad here."}

{"Can you heal her?"}

{"I can try - but she's gonna need time to destroy this and then I need to get her back to where she can survive again before she succumbs. I don't think that sickness is coming from this. I think the bastard that made this is going to attack when we try to destroy this and I'm gonna have my hands full trying to keep Hatch alive while fighting whatever created this."}

I could hear Hatch galloping down the passageway. As she got closer, I could hear her wheezing. I raised my hand towards her and began actively healing her. The problem was, it wasn't a simple injury to heal and be done. Each second that passed, the pervasive health-destroying curse or illness or whatever it was - it just kept damaging us. My regeneration was still keeping up - but just barely.

Hatch sucked in a breath and then focused on the arcane gateway - and then seemingly vomited a fiery torrent across the pentagram etched in the floor. A rising skeleton evaporated as the flames consumed it before it could become fully corporeal.

From somewhere ahead, I heard an angry screech that told me that Mr. Bad News was incoming. At the same time, I got a mental query from Hatch's mother - wanting to know what in the seven hells was going on.

As quickly as I could, I gave her all of the information that I had - everything we'd done up to this point, what was going down right now, and what I thought was about to happen.

I was standing right next to Hatch. I had my hand on her shoulder. I was pouring healing into her (or rather taking away the bad shit) just as fast as I could. My chest was already halfway covered with new pustules.

The air on the other side of Hatch began shimmering. I could feel my eyes bugging out - worried about what new demon was coming to make the whole situation worse. The mother dragon had stopped talking into my head. I was not looking forward to whatever her next question was. Her last had sounded pissed enough ...